by Eve Langlais
“What are you doing here?” she whispered, still in shock over what she’d just seen.
“He … I told you … Well…,” Josie tried to explain before giving up and shrugging.
“What she is trying to say is that we warned you he was looking for you. That he might show up here if you didn’t call him soon. This morning he … um … Well … he asked for your address. They”—Ally indicated Josie and Hawke— “were arguing when I showed up. A few minutes later Robbie called freaking out, and here we are.”
“You’re stalling,” Hawke pointed out. “What happened and why are you living in this shithole anyway?”
That pissed her off; as concerned as he was, he didn’t have the right to demand answers or disparage her living space. She huffed and turned her back to the overgrown oaf and faced her friends. “I don’t have time to deal with him right now. Were you guys being honest when you said you could help me or that maybe Bess and Julia can? I don’t know what to do and I’m so scared.”
“Of course, anything. Just tell us what we can do.” Josie replied without hesitation as Ally nodded in agreement.
“I got a call this morning; my brother is sick. I think my mother is going to try to sneak away and get him help. She said they loved me and she’d call back when she could. I’ve been dealing with these people for long enough to know they won’t let her or my brothers get away. I don’t know where she is or how to help her. I just know they will hurt them and if they survive they’ll probably make them pay for the time and energy they spent tracking them down.”
“This is a job for the big guns. I’ll talk to Xander and between us, Bess, and Julia we’ll find them and get them to safety.”
Ally nodded in agreement with Josie. “What about the money? Are they going to demand you keep paying?”
“Excuse me, ladies, but—” Hawke started to speak but was quickly silenced by Josie.
“This isn’t your concern,” Shawna said with a glare before taking a deep breath to reply to Ally’s question. “I don’t know, to be honest. I think to be safe I need to keep making payments until I know they are safe someplace else. But if those bastards do get them again, at least they won’t take that out on them. I can’t afford to take that chance.”
“Fine, that makes sense, but you should hear Hawke out then. He could help with that part. You’re killing yourself working three jobs and barely making enough to cover your bills here. Add in what you send to them and you’re drowning in quicksand.” Ally smiled weakly before glancing to Hawke. “Just hear him out for me. And don’t worry either way, because you’ll have the money you need to pay them off with or without taking him up on his offer.”
She hated that he was listening to her problems, but she couldn’t hold it in much longer. Her friends were her rocks in the tidal wave of grief and worry that was sweeping her away. She knew with every fiber of her being that they along with Keir and Xander would do anything and everything to help her fix this. Hawke, on the other hand, was an unknown quantity. She knew of him by reputation only. Most of the employees she’d worked with at his company adored him; they raved about his compassion, care, and personal attention. Though none of the people in her department had ever seen it, too many people had said it for it not to be true.
Shawna gathered her courage and faced Hawke Hawke, hoping that he really was here to offer her something she desperately needed. Hope, short and simple.
CHAPTER 4
He’d never been so furious in his entire life as when he’d walked into Shawna’s hovel and seen her so broken on the couch. His only thought had been to destroy whatever and whoever had hurt his mate. Robbie was the only unknown entity and closest target. Before he’d known what he was doing he’d grabbed the smaller man and thrown him against the wall. He had to give the man credit; he didn’t cower from Hawke’s superior strength or anger.
Robbie had stood tall and proud and looked right into Hawke’s eyes as he attempted to explain. Again, Hawke had to give the man credit; few people had the courage to do what he’d done. Sadly, Hawke’s rage at seeing his mate so hurt had closed his ears to anything the poor man had said. If it hadn’t been for Shawna’s demand for him to be released, Hawke didn’t know what would have happened.
Then the strangest thing had happened: Robbie became a kicked puppy begging for Shawna’s forgiveness. At first Hawke had thought it an act, but as he watched the man he realized he treated all three women that way. As if they were queens and he their lowly servant. Nothing but respect and courteous behavior until his eyes met Hawke’s again and then finally he realized what he saw there. The man was protecting his charges from Hawke. Robbie thought Hawke was a threat to the girls. It was the damndest thing he’d ever seen.
