Page 38 of My Orc Has Big Tusks
The facility emptied. Drogar left first, whistling something off-key. Krem followed, waving as he passed my open office door. Traig muttered something about supply orders and disappeared toward the parking lot. Greth left without a word, which was his version of a warm goodbye.
I grabbed my bag and headed for Bertha. I was halfway across the parking lot when I heard footsteps behind me.
“Laina.”
I turned. Brovish stood in the open doorway, backlit by the light from the entryway, his hair loose around his shoulders.
“Would you stay a bit longer?” he asked.
CHAPTER EIGHT
LAINA
My heart flipped over. “Is there a problem with one of the animals?”
“No. I meant—” He looked at the ground, Bertha, anywhere but at me. “Dinner. I usually eat around now. I could cook. If you wanted.”
Oh.
Oh.
“You cook?” I asked, because my brain had apparently abandoned all higher function.
“I do.”
It wasn’t a date. It couldn’t be a date. Except it was absolutely a date-shaped offer, and my pulse was doing date-shaped movements in response.
I could say no. Make an excuse. I had things to do at home—laundry, meal prep, literally anything that would give me space to think about what was happening between us without him standing there looking at me like my answer mattered more than it should.
“Okay,” I said.
His shoulders dropped, and his spine loosened.
“Good,” he said. “That’s…good.”
Sofia peeped from his shoulder, and I couldn’t tell if it was approval or commentary.
Probably both.
His cottage sat a short walk from the main building, tucked against the tree line where the last of the daylight barely reached. He unlocked the door and held it open, and I stepped inside to warmth and the smell of woodsmoke.
It was small. Cozy in a way that felt purposeful. A woodstove in the corner, split wood in a bin beside it. Shelves lined with books to the right, some with spines marked in Orcish script I couldn’t read. An orc-sized sofa and recliner, and a braided rug on the floor.
Uncluttered and tidy. Everything had a place.
“We built our homes after we finished the main building,” he said, moving past me to open a window. Fresh air spilled in, carrying the scent of evergreens. “There’s one bedroom, for now. If any of us finds a mate and…”
His hands twitched at his sides.
“We’ll add rooms,” he finished.
I stood in the center of his space and tried not to think about the wordmate.
“You all live here and not in town?”
“We’re close. We grew up together. All of us are younger orclings and since orcs have big families, there isn’t always room for those who come last to start a family within the family compound. When we heard about the surface, we came here and loved it. Maine’s beautiful.”
“It truly is. I was born here and only left to go to college. I couldn’t wait to get back. My dad was a vet too. He died in a car crash. He and my mom divorced when I was little.”
