Page 17 of Falling for the Orc Alien

Lyle raised an eyebrow skeptically. “I don’t want any rumors starting up about inappropriate behavior in the office.”

“I promise nothing untoward happened,” I tried to reassure him.

“I don’t believe that for a second and neither would anyone else that works in this office. We’ve all seen the way he drools after you. Always sending you food deliveries and flowers. Now you’re sitting there defending a dinner the two of you took. I have half a mind to let you go.”

“Nothing happened, Lyle, but if it will make you feel better, I’ll have him deal with another lawyer on this one.”

Lyle scoffed and clenched his jaw before he nodded stiffly and stepped away from my office.

As soon as Lyle was gone, I let out a breath of relief and sank into my chair, spinning around slowly in it while replaying the dinner with Zorak. With those thoughts swirling around in my head, I picked up the phone and dialed Zorak without even really thinking about it.

“Hey! I changed my mind. Want to grab an early dessert? It’s on me this time.”

I found Zorak waiting for me outside the cake shop I had suggested.

“‘Piece of Cake’? I’m Orkarian and even I think that is a little on the nose,” he teased.

“You make fun now, but wait until you taste their sponge cake drizzled in chocolate sauce.” My mouth watered even thinking of the confection.

He grinned at me and held the door open before escorting us to the counter where he both ordered and paid for two “wet sponges, extra chocolate.”

“I was going to pay,” I argued as we sat at a table.

“How many times will I need to remind you I have a driving need to take care of you?” he answered. “Now tell me why you had a change of heart about dessert. Something happened. I can tell.”

I sighed. Of course he did. Why was I always forgetting that?

“I feel what you feel. Remember?” he answered like he was reading my mind.

I explained what Lyle had said. Zorak listened intently without responding, a solemn expression on his face.

To my surprise, I couldn’t feel any emotion coming from him.

I cleared my throat before continuing with what I needed to say. “I have an idea how we should handle this going forward…”

Zorak chewed thoughtfully on his sponge cake waiting for me to continue.

“You should probably tone down the deliveries and public affection.”

“Absolutely not!” Zorak seemed affronted. Worse than that, angry. I felt it roll off him in waves. I had never seen him display anger and it made me glad I was on his side. “You are my mate. He has no right to dictate how I act toward you.”

“I agree with you, actually. He has no dominion over my personal life,” I said, hoping to soothe him. “I worried about the situation all the way over here. But what if he’s right? I don’t want the soulmate mark to impair my judgment.”

“The soulmate mark only makes us stronger,” he argued. “We are free to focus on our pursuits because we share such an unbreakable connection with our other halves.”

“I’m beginning to see that,” I confirmed.

He paused for a moment then quietly suggested, “If you really don’t want Lyle around, then let me talk to him about it.”

My heart melted at the protectiveness he was showing me, and I couldn’t help but smile at him gratefully.

“Let’s try being slightly more professional in the office before you use all those arms and sexy muscles against him, huh?”

His eyes zeroed in on me when I said that.

“You think I have sexy muscles?”

“Very,” I answered and let myself bathe in the heat of my attraction to him so he could feel the conviction of my statement through our mated link.

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