by Lily Cahill
Excluding Catalina, that was. He couldn't have a one night stand with her and expect her to come to work the next day. Not that he'd seriously considered the idea, but now that she was standing there again in that fucking dress, he felt the need to explain himself. Explain himself and then rip her dress off, hit the emergency stop button on the elevator and push her against the wall. He closed his eyes, trying to shake the image, and instead got another mind-full of Catalina's naked body, lightly bronzed skin flowing around her curves.
Everett flung his eyes open and buried his attention in his phone. He started texting "Jessica--Barney's," a salesgirl he'd slept with more than a month ago. There was no way Catalina could wear that dress in the office.
#
"I told you not to hire that girl." They were walking into Bowen Enterprises. Almost no one was in the building today. It was twenty-one practically deserted stories, the masses that normally teemed inside of the building were out enjoying an unusually warm day in the grips of deep winter cold. A lone security guard looked up from the marble counter as Everett pulled open one of the ten-foot glass entry doors.
"Good morning, Mr. Bowen." Everett nodded a polite hello. The guard then apparently spotted Catalina and winked knowingly at Everett. Everett didn't respond. He had plenty of space at home--he didn't need to bring a girl to an empty skyscraper to get some. His stomach churned as the thought crossed his mind. Maybe he was more well known for his indiscretions than he thought. Would people believe that he had actually raped this girl?
Catalina's heels made a clacking sound that echoed through the silent lobby. Everett waited until they were cleared of the space before talking again. He didn't want that security guard to hear one goddamned thing about this lawsuit. He didn't want anyone to hear about it. Not even Catalina, but unfortunately, he couldn't do this without her.
"You tell me not to hire every intern that we hire," Everett whispered, stepping into the elevator, his voice still echoing around the cavernous lobby.
"Well, maybe you should listen to me for once. Have you ever thought about looking at a résumé? Or trying to decide who might be a valuable asset to the company once the semester is over? We spend so much money on recruiting, and if we used the intern program for finding inexperienced talent we could actually get a great deal on a long-time employee who wouldn't have any bad corporate habits."
"You want to raise a Bowen baby from his first suit all the way up to his first mansion?"
"Or her."
Everett scoffed. "The intern program is a waste of time and resources. It always has been."
"Only because you've treated it like an escort service."
"That is not fair."
This time, Catalina scoffed. "Do you really want me to pull up the HR records? Because I will do it." She would, too. She loved being right. It was part of her fabulous work ethic. She wouldn't say something unless she knew she was right. She was a wet dream for PR. She never made a mistake. And once she took a stance, you had a fat chance of proving her wrong. She was dogged in her research, and her argument skills were on point. He didn't know if she got those skills growing up with six siblings in South Florida or graduating at the top of her class from law school, but she never lost a fight. Never.
Everett tried to think of a response that would keep her from rubbing his nose in it and leave at least a little ambiguity as to who was right.
"I'll look at your recommendations more seriously next time."
"Good. Has her lawyer sent over the brief?"
"I just got it." Everett pulled a document up on his phone. Catalina huddled close to him, the heat from her body radiating into Everett's arm. He felt the briefest touch of silky fabric slide against his arm as her breasts accidentally grazed him. Immediately, she leaned back so that they weren't touching. His hand clamped harder around his phone and he clenched his jaw so tightly the pressure hurt his teeth. The warmth of her was drawing him in, but he couldn't possibly even accidentally touch her. He didn't know how she would take it, didn't know if he would be able to stop if he felt her on him again.
"God, this is bad." Her voice was low, almost a whisper, and Everett could feel her breath against his neck--warm and sweet.
"I know," Everett breathed. "I fucked this up. Why don't I just listen to you?" He lifted his eyes to Catalina and held her gaze.
Her eyes were a warm brown, and the sight of her perfect face--bare and lovely--was enough to make heat pool in his groin. The tip of Catalina's tongue flicked along the edge of her bottom lip, and Everett nearly groaned. God, her lips were enough to drive a man wild, full and soft and just begging to be kissed. To be sucked.
"Everett, I ...," Catalina began.
Everett shifted closer, every inch of his body trying to pull him closer to Catalina. He wanted to feel her breasts in his hands, lick at them until she moaned his name.
Catalina drew in a ragged breath. "I--"
The elevator dinged loudly, and the doors slid open. Catalina and Everett both jumped at the noise, and Catalina took a half-step away from him. She cleared her throat and stepped from the elevator.
"Let's get to work," she said, and strode down the hallway.
Chapter Seven
Everett
Everett and Catalina had been poring over files for more than an hour in silence. After the snap of tension in the elevator, Catalina had kept a careful distance.
Everett kept his distance too, though he was pretty sure it was for different reasons. Jesus, Catalina in that dress was doing things to him. It hugged every one of her delicious curves, accentuating her lush hips and rounded breasts. He just wanted to grab hold of her and see every inch of skin hiding under that dress. He'd peel it off of her slowly, kiss his way down her body.
Everett shook his head and scrubbed his hands through his hair. Wasn't this just the thing Catalina had given him hell about? He just couldn't resist a hot woman in a hot dress. He stood up suddenly, sending a file spilling to the floor. He had to cool down.
