Page 7

How I didn’t have a hangover the next morning was baffling.

We’d ended up staying at the bar for a couple hours dancing the night away before people started to file out.

The other members of the board that had disappeared elsewhere before we’d left the karaoke room never showed back up, so I had to assume that they were out doing something else or hooking up.

Wrage’s brother never came back to say he’d found his brother or anything of that nature. Which was a real shame because I could have gawked at him longer.

I’d never done anything with an Orb, and while I’d had attraction to them before, the passing crush failed to compete with the affect the petrylle seemed to have on me.

My dick had stayed at half-mast the entire rest of the night we’d been dancing, just thinking about how irrevocably hot Wrage’s brother was.

I hadn’t even gotten his name and he was all I could think about. I really needed to let off some steam.

The best part about last night was I’d actually done something I hadn’t thought I’d been up for but something that had been brought on by all the heat I’d surpassed after meeting Wrage’s brother .

I’d hooked up with the bartender.

Just like I’d been wanting to, after my who-the-hell-knows number Jack & Coke, I’d finally said fuck it and asked for him to meet me in the bathroom.

And just like I’d fantasized, he’d gotten down on his knees for me in one of the stalls and sucked my cock like it was his job.

Which was great, considering our little rendezvous was keeping him from doing his actual job.

I didn’t think his bosses would cover blowjob as the work he was supposed to be doing.

Like the gentleman I was, I’d returned the favor and that was that.

I knew that having fun was all we were doing, but it left me feeling really weird the rest of the night.

Weird partly because I felt guilty for having engaged in sex with someone who wasn’t my ex-husband for the first time, not even a week after the papers had been finalized, and weird partly because it was dawning on me that I didn’t want casual hookups, at least for the time being.

I wanted someone, eventually. I just wanted the right someone.

And I needed to focus on mending myself right now, as well as all the work I had to do as the Director of Orb Affairs.

The main weird part? I’d imagined that it had been Wrage’s brother I’d been with.

That morning, I was running behind as I was reading over Maxim’s notes from the previous meeting while I chugged my coffee.

Reading my iPad while I stomped down the street maybe wasn’t the most glamorous or safe idea, but I wanted to cram as much information into my skull on what issues the members had had last meeting as I could.

Hopefully, they’d take it easy on me by being hungover themselves. Did Orbs get hangovers?

This was going to be an interesting second meeting.

While walking down the street to work, I stopped dead in my tracks as I passed a cute cafe that I used to frequent when I’d been first dating Matty. Which was apt, because Matty was sitting outside the cafe, tossing his head back in laughter as another man smiled at him from across the table.

Matty was on a breakfast date.

It wasn’t so much that I minded seeing him on a date.

Matty could do whatever the hell he felt like.

If that meant that the easiest way to get over me was to start dating again, I harbored no ill will toward how he chose to heal what had been broken between us.

What I didn’t like was the fact that just witnessing it had stopped me dead in my tracks.

The man with Matty was pretty handsome, a tall blond that looked best suited for the folds of a GQ magazine.

My immobilization only started to wear off when Matty happened to glance in my direction, our eyes meeting from across the street.

For a second, Matty appeared to be horrified over the fact that I’d just so happened to stumble across his latest conquest, but it was quickly replaced by a smirk I knew all too well.

He was reveling in the fact that I was there, watching.

Not wanting to give him the satisfaction, I stormed off, unsure of exactly what feeling I was thriving in as I marched my way closer to the office.

I truly wasn’t mad, but was I jealous? Sure, it was weird that Matty was on a date with someone other than me, but I didn’t wish I was the tall blond.

I’d yearned to be free of Matty for years, for many complex and detailed reasons that went beyond a simple breakup.

We’d been drifting apart for years without either of us noticing, too afraid of stirring the boat of our relationship to see what was painfully obvious.

So was it just the fact that I’d been caught off guard be seeing Matty that had made me stop?

After a few beats thinking more on it as I entered our building, I decided that’s exactly what it was.

