Ever since she’d started working at Monster Brothers Security, she’d been drawn to the dragon. She worked with Declan and Brian from time-to-time, of course, but she spent the most time with Christopher. Part of that was on purpose. She’d been at the firm long enough to know how to jiggle certain projects, so they’d end up together.
Allison had spent many long nights hunched over notes and emails and technical analysis paperwork with Christopher. She knew how he smelled like cinnamon bark, and she knew how he smiled like the entire world was his to claim, and she knew exactly how much he loved his family. Maybe that was what she liked most about him.
He seemed like a good person.
He seemed like family was truly important to him, and that takin
g care of the people around him was one of the best things he could do.
Today, Allison had been offered a rare chance by the universe to ask Christopher to the party. She’d spent a lot of time thinking about it. Too much time. If she was being honest, her crush on Christopher had grown into an obsession, and she needed to stop. Her sister always said that once you got too attached to the idea of someone, you needed to fuck them out of your system.
Was that what Allison needed to do?
Did she need to just go crazy and sleep with a bunch of people?
Maybe.
“Long day?”
Allison looked over to see a woman standing by the sink beside her. She had dark blue hair that hung just past her shoulders. It was curled to perfection, and the woman’s makeup matched. She had deep red lipstick, but her eyeshadow was the exact same shade of blue as her hair. It was perfect and wild, and she loved it.
“You could say that,” Allison muttered. She turned on the sink in front of her and started washing her hands.
“It’s just one of those days, isn’t it?”
“Pretty much. Are you in IT?”
Allison didn’t recognize the woman beside her. Allison worked on the top floor with Christopher, Declan, and Brian. There were a few other people who worked up there, as well. The IT team probably should have been on the second or third floor of the building, but they had a whole wing on the top floor to themselves. Allison knew it was so that the dragon brothers wouldn’t have to go far to get the help they needed if any sort of technical issue arose.
“Nope, I work downstairs,” the girl explained. “I’m in marketing and publicity, down on the second floor. I don’t come up here too often, but the new guy had some questions and asked me to come help. Some of these new people, man, they’re full of questions.” The woman rolled her eyes, as though she was exasperated.
“I know what you mean,” Allison nodded, but she didn’t know what she meant. There were few reasons for the marketing team to wander up to the top floor, especially without a meeting of some sort.
Who had called someone from downstairs? And in marketing? It had to have been James. He was the only new person working in the IT department, but why would he have called downstairs with a question? Allison sighed. Was this going to be another issue that she had to deal with? She just wasn’t sure if she could deal with anything else going wrong today. James was supposed to be a project manager, but everything he did or needed to do would be happening on this floor. More specifically, it would be happening down his hallway.
“What did the new guy want?” Allison tried to sound casual. She must have been successful because the girl reached for a paper towel and started drying her hands. Then she shrugged.
“What does every guy want? He had about a million and nine questions about where stuff was located in this building. If you ask me, this should have been covered in his orientation,” she sighed and shook her head. “Then again, maybe it was, and he just didn’t listen. You know how guys can be.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Allison nodded.
“Well, have a good one.”
“You, too.”
Allison started drying her hands, too. She took her time, and then she turned back to the mirror. She looked at the reflection there. Allison looked at the woman in the mirror who had soft features and carefully applied makeup. She looked at the woman who seemed so brave, but whose heart was fragile.
“What the hell is going on?” Allison asked the woman.
The woman blinked back at Allison.
She didn’t know, either.
THAT NIGHT, ALLISON sat around the dinner table with her mom, stepdad, sister, and three younger brothers.
“This is delicious,” she bit into the pasta her mom had prepared. Nobody made pasta like Lyla did.
“Just for you, dear,” Allison’s mother smiled at her.