“I'll bet you never thought the job would entail this.”
“I understand it's an emergency. But I'm not functional. I'm telling you the truth. I think my numbers are all off. I don't think I can do this. You might just have to fire me.”
“Tell me what you need. Anything. Because I need you, Fallon.”
Slowly, his eyes opened. But he wouldn't look at me. He spoke so softly I couldn't hear him.
“What?”
“I need you,” he repeated.
“Anything.” I meant that with all my heart. I would deny him nothing. Maybe he didn't know it, but I'd already pledged myself to him. It wasn't just his heat. My attraction to him had begun on day one.
Fallon drew into himself and turned away from me, partially moving onto his side.
Instinct had me yearning to reach out and take him into my arms. Would he even accept my touch? Professionally, it felt like taking a step one too many, too far. But personally, beyond a room full of pheromones, looking past his shyness, I felt something in return. Had been for weeks. I wasn't acting out of turn. This wasn't my imagination.
I could so easily picture Fallon as my one true mate. I knew myself well enough to be sure I didn't make foolish decisions, and I did not take lightly the feelings of others. I was good at my job because I could read my team, understand them on levels that were deeper than just the computers and programs and algorithms.
“You're hurting.”
He clasped his hands tightly against his chest rolling further away from me. The towel that was beneath him was soaked with slick. It was like perfume to me. A scent and feeling I'd been searching for my whole life.
“Fallon.” His body jerked when I said his name. “I mean it when I say I'm here for you.”
“I'm in heat. None of this will work. I'm sorry.” He kept repeating the last two words over and over into his pillow.
“Will you allow me to touch you?”
His head came up fast. Now he looked at me with big dark reindeer eyes. “What?”
“You heard me.” I lowered myself to sit on the side of his bed.
His eyebrows rose. “What are you saying?”
“Let me help you.”
“As my boss?”
“As your friend.”
“Friend?”
“Yes. If you don't agree you can throw me out now. But there is something... I can't deny it. If you tell me you can’t then I'llleave and go back into the living room. But I'm still not going to leave you alone.”
“What you're saying... What I think you're saying....”
“We're on the same page.”
“No, Keir. You don't have to do this.”
“Deny to me that you don't have feelings, too.”
His mouth scrunched up. He shook his head.
“You can't,” I said. “Trust me. I'm not doing some political favor or trying to placate you. I'm being selfish. I want this. And not just for Christmas. For me. And that's my Christmas confession to you.”
His eyes got bigger. “I care about Christmas, too.”
