by Ava Walsh
"I see. Well, it was so good to meet—"
The door behind Jackie opened. She swiveled to see who would interrupt an interview. Her jaw dropped as the man entered. Myles Foster himself. What was the company owner coming to sit in on a preliminary interview for?
Jackie recognized him, of course. Everybody knew his story. He had inherited his father's place as Alpha of his werewolf pack, the largest pack in North America, at the age of sixteen. The same year, oil had been found on his packlands, but rather than wasting his good fortune Myles had reinvested that money. Within a decade he owned land throughout the United States and Canada and was invested in crops and livestock of all sorts. Not many men could boast of having an agricultural empire as successful as his.
Of course his calendars sold well, too. Jackie had bought one for her sister just that year, and the two of them had spent plenty of time drooling over the various shirtless poses, reassuring themselves that his strong jaw and chiseled eight-pack had to be photoshopped.
Myles closed the door behind himself, his expression vaguely annoyed.
"Mr. Foster." One of the men jumped to his feet and offered his boss the chair. "We weren't aware that you were going to join us in the interviews today."
"I'm tired of you sending me idiots and decided to see what we have today for myself," Myles replied, not taking the chair. He stared at Jackie, head cocked to one side.
The calendars didn't do him justice. He was taller than Jackie realized, a good foot taller than her even, and even though he was fully clothed in a tailored suit the cut showed off his massive shoulders and flat stomach. Five o'clock shadow roughed his cheeks and chin, but he looked even better for it than if he had been clean-shaven. But all that could be seen in a calendar. Maybe the reason he was so much better in real life was because of the smell. There was a distinctive scent of werewolf thorn coming off him.
Jackie's nostrils flared as she eagerly sucked in the smell. Maybe it was a good thing that she wasn't going to get this job. It would be difficult to keep her head around him.
"You've got some werewolf in you," Myles said, his cool gray eyes staring hard at her.
Jackie brushed a long, loose golden curl behind her shoulder. "Yeah. Yes, I mean. Um, I, my." What was wrong with her? She was never this tongue-tied! She cleared her throat. "My great-grandfather on my mother's side. But I can't shift or anything, although I'm told I have a better sense of smell than… others."
Why did she have to blush? It was going to clash terribly with her honey-gold hair and the olive blouse she had chosen for this interview.
Myles, whether because of her reaction or her confirmation that she had some werewolf in her, suddenly smiled. Perfectly white teeth flashed; they were all even except his canines, which were slightly longer and more tapered than the rest of his teeth. He broke from Jackie's gaze, letting her suck in a deep breath. Yep, it was definitely a good thing she wasn't going to get this job. It would be far too hard to be professional.
"Dragonco," he said, glancing through her resume. "Impressive. Scarlet has always struck me as a rather demanding individual. Well, we'll give it a month to see how you do. Be here seven o'clock sharp tomorrow morning. Julia here will get you your ID card. I look forward to working with you."
Myles nodded, clearly done with the conversation. Jackie's jaw dropped, and she hardly had the presence of mind to jump to her feet and shake his hand, thanking him for the opportunity. The three interviewers looked shocked but Julia, the woman, gave her a rundown of how the offices worked and made her an ID card before she left.
It wasn't until Jackie had called her sister to tell her the news that it really hit her. She had a job working for Myles Foster, the most gorgeous man in the entire universe.
She was so screwed.
"Just don't give away your treasures and you'll be fine," her sister advised.
Jackie snorted at the phrasing. "Penny, I'm not going to sleep with him. I'm not ready for any sort of relationship."
"Honey, that's not what I meant at all."
"I know what you meant. And I'm saying that it's not going to happen. Even if he oozes sex appeal and he smells better than a roomful of hamburgers. Now I want a hamburger." Jackie winced as a wailing child's voice came over the phone. She loved her nieces and nephews, but she didn’t know how her sister survived them. "It sounds like you have to go. Tell the kids I love them."
