“I have two girls that I need to deliver rather quickly. I was hoping that we could speed it up some.”
There was an urgency in his voice, and she wasn't sure what that was all about. Jamie wasn't sure if she wanted to ask. Every endeavor that she had taken on with William had turned into a monumental problem that she had to find her way out of. Jamie did not want another situation like that.
“All right. How quickly?”
“I don't know, in the next day or two would work. It would be better for all involved if I brought them here. They can’t stay where they are anymore.”
Again, she wanted to ask questions, but Jamie knew that the answer would be more than she wanted to know. Not knowing sometimes was the greatest gift of all, and she felt like she at least deserved that much.
“And the amount you need is double, right?”
Hey agreed. “Yes, that will do just nicely. I will need it all when I drop them off. All in cash.”
“And those are the last ones?”
Jamie asked the question tentatively. She wanted to believe that at some point, the situation with William would end. The only way that that was going to happen was if the business that they had together was done as well. Jamie was anxiously awaiting that day but knew that she couldn’t seem too excited about it.
“Are you that eager to get rid of me? I think that would hurt my feelings, if I had any.”
“You know that this whole situation makes me uncomfortable.”
“I do know that. You are very clear with your emotions. How hard it must be to go through life and feel so much. It seems almost cumbersome. I also noticed that you took the girls, made your money, so your hypocrisy falls on deaf ears.”
Jamie did not know how to respond to that. She had been told in the past that she was a sensitive sort. It was never said in a good way.
Those kind of emotions and feelings would do nothing to help the situation she was currently in. What she had to do was pretend as much as possible, stop feeling until the opportunity arose to get rid of him from her life.
“Yes, well, I'm just trying to figure out from a business standpoint how many more high-dollar girls I’m going to have to buy from you. I've already got two other recruiters to fill your void when you go through.”
William’s smile did not last very long, and Jamie almost immediately regretted her words. She shouldn't have let her anger get the best of her. The type of people that William dealt with, she should have known better than to think that she could even verbally spar at the same level. Jamie was bluffing more than anything else, and she was afraid that William knew that.
“It is good to hear that you are moving on. I have actually decided to move on myself. Apparently, it is better to sell the girls in bulk. Better margins, I’m told.”
Jamie's mind immediately went back to the other options that were given for the girls. The slave trade. She couldn't believe that he would even be considering such a change, and even though she was constantly trying to get him out of her life, now Jamie was starting to see the value in keeping him with her. If she could save one girl, two girls…Jamie couldn’t even imagine what the term bulk referred to.
She coughed on the drink that she was in the process of ingesting. “Bulk?”
He agreed. “I know it doesn't sound very good, but sometimes you have to go with quantity instead of quality, I suppose.”
She was shocked to her very core. Jamie didn't know what to say. Was he being serious? Of course he was. It was William she was talking about after all. He would do what he thought was best for him, and him only. There was no reasoning with evil.
“Why in the world would you do such a thing? Are you not making enough money now?”
“I actually felt like I was making enough. However, the powers-that-be did not feel the same way. It's just not really my choice in the end. It is not just me that you work for, but people above me that have far less concern for morals and human rules. You should really be thankful that I'm the one that comes to see you and not someone else.”
Jamie was stunned back into silence. She didn't know if he was threatening her or if he was trying to warn her. In an instant, she was worried that what he said was true. She had thought of William as the epitome of evil, but what if he was right and he was just the tip of the iceberg? Then what was she going to do? Were more people going to come for her when she finally had him out of her life?
“I was hoping that we could end our relationship, William, but I do not like the idea of that. It would just be worse for the girls. Isn't there some way that the two of us could fix this?”
“I wish there was, but I was told very clearly that they have made their decision. I am just following orders.”
“And who are they?” Jamie questioned.
He looked at her for a moment and then paused. “It's not something that I can really talk about. Just make sure that you are ready for the girls in the next day or two. Have my money ready in cash. And then you will get your wish, Jamie; we will no longer have to work together. You may even find that I wasn’t all that bad.”
Jamie was a bit surprised by how he was acting. It was almost like he was upset about it, but then again, she was still confused by men like William. Jamie figured that asking questions was the worst thing she could do, so she kept her mouth shut.
Once William left, Jamie was able to breathe a little better; however, she was worried about all those girls he was going to start selling on the black market. What would happen to them? Why couldn't she help them all?
Jamie knew that she should be happy. She was getting exactly what she wanted. William would be out of her life forever, and she would never have to worry about him again. But if that was the case, why did she feel so bad?
Chapter Five
Dylan went to go pick up Melissa, but he wasn't too excited about it. It felt like an obligation more than a desire. Dylan was the oldest of five sons, and since his father was stepping down as Alpha soon, he was naturally the first of them to be asked.
