Page 78 of (Mostly) Human Resources

“Thank you. I didn’t even feel it.”

Nic gently combed his fingers through some of her hair, no doubt fixing whatever mess she’d made in her search for other bugs.

“No problem. They’re sneaky like that.” Her heart skipped a beat as his lips pulled up into a small, lopsided smile.

“Yeah, come on,” Alexys said, carrying on walking. As she approached Waylan she frowned. He stood still as a statue, eyes wide, and one foot lifted in the air. He looked frozen mid-step.

“Waylan?” Alexys waved a hand in front of his face.

Nic, apparently understanding why Waylan was frozen, grinned and said, “You can move now, Waylan.”

The boy instantly moved and bounded up to Nic, a wide grin on his face. “Did I win? We were playing freeze, right? And I won?”

Nic ruffled Waylan’s hair. “Yeah, kid, you definitely won.”

Something in Alexys’s chest tightened watching Nic and Waylan, but she shoved it away as quickly as it appeared. It must have been heartburn—she was starving. Nic laughed at something Waylan said, and her heart squeezed again.

Yup, Alexys told herself firmly, definitely heartburn.

CHAPTER 40

“All field-gathered specimens should be correctly labeled, contained, and submitted to your R&C department for proper handling and classification. Under no circumstances should they be taken to personal residences or facilities other than your Entity office.”

Entity Employee Handbook: Warden Edition

Nic never paid people very much attention, which made his new interest in Alexys rather perplexing.

He rarely cared what people thought or felt, preferring the company of books and his research over just about anything else. He was more interested in useful information, like the average height of a Flatwoods Monster or the last known sighting of a Jersey Devil.

But the things he’d started to notice about Alexys were useless. They didn’t benefit him or educate him in any way. Like the way the sunlight caught Alexys’s hair and illuminated the copper strands among the shades of brown. Or the way her smile, when she was genuinely happy or laughing freely, caused a singular dimple to burrow in the bottom of her right cheek.

There was no doubt in his mind that he was attracted to Alexys. Hadn’t he always maintained she was an objectively attractive woman? No harm in that, right? But there were a million and one reasons why the attraction had to stop there. Or rather, why he needed to stop flirting, because, if he was being honest with himself, he was flirting. A little. She was easy to bait. But this high-stakes situation they found themselves in had really upped the ante.

It was becoming unambiguous: he was possibly developingfeelings—no, acrush—on Alexys. That was very dangerous territory. In another world, he could have accepted the attraction for what it was and possibly even pursued it. Their world, however, was full of monsters, and rules, and uncertainties.

He’d been repeatedly lying to her and allowed an undocumented cryptid to nest in her hair. One that had been tormenting her for some time.

That pill was actually the hardest to swallow.

It wasn’t the best of foundations for any relationship. He saw it enough with his own parents to know how fragile romance is even without lies, deceit, and monsters. Alexys and Nic were lucky to even have a friendliness between them, precarious as it tended to be, given their history. Had Nic been rude because it was easier than being too kind to a woman he found attractive and intelligent? Possibly. Was that the shittiest thing ever? Again, possibly. But now, how could they go back to butting heads?

He wasn’t entirely unhappy with this new fondness. On the contrary, he couldn’t have chosen a better person. Alexys was kind, incredibly smart, and she certainly kept him on his toes. She was clever enough to hold her own in an argument and had a stronger work ethic than anyone he’d ever met.

But what would she think of him when she learned the truth?

Namely, that he’d allowed that arachnid cryptid to stay with her because of academic curiosity, and that, worse still, he’d poured over Zach’s casefile on herandread her sleep journals. Not to mention,the whole reason they were both out there in the first place was because of his own obsession with the Hollow Walker. Becausehe’dencouraged Elliot, divulged information, broken protocol.

Waylan had it all wrong. Nic was theworstboy friend she’d ever had.

A good man would help her find her missing employee, return everyone safely home, and return to their daily life as if nothing had transpired. A good man would be kinder, would tease her less. Actually, the latter was debatable.

Alexys laughed at something Waylan said, and then she turned that damned smile in Nic’s direction, and he lost himself in the blue depths of her eyes. His sweater had fallen off one of her shoulders again, and his attention drifted to the slope of her neck. Across the shadows of her collarbone and down to the smooth, exposed skin of her shoulder.

Nic was overwhelmed with the urge to sink his teeth into it.

He bit his tongue instead, but the dull pain did little to distract him. He tried to force his eyes away, but they kept finding their way back. Like a moth to a flame, Nic watched her pull the sweater back up only for it to slowly slide back down. The sweater had it out for him. Whether that was because he wanted it to behave and remain on her shoulder or drift even further down her arm was yet to be decided.

His feelings, now unleashed, were running rampant. Either due to lack of sleep or general foolishness, he’d lost all control of them. But because his eyes were so diligently trained on Alexys’s neck, he was able to catch sight of the malevolent creature making a reappearance behind her ear.