Kenny (Shifter Football League Book 2)

by Becca Fanning

  They held the ceremony on the day of the new moon to minimize the chances of the Shifters getting drunk and changing in the middle of the party. The party lasted until the wee hours of the morning and was loud and full of laughter.

  Two months later Brock and Gia Tandell announced they were expecting their first child. Gia’s mother was excited, but no one was happier about the news than Connie. “Finally,” she said when they told her. “There will be some life in this old house again!”

  Jules

  Big Easy Bears II

  by

  Becca Fanning

  Kaylee pulled her phone out of her purse as she stepped off the bus and clicked the camera. She studied her face in the screen, wiped a smudge of lipstick away from the corner of her mouth with one finger, and clicked the screen off again. She dusted the front of her pants, straightened her blouse, and walked the quarter block from the bus stop to the nondescript red brick building with the white and black sign above the door. “Print Shop Pros” the sign proclaimed in a catchy font. She took a deep breath and went in.

  There were two desks in the lobby area. Behind one sat a middle-aged woman with a phone to her ear. She was typing and nodding while saying “yes, uh-huh” into the phone. At the other desk, a young man in a dress shirt and sweater vest sat typing, sleeves rolled to his elbows. Not wanting to interrupt a phone call, she approached the second desk.

  He looked up and gave her a radiant smile. “Good morning! What can I do for you today?”

  She couldn’t help but smile back. “I’m Kaylee. I’m supposed to meet Mr. Ganes this morning to discuss an intern position.”

  “You’re the college kid?”

  “That’s me.”

  He stood and extended a hand. “Great to have you!” When he let go of her hand he turned and crossed to a door tucked in the corner. He rapped twice. “Freddie. The kid is here.”

  Freddie Ganes came out of his office smiling. “Thanks Mark.” He strode around the desk to shake her hand. “Kylee was it?”

  “Kaylee.” He had a firm handshake, but unlike Mark who had been quick and professional, Freddie held her hand a little longer than necessary. Her smile faltered slightly as she slipped her hand free.

  “You’re older than I thought you would be.” He looked her over. She knew what he was seeing—a twenty-something-year-old black girl in slacks and a blouse with a messy bun and an imitation leather purse. She hid her past well, but she didn’t look like a wide-eyed hopeful college kid.

  “Started college late,” she said. “But I know my stuff.”

  His eyes returned to her face and he was all business. “Yes, I saw your portfolio. It was very impressive. We’re a small firm and normally we don’t take on interns, but I had someone go on medical leave and we could use the help.” He gestured and then led the way down the hallway. “We have four full time designers and two guys who run the printers. I understand you want to see all the technical stuff too?”

  “If it’s no trouble.”

  “We’ll get you in there on a slow day. For now, I’ll just show you around.” He led her to the back of the shop. “You know, it’s not just your age. You really weren’t what I was expecting.”

  He was watching her out of the corner of his eye, and it was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. She knew what was coming next—the cheesy pickup line. Or worse, the creepy compliment.

  Still, he was going to be her boss for the next few months and what he wrote about her in his reports would reflect on her grades. She had to pass this course, had to get her degree, or the only future she could hope for was pumping gas or flipping burgers. This was her ticket out, and he could take it, rip it to shreds, and leave her on the wrong side of the gate. She wasn’t going to sleep with him. He wasn’t her type, and she was above that sort of thing. But letting him flirt was harmless.

  She forced a smile. “What were you expecting?”

  “Someone too young for me.”

  “Hey, Freddie, this is the last toner,” said a young man as he came into the printer room. Unlike Mark, Freddie, and the woman at the front desk who were all dressed in casual professional wear, this man was dressed in smudged jeans and a plain t-shirt. Kaylee didn’t care what he looked like. Right now he was her savior.

  “I already placed the order for the refills. I’ll call them today and make sure it’s shipped.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Thanks, Andy,” Freddie said. “He and Sam work back here.” He took a moment to show her all the equipment and where the supplies were stored. “Any questions?”

  “Not right now.”

  “Then let’s introduce you to your mentor, Julius. He prefers Jules. You’re going to help him with his current projects, and then he’ll supervise you as you tackle a few solo projects. He’s the one who will do the final quality checks on your work and make any corrections or changes before handing the product over to the clients. I also need to set you up with a password and username for the office computer network.” He stopped outside an office door. “Here we are.”

