Snow and the Seven Men: A Reverse Harem Fairy Tale Romance(5)

“But we’re co-workers and Amanda already hates me,” I continued, making up the spiel as I went along.

As if she was listening in on our conversation, there was a pounding on the bedroom door.

“If you two are done copulating, maybe you can get to work!” Queenie howled and the malice in her voice was almost palpable. “You’re not getting paid to screw! What a concept, huh, Sasha?”

Fury raced through me at her disgusting innuendo but I checked my temper.

“Coming!” I called quickly before turning back to Hunter. “See? She’s furious!”

“She’s always furious!” Hunter spat at me. “I told you, she’s jealous of you.”

“Hunter,” I sighed. “Last night was…special.”

I almost choked on the lie but I needed to let this guy down easily. Matters were not going to get easier if Hunter wasn’t on my side.

Jesus, what a mess.

“It was special,” he agreed, eyeing her. “So what if we’re co-workers. It’s not against policy to date.”

“Hunter!” My voice was sharp. “There are only the three of us here now. Think about how Amanda’s going to feel if you and I couple up and leave her in the cold. It’s not right.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Suddenly you’re worried about how Amanda feels?”

I hated that he knew me so well.

“Just think of the optics here,” I implored him. “It’s only going to build tension among us.”

He studied me speculatively.

“So we’re just on hold until we get back to New York?”

Is that what he inferred from what I just said? God, and he’s a scientist.

I wanted to lie to him and say yes, if only to placate him but I couldn’t bring myself to do that. I thought about how long I’d pined for him. How would I have felt if he’d given me false hope? I didn’t want to lead him on. It wasn’t my style.

“We’ll see,” I managed to say but he wasn’t an idiot. He knew where I stood at that moment.

“I see.”

His shoulders stiffened and he exhaled in a breath of anger.

“I-I’m sorry, Hunter,” I mumbled, knowing my face was bright red with embarrassment. I’d never done well with confrontation and in this situation, it was a hundred times worse. His face twisted in anger and he folded his arms over his chest.

What a waste. He’s got a washboard on his stomach.

“Whatever. Can you get out so I can get dressed?”

I nodded quickly and turned away, grateful to have been given an out but I knew I was just walking out one door and entering another dragon’s den.

I hurried into the kitchenette and poured myself a coffee, carefully averting my gaze from Queenie’s piercing stare but I knew that avoiding her wasn’t going to help me now.

“You guys are disgusting,” Queenie spat. “Couldn’t even keep it in your pants for a couple weeks, could you?”

I glanced at her, hearing the contempt in her voice and a dozen retorts jumped to my lips.

No, Queenie. Human people like sex—not that I expect you to understand that.

“There’s nothing going on between Hunter and me,” I muttered, taking my spot at the computer.

Queenie snorted rudely.

“Yeah, right.”

I pretended to busy myself with my research but it was hard to concentrate with all the animus flying around, none more so than when Hunter stormed out of his room, determined to make as much noise as possible.

What is happening? Am I in hell?

On a whim, I reached into one of the desk drawers and removed my earbuds, slipping them into my laptop and found the Modest Mouse album in my playlist. The only surefire way to drown out misery was with music, after all.

It worked for a few hours as I somehow forgot about my boss and disastrous one-night-stand-turned-scorned-ex.

I probably would have gotten through the day in my own little world if my Skype phone hadn’t started ringing around one.

“Alex!” I breathed aloud, forgetting that I wasn’t alone in the room. Her deceptively serious face appeared on the screen and I jumped up to disconnect the computer from the charger so I could get myself some privacy.

I made my way inside the room I was sharing with Queenie and shut the door, flopping on the single bed as Alex’s smile lit up the screen.

“Oh well look at that! You haven’t been consumed by snow monsters or whatever it is that gets you in Iceland!” Alex chortled.

“You have no idea how glad I am to see your face,” I sighed. “How’s it going over there?”

“The entire city has shut down without you, Sash. The roads have closed. The post office is on strike—”

“Shut up,” I laughed. “Have you spoken to my mom?”

“You’ve been gone four days, Sash. Everything is fine, I promise. Don’t worry about us. Focus on yourself.”

“No,” I muttered, keeping my voice low. “Everything is not fine.”

Alex’s dark eyes widened but her brow knit with worry.

“Why?” she demanded. “Is it that bitch still on your case? Do you want me to send her some anthrax?”

I kind of did. I groaned and flopped back on the lumpy mattress, pulling the laptop onto my stomach as I propped my head up on the pillows.

“I made matters way worse,” I confessed. “I slept with Hunter last night.”

Alex’s face instantly brightened and she squealed with happiness.

“It’s about damned time!” she cheered. “Give me deets!”

I shook my head.

“No. Trust me, you don’t want any.”

Alex’s face turned to surprise.

“That bad? I wouldn’t have guessed it. He always looked like he knew what to do.”

“He does—for himself,” I breathed, worried that Queenie or Hunter might be listening in. They couldn’t hear Alex since I still had my earbuds in but if they wanted, they could still hear me.

That’s on them, not me. I shouldn’t have to worry about where I’m getting my privacy.

I shouldn’t but I did.

“Shit, that’s too bad. Are things really awkward?” Alex asked and I nodded.

“He was acting like we were in a relationship this morning and when I set him straight, he started storming around like a three-year-old.”

Alex howled with laughter.

“And they call us emotional, right?”

“God, Alex, I don’t know how I’m going to get through the next few weeks like this.”

Alex paused, her brow furrowing.

“Do you want to come home?” she asked and I scoffed.

“Of course not!” I growled even though that was a big, fat lie. I wanted nothing more than to hop the first flight home but I was an adult, not some high school freshman.

“You sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. Alex, this project is my baby. I’m not going to let a little bit of personal friction scare me off.”

Alex shrugged.

“If you change your mind—”

“I won’t,” I assured her. “I just need to throw myself completely into work and forget about their drama.”

Alex sighed and bobbed her head.

“If anyone can keep her eye on the prize, it’s you,” she agreed. “But if things get too weird—”

“You’ll be the first to know,” I assured her. “I gotta get back before I give Queenie even more ammunition to use against me.”

“All right, girl. Make sure you email me every day.”

“Will do,” I agreed even though I knew our internet was sketchy. Honestly, I was surprised the call hadn’t dropped already.

“Love you, Sash.”

“Love you too.”

We disconnected but I didn’t move immediately as I stared at the blank chat screen.

Maybe going home wasn’t a bad idea. I could ask to be put on another team and come back later…

I snickered at my own naivety. There would not be another expedition. We’d waited this long to get the funding approval for this one. It was now or never.

You’re not going to sacrifice your career over a shitty sex choice, I told myself. That’s not even an option.





5





Sasha





After the video call with Alex, I brought my computer back into the lab and set it down, glancing out the window to see the amount of light left in the day. Getting used to the early sunsets was something I still had to accept and I was worried that I’d missed my opportunity.

“I need to collect some samples,” I said, realizing that if I wanted to go, I needed to go then. Neither Queenie nor Hunter acknowledged my words as if I hadn’t spoken so I said it again.

“So go,” Hunter barked without looking up from his microscope. I wondered what he could possibly be working on. I doubted he was doing anything at all but sulking. It was like being in the twilight zone. I was surrounded by scientists with the emotional quotients of toddlers.

I gritted my teeth before posing the next question since I really didn’t want to be asking it.

“Are you coming with me?”

“No.” He didn’t even let me finish asking before spitting out the word. I looked at him with disgust.

So much for being adults.

“I can’t go out alone,” I reminded him. “It’s against company policy.”

Queenie laughed mirthlessly and looked at Hunter.