by E A Price
Robbie looked immediately off-color, and Jessie tried not to roll her eyes. Clearly he fell into the large category of men who found the details of how ‘lady parts’ worked embarrassing.
“Oh, umm, ah…” His cheeks dusted with red.
“I’m having a little trouble getting the search software to work,” she admitted. It was a source of personal embarrassment. She could get any computer, any program to work, and yet she was having problems with such a simple package as the one designed for even the agents who ran around waving a gun all day. The computer illiterate muscled jocks.
Robbie smiled, happy to be back on normal territory. “Let me take a look.”
He sat down next to her, flashing her a boy-next-door grin. His arm brushed hers, and she inhaled his soapy scent. Sigh. He’d be perfect for her. Why did she have to run into that damn snake shifter’s office?
Her squirrel chirped in annoyance and Jessie told her to button it. Yes, he was handsome and smelled incredible and yes she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since the moment he kissed her, but what kind of a man calls a squirrel his mate and then runs out the door like he’s on fire?
The last two weeks had been the longest of her life, and she doubted she’d ever endured so many cold showers in her life before now. Her body was on fire, and her temper was firmly at the end of its wick. The only thing that had stopped her from exploding over the Christmas break was that she was far too busy helping with her younger brothers and sisters to actually worry too much about her love life – or lack of a love life.
Now, however, two days back at work and not having spotted the sly snake even once, she was completely pissed. How dare he kiss her and then run out on her! She wouldn’t have dreamed of kissing him. Well, okay, she might have dreamed about it, but she wouldn’t have done it. Well, she probably would have done it. Oh, never mind!
Robbie tapped on her keyboard a few times and hey presto, it was fixed. She hid her scowl. She should have been able to do that, and he made it look damn easy. He beamed at her, and she managed a watery smile.
“Thanks,” she muttered.
“No problem. Takes a little while to get used to the Los Lobos system. You’re already way ahead of all the new hires. Even the ones who came to us from another SEA branch.” He cast a wary look in Cora, the mole shifter’s direction. The mole had no sympathy for any of her colleagues. She told Ellory the ferret shifter that it was his own stupid, reckless fault he broke both legs while skiing. Well, it was his own fault – but you shouldn’t say it!
“Please.” Her ire melted a little at the compliment.
“No really, you’re a fast learner. And anyway, the bar here is not that high. A year ago when a new agent transferred in, we put a couple of shoot ‘em up games on his computer, a couple of hours later there were gunshots from his office.”
Jessie raised an eyebrow. “He shot his computer screen with his gun?”
“Shotgun and yes. As we were taking his computer away, he complained that the game wasn’t realistic enough.”
She burst into peels of laughter. But her mirth was cut short by an enticingly familiar scent, followed by the coldest clearing of a throat she’d ever heard.
“Ahem.”
She and Robbie spun around to find him staring at them. Robbie jumped to his feet, blushing wildly. “Director Sanders!” he exclaimed. “We were just…”
“Ms. Duchamp,” said the director, ignoring Robbie and giving her the blandest look she’d ever received. He could have been happy, angry or sad and she wouldn’t be able to tell. Although, maybe he really was just completely apathetic to seeing her again. That thought gnawed at her, and her inner beast gnashed her tiny teeth.
Oh, he just made it worse by looking absolutely wonderful. So handsome and sophisticated in his gray suit and dark red tie. He looked like he should be a model for a fancy-ass watch. And he smelled better than she remembered. His cool, spicy scent was even more intoxicating without the smell of whiskey. She just wanted to throw herself at him and wrap herself around him like a… well, like a python. But she needed to stop thinking like that. She was still mad at him. Her squirrel pouted, but Jessie felt no mercy. Freeze him out, baby, it’s ice cold in Jessie town.
“Director,” she said with a coolness that she definitely didn’t feel. No, her insides were molten lava at that moment. Yet the tiny flicker of his eyebrow indicated that perhaps he wasn’t completely unfeeling.
