Bryan’s mouth twisted up and he raised an eyebrow. “What?”
She felt a little sorry for Bryan. Not only did he not know the subtext, but he was used to Megan being intelligent in her decision making and never impulsive or irrational. Bryan turned his head and squinted through the blinds into the bullpen where Gunner was waiting, his hands in his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels. Jan and Naomi were on the other end of the floor, glaring at him as if waiting for him to make the slightest move.
Bryan gasped and said, “Oh! I get it.”
“You do?” Megan’s stomach plummeted as she considered the idea of one of her human staff knowing she was a shifter. It happened from time to time but it made things so terribly complicated. You had to really trust the person.
“He’s an ex,” Bryan said, sighing. “Or he’s one of the other’s exes. Look, I know that’s awkward but c’mon, Meg, you can’t not hire somebody so competent just because-”
“Ugh, he’s not an ex,” Megan said. The very idea was distasteful even if the guy was hot as hell. She rubbed her forehead, trying to think of how she could get out of this. “He’s...he’s...from a bad… Look, I’ve just heard some stuff about him. Around town. And it’s not good. He’s a bad egg. Very bad. Rotten egg.” She blushed, feeling ridiculous. She also felt guilty, not just for lying but lying about somebody’s reputation. Being the boss, she could easily just tell Bryan she simply didn’t want to hire him and didn’t owe him an explanation for it. But that felt wrong. All of it felt wrong.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she sighed and picked it up reflexively. “Hi, this is Meg.”
“Megan Flannery!” A female sounding voice said. “I’m calling from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.”
“Oh!” Megan stood up straight. Keeping up a good connection with the Chamber of Commerce was a huge deal. She’d been meaning to reach out but hadn’t gotten around to it. “Uh, hello. Nice to hear from you.”
“I just wanted to let you know,” the woman said, “we here at the Chamber of Commerce have been hearing a lot about WellDrop and we’re very excited about what we’ve been hearing.”
“Really?” Megan said. “I mean, thank you! That’s great. Have you-”
“Yes, well, we’re all very invested in bringing self-care to the community and all that. And uh etcetera…”
“Okay.” Megan frowned, feeling unusually befuddled by the call.
“But more than that,” the woman, “we’ve heard you’re very inclusive in your hiring process…”
“Oh, right.” Megan smiled to herself, nodding. She and her leashmates had made a point of acknowledging issues of diversity and representation in their hiring. She was proud of it. “That’s very true. We consider such issues of paramount importance here at WellDrop-”
“Yes, yes, for example, you would never dismiss or reject a hire simply because of where they come from or...what they are or who they’re related to, what group they have may have been born into that was completely out of their control. Just as a hypothetical…”
“Ah uh...uh…” Megan stood, frozen, with the phone in her hand. Her stomach was churning. “What… Sorry, what did you say your name was?”
“Eh, not important!” The woman said. “Just wanted to let you good folks at WellDrop know that we at the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce are proud of your non-discriminatory policies. Have a nice day!”
Abruptly, the woman hung up. Megan stood, dumbly holding the phone for a minute.
Well, shit, she thought.
Bryan simply stood, waiting as she opened the door and peeked out into the bullpen. Gunner Dylan was leaning against a desk. He looked utterly dejected, no longer attempting to act as if he could hold a room in the palm of his hand. He was assuming she wasn’t going to hire him. She felt a stab of guilt.
“Forget everything I said.” Megan smoothed back her hair and locked eyes with Gunner across the floor. She gave him a little nod, though she didn’t go so far as to smile. “You did a good job, Bryan. He’s our guy.”
Megan licked her lips and walked out to meet Bryan. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lane, Jan and Naomi all step forward in a line, and Bryan’s gaze slid over to them, anticipatory. She didn’t blame him. Her leashmates looked like they were about to shift and jump on him to protect their alpha. Everyone else in the office was watching, doubtlessly baffled, as Megan slowly approached Gunner Dylan as if he were a bomb and not their new co-worker.
