I finally made it back home after the semi-eventful trip to get my lovely round treats. I lived in a single-story red brick house that didn't really stand out, other than a large willow tree in the front yard.

MEOW

"I'm coming Whiskers, you evil thing!" I said over the loud meows of my beautiful Blue Russian cat. As soon as I opened up the door, he attacked. Before I knew it, he was on my shoulders, draped around them like the back half of a fluffy scarf. I set my donuts on the the oak table that was the centerpiece of the small kitchen, and served as an island. I got the cat food out of the cabinet by the refrigerator and poured a little in his bowl.

"There you go, baby. Eat up," I said, petting his back. Turning to go to the bathroom, I peeked into the living room just to make sure Whiskers hadn't decided to go psycho on my vintage gold couch. I found the cat in the parking lot at my college when I was a freshman and have had him ever since. But I also had a serious love of antiques, hitting the large yard and ritzy estate sales that they had in the better neighborhoods. I had a nice leather couch before this one but I came home one day to Whiskers using it as a scratching post. Luckily, he has good qualities or I would have sent him off that day. Or maybe it was that he is the only family that I have left. I hadn't seen my biological parents since I was sixteen.

My dad had been in and out of jail for as long as I could remember. My mom was a drug addict who paid more attention to the men she brought home than me. Growing up in their home had been really hard. I had been alone pretty much my whole life. I finally got so sick of watching her deteriorate that I had to get out of there. So when I was sixteen, I got on a bus and never looked back. Last time I checked they were still living in the trailer park that I had grown up in. Dad was out of jail and mom had moved from snorting to shooting up. I can't dwell on them for very long because it makes me wanna be mopey, and I do not do mopey well.

After my shower, I laid down and curled up in the bed. Sometimes I wish that I could be one of those people who could fall asleep instantly. However, it was like as soon as my head hit the pillow my brain decided it wanted to move into hyperspeed. I always end up laying in bed for hours and not being able to sleep.Tonight all I kept thinking about before finally dozing off was Donovan and how I should have taken him up on his offer for coffee…

I was back in the street.

“My name is Donovan. Could I get you a coffee or something to apologize for running you down?” he said with a smirk, offering me his hand once again.

“I would love that,” I replied reaching for his outstretched hand.

His hand was so warm in mine and my body was already reacting to his closeness as he led me to the small coffee shop across the street. Walking in, I could smell the coffee beans and sweetness of the treats that the shop sold.

“What would you like? I will order while you find us a seat.”

He let go of my hand to pull his wallet out of his shorts and shooting me a smile that sent tingles all the way down to my toes.

“White chocolate mocha please. Oh and a banana nut muffin,” I replied sheepishly as I felt my face heat up.

I really hated that I blushed over everything. Moving over to a booth in the back, I sat down and took the time to look Donovan over. I could see the rippling muscles in his arms as he gave the cashier some money. Carrying everything over, he smiled like he was the luckiest guy in the world. His smile made me feel cherished and wanted. Something I had never felt before. Something I didn't know I had wanted until that moment. He reached his hand across the table–

Ring! Ring!

What the fuck? I opened my eyes to discover that I was in my bed and not the coffee shop. Damn it! Who the fuck was calling me this early. Rolling over in bed, I searched for my phone on the nightstand. I knew I had set it there last night. Finally finding it, I picked it up.

“Hello,” I said rubbing my eyes with the hand that wasn’t holding the phone, hoping to clear the blurriness.

“Hey girl, it’s Janet. You need to come into the office. Some guys from the Florida office are here requesting your services.” As the office secretary, she knew not to call me this early after a job. Damn. This meant the business must be pretty serious. Or, someone special was in the office. Just what I needed after long night and that dr– Nope! Not thinking about that. I did not have time for a man, especially one that I would never see again.

“Don’t they know how to make an appointment? Give me an hour. You know I’m not a morning person. See you in a bit,” I said without waiting for a response.

Hanging up the phone, I looked at the time, seven in the morning. Poor Janet. She got the grumpy, sleepless Gwen who needed coffee. Coffee that made me think of he-who-will-not-be-named because I refused to think about the dream. But how the hell was I really supposed to forget someone that hot, a virtual stranger, who had smiled at me with that much warmth? Something Derrick had not shown me during our entire relationship. Damn, these guys better be paying well for this job at the very least. Ugh, guess I had better get up.