He was sure his jaw had dropped when Robbie asked if they were safe here with him. What did Robbie think he was gonna do if they weren’t? Hawke could have snapped the man’s neck with hardly an ounce of effort.
He was lost in his thoughts when he heard the girls use his name. He quickly focused in on the conversation in time to catch the drift of it and see his mate trying to distract them. That was going to end now. He had too many questions for her to get away with that. When he’d agreed to follow the ladies here, he’d never in a million years thought it would be to such a run-down tenement. What had happened to her old apartment? He’d never been there, but he’d looked up the address that was on file and it had been in a good area.
“You’re stalling,” Hawke pointed out. “What happened and why are you living in this shithole anyway?”
So, he needed to work on his tact, he thought as he quickly watched Shawna shut him out. He hadn’t meant it like it’d come out, but his patience was running thin. He just wanted to help her, keep her safe, and worship her delicious body. Was that too much to ask?
Especially now, his mate needed him even if she didn’t want to admit it. Nobody was going to make his mate cry and get away with it.
“Excuse me, ladies, but—” He tried to interrupt so he could get them to give a clear answer. It was obvious the ladies were all in on whatever was happening, but he couldn’t help if they wouldn’t spell it out a little more clearly for him.
“Hawke?” Ally called with a frown. “Are you going to explain or not?”
“Yes, sorry, I was trying to decipher your cryptic words. I seem to be only hearing the CliffsNotes versions and it’s left me with more questions than answers.”
Shawna stiffened. “That’s because it’s none of your concern. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”
“A job,” he replied without formality, “to be exact, your old job with added benefits and pay. Plus, all the things you should have had all along. As I’m sure you’ve been told, I fired Clark. While there were many reasons, one of the biggest was that he hired you and the other ladies without my consent or knowledge. That’s not how my company is run. He was brought on to build and run Mate for Hire. Once he’d fired you, things quickly made it apparent that he was not doing that job.”
“What happened? How did it become apparent?” She cursed and glared at him. “Did he break my program? I’ll kill him!”
“I asked him to make some changes to my profile and match me up as an experiment, because it had come to my attention that matches in the last few weeks hadn’t been working out. To put it mildly, my dates were total disasters. My hired mates were so off the mark it was frightening; I couldn’t even bring them with me to the functions.”
Shawna groaned, “How bad did he screw up my work?”
“Let me put it like this: My last ‘mate’ was allergic to dogs.” Hawke rolled his eyes in annoyance before continuing on. “She freaked out and ran out the door as soon as she discovered what type of shifter I was. Mind you, this was clearly marked on the form I filled out and should have been part of the information she was provided.”
He glared at Josie and Ally as they snickered at his words. It hadn’t been funny to him or his wolf in the least bit. “Any
ways, like I said, he’s been fired. I want, no, need you to come back and fix everything. I’m willing to double your salary, and before you protest, consider the amount of work it’ll take to fix his screw-ups.”
Shawna nodded slowly. “Can I think about it?”
“Carajo, Shawna, what’s there to think about? Take the damn job; he’s practically on his knees groveling at your feet. Take advantage, girl,” Ally said with a wink to Hawke.
“Ladies, I assure you if I was on my knees in front of her, groveling would be the last thing on my mind.”
He grinned wickedly as he watched the blush creep up Shawna’s beautiful tawny face. She was gorgeous and now that his mind had gone back in the gutter he was struggling not to pull her to her feet and stake his claim like his wolf urged him.
“Besides,” Josie chimed in, pulling him from his thoughts. “Think of the resources he has at his disposal. You’ve said it yourself how fantastic the company is to most of its employees. Between all of us”—she gestured between the four of them—“our mates, and their superscary and highly effective assistants, there isn’t anything we can’t accomplish.”
