“They’ll hate me,” I whispered.
Keir’s eyebrows popped up. “Who?”
I looked away. “No one.”
Now I would have less of a chance to make reindeer shifter friends. But in truth, it had been difficult in Control. That was stressing me more than the work itself.
“I know it’s hard to settle in at first. I’m not blind,” Keir said softly. “You never complain, but I can tell you… Clea can be difficult. I don’t want that to interfere with your work. But you want to go back to Control, you can. I just thought?—”
My mind whirled. My own office. Working with someone who could keep up with me. Who understood. Keir was giving me my dream on an even better level. Suddenly, I wondered why I was worried about the others. I had hoped to make friends, but this was everything I’d ever wanted. Plus, working with Keir made my stomach tighten, my blood rush.
“I want to work with you. I have so many ideas. You don’t have to give me a whole office. Just a quiet corner and a computer.”
Keir laughed. “The office space is available. And convenient.”
“Wow. I’m honored, sir. I mean, Keir.”
“Just don’t go after my job, you hear?” he said with a quick grin.
My mouth dropped open. Mortification dripped its toxin into me. “I would never.”
Keir clapped me gently on the back. “You say that now.”
But I meant it. That wasn’t how I operated. But after a minute, I realized he was being sarcastic.
8
KEIR
Fallon was almost too sweet. Too innocent. I realized these factors of his personality might contribute to his anxiety. I was going to have to remember to be patient, unlike his co-workers.
It didn’t pass me by that they had given him certain looks when I’d asked for his help or complimented his work. Jealousy and rivalries in any office setting were things I’d learned to deal with for years. And when I was younger, I went through some of the same things Fallon was now facing. It couldn’t be avoided. We might work for Santa in the prettiest village ever built with candy canes and hot chocolate always within arm’s reach, but we were all offshoots of the human race. We had hearts that could be broken, emotions that could get the better of us, and were as efficient as our human counterparts in the main world at creating drama.
Within a week, Fallon was moved into the office across from mine. My team was not happy. The fallout was a bitch. Technically, I’d promoted Fallon out from under them after only weeks. Until resentment and jealousy blew over, I was going to have to work doubly hard to inspire morale.
Fallon was happy, but the first day he sat behind his new desk he looked up at me and said with a fallen look, “They really hate me now.”
“They’re my team. I’ll take care of it.”
Quietly, he said, “I don’t know many reindeer shifters.”
“And you were hoping to make some friends?”
He nodded.
“Give it time.” But my heart turned over at his look.
I wished I could be more for him than a boss, an elf boss at that. A friend. A lover? Our positions were more equal now. But our ages were not.
I hadno time to be thinking these things. I had a team morale problem to solve.
How did I tell my team this promotion of Fallon was necessary? It wasn’t his fault that he possessed knowledge and abilities beyond the best of them. And it wasn’t my fault I badly needed those abilities for Santa’s Sleigh.
When I went down to Control, the sour looks could not entirely be hidden. Clea was definitely mad at me. She wouldn’t look at me as I approached her. She had been next in line for promotion. But her attitude told me she wasn’t ready anyway.
“We have an empty chair,” she said curtly.
“I know. But Fallon’s skills showed me he was wasted simply proofing code.”