Megan took a deep breath and said, “Hello.”
She felt absurdly awkward but Mr. Wolfie was apparently no less awkward. He stiffly nodded and said, “Hello.”
“I’m Meg.” Meg smiled tightly. “I’m the CEO. Or I will be, it’s not official. But I will be-”
“I know who you are,” he said. Even his voice was sexy, which was highly annoying. It was low and unexpectedly soft. “Bryan gave me a lot of materials on the company and its structure.”
“Right.” Meg nodded. “Of course, he did. He’s very thorough.”
“I’m Gunner.” Gunner smiled slightly but the attempt fell from his face as his gaze flitted around, almost seeking escape. “Gunner Dylan.”
“Good to meet you.” She pursed her lips. She felt like she didn’t know what to do with herself.
He was nervous, Meg realized. She almost felt bad for him. She’d never seen a nervous wolf before.
“I just want you to know, Miss Flannery,” Gunner said, “I was very excited to get this position and I only want the best for its company...and its founders. I’m here to do a job that I can do quite well for the betterment of WellDrop. If you’ll let me.” He looked her straight in the eye, the intensity of his baby blues coupled with this guileless and genuine little speech knocking her back on her feet.
Megan looked at him and had no idea why she believed him. But she did. “Thank you,” she said quietly. She chewed on her lip and with some hesitation, offered him her hand.
Gunner Dylan took her hand and the little bit of electric spark that went through her body as his palm covered hers made everything no less confusing.
“Well.” Gunner smiled widely, looking just a little bit sly but not malevolent. He finally let go of her hand and she saw him breathe in a little. “This is going to be very interesting, Miss Flannery. Isn’t it?”
Megan pursed her lips. The wolf had a smile to make panties drop, he filled out a suit like he was auditioning to play a superhero, and he seemed to be genuinely reaching out to her in the face of a century of enmity between their kinds.
“Yeah,” Megan said. “It’s gonna be interesting, alright.”
Chapter Seven: Gunner
Oh shit, she’s gorgeous.
That was Gunner’s first thought upon meeting Meg Flannery. The thing was, he’d heard of her before. He’d heard her name thrown around town as someone to watch. She’d worked at a couple of successful start-ups. He’d heard she had one of her own now and people were already excited about it.
He had not known she was a goddamn fox shifter.
Gunner had sniffed them out right away. Their scents were all over the office even when they weren’t in it. He’d had to clench his fist and bite his tongue to stop himself from reflexively shifting. That had happened before. He’d run across fox shifters out in the human world on occasion. He just avoided them.
He couldn’t avoid them now.
Still, he’d held out hope. He’d never expressed his own thoughts about the feud between their clans to any of his packmates, for fear he’d be run right out. But the truth was, he was perfectly willing to work for foxes, even if they were kind of silly compared to wolves. He didn’t have anything against them.
Then Megan Flannery had walked in the room and several thoughts had occurred to him at once. First, he was shocked that this brilliant woman he’d heard so much about was a fox shifter. Second, she was definitely the same fox he’d run across in the woods who had clearly sensed he was near and let him be. And third
, she was stunning.
This isn’t going to last long, he thought. It was difficult for him to believe that a fox pack would let him stay even if Megan seemed to have been surprisingly welcoming. She’d obviously had no idea what he was when Bryan had hired him.
Soon enough she was striding away again, doubtless on some important business she needed to get to. Her three friends, the other foxes, were scowling at him and he smiled tightly in their direction before following Bryan to his office to set up his workspace.
He found himself tuning out Bryan’s babble as he went on and on about their policies and amenities. They had allotted days for mental health aside from sick days and paid time off. He supposed it made sense for the kind of business they were in.
When he was finally left alone, Gunner sat back in his big, comfy desk chair and sighed.
