3
ORSON
O rson knew that he was not covering himself in glory on his first day.
It was painfully clear that he knew nothing about Alaska, running a business, or being a person who didn’t make jokes.
And Alexandra Vex was his mate.
Orson had always felt a certain amount of disbelief at the idea of mates. It felt more like fairy tale than fate when he heard other people talking about them. Not every shifter found one, and when they did, they were hard pressed to explain how it was different than instinct. You just know, his big brother Peter had told him. You just know that this one person is the key to all your possible happiness and you’d better not screw it up.
Orson was very invested in not screwing this up. Even more than not screwing up coming to Alaska and being New Orson in charge of their new branch.
But he wasn’t sure what to make of her. Alex Vex was supposed to be a competent and insightful business manager, but the Alexandra Vex who showed him around the new office was vapid and giggled a lot. Was she flirting? She didn’t seem very warm, even though she smiled at him and fluttered her eyelashes. Her eyes remained cool and calculating.
Orson wanted her…and wow, he wanted her. That soft skin, that silky hair. Those long legs, the curves she wasn’t hiding. He wanted to pin her against the climbing wall, wrap her legs around him, and take her against that fake limestone. He wanted to bend her over his new desk and see what she was hiding underneath that short skirt. He wanted to taste her mouth, to claim her completely.
His bear wasn’t sure why they hadn’t done any of those things yet, but the finer points of indecency laws were frequently lost on him.
And Orson got the undeniable feeling that Alexandra Vex wasn’t showing him her real self— or the real business. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he was being led down a false trail…to what? Was the business in worse shape than his family had been led to believe? Theo had checked over the finances, and Orson’s brothers wouldn’t have set him up for failure…would they? No, no matter what he did, they were family. They had his back. Even when they sent him to Alaska.
And Alexandra Vex is my mate.
It was a good thing Orson had decided ahead of time to grunt his way through conversations, because every time that he looked straight at her, all his blood left his brain for lower places, and he couldn’t form complete sentences when he tried.
The worst part? He truly wanted to impress this woman, but had no idea how.
He followed her helplessly around the building, meeting people he wouldn’t remember. He frowned and grumbled a lot because he wasn’t sure what else to do, hopelessly out of his depth. Alexandra finished the tour back in the lobby, where she and Sandra looked at Orson expectantly. This was his business now, and he was supposed to be making decisions .
It took all of Orson’s self-control not to make a joke and get a laugh out of the situation. He could quip about not remembering names and ask for Hello, My Name Is stickers for everyone for his first week, jest about lunch breaks, or make a show of checking his GPS for directions to the bathroom.
But that wasn’t what Theo or Baxter would do. Besides, he was New Orson , not Old Orson . New Orson was going to be an amazing boss, and to do that, he needed a lot more information.
“I’d like to visit the pipeline,” he blurted. “I want to see the whole thing.”
Sandra and Alexandra both stared. “The entire pipeline?” Sandra asked hesitantly.
Orson remembered at that moment that the project was protecting eight hundred miles of pipeline, and he’d already looked like an idiot for suggesting that they send people out to respond to situations three hours from a station as needed. Traveling eight hundred miles of Alaska was not going to be a breezy day trip, and it only emphasized that he didn’t have the slightest idea what he was doing.
No, wait, this is perfect!
It would give him a chance to familiarize himself with Alaska, it would get him out of the office so he didn’t do anything dumb on his first week. And best of all… Orson pointed to Alexandra. “You’ll come with me!” He didn’t make it a question, turning back to Sandra so he wouldn’t second guess his impulsive imperiousness. “I want to stop and see all our projects along the way. Make any necessary travel arrangements,” Orson told her boldly, not daring to suggest what they would be. Would a dog sled be best? He hadn’t seen any snow, but it was probably colder the further north they got.
Alexandra gave one of those weird, theatrical giggles that didn’t actually sound amused. “Tee hee hee. You’re the boss,” she said lightly. “When do you want to leave?”
“Tomorrow morning,” Orson said firmly. “As early as possible.”
Sandra was typing on her keyboard. “I’ll book you a flight to Valdez first thing. A company truck will be available for you there. You can detour to our mine construction security project outside of Tok, and from there drive through Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay. I’ll book you a flight back down from Deadhorse. It will be four nights, five days in total.”
Four nights? And worse… Val-deez? Oh, damn, Orson realized that he had been saying it Val-dehz this whole day and no one had corrected him. Was it a sign that they were afraid of him? That was what he wanted, wasn’t it? Dang, what would Peter do?
“Good work, Sandra,” Orson said as gruffly as he could manage. “Miss Vex, will you need a ride to the airport?”
“I will not,” she said through gritted teeth.
Was she mad that he had ordered her to come with him? Just as Orson doubted the soundness of this plan, she followed it with a fake sounding, “Tee hee hee,” and fluttered her eyelashes. “See you bright and early!”
Orson fled to his office and shut the door, sinking into the chair to put his head in his hands.
What had he gotten himself into?