Everett strode to the wall of windows and peered down to the streets far, far below. From up here, the pedestrians looked like ants scurrying through the January chill. He pressed his palms to the glass and willed his body to get just as chilly. His bear was restless inside him, his animal instincts telling him to mate with Catalina. But he couldn't listen to his bear right now--the demands of his bear were what got him in trouble in the first place. All this trouble trying to find a mate. He shook his head at it, at the primal urges of his shifter side.
"Everett?" Catalina's voice was soft at his side, and she laid a hand on his arm. "It'll be okay. We can get her to settle and keep it out of the papers."
Everett nearly laughed. Jesus. He should be consumed with worry over this lawsuit--and he was!--but a larger part of him just wanted to rip that dress off Catalina and bend her over the desk. The thought of her ample hips in his hands, her thighs spread wide for him ....
Everett yanked his hand away like Catalina's touch burned and turned away. He spared a glance behind and didn't miss the hurt and confusion that rippled across Catalina's face. She paused for a moment, then quietly went back to her chair by his desk and continued working.
"I'm sorry," he said, his voice stiff and strained.
Catalina looked up with a smile and waved his apology away. "No need. You're under immense stress right now."
Already back in Professional Lawyer Mode. It made Everett's chest constrict. The dress was unbelievably hot, but it was more than that. Catalina was smart, confident, unafraid to state her opinion. She was the sort of strong woman Everett needed in his life, someone who wouldn't take his shit.
Maybe if the timing were different, he'd try to date her--properly date her--but there was the launch to consider, and now this lawsuit. He was too busy for a relationship, not if he couldn't guarantee it was with his soulmate. And the thought of treating Catalina Flores as one of his one-night-stands made the back of his mouth turn sour. He'd lose her if he did that, and
he could not lose her.
No. His relationship with Catalina had to stay strictly professional. And right now, that meant she needed to be wearing something different. Where was Jess with those clothes?
As if on cue, Everett's phone buzzed on his desk. Jessica, the girl from Barney's, had arrived with a shopping bag full of clothes for Catalina. Everett had the security guard send her up, then held up a finger for Catalina to give him a minute. She nodded and bent back over her work.
Everett met Jess at the elevator. Her brown hair was piled intricately on top of her head, every strand looking like it had been placed with exact precision. Her eye lashes were heavy with mascara and she batted them at Everett without offering over the bag.
"Thanks, Jess," Everett said, grabbing the handles of the bag. It was overflowing with tissue paper.
"Will I see you later? I get off at four." She was leaning in and talking low with an overly sweet tone.
"Can't. I'm busy today." Everett leaned toward her and she lifted her head to him, but he stretched his arm past her and hit the down arrow button on the elevator. The doors dinged and opened immediately--standing at the ready for the trip back down to the lobby. Jessica walked backwards into the metal box. Her shirt was pulled low, showing as much cleavage as she could muster.
"Another time then." She blew Everett a kiss as the elevator doors closed.
He gave her a half smile. There wouldn't be another time, but he did appreciate the clothes.
#
Everett threw the bag on the desk.
"What's this?" Catalina glanced up from the file on Mandy she'd pulled from HR. She frowned at the large, black shopping bag and slowly set the file aside.
"It's a change of clothes." He tried to say it casually, not betray the heat roiling just under his skin. If Catalina stayed in that dress too much longer, the animal inside of him was going to become hard to contain. He'd end up ripping it off her and claiming that sweet, luscious body on every surface of the office.
Catalina pulled out a few dresses. They were tasteful and just her style. Jessica had apparently listened when he asked her to bring over a few simple dresses without much flash. A woman like Catalina didn't need any extra bling to make an outfit shine--her curvy body, full-lipped smile, and liquid brown eyes did all the work needed.
Catalina, though, was frowning. She dropped the charcoal dress she'd been holding and sighed.
"Is this really what you should be focusing on right now?" Catalina raised her eyebrows. "Not, you know, the impending lawsuit?"
Annoyance lanced through Everett. He was just trying to be nice. And yeah, he couldn't really concentrate with Catalina in that curve-hugging dress, but she obviously wasn't comfortable working in it either. Everett straightened his shoulders and stared down at Catalina.
"Fine," he snapped. "Don't wear the clothes. I was just trying to help out. I dragged you into this mess of a Saturday and didn't even let you go home and change. I just--" Everett broke off, took a breath. He looked down. "I thought you'd like them. I wanted to do something nice for you."
Catalina sighed, and Everett peered at her. Her hands were inching toward the collection of new dresses again. A soft smile played on her lips. "You didn't drag me anywhere, Everett. I'm right where I choose to be."
She fingered the three-quarter sleeve of one of the dresses, a structured navy piece with a nipped in waist and hidden pockets. Her smile widened, and Everett felt himself smile to match hers. He couldn't quite hide the satisfaction written across his face when she looked up at him.
"Thank you for this. Really." She glanced across the office with a sly look dancing in her eyes. "Can I really use your fancy bathroom to shower and change?"
