Colby felt angry with himself. With all the wrestling he done with his Fenrir he hadn’t had a chance to fully catch up and grasp what it is they were doing. That wasn’t going to stop him from taking charge, of course. This was his center they were talking about.
“Colby, have you two been able to catch up? Are you up to speed?”
“I’m afraid not but I’m hoping to be caught up.” He looked at Tanisha, the wolf in him sending her a personal invitation with his eyes.
“That’s probably a good idea,” said Barbara, “Tanisha, why don’t you get us caught up.”
Tanisha explained the conversation she and Barbara had a few weeks back. Tanisha had told Barbara about a program she participated in as a teen and in college. It was a program geared at teaching young girls how to code.
She’d learned programming and app development throughout high school and college; and though it wasn’t her passion, it was something she did as a freelancer to make money. “It’s also something that can be done remotely, meaning one could do it wherever they went, anywhere on the road.”
“That’s what I found exciting,” said Barbara. “If we can teach these youngsters to build apps, we can give them a skill that they can use for life.
Colby was excited but immediately tempered by reality. “I like the idea —I love the idea, but what about funding?” A myriad of other logistical concerns came to mind. Who would teach the classes? When will the classes be taught? Did they have the space? Where would they get the resources?
“That’s what I’d like you two to put your heads together about. With Tanisha’s experience having been in a program like this and also her grant writing experience, I think she has a lot of insight to how this could be setup. And of course it being at the center, you’ll have equally as much input, Colby.”
Colby looked at Tanisha, his equal for the project. “I love the idea Barbara.”
“Good, do you think you guys could get something to me by Monday? I have an event next week and I’d love to talk about this at the event. If it’s possible, of course.”
Colby wasn’t sure he’d be able to control himself for 48 hours. Something like this would take nearly all of that time, as there was a lot that would have to be factored into making this work.
He looked at Tanisha. Something in him needed to hear her say “yes,” to say that she wanted to do this with him. But that was his wolf thinking. Okay, his wolf and his cock. But the man in him took charge. This was about the kids at the center.
“I think it’s a great idea and I’m absolutely up for it,” said Tanisha.
“As am I,” said Colby.
“Great,” said Barbara, “I’m looking forward to seeing what you two put together.”
Chapter 3 - The Proposal
“Look, I just don’t think what you’re saying makes sense.” Tanisha tried to keep her voice at a professional level, but it was late and they’d been working all day; if anyone were still at the center she was sure they’d mistake her for yelling. “The human mind cannot sit for that long and actually retain that much information. The classes need to be spread out over months, not ramrodded over a couple of weekends.”
She could see Colby getting upset. The way he took deeper breaths, the way he ran his fingers through his hair. The way he looked at her, and the way she saw his eyes glow, for just a second, a flicker of blue flame voicing a silent disagreement.
But his ideas were dumb.
Rather than teach them coding, he wanted to teach them website development. There was nothing wrong with website development except that you can buy a website off-the-shelf or do it yourself or pay a service 20 bucks a month. “They need to learn something marketable and in demand that will give them a competitive edge.” Her idea was to teach them to develop apps. That was where the demand was. That was the direction of the future.
Colby took a few more deep breaths and raked his hair a few more times. “Look, I know you mean well and have a specific idea in mind, but I’m much more about being realistic. And whether they learn to do websites or apps, we still have a major problem with the timeline and costs. The cost for doing this is much less if we do it over a few weekends versus several months. A few weekends means we can borrow equipment rather than having to buy it. We can ask volunteers instructors for a few weekends rather than a few months. I don’t want to be pessimistic here, but I think you exaggerate the shelf-life of a donor’s concern.”
She wasn’t sure what he meant. “Meaning?”
“I’m talking about commitment. The unfortunate reality is that people lose their commitment in the long-term. You’re not the first to come up with one of these grand ideas. What looks great on paper after a weekend turns out to be too much over the months to bring into fruition. I’m looking out for the young shifters here. They’ve had their hopes built and dashed already, so I’d like it if they could learn something other than disappointment.”
She wanted to pull him off of his soap box but the passion in his voice stopped her. She wasn’t sure if he was fighting her or truly fighting for them, but it sounded like it was the latter. Still, why waste anyone’s time with an unrealistic proposal. She shook her head at the realization that they had a lot more work to do to come up with something realistic. She wasn’t going with his ideas outright, but perhaps there was something he was trying to say that she couldn’t hear. She was also tired, they’d been there all day and it was already dark. Perhaps she was being hard on him. She should cut him some slack.
“Look,” he said, “I know you mean well, but I think in you may be out of touch with reality.”
Heat flushed through Tanisha. Was he serious? Mr. paranoid about being setup on a blind date was talking to her about not being in touch with reality? She could barely contain herself. She couldn’t contain herself. “Are you sure you’re qualified to speak about reality?” She guffawed. “Seriously?”
His eyes sparked blue and he suddenly went silent.
As she realized he wasn’t laughing she grew concerned. Did she upset him? It’d been a long time since she worried about managing a man’s ego, but for some reason, with Colby, she was actually concerned. Did he not know how to laugh at himself.