After much deliberation, Dylan decided that it would be best if he took his father's place. He was sure that somehow, everything would work out, although he had not really thought too much about the requirements. Mainly, he had not thought in detail about the fact that he was supposed to be married before he took his father's place.
It left him in sort of a bind, and when he heard about Jamie and her business, he was intrigued. It was strange to think about essentially buying a woman, but then again, Dylan’s life had never been too normal.
His family was one the last clans of panther shifters left in the country. Because they were so rare, they had to live by a strict set of rules, and marriage for Alphas, to ensure future leaders, was one of them.
As much as he was raised to believe that it was an honor to even be alive, it came with many rules. As humans encroached on wild placements, the life of his people was becoming less and less like it once was.
It was going to be on Dylan's shoulders to figure out how to keep going with tradition in a world that was rapidly changing. He didn't have all the answers, but he knew that he had to take his responsibility seriously. He was what was standing between his people and chaos.
His mind was in a million places, but he pulled it back together when the car stopped and Melissa walked out of her house. It was a grand house, and it was a grand woman that walked out of it. She had on furs and diamonds and all kinds of glittery things that reflected in the dying sunlight above them.
He stepped out of the vehicle and bowed to her, although it felt too stiff and formal. This was not the way he wanted to feel around the woman he was supposed to marry. Dylan was looking for excitement and chemistry, not the stifling feeling of obligation. The smell lingered on people with money, sticking to them like glue. He wanted to believe that if Jamie had picked her, there was some reason for it. He just had to find out what it was, because at the moment, he couldn’t see it.
Melissa was about a foo
t shorter than him, although that made her pretty tall for a woman. She had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. She had a rather voluptuous body, and he was quick to note that Melissa was built much like Jamie was. How strange it must be to find someone that looked so strikingly close to her.
They shook hands, and even that was a little awkward. He could already tell this wasn’t going to work. He felt nothing when their hands touched.
“It is nice to meet you, Melissa. I have heard great things, and Jamie is convinced that we are perfect for each other.”
It was pretty thick, and Melissa just gobbled it down. Her pretty little face broke out into a huge smile, and he could see that he was going to be tired before the evening was done.
Melissa was wearing a skimpy dress, like she was trying to entice him sexually, but he felt nothing. He should have; she had a banging body.
Dylan worried that it was all going to be a waste of time. He wanted to call it off then and there but knew that it would be rude. He wasn’t too worried about what Melissa thought. He was worried about Jamie getting upset about it, so he told himself that he was going to go anyway. It couldn’t be that bad.
They went to dinner, and they talked almost the whole time. It was more of a nervous chatter from her because Dylan already knew without a doubt, that he did not want to marry her. It was nothing against her; she was beautiful, and on paper, she was probably perfect, but he didn’t want someone perfect. He wanted Jamie.
“So, how did it go?”
Dylan gave her a look and then shrugged. “It went about like I thought it would. She is not the one for me, though a very lovely lady.”
“Really? I mean, she hit everything on the head as far as physicality. She has a thriving business and is very independent. I thought that she would be perfect for you.”
“And honestly, she probably would have been just fine. But now, it's just not going to do. I have narrowed my tastes it would seem.”
Jamie bit her bottom lip and asked him what he meant by that. Dylan had learned that he couldn't go too hard, too fast, so he was trying to beat around the bush a little bit. The suspense was killing him, though, so how could that be the right thing to do?
“Oh?”
“Like I said before, I got my heart set on something else.”
“You do understand what I do here, though, right, Dylan? I mean, I have to find you a bride, and like you said, you’ve only got a few weeks. You really have to open your mind a little bit. Sometimes we get so focused on one thing that we miss perfectly good opportunities all around us.”
“Touché. I did try to give her a chance, I really did. She just wasn't for me. There was no chemistry whatsoever, and she kind of pushed for a kiss at the end of the night, but really, it felt like I was kissing my grandmother. I don't want to marry someone like that.”
Jamie wrinkled her forehead and told him that it was going to take her a couple of days to come up with more dates. “Now that we have the first date out of the way, I guess we can keep narrowing it down. Is there anything else that you would like to add for the next selection?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I don't know, just send me your best. One of them will have to do, right?”
Jamie agreed, but she did so after she pressed her lips together so hard that they turned white. He would have done anything to know what was going on in her mind.
“How was your evening?”
Jamie was a little surprised by the question and shrugged. “It was all right, I guess. Watched some TV and had some dinner. It sounds like you had a bit more fun than I did.”
“If that is the truth, then both of us need to change what we're doing.”
Jamie agreed. “I have been single for a while, and I'm sorry if I got a defensive the last time we met. You said something about me being single and I took it the wrong way. That being said, I am not sure I am in agreement that I need a change. I like how things are.”
Dylan could tell that the comment had bothered her, and he wished he hadn’t said it. He didn’t want to upset her. She was the kind of woman that he could really see himself with. He didn't want to cause her any stress. All he wanted to do was make her see what he could. Jamie wasn’t ready yet. Why he was, Dylan wasn’t certain. He just knew that they were together for a reason.
