I managed to pull my gaze away from Dr. Kennedy. My body was vibrating more intensely than I had anticipated, and although I knew what it meant, I absolutely was not expecting Dr. Kennedy, my new coworker, to be my One. There was no denying that, though, now that he was standing not two feet from me.
“I see you’re having much the same reaction that a few others have had,” Alpha Osmund said.
I stared at him with a confused expression. “I’m sorry?”
“One of the first things that Rainier said to me was how similar Dr. Kennedy looks like Luc. We were just in his office, and seeing them side by side is indeed a bit of a shock.”
“Umm…I…” I nodded slowly. “Now that you mention it, I guess I can see the similarities.” I turned my eyes back to Dr. Kennedy. “Luc is a bit taller though, if I remember correctly.”
“Yes. That was certainly an obvious difference when they were together.” Alpha Osmund placed his hand on my One’s shoulder and pulled his gaze away from me. “Dr. Kennedy, this is Dr. King. He’s the other doctor here at the omega clinic. Sorry about the delay in introducing you.”
I stood and held out my hand. “Please, call me Maxwell,” I said. I really wanted him to call me something else, but I had no idea what was going to happen. I knew I needed to get the delectable Dr. Camden Kennedy alone, and fast. He looked at my hand before he placed his smaller one in my grasp. Immediately, there was an almost painful zap at the contact, and if I’d not wrapped my hand around his, I was certain he would have pulled away from the contact.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Camden said.
We shook hands, and when Camden tugged on his hand, I reluctantly let go.
“There was a terrible miscommunication with Dr. Kennedy,” Alpha Osmund said. “He arrived Wednesday evening, and he spent yesterday getting his house unpacked. I probably should have asked if you needed his assistance today or not, but I told him that starting next week on Monday would be soon enough. He could spend the weekend getting to know the area a bit more that way.”
I nodded. “I’d be more than happy to show you around.” Preferably, directly to my house so we could discuss the obvious elephant in the room. A throat clearing pulled my mind back to where it needed to be instead of mentally undressing Camden. Icouldn’t help but wonder just how smooth his skin was though. “Dr. Kennedy,” I said. “This is Owen. He’s the office manager for the clinic.”
I wanted to throw a magic ball when Camden smiled at Owen but hadn’t yet graced me with such an expression.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Camden said.
“Same,” Owen said. “It’s been a week of new things here. First me and now you.”
Camden looked my way with a confused expression. “Owen’s first day was Monday. My previous two office managers left when they found their mates and ended up having twins. Both decided to stay home and spend time with their families.”
Camden nodded slowly. “Oh.”
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Alpha Osmund said, “but I promised Dr. Kennedy that I would show him around a bit more.”
The last thing I wanted was for my One to leave and go off with the created fox shifter. I understood he was doing what he was supposed to do, but that didn’t change the fact that I wanted to be the one showing him around Treasure Ridge.
“I can do that,” I offered.
“I wouldn’t want to impose on your day and pull you away from any of your patients,” Alpha Osmund said.
“Oh, we don’t have any more for the day,” Owen said. Bless him.
“It’s all right, Alpha Osmund,” Camden said. “I think that it would be good for me and Dr. King to get to know one another a bit before I start work Monday morning.”
I had several ideas as to how Camden and I could get to know one another all weekend, if I could only get him alone.
“Are you certain?” Alpha Osmund asked. “I do have several things I could get back to at the council.”
“I am,” I said quickly.
“All right. I’ll leave you to it.” Alpha Osmund looked down at Camden. “If you need help getting back to your place, just stop by the council, and I’ll escort you home.”
That absolutely was not going to be an issue because either I would be taking Camden home, or he would be coming home with me. Either way, my One and I were going to be spending some time together. I would prefer it if we were both naked, but I wasn’t going to press that issue. It would be his choice as to when that happened, but my vote was for as soon as we could get somewhere private.
“I appreciate that,” Camden said. “It’s not far and easy enough to get to.”
Alpha Osmund smiled. “Very well, then.” He nodded at Camden. “You have my number. Please don’t hesitate to message me if you should need anything.”
“I’ll be sure to do that,” Camden said. “Thank you for everything, Alpha. My arrival has been most welcoming.” Camden glanced at me before he smiled at Alpha Osmund, who walked back across the clinic and out the door. That was one gone; now to politely get Owen to go home for the weekend.
