Page 2 of Mated To My Boss

The smile on the intern's face droops a little. "Maybe I..."

I lift my hand, shutting him down before I walk away. "Damn," Graham says as we head towards our offices. "Maybe you should take an intern and get some of that work off your shoulders. You're extra grouchy today."

"I woke up on the wrong side of the bed," I sigh, knowing full well the real source of my irritation is somewhere on this floor.

As we move past the cubicles, it's clear that everyone has a lot of work to do. "See, you're not the only one stressed out about your job?" I remark to Graham, desperate to focus on anything but the fact that I can still smell her scent lingering in the air.

"When you have a mate—" Graham starts in.

"Oh, brother," I say under my breath, the word 'mate' sending an unwelcome jolt through my system.

"I'm serious," he laughs. "I think that's the only thing I've ever stressed about. We're great at our jobs. We always get our work done."

"You're delusional, but then again you're in love, and that's pretty much the same thing. I have to go over the quarter's finances."

"Intern," Graham says, giving me a pointed look.

"Nope, no way." The thought of some fresh-faced kid watching me struggle to maintain composure as Madeline's presence permeates the office is more than I can bear.

Graham stops at his office and I head to mine. When I open the door, I'm hit with a burst of cold air. I forgot to turn up the airconditioning before I left. I'm not the biggest fan of cold AC, but I don't usually mind it.

Still, today isn't the day, and this is just another source of irritation.

Fuck.

I move to the outlet on the wall and almost rip it out completely before taking a breath to calm myself. I open the window, letting in fresh air before going to my desk and loading up my computer.

"Intern,"I scoff,"I don't need a fucking intern."

I'm used to working alone. It's how I like things—just me. Unfortunately, I work in a firm with about a billion things to do simultaneously. I can't lie that I'm not sometimes worked to the bone, but I'm not about to let some bumbling idiot ruin my work.

Graham's responses to my emails are the first things I see, making me chuckle a little. He's an efficient worker when he's not obsessing over his mate.

"What would I do without Rose?" I mimic, rolling my eyes as I type. "Please, a mate can't be that important."

Something grips me from within. It feels like a fist is wrapped around my heart, clawing at it.

It tightens even more before loosening, giving me the greatest relief I've ever experienced. My wolf recognizes what this means before my human brain catches up.

She’s close again. My feet move forward via invisible force guiding me. I pause when I reach the cubicles, looking around for her.

Her face doesn’t pop out to me, but a couple of interns still try their luck. "Sir, do you need anything?"

"I can help out. I'm really capable," says another.

I glare at them, driving off the horde. I let out a small sigh before going back toward my office.I'm going crazy already.

Graham's door opens as soon as I pass it. "Wait up," he says, halting me. The man has a small stack of papers in his hands, and he gives them to me when I turn around.

"The Watson file," he says. "I saw a few things you need to look at."

I take the papers and give them a cursory glance. "Sure."

"Thanks," he says, returning to his office. The second his large frame moves out of the way, I see her, she's standing right in front of me.

Madeline, so beautiful, maybe even more than I remembered. Still, it's almost impossible to believe she's standing right before me.

The papers in my hands drop to the floor immediately, scattering everywhere. She notices and comes over to help. She kneels gracefully, collecting the scattered papers efficiently.

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