Hawke nodded in agreement. “I don’t know for sure what’s going on, but I gather your mother and brothers are in trouble. Whatever it is, whatever you need, I will do or find a way to get it done. You have my word on that.”
He wasn’t sure what he could say to convince her to come back to work for him. He’d offer her the CEO position if it would help; he just needed her to be there in the building. It would be so much easier to manufacture reasons to see her and seduce her if she was close. For the life of him he couldn’t figure out what she had to think about. It was a no-brainer: come work for him and earn three times as much as she made now for a third of the work.
“Fine. I’ll come back,” Shawna said with a sigh. “But only if I get free rein to make some changes and upgrades to the software.”
Hawke bit his lip and eyed her dubiously for a moment in consideration. “Can we at least agree to discuss them before you do anything? I’m not saying I won’t let you do what you want, but I’d like to be kept in the loop.”
Shawna nodded slowly before offering her hand. “It’s a deal. When do I start?”
He let out the breath he hadn’t been aware he’d been holding and smiled. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had to work so hard to get a woman to do anything. His mate was going to be a constant thorn in his side and he didn’t want it any other way.
“Tomorrow too soon for you? I wasn’t kidding when I said the program is screwed up. I have a pile of complaints on my desk and I have a date lined up for a function tomorrow, and no ‘mate’ to go with me.”
Shawna gaped at him in shocked disbelief. “You want me to come back to work tomorrow and get you a mate in the same day?”
“I’m a customer too; I already RSVPed and the per-plate cost was probably what you pay in rent here for a month. I’m not letting that money go to waste.”
He watched in amusement as she opened and closed her mouth attempting to find the words she was looking for. In all honesty, he could easily go alone or not go at all. The money had gone to a wonderful cause and that’s all that mattered to him really. But he couldn’t pass on the opportunity to get Shawna one step closer to him. Now to just wait for her to catch on to his way of thinking.
Ally cleared her throat to gain their attention and winced. “Why don’t you be his date, Shawna? It will solve his problem and you get paid for being his ‘mate.’ It’s a win-win situation.”
Hawke could kiss her for inadvertently offering what he was working on suggesting himself. He made a mental note to send her flowers at the next opportunity.
“You can’t be serious?” Shawna gritted out between clenched teeth. “No one would believe I was his mate, and besides, I have nothing fancy enough to wear to something that cost that much!”
Hawke ignored her protests and stood up to leave. “I’ll see you at eight tomorrow morning and I’ll pick you up here at six thirty to head to the benefit.”
CHAPTER 5
She wasn’t going to survive the day, or rather she would, but there were no promises in Hawke’s case. It wasn’t even eight yet and the rat bastard was waiting for her outside her former office looking like a freaking GQ model, holding two steaming cups of coffee. If one of those wasn’t for her he was a dead man. By the gods, why did he have to look so damn good this early?
“Morning, my beautiful!” he called out as he handed her one of the cups. “A welcome back gift.”
Shawna glared at him: How could he be so damn chipper this early in the morning? Hell, she’d only had two cups of coffee. She’d need at least a dozen more to make her ready to face the day ahead. After his abrupt announcement and departure yesterday she’d spent the rest of the day arguing with her besties, crying in worry about her family and finally giving in to their pleading to borrow an outfit for the damn benefit. Once they’d left she’d lain awake most of the night clutching her phone, pleading with whatever deity was listening to make her phone ring with the sound of her mother’s voice.
She grumbled a thank-you and moved past him to drop her bags off at her desk. His smothered laughter followed her and raised her hackles even higher. She huffed and turned to face him and waited to see what he wanted. Yes, he’d begged her to come back and said he’d see her at eight, but she hadn’t really thought he’d be waiting. Didn’t he as CEO have much better things to do than come stare at her? She knew she was being a bitch, but she was tired and frustrated, emotionally and sexually.
