20 Shades of Shifters_A Paranormal Romance Collection

by Demelza Carlton

  “Sabrina!”

  Gideon was still standing in the same position, holding the mail in one hand, a glass of ice in the other.

  He’d frozen. A charming, lovely creature had ventured into his office and he was so caught off guard, he froze. It wasn’t like him at all. The woman was familiar like he’d caught glimpses of her in the office.

  When she looked up at him, his cock swelled. It shouldn’t have, there was no reason. Her big brown eyes shouldn’t have had such a profound effect on him. She was covered head to toe, like she was trying to hide. Her bulky clothes didn’t do her any favors. Her hair was pulled back and Gideon found himself wondering what it would look like unraveled from that tight bun.

  “Yes?” Sabrina said, strolling in like she didn’t know what just happened. She had to have heard it all.

  “Why was that employee in my office?” It wasn’t a hard and fast rule of any kind that no one was allowed in. Sabrina just knew that he valued his privacy.

  “I was busy and asked her to drop the mail off for me. Was that a problem?”

  Gideon set the glass down, not wanting that drink any longer. “Why does she smell like that?”

  “I’m sorry, smell like what?”

  “Like… burnt sugar.” Gideon wandered to his desk, dropping the mail on the surface.

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Like crème brûlée. Sugar with cream,” he said, like he could almost smell it again.

  “I really have no idea what to say to that. I didn’t smell anything like that. You must have scared her, though. She took off like a shot, I was worried that crappy cart she uses would fall apart when she took the corner.”

  “She was scared?”

  “Maybe not scared, more like startled. What did you say to her?”

  Gideon thought for a moment. “I’m not sure. I told her to have a good weekend or holiday. I remember that part.”

  Sabrina shrugged, “I’m sure she’ll recover.”

  He tried to shake off the sensation that seemed to have settled over his shoulders. It was heavy, his concern for her was unnecessary, but it was still there. “Hmm,” he said, as he walked to his desk.

  “Anything else?”

  “No, not for now.” Gideon took his seat and attempted to look busy, his thoughts on the woman with the big eyes and the sweet scent.

  Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sabrina turn and walk out, this time closing his office door behind her.

  Chapter 6

  The rest of Faye’s day PG (post Gideon) had gone by in a blur. It had taken a while for her heart to stop hammering in her chest. She tried to keep busy, but her eyes kept darting to her monitor to see if she had any new emails from Human Resources telling her she was fired.

  She wasn’t even sure they could fire her that way; then again, she wasn’t sure if anyone had ever breached Gideon’s inner sanctum. They were probably meeting right now to figure out how to drag her from the building no matter how much she kicked and screamed.

  Not that she would ever act in such a way. She wasn’t sure if it was her encounter with Gideon or something else, but she felt awful. Her body hurt and she felt sick to her stomach.

  The hours slowly ticked by towards quitting time. When she closed down her computer at five o’clock, she could feel the nauseating dampness of her clothes clinging to her skin.

  Keeping her head down, Faye walked straight to the exit and out to the street without acknowledging anyone. No 'Happy Thanksgiving,' no 'have a nice weekend,' just straight to the bus stop a block and a half away from the building. Pulling her peacoat tight around her body, she ducked her face into the thick scarf she had wrapped around her neck, wishing she had remembered to bring a hat.

  Faye hoped that the first bus wasn’t packed. If she’d lived closer, the light rail would only be one trip instead of her multiple transfers. There were times she would wait for the next one hoping to have some breathing room once she got on. Today was not one of those days. Right now she’d be willing to cling to the front of the bus, gripping the bike rack for dear life, just to get home as soon as possible.

  Blessedly, the bus arrived and she got on and swiped her metro card. She had forty-two minutes, a bus transfer and a short walk between her and home. She could make it. Tea and pajamas were waiting for her, along with three movies she’d checked out from the library. Cable television wasn’t currently in her budget, but she had plans to get it back once her student loans were paid off. Until then she had cheery musicals to keep her company over the holiday weekend.