“Look,” he said, “everyone means well, but in the end nobody has enough time. That’s reality.”
It sounded pessimistic, but he was the one who did this for a living. She decided to back down. He was clearly passionate about this and no one like to have their passions laughed at—except maybe a comedian.
Tanisha stomach let out a loud grumble. The sound shocked both her and Colby.
“Whoa,” said Colby, “sounds like your stomach is about to shift.”
They both laughed. She wanted to explain to Colby that this was the art of laughing at oneself, but her stomach grumbled again and hunger was no laughing matter.
Colby’s eyes sparked with an idea. “Dinner?”
She wanted dinner, but not with him, not tonight. The day was long and she needed her space, plus she still had an escape plan to hatch. “No thanks,” she said.
“Breakfast it is, then.”
The suggestion took her up short. What was he insinuating?
“Tomorrow,” he clarified. “We’ll pick things up tomorrow morning, then? I’ll bring the donuts and make the coffee myself.”
They smiled.
“One more thing,” he said. “Thank you for helping us with this.”
***
They next day had been the smoothest. Back at the center, they were busy finalizing the plans that it had taken them all day to come up with.
“You were right, we should do something that can have an impact sooner. In fact, maybe when people see the impact they’ll be more inclined to stick around.”
Damn if the way she thought didn’t turn him on. Colby’s tongue was ready to flop out of his mouth and drip drool all over Tanisha. “And I like your idea of eight-hour apps.”
“They only take eight hours to learn and it c
an be in one sitting or how ever many smaller sessions. And we’ll have the instructors recorded live, but then we can also stream them on-demand.”
Colby smiled. “I think everyone’s going to be excited about this.”
“They better be,” demanded Tanisha. “After all the work we put into this thing. It feels like getting something through Congress.”
Colby smiled a wolfish grin. He was turned on at the idea of another kind of congress.
She’d done a good job of pretending to be uninterested; if he didn’t have a wolf’s sense of smell he’d actually be convinced, but his nose never lied and the truth was that she was also turned on.
Besides her scent were the physical signs. The way her mouth occasionally parted. The way her hands seemed to always brush her cleavage. The way her gaze lingered as if hypnotized when they made eye contact. But he didn’t want to make a fool of himself again. Not because of his pride, who gave a fuck about that, but because he didn’t want to jeopardize this program. He decided to be hands off until he handed over the proposal to Barbara. His wolf was hesitant to make the compromise, but Colby promised his Fenrir that he’d properly ask Tanisha out once they’d taken care of business. His Fenrir growled, as he always did, but agreed. Still, Colby found himself having difficulty sticking to his word.
“So that about does it,” said Tanisha clicking away at the last few words of the proposal. She’d practically pushed Colby from behind the keyboard when she discovered that his typing skills involved two fingers aggressively banging away at the keyboard as they hunted and pecked. They’d have been there for weeks waiting for him to type up the proposal. He wanted to ensure her that his fingers were talented in other ways, but in a surprise even to himself, his wolf insisted he keeps things professional. He found that his Fenrir had been acting strange, actually listening to him for a change. It was the promise to ask Tanisha out for dinner. He wished he knew before that a simple promise would be all it took to quell the Fenrir in him.
“Okay, read this. My eyes are glazing over.” Tanisha leaned back in Colby’s office chair. Colby stood behind her, so when she leaned back his body hovered over her like a musclebound tarp.
“Oops,” she said, looking up at him and causing his cock to bounce.
His wolf reminded him to control himself. He took a step back and gave a smile.
She pointed to the monitor, her mind clearly on business. “Read this.”
His eyes weren’t on the text but on her delicate fingers. He thought about them touching his body. He thought about tasting them. He thought about holding her hands over her body while he tasted various parts of her. His cock jumped and his eyes began to glaze.
“What do you think?” she asked.
If he told her what he really thought she’d blush. Or maybe wouldn’t. Maybe she’d also be turned the fuck on.
He focused and read the text and found the words—about websites and programming—somehow turning him on. Maybe it wasn’t the words, but the scent coming from Tanisha. Her perfume had played with his senses all day and now seemed to mix with the scent of her; all day in the same space gave him the ability to differentiate the two. The scent of her perfume played with his nose while her scent was playing with his cock. He let out a low growl.
“Everything alright?” asked Tanisha. “Should we change anything? Is something jumping out at you?”
She was talking about the document, of course, but what was jumping out at him was not on the screen.
***
Tanisha felt discombobulated, one part of her was trying to maintain her professional dignity, but the other part was in a sort of mania. This was Amelia’s fault.
Amelia’s fragrance and cosmetic line was still picking up steam, which meant that Tanisha received ample samples, all with some sort of enchantment—and all with the caveat to provide customer feedback. The fragrance she put on this morning was called Essence. She’d debated between Repulsion, a scent Amelia had gotten many requests for, actually, and also Heat, but Amelia warned that Heat was meant and the animalistic sense, so to only use it if she absolutely wanted to get laid. She didn’t put on Heat, but instead she opted for the scent that Amelia explained would simply bring out the best in her: Essence. She needed to feel her best because the night before she was confused and at her worst.
