Page 30 of Knotty New Year

And while she was here, I would ask about the clinical trials of the alpha hormone suppressant that my friend Storm had been taking.

“Pax?” Candy’s voice came from the doorway to my office. The day before, she and Chef Adaline had gotten into some sort of argument, with Candy wanting to bake something, and Adaline insisting that she was happy to make the pastries, or whatever.

When I’d tried to explain to Candy that she didn’t need to make her own sweets, she got angry for some reason, and stormed off. I’d tried to placate her—I’d told her I knew young omegas were emotional; it was understandable—but that had just pissed her off even more.

I took a deep breath before I looked up from my laptop. “Yes, princess?” I had to fight the surge of pure lust that always threatened to drag me under every time I saw her.

And then the answering surge of remorse. How fast I’d gone from swearing I’d move slowly, to biting her and taking her away from her life and her home. I made a mental note to follow up with my PA on that junior executive position we were creating for her.

She looked even younger than twenty-five today, with her dark hair up in a high ponytail and no make-up at all, just smooth skin slightly flushed from exertion. She looked incredibly youthful from the neck up, but she was wearing some sort of exercise clothing that was molded to her form like a second skin, and from the neck down she was every man’s wet dream.

“Slick and juicy?” I growled as I rose from my desk, reading the words plastered across her chest aloud. She moved toward me as well, as if we were being drawn together by invisible forces. “Is that a request, or—”

“Hello?” A sharp rapping sound at the doorway had me stopping just short of grabbing Candy, and she whirled around. “I’m sorry, have I come at a bad time? I thought our meeting was now?”

“No, it’s fine, Saryn,” I replied, smiling perfunctorily at my colleague before moving quickly behind my desk to hide the erection currently tenting my trousers. “Please come in and have a seat.”

“Well, hi there,” Candy said with a wide smile. A wide,fakesmile.

“I’m Dr. Murray,” Saryn replied, shaking Candy’s hand while I desperately tried to think of dead skunks and financial audits. “And you… Oh, I know! You must be Penny! I knew Paxson still had one little sister living at home. Aren’t you graduating from high school next year? What an exciting time for you!”

Candy froze in place. I felt my cheeks heat, which made me inexplicably angry.

I had no reason to be embarrassed. But I’d never thought about Candy’s reaction to being with me. Did she feel awkward standing beside an older man?

Would it look creepy for me to embrace her in public?

“No, Saryn.” I stood back up, returning to Candy’s side. “This is Candy Kane, my, ah, my…”

“His betasitter,” Candy finished, her voice as sharp as Chef Adaline’s best knives and colder than the weather outside. “He hired me to watch over little Benjamin.”

“Oh, how embarrassing!” Saryn shook her head and laughed. “Staff gets younger and younger. I really am sorry. Could you please bring in some tea, then? It’s so chilly out today.”

Candy’s eyes cut to my face, and my life flashed before my eyes. Or, more specifically, my death. Which would be soon and incredibly painful if I didn’t correct Saryn’s assumption.

“Saryn,” I said, then stopped when Candy shifted away slightly. “I mean, Dr. Murray, this is my mate. My true mate, Candace Kane.” I put an arm around Candy, the one with my mate mark, but for the first time, the contact wasn’t soothing. It felt… dangerous.

“Oh, wait,” Candy said, her voice saccharine. “Is this the Dr. Murray you told me about? The one who went to Cornell and Johns Hopkins and—”

Saryn laughed. “He’s been bragging about me? That’s so gratifying. He hasn’t said a word about you to anyone.”

Somehow, Candy went even more stiff under my arm.

“It’s very new,” I began. I’d been so swamped, I hadn’t even thought about telling my colleagues, or the press. Saryn had an NDA, but I’d need to talk to Candy, and to my siblings as well, about how we wanted to go forward.

As soon as the crisis at Paxson Pharma was over, I’d figure out how we would weave Candy into the family as well as the company. I’d need to get her security set up before anyone knew—

“Pax?” Candy murmured, breaking into my thoughts as she moved away from me. “You’ve got this meeting, and so much going on. I know my mom has been missing me, and I haven’t seen my friends for a while. Maybe I’ll just… head home. That sound okay?” Her voice was brittle.

My vision flickered with traces of red. No, it was not fucking okay. I wanted her in our bed at night. I needed her arms around me in the morning, every morning for the rest of our lives, and more than that. I wanted her to be by my side every day as I worked. I wanted to throw every fucking one of my responsibilities away and immerse myself in the miracle that was my mate—

“Oh, you still live with your parents? Paxson, you cradle robber! I’m starting to see why you kept this to yourself.” Saryn’s laughter interrupted my sudden, insane urge to drag Candy into our bedroom and bite her a few more times, so she’d remember she was mine. Keeping her to myself sounded like a great idea. Tying her up until she begged me never to let her go. The mate mark on my arm flared with heat.

Fuck.Was I still in rut?

I leaned down and whispered, “Are you sure you don’t want to stay? You’re welcome to listen in on the meeting. You can sit on my lap.”

“Oh no, I wouldn’t dare interrupt the grown-ups at work,” she hissed back.

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