Page 10 of Masked March

He was the boy next door until his family moved away when we started junior high. In fact, now that I think of it, Link was actually my first kiss. Maybe we were eight? Ten? Sitting on a log at the pond near our houses. Todd something or other had put a frog down my shirt and I screamed at the sliminess crawling up my back until Link rescued me. As a reward, I held his hand, and we pecked lips.

When I saw him again, we were sixteen, and he had grown like a beanstalk. A thin torso stuck up from sprouted little legs until he was heads above most of the other boys. He spent most of his time in the computer lab and on the outskirts of every social group in school. I don’t think I saw him at any parties or?—

Except for Homecoming our senior year.

A heavy sigh leaves my chest as I turn out the light for bed.

That’sa memory I wish to leave behind.

In the morning, I wake up in a slight panic, a feeling that someone was in my room still hovering over me. Maybe I need to ask the building manager to change my locks again.

I’m early for work, though I don’t want to be. Shockingly, there aren’t any angry texts from Jake or emails claiming I’m fired waiting for me when I turn my phone back on. In fact, things seem oddlycorporateas I arrive.

When I round the corner for Jake’s office with an extra large paper cup of his favorite coffee, I come to a rapid halt. “Wh-what are youdoinghere so early?”

Jake’s eyes flash to my face and a broad, warm smile crosses his lips. “Come in, Mel. Have a seat.” His hand waves at the chairs in front of him and my stomach ties into a knot. What does that mean? Is he going to fire me now? “Please shut the door.”

Sweat pours from my hairline as I do what he says. This is it. The first job I'm let go from. I’ll have to move away. No one in this little town will hire me. Just another thing to add to my resume of embarrassing acts since I returned home.

Instead of frustration on his face, he still seems happy, and I slide his coffee toward him. “I already got one. That’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

My shoulders tense up at his words. “About your coffee? Have I gotten it wrong?”

His brow crinkles as his eyes scan the desk like he’s struggling for words to say. That’s not like Jake at all. He runs this town. He’s…indestructible. Seeing him so fragile and vulnerable makes me want to vomit and run away.

“One of your emails accidentally ended up in my inbox. A firm from Verona is very interested in you and it made me pause. I’ve treated you really poorly, Mel. You’re my primary counsel, not my assistant and it’s beyond time I treated you so.”

He flips his computer monitor around and the email sits on the screen. My eyes bug at the exorbitant salary and benefits includingso much time off. “Wow!” It’s not any type of law I’d like to study, if I admitted it. And, even if it’s pathetic or masochistic, Ienjoyworking for Jake and the people of Crystal Frond. It’s my home. The place where my parents are buried.

“So this is what I’m offering you.” Rubbing my sweaty palms along my skirt, I await his next words carefully. “Double everything that they are.”

My tongue makes its way into my cheek as I try to contain my facial expression. I have power here and leeway to argue. “Triple. I want triple.”

With no hesitation, Jake sits forward. His smoldering eyes hold my gaze. “Done. ”

“That includes three months of time off, Jake.”

Sitting back, his full lips smirk and he crosses his arms likehe’sjust won. “I know. Want to take some now?”

A gasp leaves my lips as I sink into the chair with some relief. “Contract?”

He slides a paper forward with the updated terms. Crossing out some figures, he updates it to what we agreed on. Seeing the increased salary makes me almost panic. I could hire a designer for my sad place. Or just do it myself with all my time off. “I want to leave at five every day and not have you bothering me at night.”

His eyebrows shoot up and he scribbles it on the paper. “Fine.”

Leaning back in my chair, I question him. “Why, Jake?”

When he lifts his gaze, I’m caught up in his charms. “Because Ineedyou, Mel. I have to have you. And I’m not letting you go.”

Jake’s a flirt. I know this. Very much like Alex from college. Is he saying something more? He’s got dirty blond hair and no visible tattoos, but my eyes dart to his neck just to be sure. He’snotmy Reaper. When I check deep inside myself for disappointment, oddly, I don’t find it.

Whoever the man was yesterday seems even more powerful than the one in front of me.

Standing, I shake his outstretched hand and sign the paper on the desk. “I’m taking the rest of the week off and will be back on Monday at my regular time.”

Hesitation clucks in the back of his throat, and I pause. “What if I need you for work stuff? C-can I call and ask for your advice?”

With a smile and a shrug, I let my shoulders drop, finally feeling free. “This week, you may. But after this, I’m hiring an assistant myself that you can bother. Got me?”

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