Tippy shuts the door behind him.
“Not the place for an orc.” She winks at me. “He might get all hot under the collar seeing you undress.”
“Oh, I don’t think… he seems… very, um… I mean—is he even interested in women?” I bluster. “That’s not a given, isit?” (Though recalling what was thrusting into me last night, I reckon it probably is a given!)
“Well, he was engaged to a female once.”
“Oh?” I try not to sound too interested.
“A sprite named Leanna. Very pretty, but not at all nice. A taker, not a giver. They split up a couple years back. Otis hasn’t had a date in absolutely eons, as far as I’m aware. Poor guy probably doesn’t know what to do with himself with you flitting around the place wearing nothing but his shirt. Which he will now probably take and hide under his pillow so he can sniff your scent later.”
I bite my lip, trying not to blush.
“Only teasing. Honestly, it just seemed like he’d gotten rooted to the spot and needed a prompt to leave.” Tippy smirks.
“Fair enough,” I agree, even though the idea of Otis watching me undress kind of thrills me.
You’d love to strip for him.
I silence the thought—he’s my boss—and try not to think about bringing myself off last night to images of him fucking me.
Instead, I focus on Tippy, who’s unzipping the case and picking out some garments.
“These are suits from when I worked in our local pharmacy.”
I take the little black jacket and matching skirt and hold them against me. The skirt comes to just above my knee. The jacket has silver buttons and a nice collar.
“I like these. And very suitable for work.”
“These blouses would be perfect with it.” Tippy hands me three pastel-colored blouses in pink and lemon and baby blue. “Want an apron as well?”
“I did offer to do cleaning,” I laugh.
“This old place sure needs a spring clean.” Tippy sniffs the air. “I remember it from when I was a girl. Otis’s mom Sallykept it neat as a new pin. Those were the good old days, before Bradley Cane got killed.”
I nod. “Otis said his dad died in the line of duty. Do you know what happened?”
“A drug bust gone wrong. On level three, where the wolves live.”
A little shiver runs down my spine. “You have wolves in the Labyrinth?”
“Not on level one. They hang out on level three in their packs.”
“They sound dangerous.”
“There are some good ones, and some real bad ones. Personally, I wouldn’t trust a wolf further than I could throw them. Wolves and vixen shifters have never seen eye to eye.” She hesitates for a moment. “But hey, we shouldn’t be talking about all this heavy stuff on your first day. Me and my big mouth.” She makes a zipping motion over her lips. “But don’t worry, on level one everything’s peachy. We all get on well.”
I decide not to dwell on the wolf issue. “It must be fun working at Digger’s.”
“Oh, it is. Digger is a great boss, he gives me free rein to try out new ideas, bring healthy options onto the menu. Right, let’s have a look at you. Ah, perfect fit.” She observes me, now dressed in a blouse and skirt. Her amber eyes narrow as she adjusts the collar at my neck. “Very smart. Take a look in the mirror.”
I stroke my sleek dark bob into place and focus on my reflection. “I love it.”
After that, she lays out a pair of leggings and a cropped tee. “I used to wear these when I was a personal trainer.”
“How many jobs have you had, Tippy?”
“Lots.” She gives a little huff. “My vocation is witching, but there are no jobs for witches these days.”