"I will." Penny's voice was layered with Big Sister Concerns. "And I mean it, Jack. Don't do anything you'll regret. I know you, you only get involved with men you think are going to stick with you forever. And all this 'mating for life' stuff that the werewolves like to talk about is nonsense. They cheat just as much as anybody else."
Jackie repressed a sigh. The idea of forever love was romantic, but romance wasn't anywhere on her list of concerns right now. "Love you."
She hung up and then tugged her long hair back into a ponytail. Her mouth ached for something to eat, but it was only half an hour until supper, so she decided to watch an episode of Beverly Hillbillies while she jogged on the treadmill instead. Nerves were already fluttering in her stomach at the prospect of this new job, but she swallowed them down and focused instead on the positive things.
Five months into her new diet and exercise routine and she was still going strong.
She had found three new business suits in a consignment store that she could easily tailor to fit her frame.
Her bathing suit looked cute.
Myles Foster was her boss.
Jackie grinned. Myles Foster was her boss. The job could still turn out to be terrible, but at that moment she felt like the luckiest woman alive.
Chapter Two
The next two weeks were hard. Myles expected his employees, even brand-new ones like Jackie, to excel in whatever they were doing. After the first day Jackie cried herself to sleep and wondered if she had taken too long out of the workforce–maybe it would be better to start at a lower position and work back up.
But she picked herself up, and the next day blew her boss's expectations out of the water. Despite her panicky start she found herself thriving in the high-pressure, busy workplace. For the first time in a long time, she felt more than just content. She felt happy. She enjoyed going to work.
And it wasn't just because Myles was so hot. He had high standards for his employees, but he also provided high rewards for a job well done, giving her a two thousand dollar bonus after the first week to expand her business wardrobe. It was then she knew that the trial period, even though he had said it would be a month, was over, and she was officially his PA.
"I can fit you in next Thursday at three." Jackie pinched her phone between her shoulder and ear, pen poised over her appointment book.
A rancher wanted to meet with Myles for an investment into his land. Her boss never turned down meetings with farmers or ranchers, although he was very stringent in who he invested in. It was one of the things Jackie admired about him.
The rancher agreed, and Jackie penciled in the name before she thanked him for his call and hung up. Setting the planner aside, she did a quick google search of the man. Myles liked to have background information on potential investments.
She looked up as his distinctive smell curled into her nostrils, trying to calm the instant increase of her heartbeat and the blush that rose in her cheeks. Myles smiled at her. Jackie stood, snatching up her appointment book and quickly finding the current day.
"The oil company called with updates to your—"
"In a minute," Myles interrupted. He set a box on her desk. "I thought we could chat a little. I still don't know much about you."
Jackie's face went scarlet. Myles seemed amused at her reaction, giving her a cocky grin as he flipped open the box. The scent of powdered donuts hit her hard and she moaned, her mouth watering. She shook her head as Myles nudged them towards her.
"I can't. I'm on a diet."
Myles's brows rose. "Why?"
He sounded so genui
nely surprised that Jackie floundered for a moment. Her face was so hot that she was sure she could fry an egg on it. "Well… health reasons, really. My family history puts me at a high risk of diabetes and heart issues, so I just want to take better care of myself."
Myles nodded seriously. "That's a good reason. I'd have had to give you a lecture if it was all about your looks. You're damn hot the way you are."
Jackie's eyes widened, and for a second she forgot how to breathe. It wasn't as though she thought of herself as unattractive, although she was certain some people would label her as such. When she’d first started gaining weight she had hated her body, which only made everything that much worse. It was only after she stopped thinking of herself negatively that she had begun to be able to shed the pounds again. What she had told Myles was the truth; she wanted to be healthier. A smaller dress size was just icing on the cake, so to speak.
But Myles Foster had just called her hot. Jackie wasn't quite sure how to respond.
"Thank you," she mumbled.
