Page 3 of Code Mages & Empty Pages
Chapter 2
Luc
By the time Thursday rolled around, I was ready for the weekend. At least the opening of Froth & Flurry, our new cafe, would break up the routine. I loved my job and was good at it, but Moon Goddess, this week had felt endless.
Frostfire had gone all out, adding a glass atrium on the office roof to house the café. It would be open to the public soon but today was reserved just for Frostfire staff.
All the important people from our company would be at the opening ceremony, and I wanted to make sure I dressed elegantly for the occasion.
I’d looked through the website again so I could recognise the big names. I wasn’t the kind of guy who bent over backwards just because someone was higher on the organisational chart than me. Both Desmond and I triaged the tickets in our system not by status of the requester but by urgency. But…it still didn’t hurt to know who made the company money and make sure they could do their job.
I reached for my “Ask Me About My Hidden Files” shirt. Hec and I had come up with it together, and it still made me snort whenever I put it on. My head was halfway in it when I stopped.
Hmm, that’s maybe not the best choice for today.
I took it off and dropped it on the bed. The one saying “My Favourite Position is Administrator” hung next to it. But that didn’t scream professionalism either.
I turned my back on my witty shirts and snapped one of the few button-downs I owned from a hanger. It had a tiny, stylised APC stitched into the pocket and was tailored to fit big people like me.
I checked the fit in my mirror. Yes. This shirt said, “I’m taking my job seriously.”
I arrived at work with an hour to spare before the grand opening and grabbed a cup of coffee in the tea kitchen.
The last terrible one before we get the decent stuff upstairs.
Then I settled at my desk for a power hour of bug fixes.
Dawn’s arrival a few minutes later scattered all my good intentions.
She looked stunning in a tight shirt, floaty skirt, and heels. “Morning,” I rasped, trying to keep myself from checking her out again. She smiled and straightened her spine as she crossed the room.
I tried to focus on my screen but my eyes drifted back over.
Moon Goddess.
Her skirt rode up when she ducked under her desk to start her computer.
Don’t be a fucking creep, Atkins. Stop staring at her ass.
When Dawn mentioned over lunch in her first week that her engagement had ended a few months ago, I became even more aware of her effect on me. I’d grown up watching my father and the rest of the pack treat unbound females like prey, justifying all their shitty behaviour as byproducts of their rut.
“Couldn’t help myself; that’s just how I roll,” they said.
But we weren’t animals. We had a choice.Ihad a choice.
And, as if my pack history wasn’t messed up enough, I’d run into another Lupinian at my last job in trades. He’d been bigger than me, with sharp teeth and zero manners.
Graeme had used rut as an excuse foreverything. He was the reason I left that job, not that I ever told anyone—not even my twin brother.
Every time I caught myself drawn to Dawn, I heard my father’s voice, daring me to be just as bad. I refused.
She was vulnerable and deserved to feel safe here.
Protective, not predatory.
I forced myself back to the bug I was supposed to fix and drained my water bottle in one go.
Is it hot in here? Maybe I should have another coffee.
