“Okay, no drinks. Something else then? I’m not ready for tonight to end.”
“I’ve got beer back at the apartment.”
“Sold,” she said. “If we ever get out of here.”
Traffic out on the roads was moving much smoother than in the parking lot, and they made it back to his apartment without any delays.
She tossed her stuff in the coat closet as he fished two beers out of the fridge. He put a music station on the television, and they settled on the couch. Her face was flushed from the excitement and energy of the evening.
“Now I really have to meet this Brock Tandell,” she said. “That was a fantastic evening. I should thank him in person.”
Jules laughed. “His wife is petite and very pregnant, but don’t underestimate her. If she thinks you’re making a move on her husband she will take you out. She’s surprisingly fierce.”
“You’re not scared of her, are you?”
“Only to her face,” he said. “She finds it funny. I think you should meet her. Something tells me you’d get along with her.”
“Well, she doesn’t have to worry. It’s not her husband I’m interested in kissing.”
He set his beer aside and lightly touched her cheek. Slowly, he leaned in close to her, waiting for her to say stop or pull away from him. When she didn’t, he pressed his lips against hers.
Kaylee wanted to lose herself in the kiss completely. She moved closer to him until their knees bumped, her hand fisting in the shoulder of his shirt. As the kisses grew more intense it only fueled her desire. He wrapped his arms around her, trying to pull her closer. The only way that was going to happen was if she hopped up on his lap, so she did.
He pushed her sweater down her arms, letting it drop to the floor, and he ran his hands over her bare shoulders. His hands were warm and soft. Her heart was pounding with excitement and desire.
When he grabbed the waistband of her jeans, she grabbed his wrist. “Not the pants,” she said.
He nodded and ran his hands over her body again. He trailed kisses down her neck. He unhooked the clasp of her bra and took one breast in his mouth. Her back arched and she moaned.
They touched and tasted, stroked and caressed. He tugged at the waistband of her pants again, not enough to pull them down, just enough to be a question. “I want you so bad right now,” he said. His already deep voice was husky with desire.
She scooted back, out from under him, breathing hard. He kissed her stomach as it slid by and sat up, reaching for her cheek. She nuzzled his hand and let him pull her close for another passionate kiss.
“I don’t think sex would be a good idea,” she said, still sounding breathless.
He nibbled her ear but refrained from touching her breasts. “Any reason why?” he whispered.
“I don’t want things to get awkward at work,” she said. “And I’m not sure I’ve forgiven you about Jane yet. And I don’t even know what this is between us.”
He kissed her cheek. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay. We’ll take it slow. Every time you draw a line, I’ll respect it until you choose to move it. If I ask questions, it’s only because I don’t want to hurt you. I’m not pressuring you.”
“Are you real?” she said with a short laugh.
“I saw what my father did to my mother. I don’t want to be that asshole. I don’t want to be any asshole. I don’t want to hurt you.”
She rested her hand against his cheek and kissed him tenderly on the lips. “Thank you.” She shivered.
He picked up her bra from where it had landed on top of a pile of other clothing items and handed it to her. “Did you want me to drive you home?”
“Probably a good idea. It’s getting late.”
“Your mom did say ‘no curfew.’”
“I know. But I like to help her with the kids on the weekends. I can’t do that if I’m sleeping all day.”
“All right.” He drove her home and walked her right up to the door. “I’ll see you at work on Monday.”
“Yes, you will.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek and disappeared inside.
Sunday afternoon the third email came in. Jules stared at the simple text. It was so familiar to him now. He wasn’t asking for a lot of money at any one time, so he probably knew that Jules wasn’t well off. That didn’t mean he had the money though. The car needed an oil change. He needed to eat and keep the roof over his head. This third demand was too soon. He needed time for his next paycheck to come in before he could pay it.
And, if he was being honest with himself, he wasn’t sure he wanted to pay it anymore. He hit the reply button and typed: ‘Payday not until next week. I can pay, but not until then. Give me ten days. I’ll throw in an extra fifty dollars.’ He was fairly certain the offer of extra money would buy him the needed time to get the money. And to think of a plan.
