Reindeer Games 2 - Toys for Good Girls (8 page)

“Not really.” She crossed her arms over her chest. He hadn’t even kissed her. And he’d been so nervous. Because of Issie and Nold? But they hadn’t said anything. “You guys scared him.”

“We didn’t do anything,” Issie protested.

Tanty turned to look at them. Tall Nold with his cherry red hair and merlot eyes. He was the oldest of the nine reindeer—had even made noises of retiring to let someone younger be Prancer—but you’d never know it to look at him. Issie, the newest of the reindeer, had now been with the team for two seasons, filling Comet’s shoes. To other elves, they could be intimidating.

Reindeer had certainly cowed her before she’d made the team. But she’d expected different from Bok. He was so sure at his work, and he’d been perfectly confident and in control last night once he’d let go into the sex. His best friend was dating the team’s second in command. She’d expected him to handle the presence of reindeer better.

But he hadn’t. He’d been terrified. She’d seen it plainly enough. It made her sad, and she wasn’t altogether sure why. Maybe it was just that she couldn’t share her new friend with others.

She sighed. “Oh well, looks like I lost my playmate. Wait a few, and I’ll get some clothes on.”

Chapter Seven

Bok stood his ground on one side of Gus’s desk, determined not to fidget under that hard stare. It wasn’t easy. The reigning Mrs. Claus was the closest anyone in Santa’s Village came to looking like a hard-as-nails corporate CEO. Bok had seen enough human television to make the reference. Gus even looked the part. No extravagant colors to Gus’s hair, his was that indeterminate shade between brown and blond, a little bit of both but not quite either. Not streaked, exactly, but definitely one color in places and another color in others. He kept his hair cut short about his long face, his pointed ears the only thing breaking the illusion that he could be human. Well, that and his square jaw was far too smooth for him to ever have shaved. His irises were sapphire blue but hard as granite.

His office could have been a human’s habitat. His desk was rich oak and matched the bookcases along the wall behind him. Bok wasn’t sure what books could be filling those cases, but they were, indeed, full. The right side of the desk was piled high with neat stacks of papers.

A desktop monitor dominated the left side, a wireless keyboard and mouse in front of it. Gus knew just as much about computers as anyone in acquisitions. In his younger days, he had, in fact, been one of the designers and programmers of the current software they used for
The List of
Good and Bad.

Gus sat forward and folded his hands on the blotter before him. He wore his red and white jacket tailored to look almost businesslike, if you ignored that it was sleeveless and had fuzzy white lapels and cuffs. The snowy white shirt beneath was perfectly cuffed and pressed. “You want to move your office to your home.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes, sir.”

“Why?”

“I’d like to work from home for a while.”

“Is there an issue with someone at the office?”

“No, sir.”

“Is there a personal issue I should be aware of?”

Bok consciously did not fidget. “No, sir. I would just appreciate the change of pace.”

“You won’t get lonely?” It might seem an odd question for anyone who didn’t work for Gus. He looked hard—he
was
hard—but he did care. Bok suspected Gus cared more for the village than anyone else.

“No, sir. I just…” He took a deep breath. “I need some time to myself.” Those shrewd eyes narrowed a little. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, sir. I have it covered.”

“Is this about you and Tanty?”

Bok blinked. His jaw fell open. But then he snapped it shut. He shouldn’t be surprised Gus knew. “No, sir.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, sir.”

Gus took a breath of his own, his mouth twisting a little to the side as he bit the inside of his lip. It was a habit that made him seem less stony. “All right. I’ll allow it. As long as you continue to meet your quota, you may work from home as you wish.” He sat back and turned his big leather chair to face the monitor. “Do you need help moving your computers?”

“No, sir. I only need one. My setup at home should be enough for the rest.” Gus nodded, fingers on his keyboard. “Very well. Let me know if you need anything else.” Bok nodded his head in respect. “Thank you, sir.”

* * * *

Tanty stared at the empty desk, frowning. The small office had been dark before she’d turned on the light, and it looked like no one had been there all day. But that didn’t make sense.

Bok should only be three quarters of the way through his shift. She’d purposely left practice in a hurry so she could catch him.

