Page 138 of Sunshine

I frowned. “You worked during your heat?”

I flashed back to Julian’s heat, thinking about the brief moments of being lucid only to swing back to insatiable need.

“Yes.” She nodded for emphasis. “It won’t get in the way of me assisting you.”

I cocked my head. “Ginny, you know both of my sisters are omegas. And one of my cousins.”

“I do.” Ginny’s cheeks turned a little red. “I filled out the free online questionnaire last year.”

“Did you get matched? I’m sorry I don’t remember you, I usually don’t handle intake.” Guilt speared me. I should have double checked the system.

“No.” Ginny shook her head. “My mom is really…old fashioned, and I didn’t have the money for the rest of the profile. The free questionnaire was really helpful though.”

I frowned. We all wanted to make sure the community had what they needed. In addition to paid services, we offered a lot of free resources.

Maybe it was time to look into scholarships. “Do you have a pack?”

Ginny flinched. “Not yet, Ms. Ka—Sullivan. But I swear, my heats won’t be a problem.”

“Okay, so first of all, being forced to work during your heat is cruel. And illegal.” I added.

“Oh, they didn’tmakeme. I had the time off,” Ginny said quickly.

“Right. Of course.” I almost rolled my eyes. Her bosses probably made a big stink about the time they would lose to her heat. Ember had had people act like her being out of commission for a week or two every three or four months was too much.

“You get paid heat leave. Completely off. If your heat comes early, no big deal.”

Ginny watched me like a deer in the highlights. “Okay.”

“I’m a beta, obviously, but I grew up around omegas and Julian’s an omega. You need that time for yourself.” I took a bite out of the salmon and sighed. “I think we’d work really well together, but I’d like for us to have a trial run. Like say a month?” I cocked my head. “After that we can talk about how we feel it’s working out and if there’s anything we need to iron out.”

Her entire face lit up. “Yes, Ms. Sullivan. I promise I won’t disappoint you.”

“You’ll be paid an hourly wage, health benefits, and you’ll be able to enter the matching program for free.”

“Really?” She squeaked. “I wouldn’t expect you?—”

“You’re an employee. We want you to be able to speak about the process with comfort.”

My family would love her. I already wanted to wrap her up in blankets and give her some hot cocoa. They would take her under their wing and even if for some reason she didn’t work as an assistant, which was unlikely based on what she was already doing, we’d find a spot for her.

“Do you have any questions for me?”

Ginny shook her head.

I shifted the conversation to safe topics like music and TV shows. She came out of her shell again, and I smiled. This would work out. Logan was a genius.

Lunch finished, and we stood up.

“When do you want me to start?” Ginny asked. “I’ll put in my two weeks’ notice, but I’d like to start helping you right away.”

“That’s a lot of work,” I shook my head. “Two weeks is fine.”

Ginny fiddled with her purse. “Ms. Sullivan, I think I should at least get familiar with the accounts and tasks.”

“You can call me Sunshine.” I smiled. “How about this? On your day off, you come over and I’ll start showing you the ropes. This way you’re familiar with the space.”

Ginny beamed, probably relieved I didn’t bite her head off when she contradicted me. Good. She had a backbone, and I wanted her to feel comfortable enough to disagree with me.

---