  Faye managed to find a seat on the bus. As soon as she did she felt her mistake. Her legs felt ridiculously weak once she wasn’t using them to keep herself upright. Two stops later, Faye had given up her seat to an elderly gentleman who tipped his hat to her. She found herself clinging to the pole in the middle of the aisle. Something she normally wouldn’t do knowing what kind of germs must inhabit it.

  Her stop couldn’t come fast enough. She felt like crying. Whether it was just the emotions of the day or she was feeling sorry for herself during the holidays, she knew she didn’t want to cry on the bus. She couldn’t be that person. She rode with a lot of these people every day, there was a chance they recognized her and all she needed was public consolation from a stranger.

  The bus pulled to a stop and Faye glanced up from her daze. It took her a moment to realize it was her stop.

  She yelped before jumping towards the doors, managing to squeeze out just in time. The bus stop was in a neighborhood that wasn’t too bad to the casual observer. The main thoroughfare was one she visited frequently, making use of the variety of shops and businesses it held. The walk to her apartment was a little seedier. It wasn’t bad, it just housed a different group of people that were looking for some of the cheapest rent in the city.

  Faye liked her little apartment. The few noisy neighbors were tolerable and she had her favorite elderly neighbors she would check on to make sure they were okay. Her building contained two types of people. Those that wanted to be ignored and those that had been forgotten.

  Faye was a little of both.

  The walk from the bus stop to her apartment wasn’t a long one, but every step was a struggle and she couldn’t remember ever feeling so wretched.

  Making it to her ground floor apartment, she saw Mrs. Minkle peeping through her curtains and Faye waved weakly. She didn’t have the energy to check on her today. Maybe tomorrow she’d make sure that she was going to her church’s Thanksgiving dinner or that someone was bringing her something.

  Opening the door, she stepped into her studio apartment and flipped on the lights. “Honey, I’m home!” she called out to the empty room. Faye managed a wry smile as she placed her purse on the small table by the door and hung her coat on the rack attached to the wall. It took four steps to reach her kitchenette. Opening the fridge, she grabbed her water pitcher and then a glass from a cupboard. Opening another door she found the bottle of ibuprofen and washed two of the tablets down with an entire glass of water.

  Deciding that she couldn’t bear the thought of making dinner, she stripped off her work clothes and found a faded shirt she’d left on the end of her twin bed. Slipping it over her head, she pulled the pins out of her hair, letting the mass of brown hair unravel down her back to brush over her bottom. Scratching her fingers over her scalp, she moaned at the relief of letting her hair down.

  She didn’t even have the energy to braid it back before flopping down on her bed. She’d deal with it in the morning, if she ever woke up again.

  “Son, what’s on your mind?”

  Gideon’s mother, Allegra stared across the table at him. “I’m sorry, Mother. My mind just wandered a bit.”

  “Is it work? You don’t normally take work home with you,” she said. Allegra was sixty-five years old and didn’t look a day over forty. Kindred genetics were better than the best face creams on the market.

  “Not exactly,” he said, poking at the turkey on his pl
ate. RingSide, an elegant Portland restaurant, was providing their Thanksgiving dinner.

  “Not exactly?”

  “I had an interesting brush with an employee yesterday and I can’t get seem to get her off of my mind,” he admitted, sipping his wine.

  “Her? Who is she?”

  He shook his head at his mother’s piqued interest. “Just our mail clerk. She came into my office. It wasn’t her fault, Sabrina asked her to. She startled me and I, in turn, startled her and then we ended up in an awkward encounter that I feel like I need to make up to her.”

  “Were you short with her?”

  “I don’t think so. Like I said, she surprised me.”

  “Was she attractive?”

  “Mother, really. What if she wasn’t, that wouldn’t change the situation, would it?”

  “So she is interesting…” his mother said with a smile.

