Stix wiped down the bar at the restaurant and scanned the crowd. The place was doing well for a Wednesday night, considering their band had canceled at the last moment. Again. He needed to find better entertainment. To transition it from a Mexican bar and grill like his parents had started, to a hot nightclub he needed to start with a show. As soon as he had that in place, he could begin the process of updating the décor and menus. The restaurants were doing well, but the numbers had been steadily declining over the past three years. Salsa night had started to go out of style.

Stix's cell rang, and he grabbed it. The caller ID showed, unknown number.

"Stix, beer." A large man plopped onto a barstool, his studded leather jacket clanking against the counter as he sat.

Stix looked at his cousin Deacon and then back to his still ringing cell. He pushed the reject button. Stupid sales calls.

Stix grabbed a chilled glass and poured a frothy beer into it from the tap. He walked back to Deacon and set it down in front of him. At six foot four Deacon was an inch taller than Stix, but he had never let Stix forget it.

Stix glanced around the room. "Where's Maria?"

Deacon growled, making his whole body shake. "We're done."

Stix snorted. "That's what you've said the last six times you two broke up."

Deacon grabbed his beer and chugged it. "Yeah well, this time I mean it. She isn't the one, and I need to stop fooling myself that she is."

Deacon pushed the glass back to Stix.

"Well, then it's a good thing you're ending it once and for all. Maybe now you can focus on finding your real mate."

Deacon shook his head. "Dude, I'm twenty-six, and I have yet to set eyes on a woman who made my ursa do that heart fluttery, can't get my mind off her, want to mate with her till we die type of thing."

Stix chuckled. "Is that how that works?"

Deacon shrugged his heavy shoulders. "So I'm told." He ran his hands through his shaggy dark hair, catching several of his heavy silver rings in the length.

Jealousy ran through Stix for the millionth time. Since Deacon's mom was human, he'd been born with good hair. Hair that lay in long loose curls like a Ralph Lauren supermodel. Unlike Stix's hair, which he had taken to growing out and wearing in dreadlocks.

"Well, let me buy you another beer and then maybe you can strum some of your blues away by getting up on my empty stage and playing your guitar."

"I'm too depressed to play."

"If you're too depressed to play, then I guess you're too depressed to drink." Stix shoved the glass under the bar and turned to walk away.

"Dick," Deacon muttered.

"Pussy," Stix called back.

Deacon growled. "Fine. One beer for one song."

Stix smiled. "I'll take that deal. You've had three beers already, don't think I didn't see you sneak two bottles thirty minutes ago when you walked in. So that's four songs with this last beer."

"No." Deacon rose from his seat, his boots clunking on the floor.

"You welching on a deal? A deal you offered?" It wasn't smart to bait a bear, especially Deacon when he'd been drinking. But damn if the place didn't need some music. And from the air about him, Deacon needed it too.

"You're an asshole; you know that right?"

Stix filled a clean glass and walked it back to where Deacon stood.

"Yup." He grinned from ear to ear.

His phone rang again in his pocket and pulled it out. It was a local number.

"Get your ass on stage while I take this."

Stix motioned to Barry, the other bartender. "I'm going to the office."

Barry nodded, and Stix walked through the kitchen to a small hallway that led to his office.

Deacon's fingers hit the guitar strings like fire as Stix answered the phone.

"Hello?" He closed his door and headed for the plain wooden desk piled high with papers of every color and size.

"Stix? It's Gerri Wilder."

Stix wasn't sure if he'd sat down in his leather chair or if his legs had buckled underneath him. Either way, the chair groaned under his weight.

"Yes, Ms. Wilder, how are you, ma'am?"

Gerri cursed softly. "I am Gerri. My gosh how many times do I have to tell people that?"

"Yes, ma—Gerri. Sorry. What can I do for you?"

"I have... a situation," Gerri replied. "There is a girl named Satia. The saber I mentioned before. Anyway, she hasn't been here long. She needs a job."

"Is Affina not willing to help her?"

"She doesn't want Affina and Razor to know she's in the city. She's trying to start out on her own."

Well dang if that didn't ring of a damsel in distress.

Stix glanced around his office. "Does she file or do paperwork or accounting?"

"She's smart and an eager learner. I'm sure she would be happy to learn anything you want to teach her."