He would do his best. He always did. He hadn’t had a job yet where he didn’t exceed expectations, even the highest of them. But it was difficult to think that this woman wasn’t going to find the first excuse she could to get rid of him. Who would want “the enemy” infiltrating their company? At least she might see it that way. Or else, she might just make his job hell. Although she really didn’t read like that kind of person to him. Maybe he was blinded by her beauty.
His Outlook chimed. Megan had requested an appointment with him at the end of the day. He wondered if her acceptance of him before had just been for show. She didn’t seem like the type to want to cause a scene either. Maybe she was going to quietly get rid of him. Firings were usually done when everyone else had left the office after all.
Gunner resolved not to worry about it. He was usually pretty good at compartmentalizing. Instead, he focused on filling out the rest of the paperwork Bryan had requested which took a couple of hours. He followed with some work studying WellDrop’s mission statement and an overview of their work so far. After a couple of hours of steady work, he stood and stretched, intending to go help himself to the luxurious looking coffee bar in the kitchen. It was a lot nicer looking than Likt’s which got raided every morning and never restocked.
When he got there he found two of those other foxes making their coffee. They scowled at him but moved to give him room and he sighed. He wondered if it would always be like this; a few of his co-workers responding to him with outright hostility for no reason other than that he’d been born a wolf.
“Ladies,” he said, nodding at them. He kept eye contact with them, giving his best smoldering look and he saw them melt just a little bit before they caught themselves. He resisted the urge to cackle in triumph. “How’re you two doin’?” They glanced at each other with raised eyebrows and left the break room together without a word. “Yep,” Gunner muttered.
Typical foxes.
He felt like his own people, even if they were suspicious of other shifters, would be more direct and less passive aggressive. It was rude really. They could have at least introduced themselves before dismissing him. Maybe they were embarrassed. He’d clearly made them flustered for a second there.
Around one, Gunner finally took lunch. He’d taken off his jacket and now he got up and stretched, feeling the pleasant flexing of his muscles. He could swear he saw Megan glance at him through the window, though it was probably out of suspicion rather than interest. He massaged his bicep and patted his stomach through his shirt, feeling his abdominal muscles flexing pleasantly. Or…maybe not. She was part human anyway. He stepped out of his office and blinked, half expecting some food to appear.
“What’s the good lunch spot around here?” Gunner said, tapping the edge of Bryan’s cubicle.
Bryan looked up at him and blinked. “Oh, well, Tom’s Cafe is the go-to place. Really good sandwiches? You just have to walk down the hill but at least it’s not raining anymore. There’s a convenience store next door too and they have some stuff. And there’s some fast food in the other direction.”
“Thanks.”
Gunner decided to opt for Tom’s. On his way out, he saw others going to lunch in little groups and pairs. It was his first day and he was a confident person so he didn’t feel particularly bad. Yet there was something a little bit galling at the side-eyes and glances people cast him. And they were humans. He wondered if Megan’s little friends had said something to cast him into doubt for everyone else. Or had they not needed to? The atmosphere of hostility was likely enough. He sighed and pretended to completely ignore everyone as he walked at a quick pace down the steep hill to Tom’s Cafe, grumbling to himself as he pulled ahead of the little cliques on their way to lunch.
At Tom’s, he got a roast beef sandwich and ate by himself, listening to a podcast on his phone. It was still better than Likt, he reasoned. Though there had been more camaraderie at Likt because all the cranky employees had sort of bonded together. He had a feeling he was going to be pretty isolated at WellDrop.
He didn’t want to care about such things. But the thought put him in a sour mood. He didn’t see the rest of his pack often, he’d had no deep connections with anyone from Likt and he hadn’t had a romantic partner in ages, it seemed like.
He pushed away the swell of loneliness that rose up within him when he thought about all that.
Man up, Gunner, he thought. Crying’s for pups.
The sandwich was good anyway. He told Bryan so when he returned and at least got a smile. Well, Bryan seemed to like him anyway. Woop-di-doo.