  “No, not interesting... distracting. I’ve seen her before. Well, not seen her, she’s like a shadow that lurks around the building. If I see her in the hallway with her mail cart, I swear she runs the other way.”

  “She sounds shy, nothing wrong with being shy.”

  “No, I didn’t say there was anything wrong with her. But she really looked frightened. I think I could have handled it better.”

  “You can’t always be the polished businessman. You’re Kindred, Gideon. I’m sure she went off to her office friends and told them all about her encounter with you. She probably sold the story to one of the tabloids.”

  Gideon let out an involuntary hiss then stifled it. “That’s not funny.”

  “I wasn’t trying to be funny,” Allegra replied. “I can’t believe they were waiting for us outside this restaurant. It’s Thanksgiving! Shouldn’t they be home with their own families?”

  “Snakes don’t have families. They’re solitary creatures.”

  “All those flashing lights are annoying. Almost put me off my dinner. But I’m a strong-willed woman and no one is keeping me from the RingSide’s famous pumpkin soufflé for dessert.”

  “Yes, Mother, you’re a fierce leopardess.”

  “Don’t you forget it, son.”

  Gideon sighed; he didn’t know why he told his mother about what happened yesterday. She was one of the few people in his life he could trust explicitly. At least outside his Clan. He was constantly the topic of tabloid gossip. A wealthy unmated Kindred like him was always a target for those that wanted to dig into his private life. Faye didn’t seem the type to contact those leaches.

  What was he thinking? He didn’t know anything about her.

  With the long weekend it would be four more days before he’d see her again, maybe then he could figure out what it was about her that kept her on his mind.

  Chapter 7

  Sabrina!”

  Gideon paced his office. He had peeled off his jacket off as soon as he’d gotten in and thrown it over the back of the leather couch. He felt flustered. He’d run his hands through his hair enough this morning that it must be rumpled like his tie that he kept running through his fingers.

  “Yes?” Sabrina said as she stepped in.

  “Has the mail come?”

  Sabrina pursed her lips. “No, it hasn’t. Kevin usually isn’t as quick about getting the mail delivered by noon. And before you ask, she’s not in today.”

  Gideon felt his eyes flash yellow at his assistant then immediately apologized. “Sorry, it’s not you.”

  It was Wednesday after the long weekend. Gideon had waited all day Monday with his door open for a chance to apologize to Faye about causing her distress the previous week. She’d never showed.

  Tuesday came and she no-showed again. He had Sabrina call her boss to find out what was wrong. Her supervisor had said she called in sick and that it was the first time in years that she’d used a sick day.

  Gideon had understood missing Monday, but then Tuesday came and went and he started to worry that he had made her not want to come back to work. That wasn’t his intention at all.

  “What did your manager say?”

  “That Faye hadn’t called in today. She tried calling her today, but there was no answer. She assumed Faye would call in later. Apparently this isn’t like her.”

  “How did she sound yesterday?”

  “Gideon, I didn’t talk to her. Her manager didn’t say anything beyond what I just told you.”

  “That’s unacceptable,” he said, frustrated.

  “It’s not like we can force her in if she’s unwell. She has sick leave.”

  “Is she sick or avoiding me?”

  Sabrina looked taken aback. “Why would she be avoiding you?”

  “Because I—upset her,” Gideon said gruffly.

  “I really don’t think you did. From the sounds of things, she’s like that with everyone. According to her manager she’s quiet and doesn’t really talk to anyone. I’m sure it wasn’t you. She’s probably just home sick.”

  Gideon stalked over to his phone and picked up the receiver. “Fine, I’m calling HR.”

  “Do you think that’s a good idea? She’s not a direct report to you. Her manager has had some contact with her. She’ll probably be in later this week.”

  “This is my company. Shouldn’t I be concerned with my employees?”

  “Of course. But Gideon, this is a little more than casual concern. You have hundreds of employees. I doubt you’d notice if anyone but me missed a day. What’s going on?”

