AllFreeNovel
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“Think nothing of it.” I gathered myself together, too, straightening the lapels on my pink blazer, accidentally mirroring my alpha. I mean, myboss. “Maybe other people around here are intimidated by you, but if you don’t straighten up and fly right, I’ll show you how stubborn a goat can be. Might even give you a bonk with my horns.” I playfully head-butted his huge bicep. For the first time in maybe a week, Victor cracked a smile.
“What do you want for dinner?”
“Are you springing for it, Mister Lion Man?”
“Least I can do. It’s nice to have you here.” He cleared his throat again. “It’s helpful, I mean. Whatever you want. Have you tried Cava’s?” The most expensive place in town? Hell, no, I hadn’t tried Cava’s. I wasn’t gonna tell him that, though.
“I’d love to have some tonight. What’s your favorite thing on the menu?”
“You can never go wrong with their surf and turf.” For somebody who used to eat a lot of ramen, that was music to my ears.
“Two of those, then.”
He squinted. “I didn’t say I wanted surf and turf.”
“I know. They’re both for me.” Victor burst out laughing, and what a sight it was, the laugh coming deep from his strapping chest as he tossed back his golden, medium-length mane. What an alpha.
We worked diligently, even as the moon rose in the sky and other exhausted employees stumbled out of the office like the undead. The surf and turf was to die for, and tasted even better with the rent-payment-expensive bottle of wine Vic opened for us, and it tasted evenbetterbecause I hadn’t spent a dime. We laughed and joked and flirted shamelessly as we worked, caring less and less about propriety. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought we were on a date.
With the food all gone, I picked up the box and took a big bite. Mmm. Cardboard, sliced thin, just how I liked it.
Victor looked at me in alarm. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Having dessert after dessert, thank you very much.” He burst out laughing, and after such an intense and serious night, it filled my heart with happiness to see him so free, and to know that I made him laugh like that.
“That’s disgusting.”
“That’s the goat life, baby.”
Victor shook his head as he chuckled. “Next time I’ll just grab you one of the boxes out of the recycling bin. It’ll save me a whole lot of time.”
“Oh, no you don’t. I want more surf and turf for my all-nighters. The boxes are just a bonus.”
“Okay, you win. We’ll stick with the fancy dinners for all-nighters. Whatever the hell your little heart desires, you keep working like this you’ll get it. If your goat heart desires styrofoam, too, you’ll get that. I just won’t watch the carnage.”
I licked my lips at the thought. “Yum, I haven’t had styrofoam in a while.”
Vic smiled fondly. “That’s it, you have to go home.”
“No problem. I have a tarp at home.”
Vic’s eyes bugged out of his head. “To eat?”
“Sure, after I’m done covering stuff with it. It’s gotta go somewhere. Better than some damn landfill. I can recycle it naturally.” Vic’s laughter came out like a tropical storm, fast and wild and lush. It made me want to make him mine. MINE.
Am I crazy, or is this my fated mate? Yep, you’re definitely crazy, Bobby. Even if he was, do you think that would mean anything to him? Do you think he’d stoop so low as to bond with his lowly assistant?Normally, I was a person bursting with confidence. However, with this subject, being fated mates with Victor and actuallybeingwith him, seen as his romantic partner and equal? It seemed like a pipe dream, no matter how badly I was coming to ache for it. Besides, even if he ever decided he wanted me in his bed, could he ever truly see me as someone on the same level as him? He was a billionaire. I doubted it.
“As much fun as allthishas been,” I gestured to all the papers, electronic devices, and empty food packaging I hadn’t eaten, “I really do have to go home.” Victor dropped his eyes and nodded. He looked disappointed, which I wasn’t expecting.
“Well…thank you. For all your help and hard work tonight.”
It was sweet and sincere and caught me off guard. It made my heart a little soft. “You’re welcome. I was happy to do it,” I replied, just as genuine.
“It’s late. Dark outside.”
“I’m a big goat, I can take care of myself.”
He looked me up and down, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “I think you might wanna rephrase that.”