She’d woken from a dream so vivid that she could swear it was real. But obviously it wasn’t, Colby hadn’t done those things to her and she hadn’t done those things to him. But she wanted it to be real. Just then a wave of reality hit her. What was real was that she was practically on the run. What was real was that her husband would be released again, meaning he would try to find her and Brad Jr., so she’d have to leave and lay low until he do something stupid to be put back in jail again. It was a coward’s strategy, but one that kept her and her son safe. Why was she jeopardizing that?
A wave of guilt washed over her. Her body had needs, but she had responsibilities. Besides, she was leaving. And she wasn’t “loose,” as her grandmother would call it. She wasn’t the type to do one night stands, but as she clenched her legs tighter, as she’d done several times already, she wondered if Essence was trying to get her to loosen up and open her eyes to a new appreciation for the concept.
It wasn’t like he didn’t feel the same thing. She caught his gaze boring into her as he hovered while she typed. She was tempted to demand he not hover over her like a chauvinistic boss from the 50’s, but more tempting was the heady scent that warmed her blood as it flowed and throbbed in certain parts of her body. But they were both professional, putting their responsibilities first. That just made him even more of a turn on. Luckily Colby had just excused himself, giving her a needed moment of relief. She’d take the moment to get some air and check in.
***
The cold air of the parking lot bit at her as she talked to her sister on the phone. “So what’s the next step?” Asked her sister.
“I’m finishing up this job then will be on the way. He gets out in a week and I want a head start.”
Tanisha’s sister sighed.
“It’s just until he does something stupid. It won’t take long.”
They argued about this enough times that both of them knew it wasn’t worth questioning if this were still the best approach or how much longer Tanisha could do this.
“What is it?” asked her sister.
The bond Tanisha and her sister shared was just as strong through her cell phone and thousands of miles between. “What else is going on? I know you. What is it?”
Tanisha was hesitant to bring up what else was on her mind. She was considering giving in to the temptation she felt, to the possibility that her dreams from last night could become tonight’s reality.
“You better spit it out,” her sister demanded. “Are you pregnant? Is Brad there? T, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
“Relax, everything is fine. I just…”
“You slut.” Excitement surged from her sister’s voice. “What do you need? Tips? Advice? Permission? Absolution?”
Tanisha smiled and was somewhat embarrassed by her sister’s excitement. Was she really that vested in her sex life?
“It’s about time. As long as it’s not another mistake that last a lifetime, a.k.a. your convict demon husband.”
The assessment hurt but these were nicer words. Her sister was as strong as Tanisha and when she threatened to fall out of her life if she stayed with Brad she followed through on the promise. That time was like a nightmare. She was glad to have her sister back in her life, as candid and boisterous as she was with her opinions.
“Be safe, use protection, and don’t fall in love. Then get the hell out of there.”
***
Colby couldn’t wait for Tanisha to come back to the room. He was going to ask her if she wanted to have dinner. He got the feeling she would, but who was he to be presumptuous. While she was gone he’d given the proposal one more look over. It was perfect, and he fought the
urge to go ahead and just send it off to Barbara. But his wolf reminded him to actually wait for his partner and to not act like an eager boy in a hurry to get his work done. He wasn’t an eager boy, but a man, eager with urges.
As time moved on, he began to get a sense that something was wrong. Was she playing a game with him? Was she now making him wait on her, payback for the delay from their first meeting? He decided to give her five minutes, but as those five minutes became Barbara-length, he took action to find the object of his desire.
He sniffed the air and followed her scent, turning with it from hall to hall. It led outdoors to the front of the building, where it seemed to linger for a while, hovering in the same spot, then picking up and moving to the parking lot. He squinted trying to make out if that was actually her he was seeing. Added to her scent was something oily and mechanic. That was indeed her under the hood of her car. Was he trying to escape and had sudden engine troubles? He thought it a bit random, but as he walked closer he reminded himself that anything was possible.
“Everything okay out here? I was waiting on you to go over the report will more time. Figured we can send it on off to Barbara.”
“Yeah,” she said absently.
She seemed suddenly in a hurry. “Sure everything is okay?” Colby sniffed the air and knew that no, everything wasn’t okay. Her scent had turned from pleasant and desirous to being that of repugnance and anxiety. He came close to her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said. She seemed to scold herself and back down. “I’m sorry, I’m just a little stressed. I really need my car to work and it won’t. I tried to turn it on to give my phone a quick recharge but it won’t turn over. I really need my car to work.”
Colby could see that she was clearly concerned, even more so than what they were working on for the center. He’d seen how excited she was before and couldn’t help wonder what could wipe all of that out. Sure, car troubles were a pain, but she looked more than inconvenienced. She looked scared. “Look, don’t worry. I know a guy with the garage. Let me make a call.”
Sass With a Past_Demons, Gods, and Monsters Page 3