"Of course." Everett tried not to imagine Catalina stepping out of her dress, the water cascading over her curves, her body slippery wet. At least when she came out of the bathroom she'd be out of that damned dress.
Catalina's grin spread across her face. She hopped up from her chair and practically skipped toward the bathroom. It was a great bathroom. The door was hidden behind a sliding bookcase and was extravagantly decked out. The shower was big enough to hold a party and had dual faucets. There was a separate closet just for the toilet, and everything was made of marble. It had an old world elegance that some might find dated, but Everett couldn't bring himself to update it. In that bathroom he felt old fashioned. He liked the idea of lathering on a shave and scraping his face clean with a raw blade. It made him feel manly. It was his private space. A place most of his employees didn't even know about.
He waited to hear the bookcase click back into place before heading out of the office and making his way to the twenty-first floor--the greenhouse.
#
The greenhouse took up the entire twenty-first floor of the building. The floor was encased in glass, letting all the sunlight filter into what otherwise would have been the roof. Everett had good business reasons to have the greenhouse. They were a green company, the greenhouse had loads of fresh vegetables and herbs that they used in the cafeteria, and it helped naturally insulate the roof. But that wasn't the real reason he kept the greenhouse. The real reason for the greenhouse was a selfish one. It was his spot to get away. His little forest in the middle of Manhattan.
Everett weaved his way into the plants, waiting until he was completely hidden to shift into his true form. He got on all fours and let the transformation take hold of his body. First the hair of his legs and arms started to grow as the limbs thickened. His muscles burned hot as they shredded and expanded into the powerful structure of a massive bear's body. He watched his snout extend before him and his unusually keen sense of smell got even more articulate. The fresh zest of orange perked his nose. He let himself breathe it in, his pink nose visible to him now that it was extended in front of his face as he raised it into the air and relished the wild scent of the place.
He shook his body from head to tail and stretched, bowing down on his front paws before lunging forward and stretching his legs. Every time he shifted, it felt like waking up from a long nap. His body was ready and willing, but needed time to adjust to its new form. He lumbered forward through the trees, running from one end of the greenhouse down to the other and then turning a corner up another set of plants and bounding down the stretch back. It wasn't the woods, but it was something. It was a place where he could be himself and let all of the stress of Bowen Enterprises and his solar roof tiles melt away.
He was barely thinking about the revelation of Catalina's body or Mandy's lawsuit. He was just being. Running and letting the physical overpower the mental. He wished briefly that his twin brother was here, that he could pounce him and wrestle, but his brother hadn't been able to live in the city. He'd needed to be in nature. So he'd left Bowen Enterprises and become a recluse. Everett hadn't seen him in years, and although he had a brotherhood of shifters to talk to and be honest with, it wasn't the same as his own flesh and blood. Everett kept going on Billionaire Bear Brotherhood retreats hoping he'd see his brother at one, although he knew it was hopeless. The B3 did camping with style: massive canvas tents set up in the woods; world-class chefs catering their meals by the campfire; massage therapists on hand to work out the kinks from the daily runs. But a week or two a year in nature wasn't enough for Liam Bowen. So he'd left, and now that he had a cabin in the woods, he had no reason to go on the retreats, but Everett kept hoping anyway. The retreats didn't relieve him of that daily itch he got to be outside and let out his wild nature. One or two weeks in nature a year wasn't enough for any bear shifter, no matter how nice the retreats were. Which was why Liam had left and Everett had built himself the greenhouse.
But Everett felt like he needed his brother now more than ever. If Liam hadn't left, maybe Everett wouldn't have gotten so desperate to find a mate. No matter how many dates he went on, he still felt alone.
B3 retreats felt wrong without him. Seeing their product come to fruition felt wrong without him. Everything felt wrong without him.
He lay in the soil floor of the greenhouse, rolling onto his back and letting the dirt work its way into his fur, cooling him from his run and gently scratching his back. The sun was streaming in through the glass, and the sky was a blue canvas, open and clear. He took a final deep breath of the flora, this time pulling a deep lungful of rosemary, before he shifted back and brushed himself off. He had to get back to the office before Catalina noticed he'd left.
Chapter Eight
Catalina
Mandy Clark showed up for the early Monday appointment Catie had scheduled looking more professional than Catie had ever seen her: smart gray business pants with a sharp crease down the front and a cream blouse that was actually buttoned all the way up.
"Thank you for coming in today." Catie extended her hand, and Mandy took it limply in her own. Mandy's hand was cold, and she held it out to Catie like her wrist was broken and the entire thing was on some kind of sedative. Catie hated a weak handshake. It was your first impression, and if you couldn't care enough to leave a decent first impression, what did that say about you as a person? She let Mandy's hand go and resisted the urge to wipe her palm on her suit jacket.
"This shouldn't take long," Catie said in her most clipped tone. "We just need to get your official statement. Is your lawyer going to be present?"
Mandy didn't reply, she was too busy straining to look around the cubicles. She craned her neck to get a look past Catie and toward Everett's office. She bit her lip as she tried in vain to see far enough down the hallway.