“Not a morning person, are you?” He glanced around the small office and frowned. “This is your office, really?”
She bristled at his acerbic tone. “What does that mean? What’s wrong with it? This is what I was assigned to when I was hired, after all.”
Hawke sighed. “I didn’t mean it’s bad. Just that as the person in charge of Mate for Hire you shouldn’t be in this small, windowless room. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice office, but you’re the top of the food chain for my dating business. You need an office that represents that.”
“Why? It’s not like I entertain clients or applicants here.”
“What if I said I wanted to change that? Make a separate entrance right into the offices? Have your secretary greet people as they come in and sit in a small waiting room? Maybe have a couple of the employees Clark hired sit down and do interviews with them so we can have a much more rounded application process? Have a physical presence and not just an online one?”
Shawna stopped rummaging through the desk drawers and stared up at him in shock. She’d asked Clark for a meeting to discuss that very thing multiple times. Half of their clients were from surrounding areas; to bring them in for that personal touch would make the program and the matches that much stronger.
“Why are you gaping at me like that? It’s slightly creepy, you know.” He paused, nodded slowly. “Okay then, was that too much for this early in the morning? Should I come back later and finish…,” he trailed off as she raced around the desk to stand in front of him.
“Are you kidding me? Do you know how long I’ve wanted this very thing? I have a new questionnaire I’ve created that was a thousand times more comprehensive, but Clark wouldn’t even look at it.”
Shawna suddenly realized how close she was standing to Hawke and backed away slowly as she felt her face burn in an embarrassed blush. What was it about this man that made her forget herself? Sure, he was a top-of-the-line prime Grade A piece of hunk, and he smelled so good she had to fight to keep her mind from wandering to the places she’d like to lick him, but she wasn’t a schoolgirl who couldn’t control herself.
Hawke winked at her and nodded toward the door they’d entered a few minutes ago. “Come with me; I’ve got something to show you. I think you’ll like it, and as to your new questionnaire, I’d love to see it. If it helps us be more accurate, I’m all for it. I’ll even volunteer as your guinea pig and
get matched for my next couple of functions to see.”
Shawna followed behind him lost in thought of him on dates and wondering why that left her feeling so livid at the thought. She’d known he’d signed up and been matched. It’s how she got stuck being his date tonight, after all. She hadn’t really cared until now. What had changed so drastically to alter this?
“You might remember that I mentioned we’d fired Clark a few weeks ago. We’ve been busy since then, as you’ll see. I’d already lined up contractors and began work the next day to get this completed as quickly as possible.”
His words brought her back to herself as she listened in astonishment at what he was saying or what she assumed he was saying. Could he have really already built the new area and she hadn’t noticed driving in?
She stopped suddenly and stared at the beautiful double frosted-glass doors in front of her as she read the writing on them.
Mate for Hire
a subsidiary of the Naughty Goddess company
Hawke Hawke
CEO
Shawna Goode
General Manager
“You … I’m … Holy shit on a shingle.” She breathed softly.
“I hope you being speechless means you accept the new title. Now, if you can manage to walk with me through the doors, I’ll show you the rest of your new offices and you can meet your staff.” He winked as he grabbed her hand and pulled her through the doors.
“I think you’re insane, in case you were wondering. Amazing and gorgeous but insane all the same.”
She watched as Hawke smiled so devilishly that it made her want to run to the nearest bathroom and ease the ache that had begun when she’d run up to him in her office. That look was 100 percent wicked delight.
“You think I’m gorgeous?” he whispered as he stepped closer and crowded her back against the door. “It’s okay; you don’t have to lie. I heard it from your very own plump lips. Furthermore, I can smell your arousal and need and it’s mutual, baby. But first we have some work to do. But just maybe I can find us an unused room or area so I can finally taste you. It’s all I’ve thought about since the minute I laid eyes on you at Keir’s party.”