Page 4 of My Orc in Uniform

Well, shit, I guess that didn’t work.

Usually, femaleslikedmy smiles, but this one looked nervous as all the hells, and the back of her hand smacked the water bottle, so it went flying.

Luckily, I had almost four decades of quick reaction time, and I lunged forward, halfway over the counter, and scooped it out of the air before it could do more than splash a few droplets of water.

When I straightened, she was gaping at me.

“Hi, Rissa,” I said as smoothly as possible, handing over the water bottle. “Here you go.”

“Uh…thank you?” She hesitated only a moment before reaching up to take it from me, and I noticed how careful she was about not letting her fingers brush mine. “Thanks,” she repeated, pushing it against the backside of her desk and standing, as if she didn’t like the fact I towered over her.

I was familiar with that, so I leaned forward and rested my elbows on the counter, trying to make it look as casual as possible. “That was some meeting huh? I hope I didn’t interrupt it too much by being late?”

“Uh…No.” She’d scooped up a pen from the desk and was fiddling with it in both hands, her gaze locked on my chin. “No, it was fine. Dr. Johnson was…just getting to the good parts.”

I hid my doubting snort, but not the way one brow rose in response. That staff meeting today was just a way for a manager to throw her weight around; I’d seen it plenty of times from my sergeants and lieutenants over the years. It didn’t bother me—I was easygoing, and liked being around people, unlike my twin, so I never complained.

Again, unlike my twin.

But I’d also spent enough time around humans to know when one was lying, like Rissa was now. So I took a chance. “Still, it could’ve been an email, yeah?”

Her blue gaze flicked to mine, then away, but not before I saw the surprise there. Then, slowly, I allowed my grinto show as her gaze crept back to my face, and I saw a little smile tugging at her lips.

Success!

Quick, follow up!

“I didn’t mind the meeting, though.” I leaned more weight on my elbows, like I was trying to share a confidence. “It let me get to know more of my coworkers.”

To my surprise, Rissa snorted, the tension going out of her shoulders as she met my eyes with a raised brow of her own. “Yeah, I saw. Kelly was talking about how you’re going to work out together.”

I blinked, confused. Then, “Oh, yeah, Kelly! She’s, uh…nice. A little intense, huh?”

“She’s really pretty.” Rissa’s weight went to one hip and the pen dropped clicker-end-down on the desk as she rested against it. “Outgoing. She’s really proud of the cheerleading team.”

“She should be.” Why was Rissa going on about someone else? “They keep winning all those tournaments.”

“The state tournament is in a few weeks. They’re training hard for that.”

“Uh…yeah.” A little confused now, I pushed myself off my elbows, eyeing her, trying to figure her out. “And the basketball team isn’t bad either, although I’ve never been to a game.”

“You should.”Click-click, click-click. “A lot of the island comes out for them, and the nachos are good.”

I tried another smile. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” She seemed much more at ease with me now for some reason. Maybe because she was pushing Kelly on me? “I’m a sucker for nachos. Especially with extra-salty tortilla chips.”

I couldn’t help it; the joke blurted out of me: “That was my nickname at the academy.”

“What was?” she asked, her brows drawing down.

“Extra-salty tortilla chips.”

She snorted, her lips tugging upward almost reluctantly. I resisted the urge to pump my fist and yellYes!

Follow up, follow up!

“Hey, Rissa, speaking of nachos—or food in general, I guess—help me win an argument with Memnon. What’s the best restaurant on Eastshore Isle?”

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