by Lola Gabriel
Oryn stood from his chair and walked around the desk to sit on the edge, his line of sight directly parallel to hers. Adley noticed the muscles underneath his shirt, and a shiver ran down her spine, spreading to the rest of her body. She straightened her shoulders and tried her utmost not to stand from the chair and kiss him. He was so close to her and yet so far, his knee inches away from hers. Adley glanced up at him, into his bright green eyes, which practically glowed. She noticed a scar running down the side of his face, from the outside tip of his right eyebrow down to his cheekbone. The sudden urge to reach out her hand and lightly touch it with her fingertip overcame her, but she fought the urge.
Adley waited for him to tell her of his proposition.
“I like your ideas, Adley. I think if they’re implemented and executed well, it could save us a lot of money on marketing and get GreenVeil’s name out there to the individual consumers. Small businesses, network marketing companies, even these influencers you spoke about. It’s a good idea, Adley. Well done.”
“Thank you. It feels nice to have someone say that to my face.”
“I’d like to promote you.”
Adley’s smile fell, and she frowned at Oryn. “What?”
“Well, I’m going to ask your boss to promote you. I want you to lead the team working on this assignment,” Oryn explained.
“Wait. You can’t do that. Can you?”
“I am pretty sure that I can. I’m the big boss, remember?”
“Right. No, wait. I can’t let you do that. I don’t have enough experience.”
“I thought this was what you wanted. I am giving you credit where credit is due,” Oryn defended.
“My boss is going to be so upset with me! And my superiors—”
“You’ll be their superior now. Well, at least you’ll be the superior of the mid-level managers working on the team. They’ll answer to you, and you liaise with me before the final decisions are made.” Oryn smiled. “What do you say, Adley? Are you up for it?”
Adley bit her lip as she thought about the repercussions of her accepting the new position. She loved the fact that Oryn thought she had good ideas, and he heard it first-hand from her. She even loved the thought of having to work closely with him, but she couldn’t help but wonder what Scott and all the others would have to say about it.
Fuck it. She deserved this.
“I am up for it,” she said confidently.
“Wonderful. I will have Naomi draw up the contract, with the added terms and conditions. If your boss has a problem with it, I will just have to choose another marketing firm to work with.”
“They’re a good team, Oryn,” Adley defended them.
“And I don’t doubt that for a second, but I am giving you the chance to be great. All you have to do is take it.”
“I’ll take it.” She held out her hand to him.
“Excellent.” He shook her hand, and the feel of his skin against hers ignited her entire body. She was pretty sure that her whole body would burst up in flames. “I will make the announcement tomorrow morning in the conference room.”
“I am looking forward to it, Oryn,” Adley replied and stood from the chair.
“Wait.” Oryn reached out his hand to her face. He tucked a wayward lock of brown hair behind her ear and smiled at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Oryn. I really appreciate this. You have no idea what this means to me.”
“I think I do.” Oryn smiled at her with a nod. “Have a nice evening.”
“I will. You too.” Adley walked to the door of the office and gave him one last glance over her shoulder before leaving the office. Once she knew she was out of sight, the brightest smile formed on her lips, and she threw her fists into the air a few times out of sheer excitement.
She just simply could not contain it, neither did she want to. She was finally getting somewhere she knew she belonged.
She would finally be recognized for her contributions, and she deserved it.
5
Oryn took a long and slow sip of his coffee as he sat in his office the following morning. He had sent an email to Naomi informing her of his change to the staffing of the marketing team, and he expected her to come crashing through his office door at any moment. He knew it was somewhat unorthodox and not procedural at all, but it was a good move. He wondered what other brilliant ideas Adley was hiding behind that gorgeous face of hers.
He spent the entire night dreaming of her, what it would be like to hold her against him, have his chin rested on the top of her head, smell her, kiss her, taste her. He wouldn’t even be surprised if he wasn’t able to let go of her once he held her. He wondered whether she thought about him at all, but he was sure that him wanting her to lead the team of marketers would leave a lasting impression on her.
Adley being a human complicated things a lot, as he would have to break the one rule he had vowed never to break. He had to tell her the truth sooner or later, but at the moment, it would have to be later. Much later, for that matter.
He could see she was very reluctant, so first, he had to reel her in slowly. She didn’t want to share too many private details of her life, and he respected that. She also wasn’t the type to flirt with the boss in order to get a raise, nor would she ever be. Adley was definitely the kind of woman Oryn could see himself with. Not only was she gorgeous, but she was smart as hell.
He thought of the minor complication in this whole situation. She wouldn’t live forever like he would. He wondered whether she’d be open to become a dragon—a dragon princess—but his thoughts all came tumbling down when he figured that she would think he was crazy if he told her all these things. After all, humans didn’t believe in things like that, did they? Not the ones he had seen in his life.
Humans were frail, so vulnerable that you could puncture their lungs and they would die. They could be shot, stabbed, crushed, drowned, burned, or thrown from the air, and their chance for survival was very small. The only way Oryn or any of the other immortals could die was by decapitation. With the exceptions of wolves, who could only die by a silver bullet to the head.
