Page 48 of Once Upon a Beast

“That too,” Ella said and we all laughed.

“You can fix this, you just need to make the first move,” Ara said.

“Yeah, I know.” I looked away from the phone and thought about all that Nic had said and I could feel myself blushing.

Ara must have seen the blush because she said, “Stop thinking about what will happen and just do it. Go!”

“I should go back to work,” I countered.

“No, you shouldn’t. You need to go and talk to your man, right now,” Ella said.

“My boss did say I could take the afternoon off,” I said.

“She did? Well, there you go. It’s a sign you need to see Nic, now.”

“What if he isn’t home? Or in a meeting? Or has other people there?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Ella said.

“Then he can kick them all out or end the meeting to talk to you,” Ara added.

“I don’t want to bother or disturb him,” I said.

“This is something he would want to be disturbed for,” Ara said.

“Stop making excuses. Go,” Ella encouraged.

“Okay. I’m going. Thank you for your help and support. I love you two.”

“Love you,” Ella said.

“Love you,” Ara added.

With a smile on my face, I ended the call. I sat on the bench for a few more minutes, took some deep breaths and then headed to Nic’s place.

Chapter 25

Nicodemus

“Are you going to be an asshole like this the rest of the day or is there something we can do to change your mood? May I suggest a lobotomy?” Steve asked me.

My response was to glare at him. I might have bared my teeth. He shook his head and went back to looking at his computer.

“You never did say why the date went but I can only assume that is what put you in such a foul mood. It might help to talk about it, get it out, share,” Steve said.

“I don’t share,” I snarled at him.

“It really is your sunny disposition and how easy you are to communicate that makes me love working for you,” Steve said sarcastically and leaned away from his computer.

“Don’t you have somewhere else you need to be?” I raised an eyebrow at him. Even if he didn’t, I didn’t want him around.

Steve sat up and smiled at me. “What was that you said? You want me to take the rest of the day off? You think I should go to the bar and drink my troubles away and flirt with a sexy bartender? I should see if I can get some sympathy when I tell him what a meanie my boss is? Why, what a wonderful idea. Why didn’t I think of it? I would hate to leave you but if you insist, I shouldn’t say no. You are after all the boss.” Steve stood up.

“That wasn’t what I was suggesting,” I glared at him some more.

“It wasn’t? Are you sure? I’m positive that’s what I heard. I think you had another one of your great ideas. It will be a hardship but I think you’re right.”

“Just get out would you,” I said.