Myles grinned broadly, clearly enjoying her reaction, and closed the box of donuts. "So this diet of yours. What can I bring you?"
"Um… I can have a 100-calorie snack between meals. Except Mondays. Mondays are my cheat days, when I don't have to worry about calories or sugar."
"Hmmm. Donuts on Mondays, then." Myles nodded. "Good for the start of the week, right?"
Jackie nodded, still aware her face was uncomfortably red. She smoothed down her tan pencil skirt, frantically thinking of how to respond to that. Scarlet had never been interested in her as a person.
"So, you like donuts?" Jackie could have died the moment the words left her mouth. What sort of idiotic question was that?
Fortunately, the phone rang right at that moment and Myles gestured for her to answer it. She snatched it up gratefully, her face burning.
"This is Billy from the PR department," the voice on the other end of the phone said without preamble. "There's something on channel ten Mr. F needs to see."
Billy sounded so grim that Jackie relayed the information at once. Myles's expression darkened and he strode into his office, turning on his TV. Jackie followed him, her black pumps sinking into the thick rug as she joined her boss beside his desk.
Myles flicked to the channel Billy had directed them to. It was one of those talk shows that were little better than supermarket tabloids, always digging up dirt on celebrities, or making it up in some cases. The talk show host, Maggie something or other, sat on a couch with a blonde supermodel. She was skinny as a broomstick, with breasts that were so huge it was a wonder she didn't topple over when she stood.
"Kathy," Myles muttered, then let out a string of curse words that had Jackie's jaw dropping. She didn't even know what half of those words meant!
Shaking her head, she turned back to the TV. Maggie had her hand on Kathy's shoulder, a sincere, comforting expression on her face.
"For our viewers who are just tuning in, I'm here with Kathy Morrison, a woman who claims to be Myles Foster's mate. Now, Kathy, you were just telling me that you and Myles mated ten years ago?"
Jackie's jaw dropped. What the hell? She had no idea that Myles was a mated male! That's what werewolves called it instead of married–mated. Jackie always thought it sounded rather overly sexualized, but somehow, looking at the blonde bombshell on the TV, it fit.
"Yes. I never came forward with it because we never got official permission from the government, and I didn't want to cause Myles any trouble. But after ten years of being ignored, I can't hold it in any longer."
Two perfectly formed tears ran down Kathy's face. Jackie peeked a glance from the corner of her eye at Myles. His expression was dark as he turned off the TV.
"My mother always told me Kathy Morrison would come back to bite me," the werewolf said. An animalistic growl rose in his chest, making Jackie shiver.
"Is she your mate?" Jackie ventured, twisting her hands.
"She was a fling," Myles snarled, his hands clenched. His canines were distinctively longer as he gritted his teeth, and his five o'clock shadow seemed to darken. "We slept together a few times, but I was careful. We never mated."
Jackie took a deep breath. This was a PR nightmare. It was illegal for werewolves to mate with humans unless they went through a long, stringent application process with the government.
Proving Myles hadn't mated Kathy would be an easy enough task; werewolves had a physical reaction to being around their mates, the most important of which was that their heartbeats synchronized and they could feel their mate's pain. Public opinion was already against most werewolves, though, and this would not be good. Myles managed to circumvent most anti-werewolf biases with sizable donations to various charities and keeping his nose clean. But the tide could quickly turn against him.
Jackie straightened her suit jacket and turned to her boss. Myles scowled fiercely.
"Tell me about Kathy and the rules around werewolf mating."
Myles's brow furrowed, but he sat behind his desk and gestured for her to sit as well, which she did.
"I met Kathy when I was quite young. She was hot, I was flooded with hormones and we had fun together. We had sex a few times. I broke up with her after my dad died and I became the pack's Alpha. I couldn't afford distractions, and she wasn't mature enough to share my new responsibilities with me. But we never mated."
