Janie drove home, her entire body buzzing from the unexpected dinner with Dean. She hadn’t expected him to be so magnetic. He wasn’t very communicative as he ate–he was a little bit gruff, in fact–but it was ridiculously attractive. She didn’t blame the people who had labeled him one of the world’s most handsome men. It was so easy to forget how old he was. Shifter men aged very well.
It was a fact she tried again and again to ignore, but the fact was that she had been hired by one of the men deemed heartthrob of the year. And now, pending his review of her portfolio, she was going to be spending a lot more time with him.
As soon as she walked through the doorway of her motel room, the phone rang.
“So how did your first day of work go?” Leah asked immediately.
“I just had dinner with Dean Resner,” Janie said, scarcely able to believe it herself.
“What?!” Leah squealed. “Tell me all about it!”
Janie sat down on the motel bed and spent the rest of the night telling her best friend about her unbelievable first day of work.
“You’re really making an impression on him!” Leah exclaimed as they were hanging up the phone.
“What do you mean?” Janie asked. It seemed to her that he was the one who made the bigger impression on her.
“I hear he’s really picky about his interns. Doesn’t let them do anything too important. Almost condescending, really. And when he doesn’t like them, he fires them without remorse.”
“Really?” Janie asked, panic welling in her chest.
“Yeah. He would never have asked someone he didn’t trust to go to dinner and be his photographer!”
“He didn’t ask me exactly. It was just-”
“Still,” Leah said. “It’s a pretty big deal! Don’t downplay it like you do every other time you’re accomplishing something huge.”
Janie didn’t know what else to say about it and apparently, that was the end of that, because they were soon saying good night to each other.
Janie showered and lay in bed, her heart fluttering in excitement. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen when she brought him her portfolio, but the evening she had spent with him had left her feeling optimistic.
When she woke up, Janie packed her laptop in her briefcase and headed to Howler Inc. She was surprised when Dean let her into his office immediately. He seemed a lot less distracted than he had been when she had come in for her interview, and in fact, greeted her with a broad, handsome smile that made her heart flutter.
“Good morning,” Dean said, nodding to the chair across from his desk.
Janie sat and immediately began rummaging through her suitcase to pull out her laptop.
“Please forgive me, but I didn’t unpack my portfolio quite yet. I wanted to be sure I would be staying for good.”
“Where are your things?” Dean asked, a puzzled expression on his face. “I thought you were living here now.”
“I have everything in a storage unit on the east side of town,” Janie said, feeling a little bit self-conscious. “I’m staying at a motel until I know for sure if this is the right fit for me.”
A man like Dean Resner was unlikely to understand the trifles of poverty. It seemed embarrassing to admit that she was living out of a motel, especially to her boss, who happened to be one of the wealthiest men in the world.
“A motel? Really?”
Janie was surprised. Instead of looking judgmental, Dean just seemed concerned.
“Yup. It will do for now until I get settled in.”
“That can’t be safe for you,” Dean insisted, frowning. Janie had read before about the protective instincts of shifter men, particularly alphas, but she had never seen it in person before. It was a strange feeling, a man wanting to protect her. Most men in her life had a tendency to run away. Even her own father hadn’t stuck around very long.
“Really, I’m all right. I have a house lined up that I plan to rent. It’s really not a big deal. I’m used to doing things on my own.”
Dean raised his eyebrow, reluctant to drop the subject. “A human woman in a shifter town living in a motel alone. I’m just not comfortable with that. When will you be out of there?”
“I’m not sure…I’d have to get all of my things moved in from storage. So whenever I can find the time.”
“That’s absurd,” Dean said. “Let me help you.”
“What? But you have so much you have to do right now. Helping me move should be the least of your concerns.”
But judging by the look on Dean’s face, he wasn’t going to budge.
“I can do it on my own, really,” Janie said, although she could tell the words fell on deaf ears. “Look, these are the pictures I had to take for class. Some of them I did on my own time. If they’re not your style, that’s fine, just let me know and I can try to arrange another photographer to help you out with the project.”
Dean’s dark gaze rested on her for a moment, and she could tell he was still lost in thought, reluctant to let her situation go. Still, there was nothing that could be done right that moment, and Dean sighed.
“Let me see.”
They were quiet for a few moments as Dean clicked through the photographs that Janie had saved on her laptop. Usually, she wasn’t nervous about anything, at least she was fearless professionally, but seeing Dean’s scrutinizing gaze on her work was unnerving. She knew he had an immaculate eye. In fact, Howlers Inc. was decorated with some of the most beautiful artwork she had ever seen. Maybe it had been a mistake to bare her soul to this man without hardly knowing him. Showing him her photography felt somehow too intimate.
“Did you arrange for the coaching sessions?” Dean asked without looking up from the screen. Janie had to take a deep breath before she could answer. Her heart seemed to be beating a million miles per second.
“Yes,” Janie said. “There’s a team very interested in meeting with you as soon as you can arrange it. But they’re patient.”
“Luckily, you had this idea during football season,” Dean said quietly, still mulling over the photographs. Janie prayed he would be done soon; she wasn’t sure how much more of the suspense she could take.
“It’s partly why I thought it would be a good idea to do it this way,” Janie said with a wry smile. “Besides, these are at-risk youth who could really use a good role-model.”
This caught Dean’s attention and he looked up into Janie’s face, his expression somehow startled and vulnerable at the same time.
“What?” Dean asked, his face darkening.
“Well, I got to talking with an inner-city coach. He used his own money to put together this team, for shifters and humans alike, for kids with bad family situations who couldn’t afford activities like this. He’s doing really good things for them. I thought it would be better than standing with a team who already has everything figured out, you know?”
“Yes,” Dean said, looking quickly back at the screen. “That makes sense.”
After a few more seconds, he shut the laptop abruptly and handed it to Janie over the top of the desk.
“Your pictures are good. I think we should give it a go. Get in touch with the coach and tell him we can meet on Thursday afternoons.”
“Thursday…but the kids are in school then,” Janie reminded Dean. “They were hoping for some time during the weekends.”
Janie was afraid Dean might find this overcomplicated, especially being so busy, but she was pleasantly surprised when he smiled quickly.
“Right. Of course. Saturday afternoons then. Make sure you run it by the secretary out there. She’s bright, but there’s a reason we need an intern around here.”
Dean stretched in his chair and held Janie’s gaze levelly. This time, she didn’t look away, and a surge of heat coursed through her. It was hard not to think about this man. Her body seemed to wake up from a deep slumber whenever she laid eyes on him. Hopefully, he couldn’t sense it.
“Is there anything else you’d like to discuss while you’re here or will that be all?” Dean asked.
“That should be everything for now. I’ll let you know to confirm about the meetings with the team.”
“Great. Talk to you then.”
Janie walked out of the office, fighting the strong urge she’d had to glance over her shoulder at Dean. It felt strange to leave like this, in such an impersonal way, but what was she supposed to do? Hug him goodbye? That was hardly professional. In fact, she couldn’t think of a faster way to get herself fired.
Still, she walked back to her work station with a bounce in her step. She had single-handedly shaped the next PR campaign for Howlers Incorporated. It might not make her very popular with the people she worked with, but there was nothing to be done about that. She was in this business to succeed, not make friends. And if they didn’t like it, that was just too bad. Because she wasn’t going to compromise, and that was that.