by Leela Ash
“He didn’t ask me exactly. It was just-”
“Still,” Leah said. “It’s a pretty big deal! Don’t downplay it like you do every other time you’re accomplishing something huge.”
Janie didn’t know what else to say about it and apparently, that was the end of that, because they were soon saying good night to each other.
Janie showered and lay in bed, her heart fluttering in excitement. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen when she brought him her portfolio, but the evening she had spent with him had left her feeling optimistic.
When she woke up, Janie packed her laptop in her briefcase and headed to Howler Inc. She was surprised when Dean let her into his office immediately. He seemed a lot less distracted than he had been when she had come in for her interview, and in fact, greeted her with a broad, handsome smile that made her heart flutter.
“Good morning,” Dean said, nodding to the chair across from his desk.
Janie sat and immediately began rummaging through her suitcase to pull out her laptop.
“Please forgive me, but I didn’t unpack my portfolio quite yet. I wanted to be sure I would be staying for good.”
“Where are your things?” Dean asked, a puzzled expression on his face. “I thought you were living here now.”
“I have everything in a storage unit on the east side of town,” Janie said, feeling a little bit self-conscious. “I’m staying at a motel until I know for sure if this is the right fit for me.”
A man like Dean Resner was unlikely to understand the trifles of poverty. It seemed embarrassing to admit that she was living out of a motel, especially to her boss, who happened to be one of the wealthiest men in the world.
“A motel? Really?”
Janie was surprised. Instead of looking judgmental, Dean just seemed concerned.
“Yup. It will do for now until I get settled in.”
“That can’t be safe for you,” Dean insisted, frowning. Janie had read before about the protective instincts of shifter men, particularly alphas, but she had never seen it in person before. It was a strange feeling, a man wanting to protect her. Most men in her life had a tendency to run away. Even her own father hadn’t stuck around very long.
“Really, I’m all right. I have a house lined up that I plan to rent. It’s really not a big deal. I’m used to doing things on my own.”
Dean raised his eyebrow, reluctant to drop the subject. “A human woman in a shifter town living in a motel alone. I’m just not comfortable with that. When will you be out of there?”
“I’m not sure…I’d have to get all of my things moved in from storage. So whenever I can find the time.”
“That’s absurd,” Dean said. “Let me help you.”
“What? But you have so much you have to do right now. Helping me move should be the least of your concerns.”
But judging by the look on Dean’s face, he wasn’t going to budge.
“I can do it on my own, really,” Janie said, although she could tell the words fell on deaf ears. “Look, these are the pictures I had to take for class. Some of them I did on my own time. If they’re not your style, that’s fine, just let me know and I can try to arrange another photographer to help you out with the project.”
Dean’s dark gaze rested on her for a moment, and she could tell he was still lost in thought, reluctant to let her situation go. Still, there was nothing that could be done right that moment, and Dean sighed.
“Let me see.”
They were quiet for a few moments as Dean clicked through the photographs that Janie had saved on her laptop. Usually, she wasn’t nervous about anything, at least she was fearless professionally, but seeing Dean’s scrutinizing gaze on her work was unnerving. She knew he had an immaculate eye. In fact, Howlers Inc. was decorated with some of the most beautiful artwork she had ever seen. Maybe it had been a mistake to bare her soul to this man without hardly knowing him. Showing him her photography felt somehow too intimate.
“Did you arrange for the coaching sessions?” Dean asked without looking up from the screen. Janie had to take a deep breath before she could answer. Her heart seemed to be beating a million miles per second.
“Yes,” Janie said. “There’s a team very interested in meeting with you as soon as you can arrange it. But they’re patient.”
“Luckily, you had this idea during football season,” Dean said quietly, still mulling over the photographs. Janie prayed he would be done soon; she wasn’t sure how much more of the suspense she could take.
“It’s partly why I thought it would be a good idea to do it this way,” Janie said with a wry smile. “Besides, these are at-risk youth who could really use a good role-model.”
This caught Dean’s attention and he looked up into Janie’s face, his expression somehow startled and vulnerable at the same time.
“What?” Dean asked, his face darkening.
“Well, I got to talking with an inner-city coach. He used his own money to put together this team, for shifters and humans alike, for kids with bad family situations who couldn’t afford activities like this. He’s doing really good things for them. I thought it would be better than standing with a team who already has everything figured out, you know?”
“Yes,” Dean said, looking quickly back at the screen. “That makes sense.”
After a few more seconds, he shut the laptop abruptly and handed it to Janie over the top of the desk.
“Your pictures are good. I think we should give it a go. Get in touch with the coach and tell him we can meet on Thursday afternoons.”
“Thursday…but the kids are in school then,” Janie reminded Dean. “They were hoping for some time during the weekends.”
Janie was afraid Dean might find this overcomplicated, especially being so busy, but she was pleasantly surprised when he smiled quickly.
“Right. Of course. Saturday afternoons then. Make sure you run it by the secretary out there. She’s bright, but there’s a reason we need an intern around here.”