Jackie nodded at him to continue. Some part of her thought she should be embarrassed about the topic of conversation, but this was her job, and she was a professional.
"Mating is more than just having sex, despite what people think." Myles steepled his fingers. "There are rituals that werewolves have to go through. Many of us prefer to include marriage ceremonies now, too, but in order for a mating to occur a male and a female have to verbally pledge themselves to one another on the night of a full moon, and then share blood while having sex."
"And you never did that?"
"I made sure that I never saw her during the full moon, just so no accidents could happen."
Jackie nodded. "Okay. I'm going to have the PR department arrange for you to give an official statement concerning what you just told me–although I'd leave out the part where Kathy was immature. You'll garner more public sympathy if you paint it as a tragic end to a young romance."
"I don't care about public sympathy," Myles growled. "She's got her fifteen seconds of fame—"
"With all respect, public image is what you should be concerned about right now," Jackie interrupted. Myles's eyes narrowed but she ignored his displeasure. "Legally, she's got nothing on you. But the important thing is to make sure this blows over as quickly as it can, and attacking her personally, no matter how justified, will only fuel the media frenzy."
Myles scowled but he nodded. "You're right. Get PR up here so we can start getting this settled."
Jackie nodded and headed back to her desk as Myles continued to grumble behind her.
"Kathy Morrison… as if I'd mate her. I'm the Alpha, dammit. My mate needs to be special."
She knew the words weren't directed at her, but Jackie couldn't help but feel a bit crushed by that. His mate needed to be special. Of course she did. Jackie shook herself. Mooning over the boss wasn't professional. She was here for her job, not to get into the werewolf's pants, after all.
Jackie pushed her disappointment aside and phoned the PR department.
Chapter Three
With reporters swarming the sidewalks outside the office building and Kathy Morrison's declaration on every news celebrity channel, the PR department decided that Myles ought to keep a low profile for a few weeks. He agreed, adding that with this news he would need to return to his pack and reassure them.
He wouldn't go alone, though, and with her appointment book in her purse and a notepad in her pocket, ready to take down any phone messages Myles would get, Jackie found herself being driven out of the city to his packlands in his BMW.
Jackie had never been a country girl. She thr
ived in the excitement of the city. This trip was definitely not something she was looking forward to. She became even less enthusiastic when she learned that it was just going to be the two of them, and that they weren't going to be staying in a city, or even a town, but rather with his family on their farm.
This was going to be one awkward visit.
The packlands were mostly farmland. Wide, flat fields boasting John Deere tractors and various crops stretched as far as the eye could see, spotted with barns or braces of trees which served as windbreaks. The air was hot, dry and dusty, and Jackie couldn't help but wish she hadn't only brought her business suits along. Summer dresses would be much more suitable for this type of environment.
Myles stopped the car in front of a two-story house. It was painted white with a red roof and had a balcony porch on the front. Lilac trees grew at each of the four corners, and on either side of the front step were rosebushes. A three-car garage sat off to one side, and there was a barn a little way from the house.
"Home," Myles said helpfully. "What do you think?"
It was smaller than Jackie expected. For some reason she had been picturing an all-mahogany mansion with dozens of servants lined up on either side of a marble pathway to escort them into a gold-plated entrance hall. The house was very lovely, but it was far more humble than she thought the billionaire Alpha of a pack would have.
"It looks very cozy," she finally decided on. "Do you live here by yourself?"
Myles laughed. "No. This is where my mom and sister live. Well, Tamara has her own house, but Mom gets lonely since I'm off in the city so often, and my brother Charles has a farm on the other side of town. So Tamara moved in with her four girls."
"You don't have your own house out here?" Jackie's brows rose.
"No. I have my own room here, and that's all I need. I have a large pack, Jackie. I might be a billionaire, but I also have responsibilities and I don't like to waste money on myself. Except when it comes to stuff like this car." He shot her a grin. "I do need to indulge once in a while."