Page 46 of Enticing the Elf
“Go for a hike,” Caolan adds.
“Play with your rabbit.” Alistair frowns. “That sounds dirty, somehow.”
For the love of… “You are never allowed near Elsking.”
“Just enjoy the time off,” Andrew cuts in before Alistair can argue. “It’s a gift from Eoin—another way he’s trying to show you how earnest he is about this.”
He’s right. “Yeah. Good point. Thank you. For… everything.” I actually mean it.
Andrew’s fangs peek out as he grins. “An excellent way to show thanks is with cake.”
“There’s some in the break room,” I tell him, and revulsion flashes across his face.
“Twinkies are not?—”
“I don’t want to be part of this argument again.” It’s Alistair’s turn to cut in. He leans on the raised part of my desk and meets my gaze. “How do you think it’s going so far?”
I blink. “You mean… the challenges?”
He nods.
“Well… good, I guess. There’s only been one date, so it might be too soon to tell.”
He makes an odd sort of face, his eyebrows bouncing around. “But do you feel good about it? Like Eoin’s going to stick it out?”
The words catch in my throat, because while hope is now a permanent part of my being, saying things out loud might jinx them. “He hasn’t backed out yet.” It’s a compromise.
Alistair seems disappointed by my lack of commitment. “Does that make you happy?”
Yes.Again, the word sticks, but it must show on my face, because they all break out in smiles.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Eoin
A thick folderdrops onto my desk, breaking my concentration. I glance at it, then up at Niamh, who’s now shamelessly looking at my screen. “What are you doing? Does that say ‘custom leather collars’? I didn’t need to know this about you, boss.”
Around us, heads pop up. Everyone on my team has sharp hearing and the ability to multitask, and their experience in the army means their situational awareness is second-to-none. It’s why I try not to have personal or classified conversations in here.
“Collars?” Brayan says. “Is Eoin watching porn? How did you get around the firewall?”
It’s not just me who turns to stare at him, and his face goes red as he hurries to add, “Not that I’ve ever tried to watch porn at work. That would be unprofessional.”
“Today seems to be the day for learning unwanted information about my colleagues’ sexual interests,” Niamh says. “Could I get trauma leave for this? I feel like I need a day off to process what I’ve learned and bleach my brain.”
“Nobody’s getting trauma leave, and nobody’s watching porn at work,” I declare, exasperated. I scroll back up to the top of the webpage. “This site is for custom pet collars. Do we need to havea training session about the need to gather information before making conclusions?”
“It’s not like I used a combat spell,” she protests. “What?—”
“Did you need something?”
There’s an instant of hesitation while she calculates whether she can push her luck, but I’ve got my resting boss face firmly in place, so she huffs and taps a finger on the folder. “These are the updated monthly reports from the teams with the viceroys. Most of them are fine, but you should look at the one from the Pacific Islands. It seems like the team leader wants us to read between the lines.”
Frowning, I reach for the folder and find the relevant report. “Do I need to alert His Majesty?” Skimming the first paragraph, I immediately see what she means.
“I don’t think so. The vibe I got wasn’t about security issues, more like the team needs a shakeup.”
The more I read, the more I’m inclined to agree. The report doesn’t outright state that there are tensions within the team there, but it’s not hard to spot the insinuation. “Pull the details of everyone on the roster there and see if you can spot any obvious reasons for conflict,” I order. “I’ll follow up with you about it tomorrow, and we’ll go from there.” The next step would be a call with the team lead in question, but I want to have the relevant background fresh in my mind before then.