  The door swung open to reveal a large man seated behind a desk. He had his feet up and his eyes closed. Kaylee was certain he was snoring softly. She stopped in the doorway and Freddie looked back at her. “Is there a problem?”

  “Look,” she said softly, not wanting to wake her mentor until after she’d had her say. “I might just be a college student, but if you didn’t want me here you could have declined the internship.”

  “What—?”

  “This.” She gestured at Jules. “You don’t agree to a college intern work program and then saddle your student with the company slacker. I’m not here to cover for him. And you can’t just squirrel me away in a corner to collect dust. I came here to actually learn something. I already know how to sleep.”

  “I’m not sleeping. I’m thinking with my eyes closed.”

  Kaylee froze.

  Jules Beauregard was only lying slightly when he said, “I’m not sleeping. I’m thinking with my eyes closed.” He wasn’t sleeping since he was talking, but he had been sleeping when the door to his office had opened. He didn’t sleep at work—he took great pride in his job—but the morning after the full moon was always rough on him, and since he was waiting on a confirmation email from a client he thought he’d sit back and relax for a minute. He hadn’t intended to fall asleep.

  Luckily, being a werebear meant his senses were sharp, even when in human form. He heard the office door open and woke up. Keeping his eyes closed was just a ploy to play it cool. Now he was glad he had.

  He opened his eyes and looked from Freddie to the girl in the doorway and back. “Who’s the girl?”

  “Your intern.”

  “We’ve been over this, Freddie.”

  “All I remember is the part where you still want to get paid.”

  Jules pulled his feet off the desk and stood. He noted that the girl’s eyes had gone even wider. He smiled at her. “Have a seat. My esteemed boss and I need to have a few words.” Out in the hall with the door closed behind them, Jules said, “No, Freddie. I’m not taking on an intern. This isn’t a good time.”

  Freddie grinned. “Sure it is. With Jeremy down for the next month, we’ve all got more work. She’ll help you with the extra load.”

  “Why not one of the others?”

  “Because you’re the best in the office and she actually wants to learn something.”

  “I don’t want to teach her! I don’t want to babysit the college kid.”

  “She’s not exactly a kid,” Freddie said. Jules was glad he had the door closed as Freddie peered over his shoulder at the frosted glass window. He was equally glad the glass was nearly opaque.

  “Then you teach her.”

  Freddie patted Jules on the arm. “You’ve got this. Besides, with your recent breakdown I thought you’d appreciate some help.”

  “I don’t consider this help,” Jules said through gritted teeth.

  “Look, try it f
or the rest of the week. If it’s not working, I’ll move her. I think you’re her best bet at learning something valuable.” Freddie stuck his hands in his pockets and walked off. Jules watched him go.

  He opened the office door and went in. The girl was standing by the desk. Part of him wanted to roll his eyes—he had asked her to sit, and if she was going to work with him he needed her to listen to instructions. Another part of him was pleased that she wasn’t a pushover. That was enough to balance his temper, which was directed at Freddie so she didn’t deserve to take the backlash.

  “Hi,” he said. “I’m Jules.”

  Kaylee had been pacing the office while the men stood outside the door arguing. It wasn’t a heavy door and didn’t really offer the intended privacy. She tried to ignore her feelings of embarrassment and disappointment at his out-of-hand rejection.

  He doesn’t know me. It’s nothing personal. You need this job for your course, so make a good impression.

  It didn’t help that Jules was intimidating or that she’d already made a fool of herself. Watching him unfold himself from behind the desk had made her breath catch in her throat. He was bigger than she’d first thought, not exactly graceful but with a smoothness to his movements that spoke to physical control and strength.

  And she had assumed he was asleep at his desk, called him a slacker.

  Smooth, real smooth, Kaylee. It’s no wonder he doesn’t want to work with you.

  The door opened and Jules filled the doorway. “Hi. I’m Jules.”

  She smiled and held out her hand as she walked to him. “I’m Kaylee.” He had a firm handshake. “Look. I’m sorry about a minute ago. It’s hard to be taken seriously sometimes. I wasn’t sure your boss would.”

  “Freddie can be a bit of a hound, but when it comes to talent he’ll judge you on your work, not on your skin color, gender, or attractiveness.”

  “That’s good to know,” she said.