Dean stretched in his chair and held Janie’s gaze levelly. This time, she didn’t look away, and a surge of heat coursed through her. It was hard not to think about this man. Her body seemed to wake up from a deep slumber whenever she laid eyes on him. Hopefully, he couldn’t sense it.
“Is there anything else you’d like to discuss while you’re here or will that be all?” Dean asked.
“That should be everything for now. I’ll let you know to confirm about the meetings with the team.”
“Great. Talk to you then.”
Janie walked out of the office, fighting the strong urge she’d had to glance over her shoulder at Dean. It felt strange to leave like this, in such an impersonal way, but what was she supposed to do? Hug him goodbye? That was hardly professional. In fact, she couldn’t think of a faster way to get herself fired.
Still, she walked back to her work station with a bounce in her step. She had single-handedly shaped the next PR campaign for Howlers Incorporated. It might not make her very popular with the people she worked with, but there was nothing to be done about that. She was in this business to succeed, not make friends. And if they didn’t like it, that was just too bad. Because she wasn’t going to compromise, and that was that.
7.
Dean sat quietly in his office, staring at the door after Janie left, his heart heavy. He had always done his best throughout his career not to think about how he’d grown up, and in fact had done everything he could to escape the vast trenches of poverty and become one of the world’s most valuable men. But working with at-risk kids from poor home environments would be about the same as looking his past in the face. He wasn’t sure if he could do it.
Still, it seemed he had no choice, and he set to work, doing his best to distract himself from the unpleasant memories of his past.
“Mr. Resner, your wife…erm….ex-wife is on line two.”
Dean cringed at the mention of Kiera and picked the phone up with a heavy sigh.
> “What do you want?” Dean sighed into the receiver.
“I just thought you might like to know that I forgive you,” Kiera said, her voice a taunting lilt.
“What do you mean you forgive me? For what?!”
If bringing the wolf out was her goal, she was already halfway there.
“You know. Your immature little outburst at the office the other day. I won’t hold it against you.”
“That’s very big of you,” Dean said. “But I don’t give a shit whether you hold it against me or not.”
Kiera gasped indignantly and Dean couldn’t help but grin. They could push each other’s buttons all day. It wouldn’t bother him any.
“You know what? My lawyers advised me to keep this to myself, but since you’ve been such a peach about everything, I think I ought to tell you. We’re going after the company. And from what I hear, it’s as good as mine. So think on that next time you want to take your pathetic temper out on me, because I don’t have to take it.”
The company? A cold chill surged through Dean. The company was a testament to his own survival; if she took that from, him he didn’t know what he would do with himself.
“You can’t take the company!” he snarled. “That’s impossible.”
“Oh, from what my lawyers tell me, it’s perfectly possible. So very possible, in fact, that I am going to call them up right now and ask them to speed the process along. They’ve got a lot to gain from it too, you know.”
Before Dean could say another word, Kiera hung up the phone. He could practically hear her self-satisfied laughter across town, and he growled ferociously before bolting from his desk.
“Sir, where are you going? You have a meeting with-”
But Dean hardly heard his secretary. He was doing everything within his power to keep from shifting right there in the office. Kiera had pushed him too far, Kiera and those fuckin’ bear shifters, and now he was going to have to find a way to keep himself under control until he managed to get into the woods to let off some steam.
Nobody tried to stop him as Dean stormed out of the office, rage and anguish filling his breast. What had he been thinking, trying to get settled down with a good company, with a horrible shrew of a wife? He had always known it was doomed to fail. Why had he been stupid enough to try it anyway?
Never again, he vowed, pushing through the heavy rotating doors and walking briskly to the limits of the parking lot. There was a big open forest to the east of the building, and that’s exactly where he was going to go. God help anybody who tried to stop him.
A forlorn howl echoed through the open space of the parking lot as Dean’s body completed its shapeshift, and he growled again at the thought of Kiera. He would go for a run. It would help him feel better. Maybe, by the time he was done, he would know exactly what to do to get rid of the shitty feelings she gave him. It was worth a shot.
***
By the time Dean was starting to feel better, he had exhausted himself in his wolf form, running throughout the hills, valleys, and forests of his youth. It drudged up even worse memories; an abusive junkie of a mother, a father who wanted nothing to do with him and abused practically every drug in the book, and a life without money or resources. Nothing had ever been sure or reliable in his life. Not until he had finally earned his first dollar. Everything had only gotten better from that day on.
In high school, Dean had paid for his own uniform and cleats to start football; maybe to give himself an identity away from that of his parent’s child. It had given him something to live for. Even more importantly, it gave him a goal to strive for and, ultimately, accomplish. His coach had taken him under his wing and besides his relationship with Maurice, that had been the most cared for Dean had ever felt. It was nice. The team was almost like a family to him.
“Dean?”
Dean was shocked out of his thoughts by a familiar voice, and looked about himself as if in a daze. He hadn’t noticed himself shifting back into his human form. It happened like that sometimes, especially when the wolf had taken over of its own accord. Things kind of happened in a fog during those times.
“Dean…Mr. Resner…what are you doing here?”