Gerri's words dripped with double meaning that made Stix's ursa sit up and listen. He pushed his bear back down. He'd had enough of girls who wanted to "learn new things." Girls who wanted to mess around, not commit, experiment. Gerri knew that. Well, he supposed if he wanted Gerri to help him find a mate he needed to help out her friend as well.

"I can make that work."

"Wonderful," said Gerri. "I'll have her Uber over to you now."

"Now?"

"No time like the present to start."

"But-"

"Have a wonderful night, Stix."

The line went dead before Stix said anything else. His mouth hung open, full of words he'd not gotten to speak. He hung up his phone and stared at it for a long minute before blowing out a breath.

Well... that was that. The girl was on her way. Stix knew that his best chance of finding a mate was Gerri. And he needed to stay in Gerri's good graces. So if that meant he took in a girl who knew absolutely nothing about being an assistant, then that's what it meant. He'd try to teach her how he wanted everything organized, not that he knew himself, and if it didn't work out, that wasn't his fault. Gerri couldn't blame him for not being able to employ a girl who couldn't file or type. Waitress was possible if the assistant gig was too much for her. And if worse came to worse he supposed she could wash dishes, not that he expected a female shifter to ever deem that worthy of her. But if she said no, then he was off the hook. He'd done his best to help her, and no one could be mad at him.

A knock pulled Stix from his mid-pile stacking. He spent the last half an hour moving things from place to place in his office in hopes of making some sense of years of bills, receipts, advertisements and employee records. Yet it was still the IRS's wet dream in there.

He dropped the stack of papers on his desk. "Who is it?" he called.

"Boss, it's Barry. There's a female here to see you."

"Yeah, okay." He searched to see if there was something, anything he could effectively clean up. There wasn't. His ursa snickered at his embarrassment.

"Shut up, jackass."

"What's that?" Barry called.

"Show her back," Stix called.

The office was what it was. There was no use being embarrassed. Hell, that's what he was hiring her for, right?

A soft knock landed on the door, and Stix took a deep breath before opening it. He closed his eyes and silently prayed that this kindness would not end in disaster.

He opened the door and his bear roared to life. Every muscle in his body tensed as he caught the most heavenly scent of musk and wildflower honey. He gripped the doorknob hard as his heart thundered in his ears. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen stared back at him through eyes dark as burnt oak. Her skin deep as moist wooden soil. Ebony hair, wavy and silky hung in loose curls down to her waist. He couldn't keep his ursa from scanning every inch of her body. Dressed in a peach flowy blouse and black slacks, her long limbs cut healthy and lean and only seemed to enhance her tall stature and curvy body. Heavy ripe breasts heaved up and down underneath her clothing. Hips voluptuous and full, perfect for hanging on to, rounded out her lower half. Stix grabbed the doorknob so tight he feared he might break it off.

"Hi," she said in a husky, sultry voice that stroked his eardrums and made his bear roll over for a belly rub.

Stix shook his head, trying to gather his wits. "Hello. Sorry. Come in. I'm Stix."

She gave him a gentle smile that revealed teeth white as fresh snow. "I'm Satia."

Stix stepped out of the way and she walked in, rolling a suitcase behind her. She took in the office as he shut the door, swallowing hard and pushing his ursa down to keep from jumping on Satia and kissing her entire body.

"Gerri said that you might employ me?"

Stix faced her again as she sat in the only uncluttered chair. The galloping of her heart purred in his ears mimicking the thrum of his own.

"Uh... can I get you anything? A drink? Some food?"

"Some water maybe?" Her voice barely came out a whisper.

Stix crossed to a small refrigerator behind his desk and pulled out a bottle of water. He leaned across his desk and handed it to her. She stared at it for a moment.

"Is something wrong?"

She looked up, her almond shaped eyes widening a little. "No, it's just... It's so strange that everyone here drinks water from a plastic bottle that they pay for."

"Yeah, it is a bit strange when you think about it. But with all the pollution and environmental issues, the tap water is nasty."

"I've been living in Oregon for the past six months. Everything there was fresh and natural. I drank straight from a spring if I wanted."

"My parents live like that too. They have a cabin in the woods that they call home. They have their own well and everything."

She smiled. "Sounds nice."

He nodded.

She opened the water bottle and took several long gulps. Stix watched the movement of her throat muscles as the water slid downward. His jeans grew tight at the thought of licking her throat and down between her-

Stix shifted and noticed Satia staring at him. He cleared his throat as warmth spread all over him causing his arms to goosebump.