Even with the moon so close to full, Jules was feeling ten feet high. Two clients had emailed Freddie to praise the work he and Kaylee had been doing, and Freddie had turned around and treated them to lunch on Monday. Today they were flying through the last stages of the web design project.
They were putting the finishing touches on it at closing time, and Kaylee said, “I could go for some wings tonight. You want to get some wings down at the pub?”
“I would love to, but tonight doesn’t work for me.”
She sidled around the desk and leaned on his shoulder. “Oh, come on, you can reschedule, can’t you? We can grab dinner and maybe a movie.”
“I want to, believe me, but I already have plans tonight and I can’t reschedule. Saturday I am all yours, okay?”
“What’s so important?”
“I have a meeting, and it wouldn’t be fair to the other people involved if I cancelled last minute.”
“Okay,” she said with an exaggerated sigh. “But I’m holding you to Saturday.”
“It’s a date.” His cellphone rang and he pulled it out of the drawer. Before he answered, Kaylee caught a glimpse of Jane’s name on the screen. “Yup?”
Kaylee could hear the female voice on the other end but not the words.
“No, I won’t be late this time. I’m just shutting down. Okay, be there soon.”
“More stuff for your meeting?” Kaylee said, stepping back.
“Yeah. I’ve got to run. Can you send the finished HTML off to the client for me?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks, Kaylee, you’re the best.” He shut down his computer, grabbed his sweater, and hurried out.
Kaylee returned to her side of the desk and sat staring at the screen for a long time. Finally, she said, “I guess you say that to all the girls.” Tears trickled down her cheeks and she angrily wiped them away.
When Jules was a boy and just starting to change every month, his mother would call the monthly gathering at the warehouse the ‘teddy bears’ picnic.’ She said it with a smile and a touch of laughter and would have him ready at the door when his father, or Remy’s father, came to pick him up. As he grew older, he began to notice the pain in her eyes whenever she said it. The laughter hid it well for years.
It wasn’t exactly a picnic, but it had something in common with the children’s song. There were certainly wonderful things to eat, and they were hidden in the barrels making the finding a sort of entertainment. They wrestled with each other, bellowing in halfhearted displays of dominance. They were a well-settled clan and everyone knew their place.
Afterwards, they changed back and found their piles of clothes and human possessions. It always made Jules think about the little things—the wallet and the keys and the phone. The bear had no need of them, didn’t see the purpose of them. Sometimes Jules thought the bear was smarter than he was.
“You had fewer changes this month,” Remy said, coming up behind Jules and putting a hand on his shoulder. “I’m proud of you. I know you’ll have this under control in a month or two, no problems.”
“I’ve caused you a bit of
a headache, haven’t I?”
“Yes, you have. But the council of clans isn’t breathing down my neck too hard, not once I told them The Human Order had set you up.”
“Do you have a minute tonight?” Jules said. “You and Brock. I need to talk to you guys about something.”
“I’m good,” Remy said. “I’ll check with Brock.”
Jules lingered over buttoning buttons as Philippe and Jane said goodbye to Remy. Soon it was just the three of them left.
“Okay,” Brock said. “Gia just messaged back. She’s going to have a long hot bath, and I’d better be there to help her out of the tub when she’s done. What’s this problem we need to deal with?”
Jules didn’t even try to deny that it was a problem he wanted to talk about. He’d rehearsed a few ways of easing into the subject on the way over but decided direct was best. “I’m being blackmailed.”
“Shit.”
Remy nodded in agreement with Brock’s assessment. “I’m guessing this is over the airport incident.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ll need full access to your phone, or email, or however they are contacting you.”
“Email. I’ll give you the password.”
“How many demands so far?” Brock asked.
“Three. I paid the first two and I stalled on the third. I have ten days.”
“Electronic funds transfer?”
“Yes sir.”
Remy was nodding with each new piece of information. “I’ll need your bank information as well. And you’ll want to call your bank and notify them that I will be looking into your accounts. We will need to move fast to try to track this guy. As soon as he even suspects we’re not going to pay him, he’ll blow the whistle.”
“I agree,” Brock said.
“Do you have a backup plan?” Remy said.
“For what?”
