Mira started beating a retreat and Branch followed. His beast urged him on, beating at him to chase to her, capture her, take her… Branch ignored that last demand and pounded after her.
He easily caught up to her, frantically trying to call the elevator. Yes, there was no doubt he would catch her. Her curves were not meant for speed. No, they were meant for something else, something with much less clothing…
Branch shook his head. The hell was wrong with him? He wasn’t a monk, but damn, he could usually control himself a lot better than this.
“Wait! Where are you going?” he called, slowing his pace, holding up his hands in surrender.
“No, where are you going?” she retorted.
Branch raised his eyebrows, and she gave him a sheepish look.
“I don’t know why I said that,” she admitted. “When I get cornered I usually just repeat what someone else says to me or if they insult me I shout, ‘no, you are.’”
She was babbling. Perhaps she was nervous. He’d never really admired women who either chatted incessantly or were needlessly nervous. His late mate had been virtually monosyllabic and even more fearless than him. Sometimes he wondered if he was brave enough to keep up with her. Jumping out of a helicopter onto a mountainside with a snowboard strapped to his feet really had tested his limits. But anyway, he found her – Mira’s - chatter, rather than irritating or infuriating, to be quite – dare he think it – soothing?
Mira fidgeted, moving from foot to foot. “Look, clearly there has been some mistake or some miscommunication, but I really think you should stop telling people that we’re engaged.”
“But isn’t that why you were in my office?” he asked, baffled.
“What?!” Her eyes widened to saucers. “Why would you think that? Did you think I ran all the way down here to trap you into marriage?”
“Are you saying my brother didn’t arrange for you to marry me?” Wasn’t she the reason for his brother’s leers and winks? Wasn’t she his unwanted yet ultimately useful Secret Santa?
“No!” she cried. “Are you actually insane?”
He frowned at her.
Mira had a terrible thought. “Oh, wait are you? I didn’t mean to offend you if you are, I mean it’s not your fault…”
Branch gritted his teeth. “I am of sound mental health.”
She shrugged but didn’t seem entirely convinced. “If you say so, but you’re the one telling everyone we’re engaged!”
She tapped the call button for the elevator while never taking worried looking eyes off him.
“There appears to have been a slight misunderstanding,” he said as calmly as possible.
Mira giggled, verging on hysterically. “I think that’s an understatement.”
“I thought my brother had hired you to mate – marry me.”
Branch tried to explain, but it was hard to fit it into just a few words. He was also trying to cover up his embarrassment and also his concern about what he would tell his herd. Undoubtedly, his mother had already informed all of them about his upcoming wedding to Mira, and some of them probably weren’t quite drunk enough to forget. Was there something else, too? Perhaps a slight disappointment? No, not possible. He quashed that inkling before it had a chance to become a thought.
“To mate-marry you?”
He paused. “Yes.”
Mira stared at him for a few beats. “Why would you hire anyone to marry you?”
“It is… complicated.”
Probably not something a human would understand. His brother did seem to know her, but not in the intimate way that Branch had assumed. He doubted Mira had any idea he was actually a reindeer shifter. They guarded the secret of their race very closely and only divulged it to those they were sure would also keep it. In fact, if any herd member wished to tell a human the truth, they needed to seek permission from him, their alpha, first. Though, he wasn’t quite sure that Harlan would listen to his alpha in that instance. When had he ever listened?
“No, seriously, why would you,” and she put a lot of emphasis on that word, “need to hire someone? I mean, have you never seen you?”
Mira gestured up and down his body, and his overall humiliation quickly left him to be replaced with smugness.
“Indeed.”
“I mean, uh…” She started to stammer, and her cheeks blazed an appealing shade of raspberry pink. “Well, it’s none of my business anyway, I’m sure. I mean you are free to hire anyone you want. It’s nothing to do with me. I’m sure you and this mystery woman will be very happy together…”
Branch relaxed a little. Her fear seemed to have evaporated, and she was awfully cute when she jabbered.
“What were you doing in my office?” he asked, smiling slightly.
“Oh! Umm, I’d almost forgotten!” Her face took on a stern demeanor. It was like watching a bunny trying to stand up to a – well – reindeer and demand to know who had eaten all the carrots. “I came here to ask why you’d cut your donation to my sister’s charity.”
“Have I?”
“Yes, it’s called Snow Bunnies, and my sister…”
She explained just what Snow Bunnies did and he half-listened. At least he knew what it was now. No doubt the original donation had been down to his mother, and canceling the donation was an oversight on his part. He would rectify it if only to stop Mira looking at him so severely. She didn’t have the face for severe. No, she should always be laughing and smiling or screaming in pleasure…
But the moment he agreed to the donation again, Mira would leave. She’d be gone, and he’d probably never see her again. He wasn’t too sure he liked the sound of that, but more importantly, his whole family and herd by now thought that he was going to mate Mira. How could he explain her sudden disappearance?
Perhaps his brother hadn’t been wrong. Perhaps there was a way to salvage the situation.
He held up his hand for silence and Mira stuttered to a stop. “I will reinstate the monthly donation. In fact, I’ll increase it.”
“You will?”
Her face lit up, and he found himself almost speechless in the shadow of such a beatific expression. It almost stopped him from saying what he was about to say, which was sure to wipe the look off her face. Almost.
“If you do something for me…”