Page 14 of My Orc (Secret) Boss

She made a sad little noise. “I wish I could see it.”

Me too. “You ever been out to the Rockies?”

“I’ve never been west of the Appalachians.”

I turned away from the painting. “They’re nice too. But my home is—was—out in what the humans call the Rockies. I learned to—” Best not get too personal. “Doesn’t matter. But if you ever want to see something that beautiful…” I jerked my thumb at the painting as I walked back to the kitchen. “Visit the Rockies. There were a group of us who decided that was the closest they could get to paradise.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “It’s almost as good as going home again.”

Simbel used to tease me for taking my vacations to Denver. But after the third time, he shut up and started going with me. No, we couldn’t go home again. And after everything I’d seen in the last decade, I doubted there could be a place for us there.

But hiking out into the middle of nowhere and stripping down to my shorts and justbeing still? That was as close to peace as I could come anymore.

Maybe you ought to look into plane tickets, because you’ve been anything but peaceful lately.

I snorted at my own self-burn.

Maya helped set the table, asking questions about the orcs’ world and how we’d crossed through the veil and how I’d felt at first. I wasn’t used to answering so many questions, and I’ll admit my responses were a little monosyllabic. I would rather listen toherstory, but she was so damninterested.

She knew the basics: After generations of isolation from the humans, fewer and fewer orc females were being born, which meant our species was dying. Our elders finally agreed to send a small cohort through the veil—us, led by Sakkara. He was smart enough to bring us into the public eye, so the military couldn’t hide us away. We spent a year at a government facility, being poked and prodded, learning English and human culture, before being paid hush money and sent into the world.

Dinner was halfway over before I could finally turn her attention away from my past by asking her more about the plans for the landscaping. That was going to be my job, after all, right?

“We can’t start on the park until after the Festival?” I nudged as I cut into my chicken. “It’s oyster-themed?”

“The Oyster Festival,” she agreed with a chuckle. “Although the season technically goes till April, most people stopped eating them last month. We’ll have some at the Festival, but it’s more about the food trucks and the auction.”

Winding noodles around my fork, I raised a brow in question at that last bit.

“Charity auction,” she clarified. “Local companies donate goods and services, and we all bid on them. The money is going to the playground equipment fund this year.”

I think I remembered Simbel saying something about this when he told me about the oyster roast he went to at the school. There’d been something about a gym teacher from the high school… “Do people put themselves up for auction?”

“Not really.” She shrugged as she focused on her meal. “It’s more about the services they offer, although I guess that means standing up on stage. Luckily, the stage is portable—I think Jess is having it taken out of storage and set up on Thursday.”

“Hopefully it won’t ruin the grass.”

Maya smiled at me. “The fact that you thought of that means you’re perfect for this job.” She still sounded a little surprised by that. “But they set it up over the old volleyball court, that’s kinda useless now. In my proposal, I suggested we put pavers down and set up some picnic tables instead.”

Fostering more community space. Yeah, from what I knew of this town, Eastshore would be all about that.

“So you’re thinking more native plants in the park?” I prompted, scooping up my salad. “The council approved that?”

“It was one of the highlights, they said.” She leaned forward eagerly, and I tried not to notice how great her tits looked in that shirt. “All the other proposals included the usuals—tulips and other bulbs in the spring, rose gardens, etc. But Eastshore doesn’t need a rose garden.”

“Nope. And tulips or daffodils are pretty, but they only pop up for part of the year, then need to be cut down.”

“Right!” I liked the way her smile seemed so excited as she spoke about something she was clearly passionate about. “I pointed out that they would need maintenance—which, I mean, would be great for me, but not great for the town’s coffers. And plants that look good all year—even if they only bloom for part of the year—was going to be better for the overall health of the park.”

I was nodding along. “Preventing erosion, stuff like that.”

“We’re a beach town, we know about erosion. Native grasses are necessary to hold everything in place. Tulips can’t do that.”

Stabbing a piece of chicken, I used the fork to point at her. “And a rose garden is useless.”

Suddenly she sat back, a flush causing her skin to darken just slightly. I popped the chicken in my mouth and watched her, intrigued at this response. Finally, she peeked up at me from under those ridiculously long lashes.

“I…did have a thought. I haven’t run it by the council yet, but it could be done after we’re finished with the landscaping.”

I raised a brow as I chewed.

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