Page 43 of Horn in My Side
Turns out, Jasmine didn’t have to worry about seeing Mal at the shop the next day.She arrived thirty minutes before opening time, but she could tell he wasn’t there.Normally, the lights wouldall be on, but it was still dark when she stepped inside Fantastic Tails.
Huh.
She never bothered to check the house before leaving, because nine times out of ten, he was always here first.While it was unusual, perhaps her ancestor spirits had heard her prayers and made him sleep in.
Or maybe he stayed up late texting Leila?
Her stomach churned, but she put those thoughts away.If Mal wanted to text Leila until four a.m., he could do that and there was nothing Jasmine could say or do about it.She was only his employee, after all.
As soon as she hit the light switch, her attention was immediately drawn to the center of the room.Gone was the construction area and in its place was a cloth covering what Jasmine assumed was the hatching tank, cordoned off with a rope and makeshift poles.Mal mentioned he had finished it last night.He must have been working late, because when she’d left for the day, he’d still been at it.
Ding ding dong!
“Welcome to—Mal.”
“Jasmine,” he greeted as he trudged inside.“Er, sorry, my morning call ran late.”He shoved his hands into his mop of hair, pushing it back, the muscles on his forearms flexing.Instead of his usual flannels, he wore a black T-shirt today, perhaps due to the temperatures rising the past week.The material stretched over his wide chest and trim middle, clinging to what she guessed was a perfect set of abs.
Don’t ogle him, don’t ogle him,Jasmine repeated.And definitely don’t look below his waist.
She wished she had never learned about orc dick.It had taken all her might not to start searching on the internet the minute she got home last night.
“Have you had—” A loud buzzing sound interrupted him, and he fished his phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen.“Sorry, excuse me.”Without another glance at her, he marched toward the back office, the door slamming loudly as he hurried inside.
Mal had never been the type to get distracted by his phone.He never scrolled his feed when he was bored.He never even texted as far as she could tell.
Did he make an exception for Leila?
Jasmine rubbed at her chest, trying to ease the pressure building there.If they were talking, that wasn’t her concern, she reminded herself sternly.And if they decided to sleep together, that wasdefinitelynone of her business, even though the thought of it made her want to lose her breakfast.
Oh Mother Goddess.
If it wasn’t evident before to Jasmine, it was now: she had to get over this crush.Pronto.With a determined huff, she strengthened her resolve to draw a clear line between her and Mal, one that she would never cross.
Jasmine busied herself with work, taking care of the creatures, entertaining customers, answering emails and messages, and accepting deliveries.Still, her stupid brain wouldn’t stop reminding her that Mal hadn’t left the back office all afternoon.Sure, he’d emerged at lunchtime, but he looked distracted as he walked out the door, phone in hand.He hadn’t even asked her if she wanted anything from the café or bakery, not that she ever said yes because she did pack her own lunch.No, he just walked out, eyes focused ahead, not even giving her a second glance.
Was he ignoring her because of last night?
Or because he was too caught up texting Leila?
“Argh!”She curled her hands into fists and looked to the heavens.How in the world was she going to get over this little crush?
Focus on work, she told herself.Five more months and he’llbe gone.
Besides, she had more important things to worry about.For example, Founding Day was about two weeks away and she still had to think of what promotions to do, how to decorate their booth outside, and to start designing the flyers and coupons she would be giving away.Determined to focus on her tasks, she worked on the designs for flyers and their booth for the next few hours.
Feeling her eyes start to strain from staring at the screen for too long, Jasmine pushed away from the computer.She quickly glanced at the door to the back office, then scolded herself, before deciding to head upstairs.All the creatures up here had been fed and their tanks cleaned this morning, so she really didn’t need to be there, but it was a good way to stretch her legs and reminded her why she wanted to do this in the first place.Frankly, she’d been so busy with the uptick in business that she’d been neglecting the animals.As soon as she approached the kelpie tank, the little horse-like creatures galloped toward her.
“Hey there,” she greeted, pressing her fingers against the glass.“You all must be lonely.”The tank usually held about ten kelpies at a time, but now there were only three.“Don’t you worry—we’ll find you some good homes.”
Big corporate pet stores always kept their tanks full, and pens occupied, as nearly empty cages and aquariums weren’t attractive to customers.However, Jasmine never ordered new kelpies without making sure all the current ones were first sold off, even if it didn’t look aesthetically pleasing.Besides, the supplier Fantastic Tails worked with didn’t overbreed their stock, so it took a while to get new ones in.
Seeing as it was almost time for her to close up, she checked on the other animals and went through her closing routine.She had finished cleaning up the mini wyrm habitat when she heard a voice behind her.
“Jasmine?”
Her heart stuttered in her chest at Mal’s familiar baritone.With a quick breath, she turned to face him.“Yes, Mal?Did you need something?”
“No.”He rubbed at the back of his neck.“Just wondering where you were.”