“May I see you in my office, please? Ten minutes. I believe you know the way.”
She gave him a sharp look at that. He merely stared right back.
The rest of the office was silent and watching the exchange with interest. “Yes, of course,” she mumbled.
He nodded and his lips twitched into a brief smile. He turned on his heel and walked away.
“Jeez, Jessie, he never comes down here. What did you do?” whispered Robbie.
Her squirrel whimpered. He wasn’t going to fire her, was he?
*
Gerry took a deep breath before he called ‘come in’. He could do this. She was a tiny squirrel shifter. He had nothing to worry about. He was forty-four fucking years old, for crying out loud. He could handle himself against a squirrel shifter called Jessica Mary Duchamp, who happened to be twenty-three years old and was born and raised in a small town called Nutsville. He assumed that her scurry – and yes that really was the collective name for squirrels – had something to do with the naming.
It wasn’t weird that he knew those details. He may have taken a look at her file. He may have memorized her file. The picture they had on file for her did not do her justice. Her eyes were closed, and her mouth formed an O of surprise. In reality, she was beyond lovely. So lovely she made everyone and everything around her melt into the background in their inordinate plainness.
His snake sighed as she entered and stomped her way over to his desk. He hid his smile because it was indeed a stomp. Her pretty face, with flaming red cheeks and pouting lips, looked furious. Despite her small size, the enormous combat boots made quite a ruckus. He tried not to stare at her chest, currently clothed in a blue t-shirt with a picture of two kittens that said ‘you’ve cat to be kitten me’. To Gerry, who had only dated snake shifters who mainlined in sleek business suits, he found it surprisingly sexy.
“You can’t fire me,” she declared folding her arms over her chest, pushing the kittens up and out.
Gerry snapped to attention, feeling embarrassment for actually staring at a woman’s chest. He wasn’t sure he’d even done that when he was a horny teenager. Even as a boy he’d been able to control his baser urges. This darn squirrel made them all bubble to the surface.
He looked at her for a few moments, and she fidgeted under his gaze. “Fire you? Why would I fire you?”
“Because of what happened before Christmas.”
He felt a pang at the unhappiness on her face. He’d done that to her. But hadn’t she welcomed the kiss? Even participated with a warmth and enjoyment he had never encountered with any of his previous partners. Hadn’t she wanted him to kiss her? The thought that she might not have unnerved him. But no, that wasn’t important. It was better if she wasn’t interested in him. Yes, kept telling himself that.
“I wish to apologize for that,” said Gerry, ignoring the fury of his snake. “That was very unprofessional of me. I should never have seduced you.”
Jessie snorted in disdain but the color bloomed even darker in her cheeks, and she couldn’t take back the sharp intake of breath. “Seduced me? You didn’t seduce me. It was just a kiss, and you weren’t the first I kissed that night.”
Gerry braced himself as his snake surged forward. The beast wanted out. The beast wanted to hunt down and murder any male who had ever touched her. He clenched his fists. “I remember you said so on the night.”
“I’m not easy if that’s what you think.”
“I would never think…”
“And obviously, you can tell I haven’t go
t that much experience with kissing.”
Gerry frowned at her as embarrassment and anger competed for dominance on her face. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”
“Well clearly my kissing skills are awful otherwise, I wouldn’t have sent you running away like a little girl.”
He disregarded the obvious insult and tried to ignore how fetching her bottom lip looked when it quivered, indignantly. “That’s not what happened, Ms. Duchamp.”
Jessie’s eyes flickered yellow in interest. His snake flicked his tail. “No?”
“No, I was… ashamed of my behavior. Taking advantage of an employee, never mind one as young as…”
His secretary, Norma, a sturdy, middle-aged warthog shifter burst into his office. “Norma!” he roared leaping to his feet, in a rare show of anger at the interruption.