While it did sting that not much time had passed since our divorce, I wanted Matty to be happy, whatever form it was that that needed to take.

Plus, it was hard to be jealous when I still had the memory of what the cute bartender had tasted like last night chiseled into my brain.

Maxim was there to meet me at his desk, holding up another coffee for me to take just as I finished the one in my hand. He truly was gunning for assistant of the year.

“God, you’re the best.” I said, tossing my empty coffee in the little trash can next to his desk and gratefully taking the coffee he offered me. “How’s the attendance this morning?”

“Only two aren’t here,” Maxim smiled. “Wrage called and said he wasn’t going to be able to make it. And Francyn said she’s just running really late.”

I smirked. Francyn and Wrage had snuck out of the karaoke room, mostly unnoticed by everyone except for me. Clearly, things had gone really well between them.

“Sounds good. Thanks, Max.”

“You got it, boss.”

Chuckling, I gestured with a nod toward the meeting room. “Let’s head in.”

Maxim followed me inside the board meeting room, and I saw no less than five pairs of sunglasses from people that were clearly bothered by the lights, thanks to their nursing hangovers. I guess that was one question answered.

“Good morning everyone,” I said cheerily as I made my way to my seat. Everyone had taken their exact same seats as yesterday, with only Francyn and Wrage’s seats left empty.

They all mumbled a collective half-hearted hello, confirming that everyone felt pretty much the same.

“Leave it to the person who’s idea it was to have the damn party at the bar to skip out on work the next day.” Ozmo sighed, not bothering to remove their hair from out of their face so their eyes could be seen, their hair working as their own shield from the buzzing fluorescents above.

“And where the hell is Wrage?” This was from Berthyll, an agitated look out of place on her bark-like face .

“He won’t be in this morning.” I smirked, opting to not out the assumed tryst between Francyn and Wrage that I’d spotted. Everyone was entitled to a little bit of privacy, even amongst fellow board members.

Pivoting to a different topic, I was just about to go over some talking points from the first meeting yesterday, but the door to the board room blew open so hard that the hinges were singing with deliberate force.

Squeals dribbled into the room as someone who looked very much like Wrage stomped into the room like his mission was far from over.

No, it wasn’t Wrage. It was the brother. Again. The one I’d been endlessly fantasizing about whenever I had a free moment. Now that alcohol wasn’t controlling my basic motor functions, I was able to really take in his features and could really see how different he appeared from Wrage.

This petrylle was a little shorter, had a little less of the bodybuilder shape that his brother donned and more of a personal trainer vibe.

Where Wrage had been bald, this creature had black hair that was buzzed close to his head.

But the grey skin that looked like it was crafted out of the finest stone, the finger sized horns just above either side of his eyebrows and piercing sky blue eyes were identical.

“Excuse me,” I said, standing up from my seat and staring at him like he was insane. The rest of the members looked scared out of their minds at his intrusion. “Can I help you?”

He scanned the room, going over the faces before him, ending with a glance in my direction. “My brother isn’t here?”

Why the hell he was on this much of a warpath in regards to his brother’s schedule, I wasn’t sure.

But I knew that this wasn’t how I wanted this meeting to go, especially with a room full of Orbs nursing hangovers.

I slid over to him and guided him out of the meeting room doors that looked like they could use a good straightening to be back in working condition.

“Perhaps we can talk outside for a minute.” I told him, closing the doors behind us and sighing when they didn’t fully close. Gesturing to my office, I added, “Here, we can talk in my office.”

Bypassing Maxim’s desk, we sauntered into my office. I made sure to leave the door open, in case he decided he wanted to let out his anger on me. If it was in a sexual way, I might’ve been into it, but given his abrupt entry into the boardroom, I didn’t think things would progress that way.

“Wrage called in sick,” I managed to elevate my voice higher than a whisper. Seeing his chest rise and fall in heavy succession from underneath his neon pink crop top was doing things to me. “What’s your name?”