“Don't worry about it. I was probably too forward, and I guess I should say that I really don't come on to women like that. It is not something that I do on a regular. I was being nosy because I was interested. I wasn’t trying to offend you, Jamie.”
“I tend to disagree with the first part. No offence or anything, but I did a very thorough background check on you, and there are quite a few women in your life.”
He said that he wasn't going to argue with that. Dylan did have several women that he saw on a regular basis. He had never found one that could completely satisfy all of his needs, so he just kind of rotated a few out. In his opinion, it was a good situation, up until a point. Now he was questioning everything and wondering if the shallow connections he was experiencing in his personal life were enough. Now, it was becoming very clear that they were not.
Chapter Six
William brought two girls to Jamie, and one of them seemed to be perfect for Dylan. Jessica Farrow was soft-spoken and polite, but she had a straightforwardness that was easy to understand. Jamie was almost always impressed with William’s picks, and she had to begrudgingly admit he knew what he was doing. Many recruiters brought her women that were too low of quality to marry the type of men she worked for.
She was happy to relay to Dylan that she had another meet-up for him. He did not seem as enthused as he should have been, but she was going to ignore that part of it. Jamie was convinced that all she had to do was get him in the room with the right person and all of the nonsense about the two of them would seem silly.
Jamie was in her early thirties. She was not young and bright faced like the twenty-something women that she would set him up with. He would see that truth soon enough, and then he would leave her be, marry another woman, and Jamie would go back to her predictable life.
“Are you going to be available for a drink afterward, you know, so we can discuss it all?”
Jamie knew he was doing it because he wanted to spend time with her. Alarm bells were ringing, but she heard herself saying that she would be available. What was she thinking, really?
She hung up the phone and wondered how it would all turn out. Her mind couldn’t stay on it too long. She hadn’t had the cash that William wanted, so she was waiting for him to come back for the rest.
He was going to be out of her life for good if she could manage it.
Again, Jamie called Dylan, and he had hoped again that it was going to be a call about the two of them. Dylan wasn't sure why he kept thinking about her nonstop, but it was happening that way no matter what he did.
Now he had another date planned, and he was about as enthused about this one as he had been the last. It wasn't going to be Jamie on the other side of the table, so it really didn't matter. If she wasn't on the other side, then it wasn't what he wanted. He kept thinking that, and even though he told himself he was going to give Jessica a chance, he knew in the back of his mind that it wasn't going to matter. She wasn't going to be Jamie.
When he got to the restaurant, it was a little different to meet Jessica there. She had a busy day ahead of her, though, and apparently another obligation that she had to go to after they were finished. That meant that she needed her own car.
For Dylan, it did not bode well. He was going to be an Alpha, and whoever he married was going to have to take on some responsibilities. If she could barely fit him in for a date, how was she going to fit him in for anything else?
Jessica was fair-skinned, and she had dark hair. It was blacker than brown, and her eyes were green. She was beautiful though, innocent, dripping with virginity that he wasn't too enthused about. She was also very young. He guessed that she was only twenty, maybe twenty-one, bu
t not old enough.
She was smart, but she didn't know much about the world. Everything she had learned was in a book, and that was very clear when he went to touch her hand and she gasped and pulled it away quickly. Jessica acted like he was burning her with his very touch, and that concerned him. Had he told Jamie that this is what he wanted? Some dewy-eyed young virgin? It might be what most of her clientele wanted, but it certainly was not what he had in mind. Again, he left another date, and again, he knew that he had not found his wife.
Because he was already planning on seeing Jamie when he left Jessica’s, he stopped and got her a coffee before starting over to her place. The house was unlit from the main light by the road, but he could see the light on in the window that was her office. She seemed to always be there, and even though Jamie claimed that she wasn't interested in finding a man, she certainly needed one. While he shouldn't have said it to her when they first met, Dylan still held true to it. She was in need of a man, and he was in need of a wife. Why did it have to be so complicated?
Dylan tried the door, and it was unlocked, so he just let himself in. They had already talked earlier, and Jamie knew that he was coming for a debriefing after the date. What he didn't expect was to hear yelling and a male's voice as soon as he got in the door. By the time he was five feet in, he knew that it was about money and selling girls. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. She was in danger, and before he even thought about it, he was making it right into the office where the noise was coming from.
When he got there, he opened the door quickly and stopped next to a tall man. It looked like Jamie was yelling at him even though he towered over her, and she kept telling him that she wasn't going to give him any more money.
“I told you I will give you what is fair, what we agreed on. I am not giving you another dime.”
“You owe me double. We agreed to it. You want to end our business relationship, then you need to pay me the severance.”
Alpha Shifter Bride Service: (A Paranormal Romance Series) Page 24
