Page 26 of My Orc Billionaire
I’ve neverwantedto sleep with any of my clients, either.
But now?
Now, after Abydos reappeared just in time tosmellme—how embarrassing is that?—and want to fix mypain? After he held me in his lap and said and did all the right things?
Let’s just put it this way: After the cramps pass, I get horny as hell, and this month wasn’t an exception. And now I had a new fantasy.
Suddenly,bam. I went from being professional and courteous to bumbling around like a nincompoop when it came to my boss. I still brought him his meals, but when he looked up and met my eyes and nodded solemnly and said, “Thank you,” in that gravelly voice of his?
One evening I almost dumped French onion soup in his lap in my awkward desperation to cover up how my stomach flopped deliciously every time he spoke.
Oh yeah. When it came to the hots for my grumpy boss, I had it bad.
Who would’ve thought that all it would take was some kindness and a back massage when I felt like shit? And a pair of forearms I could break eggs on when he rolled up his sleeves? And that little furrow between his brows when he was obsessing over whatever his Director of Mine Operations had told him?
Or the way, sometimes when he was watching me, his tongue would flick out and brush against his broken tusk and then he couldn’t quite hide his wince? I wasn’t sure if it was a nervous habit or something he did on purpose, but each and every time, I felt my heart squeeze. I wanted to fix that pain—in his tusk and in his heart—the same way he’d fixed mine.
But I was just his chef.
So I did my best to stay in the background as the week passed. But every time I walked into a room, his head was up, and he was watching me.
It happened a few days before Halloween, when I worked up the guts to interrupt him in the middle of dinner. I sort of sidled into the dining room, and he slowly put down his forkful of the cheese-and-harvest-vegetable tagine I’d spent hours prepping.
“What is it, Riven?”
My smile—because it tickled me when he used my name, okay?—was a little hesitant. “Look, I’m really sorry to have to ask you this…”
“Are you sick? Do you need time off?” He was already nodding, reaching for his phone. “I can?—”
“No!” I held up my palms, my chuckle awkward. “I just need to…um…” It was easier to stare at his half-eaten dinner than him, for fear that he might seemorein my gaze than was appropriate, and I pushed out the explanation all at once. “Can I borrow your car?”
He froze. “What?”
I risked a peek. “Your SUV. I drive a sedan.”
“I know.” His tone wasn’t cold, just…formal. Waiting for an explanation.
So I took a deep breath and met his eyes. “My new stand mixer has come in, and they’re holding it at the cargo office by the docks. They’re open until seven, and if I pick it up tonight I can make the Earl Grey brioche I wanted to make for breakfast tomorrow. I was going to pair it with brie for your afternoon snack, and—” I was talking too fast, wasn’t I? “But it’s really freakingheavy, and if I want it for tomorrow, I can’t hire someone to deliver it, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to lift it over the lip of my sedan’s trunk, whereas your SUV’s trunk?—”
“Doesn’t have a lip.” He nodded, then stabbed a huge bite of the tagine and shoved it into his mouth as he stood. Since he was chewing, he jerked his head toward the foyer.
Was he…dismissing me?
But then he pushed around the table, lifting his wrist to check his fancy watch. He finished chewing and swallowed. “Those carrots are amazing. Let’s go, we have forty minutes until the office closes.”
My mouth dropped open. “What?” I hurried to keep up with him as he strode from the dining room. “No, Abydos, you don’t need to come with me! Go finish your dinner! Honestly, I’m a good driver, and you can trust me with your SUV!” I was scurrying after him like a frantic pet. “Or I’ll just wait and have it delivered tomorrow! I can make the brioche the next day!”
He stopped and turned on me, causing me to skitter to a halt, trip over my feet, and pitch forward.
When he reached for my shoulders to steady me, I should have been mortified. Iwasmortified. But that didn’t stop me from swaying toward him, delighting in the weight of his touch or the little shivers that ran up my spine.
“I’m driving, Riven.” He lowered his chin to hold my gaze. “You’re not hauling a hundred pounds of machinery alone. Stop arguing.”
Oh.
Well, the new stand mixerwasthe industrial size—I’d gotten greedy when I ordered it with his card, what can I say?—but it wasn’t quite a hundred pounds. Still, since he was already striding for the hallway down to the garage, I wasn’t going to complain, was I?
Abydos would drive me, and help carry the stupidly large appliance I’d ordered?