  Gideon dropped the receiver to the desk. “I don’t know,” he growled. “I thought about her all weekend. Even my mother noticed.”

  “Oh dear. Did you tell her?”

  Gideon’s head snapped around so he could look her in the eye. “Of course. Like I can keep anything from my mother. She was… overly interested.”

  Sabrina let out a small breath. “I bet she was. I can do some more digging if it would make you feel better. You don’t need to waste your time on this.”

  “It’s not a waste of time,” Gideon said, slamming his hand on his desk.

  “Geez, what is going on with you?”

  “I’m sorry. Damn it,” Gideon said, raking his hand through his hair for the hundredth time.

  “Okay, I’m going to leave you to it. You’ll let me know if there is anything I can do for you, right?”

  “Of course, thank you. I just need to shake this out of my mind and I’ll feel better.”

  Sabrina nodded and left the office, but not before Gideon reminded her to leave the door open. He knew that Faye wasn’t going to be walking by today, but he didn’t want to shut it either.

  Stretching and rolling his neck from side to side, Gideon had the urge to shift. To let the leopard side of him stretch out of his skin and dig his claws into the expensive carpet. He felt unsettled in his skin at the moment, but he would never shift at work. It wasn’t appropriate, and it didn’t keep his human staff at ease. Last month, during Halloween, he could have gotten away with it, in fact, many Kindred would answer their doors as their animals to the delight of the costumed children.

  Not that Gideon had ever done that. It wouldn’t be dignified, and there wasn’t any reason for him to appease the humans. Thinking of humans piqued a craving. Looking up to see if there was anyone in eyesight, he only saw the back of Sabrina’s head. Pulling open the drawer on his desk, he grabbed a handful of jellybeans and shoved them in his mouth. Gideon kept his sugar addiction on the down-low as much as possible. His mother knew, but even she didn’t tease him about it.

  Crunching through the shells of the candy, he let the sugar hit his blood stream and settle his nerves a little. Taking a breath to calm himself further, he picked up the phone and called HR.

  The phone rang twice before it was answered.

  “HR, this is Patty.”

  “Patty, this is Gideon.”

  There was a silence on the phone and he could hear her clearing her throat. “Good morning, sir. How can I help you?”

  “I need the emergency c
ontact for an employee that isn’t responding to calls to their home.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, which employee? I don’t normally give out that kind of information. Has the employee failed to report to work for consecutive days?”

  “Yes. No. Actually, she called in yesterday, but her manager can’t get in touch with her today. She didn’t call in and doesn’t answer her phone.”

  “If you’re really concerned, I’d be happy to try calling the employee.”

  “I want to call her.”

  “Sir, that’s not usually what we do. We don’t want to appear hostile to an employee. How many days have they missed?”

  “Today is three, she never misses work. It’s not like her. Her manager said she’s never even taken sick leave.”

  Patty paused again. “Who are we talking about?”

  “Her name is Faye. I don’t know her last name, just that she works in the mail room.”

  “Oh dear,” Patty said with a hushed voice.

  “Is there a problem? Do you not have her contact information?”

  “I do, it’s just that,” she hesitated.

  “What? You can tell me,” Gideon urged. He wanted the number and he wanted the situation handled so he could think of something else.

  “Faye Dixon, I knew she was out sick. I didn’t know they couldn’t get a hold of her today. She would normally call.”

  “That’s why I want her emergency contact number to have someone check on her.”

  “I’m her emergency contact person,” Patty sighed.

  “You? Why you?”

  “I shouldn’t be telling you this, it’s confidential. I can go over on my lunch break and check on her.”

  “Patty, listen, I’m worried. Please, I need to know,” he said urgently.

  “Between you and me, she doesn’t have any family. When she started here, she came to me because she didn’t know how to fill out the paperwork. She’s an orphan with no extended family that she knows of. So I agreed to be her contact person.”