Page 52 of My Omega's Baby
“I know. But then he turned out to be… slightly less of an asshole than I thought.” I kept my eyes pinned on his gun calendar over his head. “We’ve actually hung out a lot since.”
“Okay. That’s a surprising development.”
“Do you want me to be mad at him? I thought you were the one who was always telling me to suck it up?”
“I was. I just didn’t think you’d ever do it.” He flipped through some papers on his desk. “Tork was going to break news of the merger to his guys today. I’ve already told everyone on my end.”
“How will this change things?”
“There shouldn’t be too many obvious differences for you guys. Tork and I will have to merge our scheduling and office procedures, but you guys will just do business as usual. We’re keeping the name Shield. It looks better on a T-shirt.”
“And that is the most important thing.”
He leaned forward. “Listen, we all want this transition to go smoothly, and that’s up to all of you guys. Tork and I know how to play nice, but you field types like to hold grudges.”
“I have no grudges. I’m just glad to still have a job.”
He looked pleased. “That’s the spirit.”
I cleared my throat. “Since you’re in such a good mood, I thought I’d go ahead and put in my request for a vacation.”
“Sure. When?” He seemed distracted as he riffled through papers.
I gave an uneasy laugh. “I need all of June off.”
He looked up. “Excuse me?”
“I uh… I planned a hiking trip, and it’s like this whole monthlong thing.” Sweat broke out on my upper lip, and I hoped he couldn’t tell. I was usually really good at staying calm under pressure, but lately my hormones had been off-the-charts nuts.
“Who the fuck asks for a month off?”
“I have that much time owed me.” My voice wobbled.
“Sure, lots of the guys do. But nobody takes it all at once.” He narrowed his gaze. “Does this have anything to do with the whole blah thing you have going on?”
I bristled. “I’m not blah and I need that time off.” I grimaced and made up a lie. “My deposit is nonrefundable.”
“June is in two weeks. You sure didn’t give me much warning.”
“I meant to ask sooner. I was distracted.”
“You had no business booking a trip like that without checking if it was cool with me first.” His eyes snapped with irritation.
“You’re acting like this place won’t survive without me or something.”
“No. It’s just not normal to ask for a whole month off.” He shook his head. “Whatever. Fine. Yes you can have June off.” He grimaced. “I can’t even believe I just said that.”
“Thank you.” I was relieved. That was one less thing to have to worry about.
He pushed a file across the desk. “Here’s your next client: Riley West. He’s in a rock band, and he likes having security when he goes home to show off to his family.”
“So he’s not in any danger?”
“Nah, just wants the people who were rude to him in high school to see what hot shit he is these days.”
Sounded like something I could probably handle. “Okay.”
“It’s a two-day trip.” He was looking down, so he didn’t notice my grimace.
