Page 57 of Bria and the Tiger

“Bye, Lincoln.”

She waited until they were gone before taking the file Rosalie had given her to the photocopier. She needed to speak with Jace about taking Monday and Tuesday off. She’d decided to just send him an email but now that she knew he was coming in today, she would speak to him in person.

Her stomach churned with nerves. Her heat started on Sunday and she didn’t have anyone to help her. Her plan to have a boyfriend by her next heat had seemed so easy a month ago. That was before her disasterous dates with Patrick and Ron. In desperation, she’d gone for dinner Tuesday night with the squirrel shifter who kept messaging her. He was nice enough, but when over dessert, he’d made it clear that he wanted her to dominate him in the bedroom, she’d turned him down and gone home.

Last night, she’d scrolled through the Heat Me Up app, finding fault with various shifters for stupid reasons until she’d thrown her phone down and gone to bed. Right or wrong, she couldn’t use the app. She would just need to be strong and use her own hand and some toys to get through her heat. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad this time.

She didn’t need Jace’s help, she didn’t.

I want Jace. Give him to me, her tiger said in a sulky voice.

God, her tiger was going to drive her insane.

* * *

Okay, Bria. You can do this.

She took a deep breath and knocked on Jace’s office door. He had come into the office a half an hour ago. She was on the phone and he had nodded to her before disappearing into his office and closing the door.

“Come in.”

“Hi. Could I speak to you for a moment?” She hovered in the doorway.

He looked up from the computer screen. “If you can make it quick? I’m meeting with Ava and Bishop in a few minutes.”

“I won’t take up much time.” She closed the door and crossed to his desk, standing next to one of the chairs and holding the back of it in a white-knuckled grip.

“Thanks for referring them to me, by the way,” Jace said. “It’s office policy that an employee will get a bonus if they refer a client who purchases a home. I’ll ask Betty to cut the cheque for the next pay period.”

“Thank you.” She gave him a nervous smile.

“So, what’s up?”

“Uh, I need to take next Monday and Tuesday off work. Could you approve my request?”

He stared silently at her and she hurried on. “I know I haven’t been working here very long but, uh, it’s my heat cycle,” her face flushed but she carried on grimly, “and so I really need the time off. It might not be all of Tuesday. My cycle will start Sunday, so I could possibly come in on Tuesday afternoon, depending on what time it ends.”

She ran out of breath, stopping the flood of words pouring out of her, and silently thanked God for it. She fidgeted anxiously. If Jace didn’t give her the time off, she’d be in trouble. The way her tiger was acting around him, she couldn’t see him during her cycle. She’d be climbing him like a tree in front of everyone and not giving one damn who saw it.

“Of course,” he said abruptly before turning back to his computer screen. “Don’t worry about coming in on Tuesday, just book the entire day.”

“Oh, I don’t mind coming in if it’s - ”

“It’s fine. You’ll need to rest afterward.”

“Right,” she said.

She continued to stand there, and he gave her an impatient look. “Is there something else?”

Maybe you could take Monday and Tuesday off too and spend them with your face buried in my pussy?

For one horrifying moment she thought she had spoken out loud, but he was still staring at her with that impatient look.

“Uh, no. Thank you, Jace.”

“You’re welcome.” He looked away, clearly dismissing her, and she turned and stumbled toward the door. She pulled it open.

She was such an idiot around him. A complete and utter –

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