Even vampires were crafty little fuckers. Holy water and sunlight had been deemed ineffective, so the only way to kill them and ensure they stayed dead and buried was also by having their heads sliced off. Nothing had given Oryn as much satisfaction as slicing the heads of a group of vampires in his hometown of Lunca, but that had been a long time ago, and honestly, Oryn shouldn’t be thinking of that right now. At that moment, he had bigger problems.
The door of his office flew open, and Naomi stood in the doorway, holding the contract for Adley’s promotion to lead marketer.
“Hey, Naomi,” he greeted her innocently.
“‘Hey, Naomi’? That’s all you’re going to say?”
Oryn nodded and sat back in his chair. “I see you received my instructions.”
Naomi took a quick breath and approached his desk. “Have you completely lost your mind? She has zero experience! She does not have the right skills to just get promoted to lead marketer! She doesn’t work for GreenVeil. You do realize that, right? She’s an employee of the marketing firm you contracted to work on a specific project. Are you crazy?”
“Maybe I am, but I spoke with her, and she has great ideas, things I hadn’t even thought about,” Oryn answered.
Naomi threw the contract on the desk. “You honestly want me to believe that woman impressed you so much that you are willing to promote her, just like that?” She snapped her fingers.
“I know a good employee when I see one, Naomi,” he contested.
“So, it has nothing to do with the fact that you want to fuck her?” she asked.
“No, it doesn’t. And please, don’t be so crass.”
She shook her head and scoffed. “What did she do? Did she give you a little action or something? Is that how she persuaded you?”
“Naomi, don’t overstep your boundaries,” he warned.
�
�Why? You clearly did.”
“I would never do something like that, or allow it, and neither would she,” he replied.
“I don’t believe you,” she whispered.
“And I don’t believe you, right now. Why are you acting like this?”
“I am just looking out for you, Oryn. Is that such a crime?”
Oryn narrowed his eyes and said, without even having to think about it, “You’re jealous.”
“Jealous? I’m jealous?” she shrieked.
“There’s no other reason why you’re carrying on like a complete nutcase,” he said calmly.
“So, I’m the nutcase. Right. That makes sense, and apparently so does promoting a woman you’ve only met once in your entire life to lead the marketing team. What do you even know about her, Oryn? What if she’s a spy for one of our competitors? Did you even think about that?”
“She’s not.”
“You’re always so confident about everything, and I am sick of it! One day, it’s going to come around and bite you right in the ass. I know you’ve been alone for a long time, but it doesn’t mean that you can allow a pretty little face to manipulate you with sex! If it worked that way, I’d be sitting right there!” she exclaimed angrily and pointed to Oryn’s chair.
Oryn, who had had enough of her tantrum, stood from his chair and stared at her sternly. “That is enough!” His voice echoed through the office, and even Naomi looked at him with wide eyes. “I will not allow you to speak about me, or about Adley, in that way again! You are my assistant, and you will do as I ask. I made this decision based only on her ability as a marketer, nothing more. There was nothing sexual involved, and she is not manipulating me in any way. I am the owner of this place. I decided what happens, who gets promoted, and who gets let go. If you don’t like it, there’s the door.”
Naomi nodded at him and lowered her malicious shield. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. I just know a lot of women who do that sort of thing to get ahead, pardon the pun, and I just thought she was one of those women.”
“She’s not.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I checked. She’s clean.” Naomi’s shoulders eased. “She moved to Auckland from the United States a few months ago. Her mother and older brother are still there. Her mother owns a bed and breakfast and a small store, and her brother is in college. Adley’s record is clean, and she has only worked for one company here in New Zealand since her arrival.”
“Mottler and Caine.”
“Exactly.”
Naomi dropped her head in shame and clasped her hands together. “I am really sorry, Oryn, okay? But I care about you. I care about your wellbeing and the wellbeing of this company. We’ve been working together from the very start of this venture. We’ve been through so much, but I would never resent you if you started dating someone. Never. You deserve to be happy. I guess I was maybe a little apprehensive, since I know nothing about this woman, and I think it may have taken me by surprise.”
“It’s okay. She took me by surprise, too,” Oryn admitted and cleared his throat. “But let’s not get carried away, you know. It’s not like we’re dating yet, or anything like that. I don’t even know if she’s interested in me or not.”
“Well, just don’t come on too strong. We don’t need a sexual harassment lawsuit,” Naomi suggested.
Oryn nodded. “I’ll be careful.”
“Great. I am going to fully support this decision. Even though I know you don’t need my support; I just need you to know that you have it. I trust you, Oryn.”
“Thank you, Naomi. I am really lucky to have someone like you, even if you accused me of sleeping with everyone.”
“I never said that,” she pointed out. “Besides, I know you don’t. You’re tense all the time, so I’ll know if you’ve gotten a bit of action.”
“That’s a little unsettling,” Oryn shuddered.