"So, can you do accounting?"

"I can do basic math."

Accounting was out. "What about marketing or advertising?"

She shook her head.

"What did you do on Aurora?"

"I was a servant."

It was hard to believe that a woman as beautiful as Satia had been a servant and not the wife of a high-powered saber.

Stix gathered up his dreads and tied them back. "Okay, so as you can see my office is in quite a state. Uh... I'm not sure where to start, but I need this place cleaned up. So maybe we should start there?"

* * *

Satia jumped to her feet. "That I can do."

Every muscle in her body shook with adrenaline and if she didn't move her saber was liable to scratch her way out of Satia's chest. Just staring at Stix had her head and her body responding in ways she wasn't used to.

The water bottle slipped from between her slick palms and hit the floor. She bent to pick it up but before she reached it Stix was in front of her, bottle held out to her. She lifted her gaze. His deep colored eyes stared at her intense and unblinking. Her saber paced back and forth wanting to be let out to sniff him and rub against him. His deep musky scent permeated the room making her skin tingle and her body flush with heat.

She reached for the bottle and her fingers ran down his. She pulled back, every fiber of her body lighting with excitement and the need to feel his large hands on her skin.

Satia, aye awae! She needed to keep it together. Yes, he was strong and naturally powerful, but he was only there to help her get on her feet. He didn't need her pawing at him like a pre-pubescent cub.

A knock on the door pulled her attention. Stix stood for a moment longer and then the door pushed open.

"Okay, I've done my four songs and then some. I think you owe me-" A tall, tanned male in heavy, aggressive clothing and boots stood in the doorway. His dark eyes scoured her body, and a broad smile spread across his face. "Hello, there."

"Hello," Satia managed.

Stix stepped in front of her as if shielding her from danger. "If you're done playing, maybe you should head home. You can collect on those other beers another night."

A heady aroma wafted off of Stix making Satia's already overly attentive saber claw even harder to be let out.

"But how can I leave when you haven't even introduced me to your friend?" the man asked.

"This is Satia, my new assistant," Stix growled. "Satia, my cousin, Deacon."

"Pleasure to meet you."

Deacon crossed to her in one sizeable quick stride and picked up her hand.

"The pleasure is mine, beautiful lady." He kissed the back of her hand making her saber snarl.

Satia jerked away.

"Okay, that's enough." Stix shoved Deacon away from her.

"What the hell man? I was just saying hello."

Stix grabbed Deacon by the arm. "Yes, and now you are saying goodbye. So, goodbye and goodnight."

Stix pushed Deacon out the door and slammed it in his face. He stared at it for a moment, and then Deacon shouted.

"Rude man! Seriously rude."

Stix shook his head.

"Goodnight Satia!" Deacon shouted from the other side of the door. "It was nice to meet you."

"Go home!" Stix replied.

Curses and grumbled floated through the door but the words got lighter as Deacon's footsteps clunked away.

"Sorry about that."

Satia gave him a tight smile. "It's not your fault."

"No, but I still apologize for his behavior. Deacon... is used to women falling at his feet, so he tends to be a little... over-exuberant when meeting pretty women."

"You think I'm pretty?" Satia slammed her lips together. She'd never before had someone called her pretty. Not anyone as handsome as Stix that was for sure.

Stix gave her a nervous smile and then walked behind his desk. "Yes, so as you can see everything is a total mess in here. There's only a couple hours left before we close but if you'd like to start-"

"Absolutely. I can do that for you."

Stix licked his lips. "Perfect. Okay. Well, I uh... have some things to attend to so I suppose I'll leave you to it."

"Okay," she smiled.

"Okay." He didn't move.

"Okay," she replied, but still he didn't move.

They stared at each other again for a long minute and all Satia thought about was what the touch of his plump, soft lips might feel like on her body.

"Okay, so I'm gonna head out now. Not out. I'm not leaving the bar. Just out of this office."

"Right."

He walked to the door. "But I'll be behind the bar if you need me. You know where that is right?"

"I saw it on the way in."

"Of course. You couldn't miss it."

They both laughed and then an awkward silence stretched out between them.

"Okay, then. You don't need anything?"

"Nope. I have my hands and my water. I think I'll be fine."

Stix nodded and then exited. Satia stared at the closed door for a brief second before plopping back into the chair.

Holy crap! What the hell was that all about?