  “And the same goes for me,” he said. “It’s not a good time for me, but that’s not your fault. I’ll give you a fair chance.”

  “Thanks. That means a lot to me.” She hoped the relief didn’t show too plainly on her face.

  “Why don’t you show me your portfolio so I can get a feel for your style and where you’re at in your education, and then I’ll walk you through my current project list and see what you think of it. We’ll go from there, okay?”

  It was Wednesday morning and Jules was getting ready to go to work. The midweek blues weren’t hitting him so hard this week. Might not need to head to the warehouse this week, he thought. Would be a nice change.

  He got to the office just minutes before Kaylee. When she walked in, he said, “I won—you fetch the coffee.”

  She rolled her eyes and dropped her bag on the chair. “This isn’t fair. I don’t have a car. I get here whenever the bus gets here. I can’t just choose to be five minutes early.”

  He shrugged, but he was grinning. “Coffee first, complain later.”

  She threw her scarf at him.

  “Tell you what, I’ll over sleep my alarm one day just so you can win.”

  “You’re so kind,” she said, and her laughter trailed after her as she wandered off to the staff room to fetch two mugs of coffee.

  There was a tap on the doorframe and Freddie stuck his head in. “You’re not mistreating the intern, are you?”

  “Oh, I’ve reduced her to a coffee-fetching serf,” Jules said. He took her scarf, one of those cotton, brightly-colored, infinity scarves, and hung it next to his jacket.

  Freddie arched his eyebrows.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. I guess things are working out.”

  “I’ll have the Peterson file in your inbox for review by lunch.”

  “That’s a yes then.”

  “Look out, hot coffee,” Kaylee said.

  Freddie stepped back. “I’ll let you two get to it.” He shot Kaylee his womanizing smile. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

  “I think I’m fine, thanks,” she said, barely sparing him a glance.

  Freddie winked at Jules and then closed the door.

  “Is he always like that?”

  “He’ll only chase you until you sleep with him, and then you’ll be hard pressed to get him to call you again.”

  “Do you know this from experience?”

  “I’ve seen it enough times.”

  “Firsthand?”

  He glanced up sharply and caught the playful twist of her lips. “No,” he growled. “Not firsthand.”

  Her smile broadened. “So, what’s on the schedule for today?”

  “Peterson file first. They want it next week, and we need to give the boys enough time to print and ship it.”

  “Then let’s get to it.”

  Jules was down the hall talking to Freddie. They both agreed that they’d get an answer on the Peterson file faster if she wasn’t there. Freddie’s flirting could get in the way of any job. While Jules was gone, Kaylee shut down the computers, making sure all the files were saved, and cleared away the paperwork scattered over the desk.

  This first week had been really good, and it gave Kaylee hope for the rest of her internship here. Jules had an eye for elements of graphic design, and he wasn’t just making her sit back and watch him work. He explained each project—was it for digital or print media, what had the client asked for, what was the feel they were going for?—and then he’d let her work on it. Of course, he was working on the same project at the same time. At the end of the day, they spent an hour or so going over what they had done, comparing ideas. Sometimes he vetoed her work, but not until after he’d listened to her explain her choices and offered an explanation for why it wouldn’t suit the particular client or project. Most of the time they ended up combining elements of his work and hers to make something better than what either of them could have achieved working alone. It was more hands-on than she could have hoped for in a first week.

  When Jules came back, he was grinning. “He was impressed. He liked your use of color. Sounds like your first report is going to be a glowing one.”

  “That’s great. Hey, why don’t we grab dinner—to celebrate?” She handed him his coat.

  “Since my fridge is empty, that sounds like an excellent idea. Got somewhere in mind?”

  “There’s a Chinese place on my bus route home.”

  Jules made a face. “Nah. Tell you what, I’ll drive, then you can go anywhere.”

  “Anywhere?”

  He shrugged into the coat. “Okay, Freddie doesn’t pay me hundreds of dollars an hour so it can’t be anywhere too fancy.”

  “Oh, you don’t need to pay for me!”

  One of his eyebrows rose. “Are you offering to pay for me?”

  “Well, no, I wasn’t.”

  “Then it can’t be anywhere too fancy. This job doesn’t make you rich unless you’re working for a really big corporation. Even then, you’re pretty low on the corporate ladder.”

  She nodded.