There was something wrong with his desk too. It took her a few moments, but she finally realized one of the huge monitors was missing. That was odd. There had been three the last time she was there. She remembered that one particularly because it had shown the list.

Maybe that was it. He was out getting one of his computers boxed so it could be shipped into the other realm to get fixed. Or maybe he’d taken it to the electronics workshop. That was probably it.

Fine, she’d catch him tomorrow.

But he wasn’t there the next day either, and it looked like his office hadn’t been touched.

This time, she took herself down the hall and knocked on another office door. She didn’t know the little male who leaned owlishly toward the center monitor on his desk, but when she finally got his attention, she saw he knew her. He nearly fell off his padded swivel chair when he recognized her.

“Hi.” She grinned, holding out her hand. “I’m Tanty.” With that awed look others seemed to exclusively reserve for reindeer, he shook her hand.

“You are?” she prompted.

“Huh? Oh. Me? I’m, uh…?” He seemed to have to think about it for a second. “Gurt. I’m Gurt.”

“Nice to meet you, Gurt.” She gestured down the hall. “Do you know where Bok is?”

“Bok? Oh. He’s working from home.”

She blinked. “You guys can do that?”

That got her a smile. A small one. “Most of us have a setup at home, yeah.”

“Huh. That’s pretty cool.”

“Yeah. Helps when you’re not feeling well or something.”

“You mean, Bok’s sick?”

Gurt frowned, bushy green brows drawing together. His hair was green like Bok’s, but where Bok’s was fluorescent, Gurt’s hair was far more pale and subdued. In some lighting, it might even look blond. His eyes were the deep brown of the forest floor. “I don’t think he’s sick.

He just asked to work from home for a while.”

“Oh.” Tanty frowned. What was going on? She wanted to talk to Bok to make sure they were still okay after the other night. Also, she wanted to see if they could do it again. She hadn’t had sex since that night, and she was getting antsy. “Could you tell me where Bok lives?” She left the acquisitions building with exact directions. It wasn’t all that far, just a few blocks. Heading there, she gained a new understanding of how far he’d run the other night to get her new toy. It wasn’t a great distance for her and wouldn’t be for any of the reindeer, but they trained to run for hours at a time. For someone like Bok, who sat behind a computer most of the time, the run must have been a trial of endurance.

His house was indistinguishable from any of the others on his block. All elves had the right to a home to themselves once they came of age. Most had their choice of the empty houses in the residential blocks. Santa’s Village rarely changed size. The residential plots had been the same for centuries, since the population was pretty regular.

She walked up the path to Bok’s house and stood on the minuscule porch to knock at the bright green door. She was pretty sure he was home, although she couldn’t be absolutely certain.

She tried the door handle and didn’t appreciate that it was locked. Not many people in the village locked their doors, but it wasn’t exactly uncommon. She put some strength behind her next knock and called out his name.

It took knocking twice more before the lock finally clicked and the door opened. Bok stood on the other side, holding door and frame close so she could see just a sliver of him.

“Hi,” she said, unable to smile through her surprise at his lack of welcome.

“Hi.”

“You’re not at work.”

“I’m working from home.”

Well, duh. Now that we’ve covered the obvious…
She mentally shook herself. “Can I come in?”

He glanced to his side, clearly thinking. Then shook his head. “No. I’m working.”

“We’ve talked while you were working before.”

“I know. I, uh, I’m way behind. Th-that’s why I’m working here. Less distractions.” “Oh.” She didn’t believe him, but she had no basis for calling him out. She knew next to nothing about what he did. “When do you think you’ll be done?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Okay.” Now she felt stupid. She was getting the clear idea he didn’t want to be around her, and it pissed her off. “Listen, I want to apologize for the other morning. I shouldn’t have let Nold and Issie in while you were sleeping.”

His gaze dropped, and a flush colored the pale skin of his rounded cheeks. “That’s okay.”

“I didn’t even think, and I…” She shrugged. “I’m sorry.” Silence. Uncomfortable. Awkward. She wanted to ask him to come home with her but got the impression she’d be rejected. She didn’t take rejection well. “All right. So. Right.”

“Right.”

