Page 52 of Ready or Knot
“Is she alright?” she asks after a moment of quiet, her gaze dropping to her keyboard. “It seemed like she was in pain.”
“She’s fine,” I assure her. When she doesn’t immediately say anything, her eyebrows pinched, I offer, “I have no intention of firing you, Amanda. If there’s something you want to know, you can ask me.”
She glances up at me, eyes wide again, fingers picking at the edge of her desk.
“Were you, um, knotted?” Amanda’s voice is barely a whisper, but I manage to hear her fine. Her cheeks darken before I can respond. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be so intrusive. I’ve just never worked with an Alpha before.”
I give a half smile as I run a hand through my hair. “Yeah, we were. Otherwise I would have moved us so that Harper couldn’t see.”
She nods, eyes darting to her monitor, her hands flying over the keys as she responds to something. My phone pings with a text.
“Can you prep everything for me to be out of the office for a week or so?” I ask her, grabbing my phone.
I swear to God if it was your idea, I will kill you and make it look like an accident.
Surprise to absolutely none: surly ass Jude is pissed.
“Aside from this weekend?” Amanda asks, her voice filling with confusion. “When else will you be gone?”
She clicks some more before turning her monitor to face me. Harper’s name on the schedule for late next week makes me scowl.
“Contact her office and demand the proper manager come this time. I don’t want her in here anymore,” I order, pointing at the calendar event. Amanda nods, marking the slot and inserting a note.
“And I’m not quite sure when I’ll be out. How much are you aware of pack life?”
Amanda shakes her head. “Not really anything. Everyone in my family is a Beta.”
“Omegas go through heats,” I tell her.
A spark of recognition in her eyes as she nods.
“Is that what’s happening?” She glances at my office door. “Shouldn’t you be with her?”
I shake my head. “It’s not started yet, but it will soon. Once it does, I’ll be unavailable for the duration. I just need you to prep everything so that it’s an easy transition. Heats tend to come on suddenly. I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to give much more than a few hours warning. It’ll probably be even less than that.”
She nods again, her hands flying across the keys after she repositions her monitor. “I can get everything prepped.”
I smile. “Thanks, Amanda.”
She blushes, ducking her head. “Your afternoon appointment is here, by the way. I have him waiting in the lobby with Rachel,” she says, nodding her head to the closed frosted door behind me.
“Can you set him up in the smaller conference room?” Amanda raises an eyebrow but doesn’t ask, nodding once. “I’ll need about five minutes or so before I’m able to meet him in there, if you’ll temper his expectation a bit.” I head back for my closed office door. Five minutes probably wasn’t enough to put the files back in order, but I wasn’t about to regret what had caused them to be messed up in the first place. “And Jude and Logan will be here at some point, too. I don’t imagine this appointment will overlap with them, but if it does, just let them into my office. Faedra will be here the rest of the afternoon.”
A soft agreement follows me into my office.
Twenty
CARTER
“Not only did you knot her when we’d all agreed to wait until after backpacking, but you also took her virginity in your goddamn office?” Jude growls at me, arms crossed over his chest, his suit jacket thrown over my desk. Logan raises an eyebrow behind him, tucking his hands into the pockets of his slacks as he shuts the door, Faedra’s bag slung over his shoulder.
“Let’s say it louder, Jude,” he says with a dry tone, his look devoid of any of its usual carefree humor. “Pretty sure Rachel didn’t quite hear you down the hall.”
Jude turns around, scowling, a growl rumbling low in his throat.
“I know you’re not about to put emphasis on that when it’s the most patriarchal bullshit around, Jude,” I mutter.
Logan grunts an agreement.