Page 24 of Omega's Tempting Fate
Chapter 9 - Cody
“Are you feeling better?” Donna asked as I walked into the office.
I nodded. I’d been in heat for almost two days, which had left me exhausted, and Donna had allowed me to stay out until Monday.
“Good,” she said, plopping into the chair across from me. “I’m sure you already know what I’m going to tell you.”
“He’s still here…” I mumbled.
“He is, and he’ll be in this afternoon to go over the bugs list with you. I’ll do any site visits today so you two can talk.”
I slumped in my chair. Even though I expected it, part of me had still hoped that he’d taken the hint and gone home. “You’re really going to make me work with him?”
She crossed her arms. “I did what I could last week, but I’m not as familiar with the app as you are. At the end of the day, he’s out here to do a job, and you’re the best one to help.”
“He could send somebody else…”
She scowled. “I get that this isn’t comfortable for you, but you’re an adult and this isn’t a problem you can run and hide from. He’s given me his word that he’ll be nothing but professional, and I expect the same from you.”
I scrubbed a hand down my face. There was no way that I could explain to her that I’d spent the past several days waking up slick and needy after dreaming of my alpha claiming me over and over. Everything in me wanted him, his knot, his mark, and his babies.
Well… almost everything. My head wasn’t on board. I would still rather pretend that Wes and I had never met and that I could still be blissfully oblivious about my fated mate.
“Do you have any scent blockers?” she asked when I didn’t respond.
I shook my head. “No.”
“I’ll give you some extra time before lunch to drop by the drugstore to get some. I assume that’ll make it easier for you.”
I pushed my glasses up and rubbed the bridge of my nose. Scent blockers would only do so much. But it would be better than nothing; better than Wes’s smell overwhelming me, or him scenting how aroused I was in his presence.
Donna leaned back in her chair, a subtle signal that she was setting aside the boss role for a moment. “Cody, I don’t want to be the bad guy here. You know the app the best, and it’ll take longer for me to go through everything. I can get a temp if working with him will truly be a problem, but you know that I can’t afford to just have you out for an indeterminate amount of time and keep paying you. If you really don’t think it’s possible for you and Wes to work together, then you can use some of your vacation time and take unpaid leave after that. I value you too much to give you some kind of bullshit ultimatum.”
She paused. “However, I don’t think running will solve this. You know for sure you have a fated mate now, and you know who it is. Everybody knows that the pull is supposed to be nearly undeniable once you know who they are. I’d rather you two resolve this, than to lose you in a few months when it’s too hard to hold back and you end up chasing him back to his home.”
“That wouldn’t happen,” I tried to argue, even though I wasn’t sure of that myself.
“You say that now, but people literally up and move across the country for no better reason than it feels right. Then boom, they meet their fated mate. The pull is that strong even before meeting.” She paused and ran a hand through her hair. “Hell… I’m already having to prepare myself for your eventual leaving.”
“What do you mean?”
She leveled a steady gaze at me, silently asking if I was serious. “He’s a billionaire, Cody. What happens here when you mate? It’s ridiculous for me to just assume you’ll keep coming to work as normal.”
I frowned. “So you think I’ll just quit… and do what all day? Sit on my damn ass?”
She held up her hands. “I didn’t mean it like that. But think about it. He has the means to take you anywhere in the world on a whim. Or maybe you’ll decide to move to the city with him. There are a lot of unknowns.”
I huffed out a breath. “There’s nothing unknown. He’ll leave, and I’ll keep working here. So there’s nothing to worry about.”
“If you say so.”
“Is that all?”
Donna sighed. “Yes, for now. I’ll let you get to work planning your week. Just let me know when you head to the drugstore. You can do that on company time, since it’ll help you work with Wes.”
“There’s no way out of it?”
“Not unless you want to take vacation time.”
