“You can apologize to the doors of the boardroom.” I snickered, shaking my head in disbelief. “You haven’t spoken to Wrage since last night?”
“I never spoke to him last night,” Wrex said with a scoff. “That’s why I came barreling in here, I haven’t been able to reach him.”
“Did something happen?”
“Nothing you need to concern yourself with, human.” Wrex seethed, but a gloss of regret appeared on his face and he sighed as he wiped his features to a more neutral one. “I’m sorry. Something’s been happening to petrylle and I’m sure Wrage is fine, but I’m worried.”
Alarm rang in my head. Wrage hadn’t mentioned anything bad happening to petrylle during the first meeting. Had something sinister really come up that fast?
“What’s happening to petrylle? That’s what we’re here to work on, bettering the lives of all Orbs. If something bad is happening to petrylle, you can tell me. I can help.”
Wrex appeared uneasy, as if trusting me was much harder than opening his mouth and spewing the truth. I knew humans hadn’t been the kindest to Orbs in the past, but if there was a reason that they’d given petrylle to instantly distrust us, I wanted to squash that qualm.
Finally, he rolled his shoulders, giving me a slight nod of encouragement. “I appreciate that. I’d like to discuss it with my brother first. If he shares it with this…”
“ORBIT,” I smiled. “The board is called ORBIT.”
“Right, ORBIT.” Wrex scoffed. “If he chooses to share it with ORBIT, then you can address it then.”
“Fair enough.”
I thought I caught Wrex’s eyes sweeping over me in a more intentional way than he had when we’d been at the bar, but just as fast as I might have imagined it, it disappeared with a silent sizzle as his face readjusted.
My belly burned at the thought of Wrex checking me out.
“I’m sorry for barging in and interrupting,” Wrex apologized. “I can fix the doors before I leave.”
“Thank you. And I can let you know if I hear from Wrage. If you want to stop by my assistant’s office, you can write your number on a Post It.”
“Yes, thank you.”
We stepped out of my office and Wrex walked over to straighten the doors while I waited by Maxim’s desk, looking back to see Wrex bending the hinges back to their former glory and enabling them to close appropriately. Just as he closed the door properly and turned back to face me, Francyn came stumbling toward us, looking like she’d spent the night in Vegas. Her hair was unkempt, her clothes were the same leopard print ones she’d been wearing at the bar, and her makeup was smudged without direction.
“I am so sorry I’m late!” Francyn’s saccharine voice reached us, and I quickened a glance at Wrex, since he had no idea thatFrancyn and Wrage might have been together last night. She glanced up at Wrex and stopped in her tracks. “Wait, Wrage?”
He shook his head. “I’m his brother, Wrex. Have you seen him?”
Francyn laughed nervously. “I mean…yes? I just saw him, like, twenty minutes ago when he was leaving my place.” She smoothed a hand to flatten her rising dress. “He’s a lot worse off than I am.”
“He’s okay then?” The hope barked in Wrex’s voice and made my heart leap.
“He’s fine,” Francyn nodded. “I mean, he’s hungover as hell, but he’ll be right as rain tomorrow, I’m sure.”
Wrex let out an exhale he’d clearly been holding since he’d stormed into the office building. “Thank you.” He stomped forward, giving me a quick glance. “Sorry again, Mr. Watson.”
All thoughts of Wrex writing down his number were now null and void, but that didn’t stop me from wishing he’d given it to me. I wasn’t even going to question how he knew my name, or if he’d gotten it from Wrage, because just my last name on his tongue made me yearn for other things of mine to be on the receiving end of his tongue.
“No problem, and it’s Wallace.”
Wrex gave me a grin, a smirk that just made my boner soar against the polyester cage of my slacks. I only hoped Francyn didn’t notice the growing bulge as I tried to shake off the heat rising within me and turned to open the doors of the boardroom for us.
Chapter 7
Nothing of noteoccurred during the second meeting, much as I’d expected. Everyone was talking about either the party the night before or the same issues they’d discussed during the first meeting. After only about two hours, we’d agreed to come up with a vote on which of the Orbs’ issues to attack first.
I’d spent most of the meeting thinking about Wrex. I’d had an instant attraction to Wrage when I’d first met him, but I don’t know. This felt different, though I didn’t exactly know how.
After going over both meetings’ details with Maxim and typing up a shit ton of paperwork for my boss, I headed out of the office just in time for dinner. I was itching to play some video games and distract myself from the sudden influx of hormones that meeting Wrex had instilled in me.