She bit her tongue over an outburst she was dying to spit at him. She didn’t know what she wanted to say, only that his attitude pissed her off. “So. Call me sometime.” That’s as far as she’d go.

He nodded, his gaze still averted. “Okay.”

“Fine.” She stepped back off the porch. “Bye.”

Bok groaned, leaning his forehead against the inside of his door as he locked it.

That had gone badly. Spectacularly so. He’d seen the look in Tanty’s eyes. She’d actually seemed hurt. And why not? She probably considered them friends, or at least well on the road to being so, and he’d dashed that. But he couldn’t see her, and he couldn’t tell her why.

It was better this way. It was okay. Once he’d fixed everything, he’d explain, and she’d forgive him.

It would be worth it.

Chapter Eight

“You’d better let me in,” Lon yelled though the locked door. Lon wasn’t very big or strong, but he was managing to pound the wood rather well. “If you don’t open up, I’m going to your mother’s.”

Gritting his teeth over a growl, Bok dropped the damp towel he held over the back of his desk chair and stomped across his living room to unlatch the door. He opened it just enough to look out. He scowled even though he could barely make out Lon because of the glare of the pristine snow behind him. “Leave my mother out of this.” The last thing he needed was for his mother to stick her nose in his business. She was distracted enough by her own work, and he’d like it to stay that way.

Lon’s silhouette thrust hands on hips, and Bok was sure there’d be a stern look to go with the posture. “Then don’t make me go see her. Let me in.”

“No.”

“Why?” Lon craned his neck, but there was no way he could see anything beyond Bok.

“What are you doing in there?”

“None of your business.”

Lon’s face came into focus when he leaned closer. Concentration became horrified surprise on his animated face. “You look
horrible
.”

Leaning heavily against the edge of the door, Bok knocked his forehead against it. “Please.

Just go.”

“No. Let me in right now, or I
will
go to your mother. Or Gus.” Pressing his lips together, Bok considered calling Lon’s bluff. Gus scared Lon something awful. But that had been before Wod. Now that he was dating a reindeer, his feelings toward Mrs. Claus had probably mellowed. He still had the threat to go to Bok’s mom too. “Fine.” Bok stepped back, glancing at the road behind Lon to make sure no one was watching. No one was.

No one on his block gave him too much thought. Most of them were in housekeeping and maintenance and weren’t in their homes during the day anyway. “Come in. Quick!” Surprised, Lon scurried inside. “What’s the matter with you anyway? What are you…?” He stopped just inside Bok’s hallway, surveying the mess that was the living room. “What is going
on
?”

Sullen, Bok brushed past him back into his personal chaos. His desk was filled with papers and keyboards, with his computer from work adding to the clutter. He’d moved all the regular furniture—the sofa, coffee table, and two chairs—to the edges of the room to make room for the weight bench, various free weights, and cross-trainer treadmill machine. “I’ve been working out.”

“You’ve been what now?”

Bok heaved an irritated sigh as he mounted the treadmill. “Working out.” He punched buttons to get the treads to start again. “You know, getting in shape.” Lon gaped.

“What?”

“You?”

“Yeah, me.” Sweat started up almost immediately, mostly because he had the heat up higher than usual to create something of a sweatbox. “Hand me that towel.” He pointed at the one he’d left draped over his chair.

Lon picked up the towel and brought it to him. “B-bu-but you
hate
exercising.”

“Yeah.” Bok took the towel and swiped at his forehead. He’d tried a headband, but it had irritated his head. “Still do.”

Aghast, Lon wandered farther into the room. His expressive gaze took in the pull-up bar attached to the door to the bedroom and the old stationary bike that sat facing the little kitchenette. He stopped by the dining table and picked up one of many cans of protein drinks.

“How did you…?”

“It’s all secondhand. Well within my budget.”

“And no one knew?”

Bok snorted, his breathing already labored. “No one pays attention to stuff like that unless it’s toys for the warehouse.”

Lon’s fingers moved as he counted the boxes of protein drinks. There were six. “I don’t understand.”

“What’s not to understand?” Bok checked the timer in front of him. Fifteen blasted more minutes before he could stop to cool down so he could get some acquisitions work done. Only way people would leave him alone was if he kept up with his daily quota.