Page 14

14

ALEX

A lex had grown up in Fairbanks, and even though she called Anchorage home now, she always felt nostalgic as the familiar landmarks came up driving north. Eielson Air Force Base had its boundaries delineated with an imposing chain link fence. A fighter jet was landing as they drove past the airfield, and Orson craned his head to watch it. There was the flood project, several acres of landscaped water storage space overgrown with willows and alders. They passed the turn-off for Chena Lakes, where Alex had gone to plenty of parties that didn’t check ID before you got a drink from the cooler.

Then they got to North Pole, and Orson’s eyes all but popped from his head. It was impossible to explain the little city with its absurdity and exuberance. Alex relished watching him exclaim over the twenty-foot plastic Santa, the Christmas-themed lumberyard, and all the relevant street names. It was an odd juxtaposition with the sunshine and heat.

Alex had thought he was hot but hateful when they left Valdez, and alpha jerks didn’t entice her. But enthusiastic Orson, cracking constant jokes and singing along with the music…he was funny, smart, and sexy and she feared for her heart.

Forever, he’d said. My mate. His possessiveness was hot, but his happiness made her weak.

Alex could take bubbly lessons from him, she thought. And she wanted to take bubbly lessons from him like she hadn’t from Sandra. She wanted the secret to his effervescent joy. She wanted to bottle it and sip happily like a bee drinking nectar.

Oh, right. He was also a bear.

Her brain kept skittering off that fact like it was too much to deal with.

It was too much to deal with.

But he was a bear, she was his mate, and she still didn’t know what that meant.

Alex no longer feared that he was going to fire her, but it was ridiculously unprofessional to have slept with him on his second day as her boss, and she still wasn’t sure where they were going to land in terms of authority. Was she going to slide in as his second in command? Could she even do that? She had a lot of pride and stubbornness and was used to giving orders, not taking them. She had hated herself skipping around the office pretending to be sweet and non-threatening.

And that was the Alex that he’d declared as his mate. He hadn’t complained about her comparative quiet and coolness on the trip from Tok, but he was also pretty busy singing and making dad jokes about the road names.

“Orson…”

“Are we going back to Anchorage?” he asked in alarm, turning to look at a sign they’d just passed.

“No, this is just the cut-off that goes around town,” Alex explained, turning onto the offramp. “Our office is on the west side.”

“Whew!” Orson settled back in his seat. “I was afraid you were kidnapping me.”

How did he keep making her laugh when she was trying to have serious conversations? “My people are going to want to know where we stand.”

“We can do it standing,” Orson said slyly. “Or lying down or on your back. Missionary style isn’t to be scoffed at.”

Alex gave a snort of laughter, quickly smothered. “That’s not what I meant. That’s the opposite of what I meant. Look, I don’t want any misunderstandings. What are we doing here?”

She wished the drive was longer, or she’d started this sooner, and was glad when they hit a red light.

“You’re my mate,” Orson said.

“Not that .” Even if she was wildly curious about that , too. “Professionally. Snafu—Grizzly Protective Services is your business now. Where does that leave me?”

Alex glanced from watching the light to see him gazing at her, instead of out the window.

“Did you think I’d fire you? Is that why you put on that ridiculous act?”

Alex was silent, letting him draw his own conclusions, and the car behind them honked when the light changed.

She pulled through the intersection. The car behind them zipped impatiently around, and the driver flipped her off, but Alex refused to speed.

“Maybe I will fire you,” Orson joked. “Fire you up, I mean…”

“Quit fucking clowning around!” Alex snapped. Crap. That was too strong. She needed to back down. “Tee hee hee.”

“Don’t do that,” Orson said grimly.

Alex glanced at him, confused, as she switched lanes to pass a painfully slow semi. Was he calling her out for yelling at him?

“Don’t giggle like that,” he clarified. “It’s awful. You’re terrible at it. I’ll stop joking forever if you promise never to do that.”

Alex didn’t actually want him to stop joking. But she was happy never to giggle again. “I’m sorry I yelled,” she said flatly.

“You call that yelling?” Orson scoffed. “Any one of my brothers could yell you under a bus.”

“I’ll have to appeal to them for lessons,” she said dryly.

“Anyway, I owe you answers. I didn’t think about how uncertain you must feel about your position.”

“I’m not—” But he was right. Alex was uncertain. And that never brought out the best in her. “Fuck. Look, I don’t want to give up my job. And I’m good at it. If I left, half the staff would quit with me, and you’d be screwed.”

Orson grinned at me. “I’m happy to be screwed by you …”

“Are you going to make everything a joke?” Alex demanded, chuckling despite herself.

“Ah, dammit. I already forgot my promise. Please don’t giggle.”

Alex did laugh, a shout of it, because what else could she do? “This is your new Fairbanks office,” she said, pulling up in front of the building. “Please don’t embarrass yourself.”

“Aren’t you more worried about me embarrassing you ?” he teased.

But for some reason, she really wasn’t.