“This is crazy,” Mathlin said, laughing harder. “We couldn’t have been gone that long. But now this place looks like someone’s holding a cheap, tacky birthday party in here.”
“It doesnotlook cheap or tacky,” Hamilton howled. “One day, you will look back on this moment and thank me!”
Titan chose to ignore the overwhelming amount ofpink.He headed straight for the office. “Mathlin, let’s... pretend those curtains don’t exist. If I had working arms, I would take them all down, but I can’t.”
“It’s okay,” Mathlin said. “It makes this really special. How often do you get to have pink walls in here, anyway?”
Not for the first time, Titan shook his head, stunned by the omega who had stepped into his life. Mathlin was amazing. He was incredible.
But he was here to be Titan’s employee, and nothing more. When his contract was up, he would leave.
All of Titan’s instincts snarled at that.
How do I keep him?
7
FOOT-IN-MOUTH SYNDROME (PART 2)
“There’s the contract,”Titan said, nodding at the desk.
When Mathlin looked, he realized that Hamilton had placed the stack of papers in front of Titan’s seat—on the boss’ side of the desk.
“You can have my chair,” Titan said. “I don’t need to be there while you read it.”
“Do you just want to see me in the boss’ seat?” Mathlin blurted.
A tiny smile tugged at Titan’s lips. With a bit of hesitation, he said, “What Iwouldprefer is you sitting on my lap, but I won’t abuse my employer privileges. You can sit there without me.”
Disappointment hit Mathlin’s chest; he tried not to show it.
Whatwouldit be like to sit on Titan’s lap, clothed or otherwise? Titan’s legs were thick like tree trunks; Mathlin would have to open wide if he wanted to straddle the huge alpha.
Nope! Not thinking about that right now!
Because he had never sat in a position of command, even with his previous Master, Mathlin rounded the desk and climbed into the leather chair. It was so tall that his feet dangled off the floor. The seat stretched out on either side of him; the armrests were so far away. “It’s like you’re a giant or something.”
Titan laughed. “Compared to you, I may as well be.”
Mathlin blushed and ducked his head. He looked at the large desk stretched out before him, and felt absolutely tiny in Titan’s chair.
I need to focus! I have to sign the contract. I want this job.
Before he could get through the first paragraph, Jannie began to make unhappy sounds.
“What’s wrong?” he murmured, bouncing her in his arms. She whimpered and squirmed; when Mathlin checked her diapers, he found them clean. He offered her his nipple, but she turned her head away.
Mathlin tried to burp her and rub her belly, and he checked her temperature—but he couldn’t find anything wrong. Jannie began to wail.
“Here, put her on me,” Titan said. He lay down on the office couch, carefully moving his arms away from his chest.
“You can’t hold her, though,” Mathlin said uncertainly.
“Prop up my left side with a rolled-up towel. That way, if she slides off, she’ll just land on the couch.”
Mathlin went in search of a towel, once again caught off guard by all the pink walls. He found a clean towel in the kitchen, rolled it up, and stuffed it under Titan’s left side. Then he laid Janniecarefully on Titan’s broad chest, arms outstretched to take her back in case she cried louder.
The moment Jannie landed on Titan, the alpha began to rumble. It was a low, soothing sound, and Mathlin felt it all the way in his bones.