Norma, usually so unflappable, actually took a step back. He dared a glance at Jessie, fearing he may have startled her, too. She merely blinked at him.
After taking a moment to collect herself, Norma said, “I’m sorry, Gerry,” in her best admonishing tone. “But she’s on her…”
Before Norma could finish her sentence, his senses were assaulted by thick, floral perfume. Shit. It was the dreaded she. His beast snarled in fury. Never let it be said she didn’t have impeccably bad timing.
“Forgive me, honey,” crooned Edith, flouncing into the room. She imbued the word honey with so much sarcasm that it almost fell down under its own weight. “I locked myself out of the house, and I need your keys.” She struck a model-like pose and clicked her fingers, impatiently.
Gerry could feel every muscle in his body twitching, every vein pulsing with the need to shift. “Wait outside, Edith,” he hissed, barely able to form words as his mouth started twisting in his change. The python was furious.
Edith rolled her eyes. “Well, hurry up, honey.” She turned to leave and smirked at Jessie in a way that said ‘men, huh?’. Jessie looked out the window, her body was a study in stillness.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. His marriage was no secret, of course not. It’s not like he had tried to hide it or deny Edith’s existence to Jessie. And it wasn’t like he and Jessie were a couple or anything, or even contemplating becoming a couple. All they’d shared was one kiss - one devastatingly wonderful kiss. He knew Jessie had to find out about it sooner or later. He was just kind of hoping that she might find out about it after his divorce when he was free and single and able to pursue her…
He glared at Norma until she had ushered his fickle wife out of the office. He scrubbed a hand over his face. Fucking Edith didn’t even have to try to ruin his life thought his animal. “Ms. Duchamp… Jessica…”
“What did you call me up here for?” she asked, abruptly. He wasn’t completely unhappy by the sudden diversion away from the topic of his wife, but the look she was hurling at him could be considered as hostile at best. Her lips were pursed and tight in a way that said ‘you’ll never kiss these again’. Her eyes said ‘read my lips’.
“I wanted to tell you that you’re being reassigned,” he told her, trying to smile and make it sound like it was good news. Considering smiling was something he generally reserved for special occasions, it wasn’t easy.
But the silver lining was that her expression softened. She just looked confused. “Reassigned? I’ve only worked here a total of three days!”
Gerry cleared his throat. Now he really was embarrassed. Yes, his reasons for choosing Jessie for this role were hardly altruistic. No, it was purely selfish. He could dress it up with some very justifiable reasons, but he was reassigning her to make himself feel better.
His beast wanted her with a longing that scared him, but he was trying to be noble and stupid about it. His snake thought it was stupid at least. He wanted to be with her, but he didn’t want to put her in the position of dating a married man – in secret, too. So all he had to do was wait until he got a divorce, and then they could be together. Easy right? Well, given that the divorce was over a year away, maybe not. He was already having trouble stopping himself from just leaping over his desk and sweeping her into a kiss. Although the pen he’d just jammed into his leg was helping with his control.
The other problem was other men. He wasn’t blind. Jessie was clearly the sexiest woman on the planet. Although they were all inferior to him, other men were bound to spot that fact eventually. So he had to take her away from any potential men who might be suitable for her and keep her closeted away in an office where he could keep an eye on her. He was doing it for his… her own good. That was believable, right?
What was that word ringing in his ears? Creepy? Selfish? Stalkerish? Fucked up? The last one was two words.
He quickly explained about her new role and her new office. She seemed to take it calmly, although her eyes seemed to be accusing him of every atrocity known to man, from stealing fire from the gods to inventing blue M&Ms.
He paused after he finished to watch her reaction.
“Do I have a choice?” she asked, quietly.
“No,” he said, swiftly. “You’ll essentially be doing the same job anyway.”
Except she’d be much closer to him. The thought elated and worried him. He wanted her close to him, so he could keep an eye on her until they could be together. But would he be able to control himself around her?