“Wrex,” Rex , just like the human name. He said it so fast that I barely had time to attach it to the naughty things we’d been doing in my head since I’d first interacted with him at the bar. “I should have mentioned that at the bar last night, I apologize.”

“You can apologize to the doors of the boardroom.” I snickered, shaking my head in disbelief. “You haven’t spoken to Wrage since last night?”

“I never spoke to him last night,” Wrex said with a scoff. “That’s why I came barreling in here, I haven’t been able to reach him.”

“Did something happen?”

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with, human.” Wrex seethed, but a gloss of regret appeared on his face and he sighed as he wiped his features to a more neutral one. “I’m sorry. Something’s been happening to petrylle and I’m sure Wrage is fine, but I’m worried.”

Alarm rang in my head. Wrage hadn’t mentioned anything bad happening to petrylle during the first meeting. Had something sinister really come up that fast?

“What’s happening to petrylle? That’s what we’re here to work on, bettering the lives of all Orbs. If something bad is happening to petrylle, you can tell me. I can help. ”

Wrex appeared uneasy, as if trusting me was much harder than opening his mouth and spewing the truth. I knew humans hadn’t been the kindest to Orbs in the past, but if there was a reason that they’d given petrylle to instantly distrust us, I wanted to squash that qualm.

Finally, he rolled his shoulders, giving me a slight nod of encouragement. “I appreciate that. I’d like to discuss it with my brother first. If he shares it with this…”

“ORBIT,” I smiled. “The board is called ORBIT.”

“Right, ORBIT.” Wrex scoffed. “If he chooses to share it with ORBIT, then you can address it then.”

“Fair enough.”

I thought I caught Wrex’s eyes sweeping over me in a more intentional way than he had when we’d been at the bar, but just as fast as I might have imagined it, it disappeared with a silent sizzle as his face readjusted.

My belly burned at the thought of Wrex checking me out.

“I’m sorry for barging in and interrupting,” Wrex apologized. “I can fix the doors before I leave.”

“Thank you. And I can let you know if I hear from Wrage. If you want to stop by my assistant’s office, you can write your number on a Post It.”

“Yes, thank you.”

We stepped out of my office and Wrex walked over to straighten the doors while I waited by Maxim’s desk, looking back to see Wrex bending the hinges back to their former glory and enabling them to close appropriately.

Just as he closed the door properly and turned back to face me, Francyn came stumbling toward us, looking like she’d spent the night in Vegas.

Her hair was unkempt, her clothes were the same leopard print ones she’d been wearing at the bar, and her makeup was smudged without direction.

“I am so sorry I’m late!” Francyn’s saccharine voice reached us, and I quickened a glance at Wrex, since he had no idea that Francyn and Wrage might have been together last night. She glanced up at Wrex and stopped in her tracks. “Wait, Wrage?”

He shook his head. “I’m his brother, Wrex. Have you seen him?”

Francyn laughed nervously. “I mean…yes? I just saw him, like, twenty minutes ago when he was leaving my place.” She smoothed a hand to flatten her rising dress. “He’s a lot worse off than I am.”

“He’s okay then?” The hope barked in Wrex’s voice and made my heart leap.

“He’s fine,” Francyn nodded. “I mean, he’s hungover as hell, but he’ll be right as rain tomorrow, I’m sure.”

Wrex let out an exhale he’d clearly been holding since he’d stormed into the office building. “Thank you.” He stomped forward, giving me a quick glance. “Sorry again, Mr. Watson.”

All thoughts of Wrex writing down his number were now null and void, but that didn’t stop me from wishing he’d given it to me.

I wasn’t even going to question how he knew my name, or if he’d gotten it from Wrage, because just my last name on his tongue made me yearn for other things of mine to be on the receiving end of his tongue.

“No problem, and it’s Wallace.”

Wrex gave me a grin, a smirk that just made my boner soar against the polyester cage of my slacks. I only hoped Francyn didn’t notice the growing bulge as I tried to shake off the heat rising within me and turned to open the doors of the boardroom for us.