Playing You (Omega's Luck #3) - Claire Cullen Page 0,5

was trying to say.

“Heat leave is counted as sick leave. Vacation days are just that—for taking a break.”

“But the state doesn’t pay for more than five sick days in a year for heats. If I have more than one heat…”

He’d either have to save his vacation time for it or wind up on unpaid leave, which might leave him vulnerable to ending up in debt, or evicted, or any number of unpleasant situations. Brendan wasn’t blind to the difficulties omegas experienced thanks to their biology and a government totally unsympathetic to their plight. It seemed like every year, there were more and more attempts to push them out of the workplace and into dependence or poverty.

“How about this? You keep your sick leave for when you’re sick, you get the fifteen vacation days, and I’ll pay you your basic rate during your heats.”

Riley sucked in a breath on the other end of the phone. “You… you can do that?”

“My company, my employee, my decision. Now, any other questions?”

“No, that… that was it, really.”

“Good. I’m glad we had a chance to clear that up.”

He waited, hopeful that Riley was ready to make a decision but not willing to push him.

“Brendan?”

“Yes, Riley?”

“I’d, um, I’d like to take the job.”

“Excellent. When can you start?”

There was a short pause. “Right away?”

“I’ll see you first thing tomorrow morning. Nine a.m. Come to the lobby, they’ll call up to me.”

“Okay. I’ll be there.”

“See you then.”

He was about to put down the phone when Riley piped up again.

“Oh, and Brendan?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for taking a chance on me.”

Brendan smiled at that. “Everyone deserves a chance. Besides, you need something to keep you occupied until your big break.”

That got a laugh from the omega, one that sounded as much relief as it did amusement.

“See you tomorrow, Riley.”

The first few days after Riley’s arrival in the office were uneventful. Brendan was in the middle of a few cases. And being in the middle usually meant lots of trawling through documents and fruitless phone calls. Riley seemed to settle in fine, learning his way around the coffee maker and Brendan’s filing system with ease.

“I see you haven’t tried to change anything,” he commented one morning when he went looking for a file and it was right where it was supposed to be.

“Huh?” Riley glanced up from where he was neatly sorting the mail. “Was I supposed to change something?”

“Definitely not. But usually my new assistants start messing with my filing system as soon as they’re through the door. Everyone always thinks their way is best.”

Riley shrugged. “Yours isn’t nearly as bad as Mr. Smith’s was. At least yours is alphabetical.”

“Mr. Smith?”

“He was the lawyer I interned with during my diploma. His filing system was by type of case, and then by how big the client was. There was no way to navigate that horror show.” Riley mock shuddered for emphasis, but Brendan was too distracted by the new information to pay that much mind.

“You worked in a lawyer’s office?”

“For three months. We had to, as part of our course. The college set it up.” Riley didn’t seem to understand what Brendan was getting at.

“It’s not on your resume. And Mr. Smith isn’t listed as a reference.”

Riley went very still and blushed, the red reaching right to the tips of his ears. “Oh, right. Well, it was so short, I didn’t think it was worth mentioning.”

The lie was painfully obvious. On a resume that had no actual secretarial experience otherwise, even three months would have made a big difference.

“Riley.”

The omega twitched, studiously avoiding Brendan’s gaze. “He wouldn’t have given me a reference. Not a good one, anyway.”

“Because you’re a terrible secretary?” he asked lightly, trying to tease out an answer.

Riley groaned and glanced up, meeting his eyes.

“Because I broke his nose.”

This was either a serious problem or something made out of nothing, but Brendan couldn’t know either way until he’d heard the full story.

“I think you’d better start from the beginning.”

“Look, if you’re just going to fire me, can you get it over with?” The flash of fiery passion impressed Brendan, but he wasn’t going to let himself be distracted.

“Tell me what happened, truthfully, and I’ll give you a fair hearing. How’s that sound?”

Riley grumbled something under his breath before sighing and saying, “It’s more than what most people would do.”

“I’m not most people.”

He gestured Riley into a chair and dragged a second opposite him.

“You were interning as Mr. Smith’s legal secretary?”

“Uh-huh. It was fine at first. I mean, the guy took