Chapter Six
Jessie was confused. How could she not be? She closed the office door behind her and nodded at Norma, who gave her severe yet not unkind smile.
Her squirrel sniffed as she dragged her feet down to her workstation. Technically she’d only worked there for three days and already she’d been given a promotion. It would be the same work, essentially, but she was being given her own office and a small raise. She hadn’t done anything to earn the raise – she hadn’t the chance to prove she deserved it. Except kiss the boss whined a nagging voice in her head.
Crud. Yes, that was why he was doing it. He was trying to apologize for kissing her. He was saying sorry for giving her the best kiss of her life by awarding her a promotion she didn’t deserve.
She traced her fingers over her lips. She’d relived the moment over and over during the last two weeks. Christmas, a holiday she normally loved had never seemed so darn tedious. She’d spent every moment wishing it would end so she could get back to Los Lobos, in the hopes that he might tell her running away had all been a mistake… Yes, secretly she’d been hoping that he’d sweep her up into his arms and apologize profusely for his actions while declaring undying love. Yeah, it was always a long shot.
Clearly he had been thinking of the kiss, too. Although, it was with a great deal of disappointment that she realized that all he felt for that moment was regret.
No, maybe he thought she was going to complain to his bosses or something. Why else would he give her this new job? He wanted to shut her up before she told anyone he’d kissed her. Or maybe he was just worried she would tell his wife…
Jessie collapsed into her chair, oblivious to the interested looks she was garnering throughout the office. Yeah, they all wanted the juicy details about what just happened. Well, they’d know soon enough. Most of the details anyway. She wasn’t about to blab about the kiss.
She banged her fist on the desk. How could he have kissed her? He had a wife, damnit! He must have been able to scent Jessie’s burgeoning desire, and he kissed her – leading her on when he knew it couldn’t go anywhere. She was freaking furious at him! Her squirrel huffed at her, but Jessie wasn’t interested. He crossed a line. Fun, flirty kisses under the mistletoe were one thing – but what he did was different. It was… more. And what the hell was that about ‘mate’? Was he mocking her? Was he making fun of the idiot squirrel before returning home to his perfect wife? And damn, she was perfect. Tall, sleek, blonde, skinny – she looked like she’d just escaped a catwalk.
She felt a rare moment of self-pity. How could nerdy, curvy Jessie with her slogan t-shirts and dyed hair compare to his wife?
Ugh! She wished she’d never gone into his stupid office in the first place!
*
“How dare you?!” snarled Director Sayles, slamming a meaty fist onto Gerry’s desk.
Gerry arched an eyebrow and closed the file he was reading – Jessie’s file. And he wasn’t so much reading as staring at her picture while debating if he was low enough to actually stroke the snake in his office. “How dare I what?”
“You have no right to steal my people. The tech division is my area.” His jowls quivered in anger. “You have no right to steal people from my area!”
“Really, Barry,” purred Gerry, “there’s no need to toss all of your toys out of the stroller. What are you talking about?”
Director Sayles, who appeared more rhino than man in that instant, growled. But rather than leap across the desk and gore Gerry, which he appeared to want to do, he calmed. “If you want tech support all you have to do…”
Gerry slapped the file down on his desk as his snake sneered. “My teams have. Over and over. Yet you seem to claim that your people are far too busy to do the jobs they were hired for. The primary focus of the tech division is research and assistance for my investigative teams. But in the last four months, their work has been sloppy and consistently slow. Now either your ability to manage your people is the cause…” Barry howled in anger; Gerry ignored him. “Or, they have deliberately chosen to prioritize other work over assisting my teams. I assume it’s the latter which is why I have decided to assign a particular tech support to my Alpha Team.”
Barry prowled his office like a wild animal. “You have no right!”
“You have no right to cut off the support we need from your department,” Gerry said simply, as his own beast eyed Barry carefully. “I chose the first tech support; I leave the rest up to you. But every one of my teams needs an agent.”