“Blackmailers generally don’t go away. This guy is going to ask for more and more money until you can’t pay and then that video is going live. If we catch him we can stop this. But if something goes wrong, that video will go live and you will be out. I’ve seen the video, Jules. It won’t take long for someone to ID you from it—if your name isn’t plastered on it when it hits the internet. What are you going to do if that happens?”
“Hope I don’t get fired,” Jules said.
“Jules,” Brock said. “Why did you wait so long to tell us? Why didn’t you tell us when the first demand came in? We could have been working on this for weeks already.”
“I thought I’d just handle it until I couldn’t—and then the video would come out and that was that. I even debated not paying in the first place.”
“What changed?”
“I think I’m in love.”
They both stared at him. Finally, Remy said, “When did this happen?”
“We got this intern at the shop,” Jules said.
“I’ve got to go,” Brock cut in. “Remy, send me all the info when you get home and we’ll get started cracking this thing. Goodnight, Jules. And I hope this pans out for you.” He waved and jogged off across the warehouse.
“Sit,” Remy commanded. “Tell me everything.”
So Jules started at the beginning with the awkward meeting and how they worked well together. He told Remy about the pub, the kiss in the parking lot, cooking her dinner, and the date only days ago.
“Have you slept with her?”
“No. Almost, but no. She wants to go slow physically—because we work together. And because she has an asshole father who has made her wary of guys and relationships.”
“Good, that’s good. I don’t generally approve of whirlwind relationships like Brock and Gia. Worked out for them because they were meant for each other and because Brock and his bear are very stable. You’re not stable, and you’re under a lot of stress. Taking it slow will be good for you too.”
Jules nodded.
“Have you told her?”
“We’re not even officially going steady or anything, so no, I haven’t.”
“It’s not the 19th century, Jules. We aren’t a secret anymore. You can tell anyone at any time without penalty. Tell her. Tell her before the video gets leaked and she finds out on her own. It generally works out better that way.”
“I’ll try. I’ll find some way.”
“Good. The sooner the better. And tell your boss too. This is going to affect his business in a big way, positive and negative. He deserves a heads up.”
Jules was starting to feel like someone was stacking loaded duffel bags on his shoulders, but he nodded. “I know.”
“I will call you as soon as I know something and we’ll go from there. Don’t let this get you down, Jules. You’re doing so well right now. Don’t lose that progress.”
“I’ll try. Remy, I’m sorry I’m such a fuck up.”
“You’re not a fuck up, and the last man who said that got kicked out of this clan. Go home. Get some sleep.”
“Yes, sir.” There was no disobeying a direct order from the Alpha, so Jules shuffled out of the warehouse and went home.
The next morning, Kaylee watched Jules drain his coffee like he was inhaling it. “Long night?” she asked sullenly.
He nodded. “Stayed late after the meeting.”
“Why?”
“To discuss an investment opportunity with a buddy of mine. I need more coffee. Be right back.”
His phone buzzed at almost the same time the door clicked shut. Since he’d left it right beside his keyboard, all she had to do was stand up to see the screen. There was a text message notification. All she could read was the name ‘Jane’ and the first words of the message: ‘Left your coat behind last …”
The tears sprung up in her eyes again even before she’d dropped back into her chair. After a few deep struggling breaths, she went to her purse and dug out her headphones. She almost always listened to music while she was working at home, but she never did that at school and hadn’t planned on doing it here. But today she needed to shut the world out. She already knew what she was doing for the day, and she just wanted to do it. And she wanted to send Jules a clear message that she wasn’t interested in talking anymore today.
She kept her headphones in all day—and for the next few days as well. She spoke to Jules only when work demanded it and tried to ignore the confused and pained expression on his face. She was all too happy when Friday afternoon rolled around and she could leave the office behind for a few days.
Kaylee was doing the dishes after breakfast on Saturday while her brother worked on math homework at the kitchen table. Her sisters were somewhere. She could hear music from their bedroom. Her mom had just answered the phone and walked out of the room chatting away. Kaylee hadn’t caught who was on the other end.
The doorbell rang, so Kaylee dried her hands on the towel hanging from the oven and went to the door. She found Jules on the porch. He was dressed in jeans and a rumpled t-shirt under a lightweight jacket.
Kenny (Shifter Football League Book 2) Page 46