Before his meeting with Megan at the end of the day, he went to the restroom and fixed his hair. He had a thick mane of brown hair; when left unattended it could take on a life of its own. But he’d just had it cut and now it had a bit of product in it. The wind had blown it around but he brushed back into place. The sharp cut set off his jawline and made his bright, blue eyes pop. He smiled at himself in the mirror and pocketed his comb.
Megan could fire him if she liked. But at least he’d know he’d gotten to her a little.
He knocked on the door to her office and leaned there in the doorway, watching her frown at her laptop as she typed away.
“Hey, boss,” Gunner said, and he didn’t mean for his voice to come out quite so husky. He saw her eyes flash slightly and then they flicked up and down his body unmistakeably.
“Have a seat,” she said, sounding perfectly pleasant. She kept typing, her brow furrowed just a little bit. He watched her pause in her typing for a minute and her tongue snuck out between her teeth before she continued on again. “I’m sorry, I just want to finish this.”
He sat back in his chair and folded his hands in his lap, spreading his knees just a little, taking up space. Her office was plain but there were still a few unpacked boxes around. She hadn’t had a chance to personalize it yet. His eyes went to the Bonsai tree that sat in a neat white pot on the corner of her desk. There was also a small figurine of a fox that sat on the very edge of the desk with its little feet hanging over.
“Nice fox,” he said, feeling a little cheeky.
She stopped typing and glanced up at him, her mouth parted. She looked like she was trying to figure out how he was playing things. “Thank you,” she finally said. “Could you close the door, please?”
Aha, he thought.
Well, she was either letting him go or they were going to talk about their situation, he figured. Unless they were going to talk about the staff, but he didn’t think he’d be getting a meeting like that on the first day.
Gunner sat quietly while Megan continued to type and finally said, “Is this a power move or something?”
Megan looked up at him with narrowed eyes. “Pardon?”
“I don’t know,” he said casually, crossing one leg over the other and sitting back comfortably like he was happy as a clam. “You call me in here for a meeting and then sit writing emails while I wait? Feels like a power move.”
“It’s not a power move,” she said, still typing. “We don’t pull that amateur shit.”
“Who’s we?” Gunner said. “Fox shifters?”
He saw the cor
ners of her mouth tighten. “No. Women.”
Gunner cackled at that and said, “Now, I know that’s not true.”
“I’m almost done.” She clicked away for another a minute and finally set her laptop aside and looked at him. He saw her eyes flick up and down his body again. Oh yeah, she was looking at him. He smirked just a little bit. It felt just a little bit satisfying to know a fox was attracted to him. “Why’d you apply for this job?”
“I didn’t,” Gunner said. “Bryan found me. I mean I’ve been keeping my profiles updated here and there. But he was the one headhunting.”
She frowned at him and said, “You wrote on one of those profiles that you have a vested interest in self-care. It’s your passion?” She looked rightly suspicious.
Gunner had a crazy idea about dealing with people. He generally told the truth whenever possible. He saw no reason not to when he believed in himself so strongly.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I never wrote that on my profile. I honestly don’t know how it got there. I told Bryan the same. In fact, I was going to correct it but when I looked back it didn’t say that anymore.”
Megan looked mildly bothered by that. “Anything else on your resume mysteriously appear and disappear?”
“No,” he said wryly. “I mean you can ask anything you want. I worked for Likt for three years and I worked at a couple different places that were just nothing start-ups before that and went public while I was working there. I assume you checked my references. Under my watch, staffs have increased their productivity by up to thirty percent and at the same time, when asked if they enjoyed their jobs more or less after that productivity increase, they answered more across the board. And that’s with very few layoffs or firings. The only exception would be the last year or so at Likt and…” His lips twitched. His hands had been tied at Likt where the turnover rate was insane and nobody was happy. “I don’t like to make excuses,” he said firmly, meeting her eyes.
“Likt is a trash fire,” Megan said, shrugging. “Everyone knows that. I’m not putting that on you. But you already have the job. You don’t need to keep interviewing for it.”
Starcrossed Shifters Page 4