Janie walked cautiously toward him, deep concern in her beautiful eyes. He had the absurd urge to hug her close to him. Everything felt awful, but somehow, maybe being close to her would make it better.
“And why aren’t you wearing any clothes?”
Dean glanced down at himself, half-heartedly covering his groin, and shrugged.
“Are you all right?”
Janie walked cautiously toward him and crouched down so that she was easily able to meet his eyes. He realized suddenly that he was in a parking lot, and a sign was flickering above Janie’s head. “The best and only motel in town.” Apparently, the motel where Janie lived. What the hell was that wolf thinking?
“I’m fine,” Dean grumbled, getting to his feet.
“You don’t look fine,” Janie said, examining him closely. “Why don’t you come inside? I’ll get you some water.”
Dean opened his mouth to refuse, but Janie had already taken him by the elbow and was leading him toward the doorway of her motel room. He felt horrible all of a sudden. As if, in a way, he was taking advantage of a young woman. Going naked into her motel room wasn’t going to look very good, after all. Shouldn’t he be more careful with his image? Especially with the bear shifters out to destroy him?
And even more to the point, it just didn’t seem proper. He was old, she was young…it was flat out inappropriate.
But Janie didn’t seem capable of taking no for an answer, so he quickly found himself sitting awkwardly on one of the motel chairs with a fluffy white bath towel wrapped around his waist. Janie was pouring him a cup of coffee and he had a cold glass of water in his hand. If she tried to pry into his mind, he knew it would vex him enough to bring the wolf back out again.
Instead of pushing him to talk, however, the way one of his nosy exes would have done, Janie just sat down across from him at the table and sipped her own coffee, not even looking him in the eye. She was minding her own business. He snuck a glance at her and felt an animal pang of longing electrify him out of his misery. It was clear that she was attracted to him, but she wasn’t like the other women. She had too much dignity to throw herself at him. In a way, that was even more alluring than anything else.
“I appreciate your hospitality,” Dean finally said. He had to say something. It wasn’t okay for him to just sit there naked and think improper thoughts about his young new intern. Even an awkward conversation would be better than this.
“I just want to make sure you’re all right,” Janie said, finally turning her beautiful eyes on Dean and smiling kindly. “Is there anything I can do for you? Something you want or need?”
Need? Had anyone who wasn’t being paid ever asked him that in his life? He was quiet as he stared at Janie, almost too choked up by the prospect of being cared for to respond. But he had a reputation to uphold. Dean cleared his throat loudly.
“No, the water was fine,” he said.
They fell silent again, but it wasn’t the type of awkward silence he so frequently shared with women in his life. Rather, Janie simply smiled at him and continued sipping on her coffee, and both of them were at ease.
“So this is where you’re staying?” Dean finally asked. It wasn’t that he was uncomfortable with the silence. It was more like he felt like being with Janie without speaking, without forming a connection, would be an alarming thing to do. But why did he want to speak with her? Hadn’t he just vowed off all women?
“Yes, for now,” Janie said with a smile. “There’s a house a few miles away that I was thinking about renting, though. Everything is all set, I just need to get the motivation to get started.”
“Right,” Dean said thoughtfully. “Why don’t we do it now, then?”
“Now?” Janie’s eyes grew wide and she looked at Dean as if he was insane. “I can’t just move everything ri
ght now!”
“But you can. I’m here. Then you won’t have to spend another night in this dingy place.” Dean gestured out the window. “Doesn’t that stupid neon sign keep you up at night? And the faucet over there is broken. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”
“What are you doing here anyway?” Janie asked, avoiding his questions and eyeing Dean skeptically. “Were you checking up on me? Was this your plan all along? To end up naked in my room?”
Honestly, Dean had been asking himself the same things, but the wolf had its own plan in mind. It was probably just a coincidence.
“Not exactly,” Dean said. “I don’t know how I got here or why the wolf chose this place. I just kind of went along for the ride.”
“Oh…”
Janie looked a little bit confused. Did she not understand how it worked to have a wolf inside of you? Or maybe she was simply too naive. It figured. She was just a human, after all.
“So are we moving you in today or what? I’m feeling restless and something to do with my hands would do me good.”
“Oh,” Janie said. Dean grinned inwardly. Yes, she was going to have to give in now that he’d made it about helping himself. She just seemed to be that kind of person. In a way, it made him feel bitter, because he hadn’t known anybody else like that before. But it also warmed him.
“Well?” Dean asked impatiently.
Janie looked him in the eye, her expression completely serious.
“All right,” she said. “But you’re going to need to put some pants on.”
Dean burst out laughing, surprising them both, and then nodded.
“It’s a deal.”
8.
There was a thrift store across the street from the motel, and Janie had Dean stay put at the motel while she popped in to find him an outfit. It was bizarrely domestic feeling to walk into a store with the goal of finding an outfit for Dean, and she couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like if they actually were together. She certainly wouldn’t be buying a billionaire clothes from a thrift store. The absurdity of it all made her laugh out loud, causing cashiers to glance at her with a pensive eyebrow. Were they concerned that she might be a little bit crazy? Who knew what kind of people they had coming through there on a regular basis.