Page 52 of Soul Mates: Hercules Valentine and I

“Is she replacing Jeff?”

“Ask Herc.”

Orion folds his arms, lowers his chin, and glares at Mason. The entire gesture from start to finish is so sexy. I’m starting to understand why Treasure went to the brink of defying her parents just to make love to him.

“You know you're my guard dog too,” he says.

“I’m VTI’s guard dog,” Mason retorts.

Orion’s eyes turn devilish when he winks at me. “We’ll grab a drink sometime soon.”

I shake my head nervously. “I don’t drink.”Dang it, I didn’t mean to say that.The worst thing I can ever do is go out for drinks with Orion Valentine. First, he’s my cousin’s ex-lover. And secondly, it would be careless of me to spend more time than necessary with him. He's already said I look familiar.

“Are you a company officer fraternizing with the new hire?” Mason fortunately says. “Dude, you’re making me a party to an act of sexual harassment.”

Orion curls his top lip into the kind of smirk a boxer does before the match starts. “Playing in the mud pit, aren’t we?”

“I’m playing professional. You might want to try it sometime,” Mason bites back. This kind guy, who I thought couldn't hurt a fly, has the teeth of a lion.

After one bitter laugh, Orion, in all of his glory, turns away from us before strolling confidently away. I can definitely see why it took Treasure so long to get over him. Now, she’s marrying a movie star. I can never remember his name even though she can’t stop talking about him. I think she’s in love.

The exchange between the two men has left me speechless. It’s evident there’s a tub of bad blood between them. I wonder why.

Mason points. “HR. Down that way.” He curves his finger. “Make the first right.” And then he’s off, hurrying to catch up with Orion.

“Okay,” I whisper, but he doesn’t hear me.What the hell was that?Max instructed me to keep my eyes and ears open for an advantage. I was determined not to do that. I never wanted my mission to drift past the basics. But clearly, there’s a rip waiting to be exploited here. I’m not sure if I’m ready to tell Max about it yet.

I face the elevators. It’s not too late to disappear and never play Lark Davenport ever again. The showdown I just saw between Mason and Orion is a reminder that I'm dealing with real people. I stare at the button. A steady trail of people walks behind me. They don't know me yet. Maybe I should keep it that way. I mean, I can only imagine what they’ll say when they learn the Grove daughter infiltrated their workplace and stole critical information.What does Max have on the Valentines that'll keep them from throwing the book at me?I could find out. And I’ll probably go digging soon.

But they’re harboring information that was stolen from us first,my voice that thinks a lot like Max says. And they broke into Grandfather’s house to get it. Your grandpa, Paisley.

Ding.The elevator doors part. A stampede of coworkers threatens to overtake me. The thought of being in their way makes me hightail it to HR.

There's no turning back now—it's official. I'm starting.

Chapter Twenty-One

The Life I Want

Paisley Grove

Damn it. Thandie Devers in HR is nice too.

As soon as I walked into the HR office, her face lit up. “Lark Davenport?” she exclaimed as though she’d been eagerly awaiting my arrival.

I hate that she’s not pretentious. I wish she wasn’t just as nice as Mason. She asked if I wanted a latte, coffee, or mocha, hot or iced. My stomach was too upset for me to say yes, so we began our tour. So far, she’s shown me the dining hall, which looks like a gourmet version of a mall’s food court.

“Everything’s free for visitors and employees,” she said.

That was impressive. I wondered if the same was true for GIT. I’d never stepped into any of our corporate campuses. Max had been too busy keeping me stowed away. Thandie showed me the power-nap sleeping pods and two lounges, each with made-to-order coffee bars.

We leave operations—the department where I can get stationary and any other supplies I may need—and walk down another stretch of a hallway. I’m overwhelmed by the tour but in a good way. VTI is my first real-world job, and so far, I like it.

Thandie waves as she says good morning to a woman in a red wool trench coat and unlocks her office door. The woman is the sixteenth person she’s greeted since our tour began. I’ve been counting them and envying her for knowing so many people.Everybody seems to really like her too. And she appears to esteem them just the same. She's nice. She’s so damn nice that it makes my stomach and heart twist into more knots.

“You’re from Seattle, right?” She opens a door and waits for me to enter first.

“Yes.” Saying that takes a bite out of my heart as I walk into the gym. I abhor lying—and yet I just told one so easily.