“Perfection is an impossible standard,” he said. “I’m not sure what sort of flaws in my system you might find if you looked, but I do my best to avoid and minimize inefficiency.”
“Of course you do.” She crossed her legs, drawing the hem of her skirts further up her leg. Her calves were visible, which was not a sight typically seen in these offices as women’s fashion included longer skirts and they did not typically lounge on top of desks with their legs crossed. Kieran closed the door.
The fact that she was human and he a Winter Fae would cause a stir of gossip he’d rather avoid. Graves had not married Miss Wilde, as the papers had suggested, and the long list of Graves's crimes against the city had surfaced after his death a couple weeks ago. Kieran may not hold racial preferences, but the rest of the world would latch onto the fleetest whisper of a romantic connection between him and a human and he wasn’t eager to fuel their gossip unnecessarily. Because there would be no connection to Sera outside of professional and ensuring her safety. Once the latter was resolved, then all ties to her would be immediately severed.
“Aha, this is where you admit that you didn’t need a secretary, after all.” Her voice was a sultry purr and Kieran felt the dance of her words like the gentle scratch of her fingers down his spine.
“I’m trying to avoid gossip and questions about a woman sitting on my desk.”
She leaned back, her hips pushing the pencil cup askew. His eyes snapped to the disturbance, but he refrained from leaping to correct it. “Do you often have women on your desk?”
He didn’t respond. Partly so as not to rise to the obvious bait, but also… he couldn’t remember the last timeanyonewas in this office. For any reason.
He took steady steps toward her. A prowling sort of approach that sent her chest lifting with deeper breaths, her lips drawing open in anticipation that he might just prove her theory on his motivations for bringing her here. And the idea was not without temptation.
When he was close enough, their eyes locked for several heartbeats, he reached decidedly around her body and readjusted the pencil cup. He was careful that no part of him was in contact with her, he did not need to be reminded of the potency of her touch.
Her frown was instant and satisfying.
“Out,” he ordered, stepping aside for her to pass without risk of contact.
She climbed down and, once she was free of the room, he stayed standing for a few seconds more.
Too many things. He had too many things to carry.
He crossed to his chair and when he sat, his perfect posture gave. The scent of her lingered on his desk. Some sort of feminine almond concoction.
He was not religious. Did not expend much thought on the Divine or even the old gods of the fae, but here, now, he might have prayed for strength.
The papers that Sera’s pleasantly rounded, if misplaced, backside had scattered and disordered stared back at him. He made no attempt to arrange the sheets properly. The papers pertained to the logistics of replacing the iron throughout the city with fae-refined steel and other non-toxic materials. Kieran’s plan was for a full overhaul of the city. However, it quickly became evident that if he wanted to get approval and support, he needed to start small.
The local parks around the Garrison held benches, small footbridges over ponds, street lights, and trash bins that all contained iron. The mechanics of replacement had proved outside Kieran’s expertise. He had been scanning the pages for weeks, trying to come up with a way to make the adjustments without obliterating the laughable budget he was expected to utilize. With every passing day, it was becoming clear that the solution to this problem was in the hands of a professional.
Maybe this was the kind of job Sera could manage for him, finding someone with the inclination for mechanical engineering. At this point, he’d settle for an extremely seasoned blacksmith with a mind for structures, if not an outright professional.
He moved on to other busy work. Endless proposals and forms needing his signature, which meant a few hours of dedicated reading and reviewing before he could officially sign his name. The myriad of investigations and inquiries and interviews to get to the bottom of Yarrow Graves’s corruption. A new drug circulating the populace with unprecedented side-effects of increased strength and power in those that survived injection. Those that didn’t would suffer an immediate and painful death. The aldermen had been trying to convene on the subject since last week, with scheduling conflicts proving difficult.
Kieran looked at the clock on his wall. Once again, he had worked well into his afternoon break.
After several minutes of reading the same sentence, Kieran decided to retrieve Sera for lunch. He had an hour before his round of meetings started to fill the latter half of his day, and he learned it wasn’t wise to attend long, drawn out lectures with an empty stomach.
He opened his door and was greeted by a sight only marginally worse thannotfinding Sera.
And that sight was Willa Shen chatting with her.
“I’m serious, do it exactly the way I told you. Let it sit overnight. That’s the key.” Sera turned to him, a lovely smile spreading on her face. “Kieran, how good of you to join us.”
Kieran?
Willa Shen, the Summer Alderman, leaned on Sera’s empty desk. The box of supplies was discarded to the floor, untouched. Willa flipped her long, chestnut hair over a shoulder. “Wherehaveyou been hiding this one, North?”
“What are you doing?” He ignored Willa, and directed his question at Sera.
“You left me here with nothing to do. I passed out for the first hour, but then I met this charming woman. I don’t think we exchanged names yet, just some beauty tips.”
Ah. Neglected to give her name? Sounded right. Willa Shen was as opposite Kieran as their respective courts. She was sunny, cheerful, and personable. Always the life of the party. And often neglecting to be forthright about her identity with those she deemed ‘the help’ in an attempt to retain common ground. Willa called it ‘approachable.’ Kieran called it lying.
“That is Willa Shen,” he stated.
