ONE
TEN DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS
My Christmas list is short.Perhaps too short. It’s hard to get in the Christmas spirit when I know the only thing I want is out of reach.
The team at Copper Hill Construction has done a great job in making the office look festive. There’s a Christmas tree in the corner, decked out in the company colors of red, yellow, and silver, with other winter holiday decorations spread around the facility.
For most residents of Copper Hill, New York, there is no shortage of holiday cheer. Every year, our little town is home to a massive pop-up Christmas market, transforming Main Street into something that wouldn’t look out of place in a German Christmas Village. Snow is on the ground, Christmas music plays quietly everywhere you turn, and holiday treats are abundant.
I’ve lived here for damn near a decade since moving to take care of my grandmother before she passed away. I was the head of financial analysis and planning for a large construction company out of New York City, but it was more important to me to be with my grandmother, so I quit my job with nosafety net, moved in with her, and became a resident of Copper Hill.
Mitchell Carpenter Sr. hired me immediately after Grandma introduced me to him at the grocery store. When I took the job, she was adamant that everything works out exactly how it’s supposed to, and if it took her dying to get me to Copper Hill, that’s okay, because clearly, I’m supposed to be here.
I spent my childhood listening to her promise that I’d always find the place I was meant to be, but I never put much stock in it.
Until the day I hired Felix Williams.
I didn’t know how or why, but I knew he was someone important.
Every year since then, I’ve had only one wish on my Christmas list.
Felix Williams to be my Omega.
For four years, I have seen him five days a week and have tried to pretend that I am not drawn to him in a way that is almost guaranteed to be unhealthy. In the past six months, my draw to him has only gotten harder to ignore, and I have no idea why.
I feel like I’m reaching a boiling point.
He’s leaning over Katy’s desk, pointing at something on her computer screen, and I can’t take my eyes off him. If anyone were to pay attention to me right now, I’m sure they’d think I’m a complete creep. I’m hovering on the edge of the room, trying to appear as if I am casually observing everything, but really, all I am observing is the way Felix’s ass looks in those pants.
How can he make corduroys so sexy?
The Omega throws his head back with a hearty laugh, his eyes crinkling at the corners, and I get weak in the knees. I couldn’t even call us friends if I wanted to. I rarely talk to theOmega because I’m afraid that how I feel about him will spill out of my mouth and scare him off.
Plus, I’m his boss.
The power imbalance is crazy. The last thing I want is for him to feel pressured into being with me for fear of losing his job.
And even if it weren’t unethical, how could I begin that conversation? How could I tell him that a part of my hindbrain is certain he’s my scent match? It sounds like a convenient excuse to perv on my employee.
Some heat suppressants that Omegas take can hinder pheromone production to the extent that not only can others not pick up on theirs, but they also don’t recognize others. Most Omegas do the lowest form of suppressants they can find, but even then, it’s a potential side effect of all of them.
Felix didn’t disclose to me he’s on suppressants, and it’d be illegal for me to ask, but it’s obvious he is. Otherwise, I’d have the answer to the question that burns through me.
Is he mine?
“Hey, boss?” Katy says, startling me out of my thoughts. “Can you come take a look at this?”
I’m the chief financial officer of Copper Hill Construction, overseeing a team of Omega accountants who report directly to me. Katy and Felix are two of them.
“Is this legitimate?” she asks, pointing at a line item on the expense report she’s managing. “Are we really spending that much on the holiday party?”
Felix leans back against the side of her cubicle, crossing his arms over his chest as he watches me with curiosity. His powder-blue button-down shirt stretches with his movement, tightening around his soft, slim body. I try not to pay too close attention to him when Katy is the one who called me over.
“Yeah, that’s legitimate. We’ve had a good year. Mitchellwanted to do a big party. It’s not just the food and drinks. We’ve got a lot of door prizes, too.”
She scoffs and pushes her chair back, glaring at me. It happens every time I mention Mitchell, and it’s getting on my nerves. I don’t know what’s going on with the two of them, but Mitchell bites my head off whenever I ask, and I’d be overstepping if I demanded Katy tell me.
“Are you coming to the party, Felix?” I ask, ignoring Katy’s mood shift and feigning nonchalance, even though I really need to know if he is.
