Page 5 of Quickies

OFFICE HEAT

When the obedient assistant goes into heat at the office, his boss loses control.

Mr. Toral was in a bad mood.

He could scare us all shitless even when he was happy. While crabby like today, he was positively terrifying.

“Are you out of your mind, Nicolas?” He full-named me.Uh-oh. “How am I supposed to get from Harrison Heights to the business district in twenty-five minutes and eat lunch simultaneously?”

“I apologize, sir, for the tight schedule tomorrow. You were adamant that the meeting with Mr. Riley needed to happen before Thursday, and this was the only time Mr. Riley was available.”

“Shuffle around the rest of my day, then. That’s what I pay you for.”

“You explicitly forbid me from rescheduling the board meeting so as not to upset Mr. Jameson and Mr. Card before the decision on the Green Village project.”

There comes the vein on the forehead. In three seconds, there’ll be growling. Three, two, one…“Stop repeating back to me what I said and solve it.”

What did he want me to do? Invent a time machine during coffee break? I swallowed my frustration and continued in an unchanged tone of voice. He was like a wild predator—you couldn’t show your fear, or he’d eat you alive.

“I have already booked a driver, and you will have your lunch waiting for you in the back of the limousine at twelve fifteen. Twelve pieces of uramaki, miso soup in a lidded cup, and a thermos of green tea. Even with the heightened traffic around sixty-ninth street, you’ll be back at the headquarters with a minimum of five minutes to spare.”

He glowered at me in silence for a few heartbeats. It was the best possible solution, and he knew it.

With a huff, he plonked onto his chair and opened his laptop.Yay! Nicolas White 1. Charles Toral 0.Despite my victory, I didn’t smile—I didn’t want the vein on his forehead to pop.

“Did you send me the notes from Friday afternoon?” he mumbled.

“Yes, sir. I have highlighted the main points for you in the document.”

He scanned the screen as he tapped on the trackpad.

“How much time do we have to review Riley’s proposal?”

“One hour and fifteen minutes.”

“Have you read it?”

“Yes, sir.”

He glared at me over the edge of his screen. “When? They sent it late last night. It’s Monday morning. How could you have possibly read it already?”

“I perused it during my commute this morning, sir.”

Shaking his head, he gave me a grunt. “You’re unbelievable.”

My lips twitched involuntarily. It was as close to a compliment as I would get. “Thank you, sir.”

Another grunt.

“Page three, second paragraph,” he barked.

It had been a mere twenty minutes, and I was struggling to focus. That never happened to me. Even with my stupid crush on my cantankerous but hot-as-hell alpha boss, I could always tune out distracting thoughts and finish my tasks on time.

Not today.

Maybe he just smelled better than usual. I’d always liked his scent, but today, it was having a physical effect. My stomach felt light and fluttery, and my hole had gotten a little damp.

I had used an electric pump this morning to get rid of the excess milk I was still producing. My son had stopped chest-feeding weeks ago, but my pecs hadn’t gotten the memo yet. They were swollen again, the pressure in them increasing with my every heartbeat, and my nipples were hard, chafing against my shirt. Had I overdone it with the pumping? It had felt unusually pleasant, even a little arousing. But I should do it less often. I hoped I wouldn’t start leaking milk now.

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