Naomi burst out laughing and folded the contract in half. “I’ll get you some more coffee.”
“Thank you.”
As Naomi retrieved Oryn’s empty coffee cup from his desk, she turned to the door and smirked. “Here comes your girl now. Shall I give her a warning about getting too close to her new boss?”
“There’s no need for that. Just get me my coffee,” Oryn ordered.
“Yes, sir,” Naomi answered and slipped out of the office. She briefly greeted Adley in the hallway and rushed back to her desk. Adley raised her hand to knock on the door but noticed Oryn looking directly at her.
“Good morning,” he said with a smile.
“You’re not busy, are you?” she asked.
“No, not at all. Come in, please. Close the door. There’s something I want to talk to you about,” he answered and motioned to the door. Adley closed it and quietly sat down on the bucket chair she had sat in yesterday.
“The contracts are on their way to your boss at Mottler and Caine. You will soon be the lead marketer on this project.”
“Thank you so much,” she beamed. “This really means the world to me.”
Oryn smiled. “Ideally, I would like to bring you on as an employee, but I don’t think that is the best idea.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms. “Why would it be a bad idea?”
“Because I would like to get to know you better, in a non-work environment,” he said diplomatically.
Her eyebrows raised slightly, and her arms dropped to her sides. “You’re interested in me?”
“Yes.”
“You think that I am not the kind of person who can manage their work life and their personal life? Is that what you think?” she asked.
“That is not at all what I think. You are the kind of woman who can easily manage both.” Oryn stood as well. “I don’t want to sound forward or anything, but I’m having a little get-together on my yacht, and—"
“Firstly, thank you for the promotion, but I really had hoped that you respected me because of what I could offer professionally. You do realize how going to parties with you will look, right? You change contracts to get me promoted. Then, you start inviting me to parties on yachts. Then, rumors get spread about you and me. I get the bad reputation, and you just get to go on with your life. I need this job. I am not a little plaything to be toyed with.”
Before Oryn could answer, she turned on her heel and marched out of the office, slamming the door loudly behind her.
Oryn cringed, not only at the sound of the loud banging of the door, but at the words he had said to Adley. Those were not the right words to choose at all, and he may have alienated her for good now. He wouldn’t be surprised if there were a sexual harassment suit against him—he was being pretty inappropriate, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted to get to know Adley, get close to her and be with her.
The only problem was that she definitely didn’t feel the same about him.
It was a few minutes after five, and the offices had already started to clear out. Most of the staff was saying their goodbyes and heading to the elevators. They were all in good moods, and they waved through Oryn’s door, and he politely waved back at them. Some of the lights were being switched off—by Naomi, no doubt, as she was the only one who actually knew where all the light switches were located.
Oryn looked down at the heaps of paperwork neatly piled on his desk. It would be another late night at the office.
Naomi walked in, holding a takeout bag from his favorite Mexican restaurant, and went over to him. “I had this delivered for you, since you’ll be spending most of the night here.”
“Thanks, Naomi. I appreciate it.”
“Do you want me to stay and help you go over all this?” she offered.
“And let you sit at your desk doing nothing tomorrow? I think not,” he chuckled.
“Oh, you make sure I have plenty to do out there. Besides, the interns are adorable. They’re like little puppies.”
“I’ll be fine here on my own. Go home, enjoy your evenin
g,” he encouraged her.
“Okay, but if you need anything, let me know.” She winked at him. “Oh, how did it go with Miss Murdoch?”
Oryn’s face turned grim. “Well, I told her she is getting promoted. And then I asked her out. It didn’t go over well, so I am going to die alone.”
Naomi giggled and shook her head. “You’re so dramatic. It couldn’t have been that bad.”
“Wanna bet? I am convinced that I am going to face a sexual harassment suit,” he sighed.
“This is your company,” Naomi frowned.
“But I have a zero tolerance for sexual harassment,” he countered. “I acted inappropriately. I should have never asked her out.”
“You don’t think she will…” Naomi gasped and slapped Oryn’s arm. “What the hell did you say to her?”
“I told her I was having a get-together on my yacht.”
“You dumb idiot! That is such a douchebag thing to say!”
“I know,” Oryn muttered.
“Well, if you’re getting sued, I will vouch for you,” Naomi said and walked to the door.
“Thanks, for everything.”
“Good night,” she said, leaving his office.
Oryn opened the takeout bag and pulled out a burrito. He took a few bites and sat back in his chair, relishing the delicious taste of his dinner, even if it came from a takeout container. He carried on with his work, pausing once in a while to take a bite.
There was a knock on his open door, and when he saw who was there, his eyes widened.
Adley stood in the doorway, looking nervous to step inside. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he mumbled with a mouth full of food, and he quickly swallowed it down. “I didn’t think anyone was still here.”
“I’m not interrupting you, am I?”
“No, not at all.”
“I wanted to come talk to you about what happened earlier, and about what I said,” Adley winced and approached him, but she didn’t sit down. “I believe that you really did promote me based on my ideas, and that asking me out was something separate. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested.”