Page 53 of What We Keep
We were trembling together as I felt the heat of his release fill me. Afterward, he held me close. The way I felt when he held me—safe and secure as if he alone was holding the world at bay—nearly undid me. I knew I would always be safe with Haven.
I could smell the tang of his day on his skin, a little dusty, a little woodsy, and just him. I traced my fingertip along his collarbone and savored the feel of his fingers sifting through my hair. The intimacy that felt like an actual force between us shimmered in the air when I lifted my head and met his eyes in the falling darkness. He leaned closer to give me a languid kiss.
I could have melted all over. Somehow, we disentangled ourselves. In the cramped space, he helped me put my jeans back on. After that, he drove home through the darkness, one of his hands resting on my thigh as he steered. Fortunately, no one questioned how long it took us to get back with the pizza. Of course, it was fair to say our interlude on the way home fell in the category of quickie.
Yet again, we fell asleep together. In the distant corner of my mind, I worried about how easily he could shatter my heart into a million pieces.
I knew now that I’d never actually had my heart broken before. I just had it bruised, and my pride kicked and scratched a few times. But this man, who was so good and so solid, now held my heart in the palm of his hand. He wouldn’t even have to try to break it.
The following morning, Haven helped me replace my car battery when he dropped me off at work. I spent the first few hours sifting through data. There were things I loved about being a biologist. I loved the outdoors. I loved the wildlife. I did love the data, although sometimes it made my brain hurt. By the time I took a break, the numbers were blurring.
I finally came up for air after an entire morning deep in spreadsheets, startled to glance at the clock and discover it was early afternoon. My boss stopped in my office. “How’re we doing?”
“Good.” All I could manage was that vague reply.
“Don’t forget to take breaks. Based on how your days have gone so far, you have plenty of flex time.”
“Huh?” I drained my now cold coffee.
“Well, you haven’t been taking lunch breaks, and you’ve worked late almost every day so far when you’re out in the field.”
“I know, but I love it.” I smiled, meaning it.
“And I love that you love it, but I don’t like you working more than you have to. So just keep that in mind.”
“What do you mean, flex time?”
“Well, I can’t give you extra leave, but we have flex time. If you don’t take lunch or you work late, if it’s an emergency and you stay later, you can log it as overtime. Otherwise, you track it and take an afternoon off for appointments or whatever.”
“Oh, well, that’s good.” I paused.
“HR explained that at your onboarding, right?” she eyed me.
“Probably, but I wasn’t too focused on all the details.” I gave a sheepish shrug, and she chuckled.
“Please don’t overdo it. I’m not a stickler about it, but I’ve seen people burn out too many times over the years. I love an enthusiastic employee, so I don’t want you to burn out.”
“I need more coffee, so I’ll go get some. Do you want some donuts if they still have some? I’ve fallen deeply in love with the donuts at Firehouse Café.”
She grinned. “Always. Just one, though. Don’t get a dozen. There are only three of us in the office today.”
“You got it.”
When I got to the front of the line at Firehouse Café a few minutes later, Luna, the donut-maker in question, smiled at me. “Hey!”
“Hey, I need three donuts and two coffees.”
“What kind of donuts?”
“Plain cake, chocolate sprinkles, and rainbow sprinkles.”
Luna chuckled. “Coming right up.”
Janet came walking out from the back. “Hey, hey,” she said with a warm smile.
“Hey, Janet.”
“How are things out at Heartfire Falls?”
