Page 8 of My Orc (Secret) Boss

MyKteerwas already involved.

Help help help.

If she needed me… “What are you talking about?” I’d seen her last night. She looked fine to me. More than fine. Sleepy, maybe, but damn fine. “What’s wrong with her?”

Sakkara sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “You know the big renovation project we’re doing on the public grounds? Eastshore doesn’t really have a parks department, but we have the budget. The Town Council voted to award her the contract to landscape the park, and a few other public spots.”

I knew this. Despite my best efforts to remain aloof from life on Eastshore, Simbel liked to blather at dinner. And Sakkara had been pretty excited about the renovations, seeing it as his way to improve the town.

How does she need me?

I gestured to him to continue, using my bottle.

“Have you seen her, Memnon?”

Uh…obviously.I saw her in my sleep sometimes. Those long legs, that thick dark hair that reminded me of home, the scent of sunshine and healthy soil…Gods of the ancestors, I was fucked in the head.

But I only growled, “Yes, I’ve seen her.”

“She’s not built for heavy labor.”

MyKteerbristled at the sound of another male noticing how she wasbuilt. “She’sbuiltto do anything she damn well wants to do, Sakkara.”

One of his brows twitched, and he inclined his head, as if awarding me a point. “If she has to do this landscaping alone, though, it’s going to take her ages. She has an assistant in the shop, but the longer she’s away…”

“So she can hire someone,” I snapped.

“Someone big and capable of wielding a shovel?” he shot right back at me in challenge. “Some male working with her?” Before I could process why I hated that, he sighed again. “She’s been trying. Haven’t you seen herHelp Wantedflyers around town?”

I eyed him cautiously, not sure if I wanted to admit I rarely walked down Main Street. The back alley was private and quiet, good enough for me. Instead of answering, I sipped my beer.

“If you go to work for her—” he began, and I interrupted.

“I don’t want towield a shovel, for fuck’s sake.”Lie.“I don’t want to be her partner.”Another lie.

He paused, studying me. “You own the building. Not her business, but you own the property her business is on. You could argue that makes you her boss.”

Well I wanted that even less. “I don’t want anyone relying on me ever again. That’s why I quit the force and moved here.

“Where you could be alone, keeping everyone out, even your brother?”

“Simbel lives with me.”

Sakkara shook his head. “He might live here, but you haven’t let him in. Besides, we can all see he’s found his Mate, even if it’ll take her some convincing. Eastshore Oyster Festival is this weekend, and the groundbreaking is Monday. Simbel will be there with his new Mate, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he moves in with her soon after.”

The prediction hit me in the gut, and I drank more beer to cover it.

Simbel.Mated.

I mean, don’t get me wrong; I saw it coming a mile away. The way his eyes would glow whenever he talked about her, the goofy grin he’d wear when she called…yeah, Rissa is his Mate. I hadn’t had any plans to attend the Festival, but maybe I should, just to meet her.

Sakkara straightened away from the door. “You say you don’t want anyone relying on you, but it’s in your nature toprotect, Memnon. That’s why you’ve been so miserable.”

That hit a little too close to home.

“I’ve beenmiserablebecause I got shot defending your Mate!” I slung back at him.

He inclined his head, awarding me another hit, and dropped his hands to smooth his jacket. “See? Youarea protector,T’mak.”Little brother. Sakkara thought of almost everyone else as younger than him, since he was our leader. “And if you won’t be her boss, then you need to be her employee.”

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