Page 8 of Secretary's Obsession

“Where was the first place you thought to run to when you escaped the hospital? Not your house, but the forest,” Dougal countered. “You’re as much a part of this place as I am.”

“My bear needed out and my neighbors complain if I do that in my yard,” George grumbled, although he knew his friend was right.

“Whatever you need to tell yourself,” Dougal shifted his weight on the log. “So, what happened to the cutie demon? Did he just run off and pay your account the moment you said you wanted to leave?”

“I sent him off on a fool’s errand,” George mumbled into his mug. “The cutie demon’s my mate, and we both know, you and me,”—he indicated the space between his chest and Dougal’s—“we know a guy like him is never going to accept someone like me. We both know it, so don’t deny it. Just don’t. I couldn’thandle getting rejected by my mate on the same day my cab got wrecked. I just couldn’t, so I snuck out and left him there chasing down my conspiracy theories—and that’s what he called them, not me, not at first anyway.”

Dougal frowned, tapping his chin. “If this cutie demon is your mate, then you’re his blissful one.”

“Yeah. So?”

“Hmm, nothing. It’s just that word on the wind is that the king of the demon realm, Asmodeus, has got a real hard-on about his demons finding their blissful ones at the moment.”

“I sometimes think your wind talks too much,” George grumped. “You don’t have to give me some song and dance about how a mate is the most important person in a shifter’s life, and how once they’re together, nothing will ever break them apart. I’ll tell you what will keep me and Scott apart…” He pointed to his face. “This face.” His hand moved. “This body.” Then his hand went wide. “This scruff and my size.”

He continued, making sure to get his point across about all the differing bits he mentioned. “I drive a cab for a living, or at least I used to. You didn’t see him. The creases on his clothes were so sharp they could cut someone. He was wearing fancy shoes from Europe. He had one of those body bags slung across his shoulders, and it didn’t leave a crease anywhere on his body. Did you know… did you know…” George was on a roll, determined his friend would understand.

“Scott nodded, right? He nodded at me at one point, and barely a hair on his head moved. It was so stylish and well cut.”Beautiful.But George kept that part to himself. “There is nothing on this earth, or the demon realm for that matter, that would convince that demon to care one fig about a rough vagabond like me. Nothing.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works with mates and blissful ones,” Dougal said slowly. “If he doesn’t come after you, your bear is going to be running off to Dakata’s office building every chance he gets.”

“Why do you think I was banging my head against a tree?” George slumped off the log, sitting his ass on the ground and leaning back against the wood. “I know he’s mine, but from what I’ve seen, the kindest thing I could do for him is stay out of his way. My bear will understand that in time.”

“Or not.” Dougal held up a flask. “Did you want more coffee?”

George held out his mug. With his taxi gone, it’s not like he had anywhere else he had to be.

Chapter Five

Scott

Dressed at record speed, Scott left the remnants of his suit in a bag for disposal when he had more time. On the drive back to the office, he used the time to do something productive. He searchedthe internet for George Maybank, only to come up with bupkiss on anyone with that name.

How could the bear have no information on the internet? Everyone left a trace somewhere on the web. Frustration levels reached an all-time high for Scott, who, somewhere between his demon acting out and losing their blissful one, had found he wasn’t as calm and collected as he thought.

So, when he stepped into the elevator and encountered the dweeb Dervis from accounting, he struggled not to groan at his misfortune. The man didn’t get Scott wasn’t interested, and his tolerance for small talk was at an all-time low.

“Did you see the forecast for Demon’s Blessing? They are really going to boost the dividends this month.”

Scott nodded.

“The bonuses will surely help towards the last payment on my Bugatti.”

Did he think any of this conversation was scintillating? The guy had flirted with Scott once or twice at work functions. He smelled funky and had a habit of picking his teeth.

Who did that in public?

Scott gave another nod at the suitable time, or he thought he did. His mind was more occupied with what he wanted. George.

He needed to get out of this damn elevator and contact Dakata and Silas, maybe even Merihem, to figure out how to find George. Although, as Merihem had entrusted him to look after George’s needs, it wouldn’t do to say he’d left the hospital having not done that. He’d not even gone and paid the hospital bill, something he would need to rectify once he was in his office because he’d just remembered that.

Where had George gone? Had he gone willingly? Was he alright? Had he managed to shift and get the drugs out of his system?

More questions, all of which increased the need for his demon side, who wanted to veer towards starting a rampage to find their bear.

Behave. We have to figure this out sensibly.

What did that do for us the last time? Our bear is missing.

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