Page 41 of Sin

Then she’s gone and the door clicks shut behind her. I stand there for a long time, staring at the prototype on the table as a truth hits me.

Wanting Laurel Cross is not the worst part. The worst part is knowing I should be ashamed. And still wanting her anyway.

8

Laurel

Opal is wearing a festive Thanksgiving sweater that makes me laugh the second she stops me. There’s a turkey on the front. Wearing sunglasses.

“You gonna let the team leave early, boss?” she asks.

“That’s above my pay grade.” I lower my tone. “But rumor has it Mr. Sinclair is going to cut us loose by noon.”

Opal grins. “Looks like I’m going to be sixty dollars richer at noon.”

“Only sixty? I’m disappointed in you.”

“It started as twenty, but then Marcus from packaging said Mason Sinclair doesn’t have a festive bone in his body.”

“He probably has at least one.”

Opal’s eyes widen. I stop walking and we stare at each other. Then she bursts out laughing.

I close my eyes. “Forget I said that. I meant his general attitude toward holidays.”

“Sure you did.”

I point at her. “Not a word.”

“Oh, I have many words,” she says. “Just not to you.”

I shake my head and enter my office before she can make it worse.

Today is the last workday before Thanksgiving. Most of my colleagues are going out of town, but not me. I don’t have family other than a cousin in Oklahoma, and I’d rather kiss a skunk than spend time with him. So, while part of me is happy everyone is leaving, it’s also bittersweet. The good news is, I can have all the lab time I want.

The bad news is, lab time has recently become dangerous because of Mason Sinclair. It’s been nine days since I found him in the lab working on Pride. Nine days since we stood too close together and talked about pressure, grip, release, and softer materials like we were capable of being normal about any of those words. We were not and I’ve replayed the conversation more times than I want to admit.

I toss my bag onto my chair and find a small box sitting on my desk.

The label on top reads: Harvest Collection Promo Samples.

The Harvest Collection was an idea from two years ago that never should have made it past the brainstorming stage. Someone in marketing thought Thanksgiving themed novelty toys would be funny. They were right. Unfortunately, they were also unsellable. No one wanted a mini eggplant called Plow Me or a smiling squash with a suction base. And absolutely no one wanted the little corn shaped dildo, even though the packaging team argued for three straight weeks that the name Cornstar was genius.

I pulled it out of stock to get rid of it but now I think I have another use for it. I open the box and stare down at the tiny yellow offender nestled in tissue paper. It’s ridiculous, bright, cheerful and completely unserious. Basically the opposite of Mason Sinclair. I pick it up and it barely fits in the palm of my hand. I bite back a laugh. This is going to be so funny!

Then Opal appears in my doorway like she smelled poor decisions in the air.

“Oh my god,” she says. “Is that Cornstar?”

“Lower your voice.”

“I thought we destroyed those.”

“Apparently not.”

She walks in and peers into the box. “We also have Gobble Me Gourds?”

“Last one. Want it?”