4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Amelia

G REAT!

I had totally been flirting with Desmond.

Mumbling something, I turned and stalked from the room to get the printouts my boss needed.

The storeroom was a quiet, sprawling space and took up about half of our floor. It was cramped with shelves of stationery, piles of boxes of printing paper, replacement toner cartridges, empty folders, kitchen rolls, toilet paper, bags of coffee beans, soaps, and everything else you needed to survive a zombie apocalypse.

Giggling at my own joke, I grabbed the stack of still warm papers and rushed back to my office.

Desmond looked up guilty when I entered, his hand stuck in the tin of shortbread I'd left open on my desk.

I grabbed a folder from a pile on a shelf and fiddled around with the documents to get them all lined up properly, occasionally catching a phrase like ‘generous offices dominate the upper floor' or one of the fancy pictures.

"Help yourself. I'm really glad you like them." I threw him a glance from under my eyelashes. "It's my own recipe. It's awesome to see it's being appreciated."

He had just popped the piece into his mouth and paused, one eyebrow raised.

" You made this?" he asked in a muffled voice. "Sorry." He hid his muzzle full of bright white fangs behind his hand, underlining his apology with a rueful shrug.

"I did, yeah. I love baking," I told him over my shoulder while filling out the front of the file.

Date: 27 November 2037

Participants: Carson, S., Nyland, C.

Customer: N?kken (NO), Trollegatan 3, 6221 Bresund

Property: 24, Bromewood Park, Kirkmuir

Desmond gulped down the shortbread, brushed the crumbs off his mouth and hands, and smiled at me. "Cool."

"In what world? My brother always says it's a nerdy hobby for someone my age."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with being a nerd." He sniffed, and returned to his work.

"I suppose you have a point," I mumbled before turning towards Carson's door. I knocked and opened it cautiously, not wanting to overhear any more of his cutesy phone calls with his husband. "Mr Carson?"

"Miss Hendry? Ah! Are these the papers for my meeting?" He took the folder and glanced down at it, then gave me a distracted smile.

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you. Do you have trouble with your computer again?" His focus sharpened as he zoomed in on me.

"The stubborn printer driver didn't update automatically," I repeated what Desmond had told me.

"Ah, yes, of course. Well, I dare say Murray will take care of it for you?"

"Yes sir, I'd be lost without him. I'll get back to work, sir."

"You do that, Miss Hendry."

He didn't even look at me when he said it.

Is he angry with me? Perhaps he's finally realising how much I struggle with my stupid tech.

I shut my boss's door and inhaled deeply, trying to get rid of the anxious knot in the pit of my stomach.

It's all good, Mia. You got it all done on time.

The big grey wolf sitting at my desk paused with his hands poised over the keyboard, tilted his head and stared at me for a moment.

Please don't ask . I couldn't guarantee I wouldn't start crying. This was nothing he or Carson needed to see.

"I'm almost done with this." He turned his attention back to the screen, and pressed a few keys at the same time.

"What did you do there? Looked like you were going to break your fingers."

Half his muzzle curled up in a smirk.

"It was just a shortcut. No self-harm." He held up his hands and wriggled his fingers as if to show me they were okay. I really shouldn't have wondered what else he could do with those thick digits.

"Can't hurt my second most important tool."

"What's the first?" I asked without thinking.

Oh my gosh. Come on, floor, swallow me whole! Heat crept up my throat and I felt it tinge my cheeks.

"My brain, Miss Hendry."Desmond pursed his leathery lips.

Before I could think of a reply to this the door behind me opened, making me cry out in shock and spin on the spot.Clutching at my hammering heart, I was faced with my boss.

"I'll be off Miss…Hendry. Is everything all right? Are you feeling unwell?" His royal blue eyes—the exact same shade as his skin—scrutinised me again.

"Unwell? No, sir." I aimed for an off-hand voice. No, I'm good, you almost gave me a heart attack, that's all .

"If you are sure? Please do call it a day if you are under the weather. I wouldn't be surprised in this." He waved his hand at the scene outside my window. It had been raining on and off all night, turning the few inches of snow we'd had into a slushy mess. And if I wasn't mistaken, it was sleet pounding against the glass.

Then his eyes fell on the Wolfman in my chair.

"Murray," he said jovially. "You're still here? Any problems?"

Oh please don't tell him I suck.

"Nah, I've run into a bit of a situation with the printer in here. It's been acting up and I figured out why. Just fixing the IPP and the LDAP, and…" He rattled off a bunch of technical details I didn't understand at all. Neither did my boss. Thank God.

"Oh, great. Good man, Murray. You fix the LAPD, and I'll be out of your way. I have a meeting with an important client." Carson raised the folder I'd prepared for him.

"Goodbye, sir." We spoke at the same time and, catching Desmond's eye, I saw mischief dancing in his silver eyes.

"Miss Hendry." Carson nodded at me. "Murray."

"Mr Carson."

He waited until my boss had left, before sneaking his hand into the cookie tin once more.

"This stuff is addictive."

"Take as much as you want. Thank you." I mouthed the last words.

He waved me off, pushing his black frames higher up his nose.

Five minutes later he got up from my chair and stretched his arms wide, groaning and huffing like a dog after a long time inside. Then he walked over to where I stood.

"These tiny office chairs always make my back hurt. And my ass." Involuntarily, my eyes dropped to check out said rump.

Whoops .

"Thanks again, I know I'm really useless when it comes to computers. I really do appreciate your help. And I was wondering, uh. I don't suppose you offer computer tutoring, wait, would that be computoring?"

Oh gosh. Stop talking, Mia!