Page 3 of My Orc in Uniform

Friday’s basketball game would be the perfect time for him and his friend Ethan to meet up with Jaxon and the others and get into some trouble. Luckily, it wasn’tbigtrouble yet, but I could see the writing on the wall.

Just like the letters someone had spray-painted on the bricks down by the wharf. Patrick swore up and down it was Jaxon and his friends, not him and Ethan, and Ihadto believe him, because he was my kiddo…but I was terrified he was involved with all these cases of petty vandalism, and what it could lead to.

Joleen could obviously read my thoughts because she winced. “Maggie and I could bring Angel and Lilly to the game and hang out with you.” Her daughters were fourteen and twelve. “So it could be a fun time instead of boring?”

Oh man, she was the best. “Thanks, Jo,” I offered with a grateful smile. “But you shouldn’t have to give up Maggie’s pot pie for me.”

“I get enough of Maggie’s pie,” she shot back, waggling her eyebrows enough for me to catch the raunchy joke.

I was giggling when the office doors opened, and Kelly swanned in.

“Don’t you just love staff meetings at the end of the day?” she asked—rhetorically, I assumed, because who the fuck answeredyesto that?—as she breezed over to her box. “I’m heading to the gym for practice.”

Joleen had popped back into her office, leaving me alone with Kelly. I shouldn’t have said anything, but I did. “Oh? Is Simbel going to be joining you?”

The PE teacher froze, then pulled her mail from her box and turned to me with an icy smile. “Hewill. He said that he was into fitness, but I haven’t told him when he can come work out with me yet.”

She was that confident? So sure that she could justtellhim when hewas allowedto spend time with her, and boom—he would?

I forced a smile, pretending great interest in my computer screen. “That’s great. I’ll bet the two of you are perfect for each other.”

I almost meant the words.

“Weare.” Kelly bounced her way to the front desk again so she was once more in my line of vision as I bent over my computer. “He’ssohot, isn’t he? I mean, who would’ve thought anorccould be that hot? They’re basically monsters, yeah? But he’s built like the man of any girl’s dreams, and he’s into me.” She flipped her blonde ponytail. “A girl can tell these things, you know.”

A girl.

I’d been the one to process Kelly’s new-hire paperwork. I knew exactly how old she was, and she wasn’t too much younger than me. A few years. So why did I feel like an old maid next to her?

Probably because of all the bouncing and bobbing and makeup.

I couldn’t be bothered to manage anything more than a messy bun and some mascara most days. Isthatwhy I felt like—what did Jo call it? A dried-up husk of a woman? Hell, even if Iwasconsidering giving up on men entirely, should I be putting more effort into my appearance?

Oh shit, Kelly was still grinning down at me…the same way a shark might grin when it saw dinner. So I plastered on another fake smile and nodded. “Yep, sounds like you’re right.”

“He’s going to ask me out,” she stated matter-of-factly. “I was thinking about saying no, just to make him work a little harder, but…”

“If you’re interested in him, say yes,” I said a little too sharply. She blinked, but I didn’t back down. “Don’t play with him.”

Shepshawed—legitpshawed—and rolled her eyes. “It’s just a game, Rissa. Everyone does it,” she announced as she flounced out.

I stared after her.Dideveryone play games like that? It seemed silly to me, but maybe that’s why I was a dried-up husk of a woman.

Sighing, I reached for my mouse once more—three more emails to go before I could log out for the day—when the door opened again.

And Simbel walked in.

Kelly was right: Hewasthe hottest man I’d seen in a long, long time. You know how uniforms can make a normal guy seem hotter? Well, just imagine what happens when the guy is already a four-alarm-fire kind of hot, and then add a cop’s uniform on top of that.

Yes please.

I reached for my insulated water bottle to hide the fact I was staring, and of course I fumbled.

Chapter Two

Simbel

I wasin the middle of trying my most winning smile—I had a few of them, this one was halfway between my sexyHow you doing, babeand myI’m trustworthy, and you should tell me your problemsone—when Rissa paled and reached for the insulated tumbler on the desk next to her.

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