I settled on wearing a pair of light colored skinny jeans and pale blue one-shoulder blouse. Just because it’s business doesn’t mean I can’t look fabulous. Luckily for me my hair was perfect today and all I had to do was brush it. Looking in the mirror at my hazel eyes and freckled face, I decided I really needed to learn to do makeup. Applying a touch of lipgloss was about all I could do. Guess that’s why I enjoyed my work so much, I didn’t have to worry with all the girly nonsense.

As soon as I hit the living room Whiskers ran to me meowing. As usual, the little demon was hungry. I swear he was gonna end up eating me out of house and home one day. Pouring food in his oversized bowl I contemplated what I was gonna eat for breakfast. I settled on a toasted bagel with cream cheese. See, I could eat healthy occasionally.

Finally making my way to the bus station, I got onto my usual ride to the Paraoffice. I wondered what kind of job these people had in mind for me? I hoped it was something that paid well. I would really like to get a shed built in my backyard. Then I could have a special place for my weapons. I have a hoarding problem. Most women had too many shoes or clothes. I had weapons. It really was a beautiful thing. Right now they were locked in one of my small hall closets. Not really the best place for them, but I had to put them somewhere. I just needed somewhere where I could actually admire them instead of them just being crammed away.

When the bus finally came to my stop, I stepped onto the street in front of my office. It was just a giant, grey, six-story building with way too many windows. I had always hated the outside of this building. It was just so blah. You would think a place that housed a company who did something like hunt badass paranormal creatures would have a little more pizazz.

The smell of coffee hit me as I opened the glass door and headed in. Ah, the one good thing about this building: coffee on tap. I grabbed a cup and headed to the elevator, scanning my work card in the process. Something about being confined into those little spaces freaked me out and of course my office was on the sixth floor. Even though I was fitter than most, there was no way in hell I was trotting up six flights of stairs. So I had to ride the damn thing all the way up.

The doors finally opened and I stepped into the small death machine. It shuddered as it headed up to the floor my office was on. Of course, I was graceful when it jerked and did not throw out my free hand to grab something. If only that were true. When it finally stopped on my floor, I got out as quickly as possible. Not watching where I was going in that tiny moment of panic, I slammed into a wall that I didn’t remember being in this spot of the office. I was really sick of running into stuff and getting run over by people.

“Oof,” came a grunt from the wall. Wait, walls make sounds now? “If you wanted to meet me, all you had to do was introduce yourself,” said a deep voice that sent shivers down my spine.

I had, in fact, not hit a wall but run into a man whose body was just that hard. Again?! This must be a new record for me, slamming into two men in less than twenty-four hours. I couldn't help but be sad that I couldn't stay pressed against him. I found myself not wanting to pull away from him. As I slowly looked up into the blue eyes of the man I had run into, the first thing that popped into my head popped out of my mouth.

“Wow! I thought I had hit a wall. But nope. Just ran into a man hard enough to feel like one.” I felt my cheeks heat immediately after I had said it. I swear one of these days I am gonna buy a muzzle and wear it. Maybe make it a fashion trend for people who don’t think before they speak.

The man full out belly laughed at me. It was such a nice sound, and it gave me a few seconds to admire him. He had short, curly, dark hair that looked so good against his tanned skin. His eyes were crinkled with laughter and they were the prettiest ones I had ever seen. His nose was a touch crooked, so I assume it had been broken at some point in his life, and he had such nice, full kissable lips.

“ Are you done staring yet?” he asked mid-laugh. However, it looked like he was doing plenty staring of his own. Looks that were making me feel sensations similar to when I pressed against another stranger. What the hell was going on with life lately?

“At the moment, yes. Can’t say I won't do it again though,” I attempted to flirt a bit. As usual, it was terrible, and one of the many reasons I was still alone. His laugh was so deep and for some reason made me want to jump him right in the middle of the office floor. I'm not sure what was going on with my hormones but they needed to calm down.

"I am Ethane. It's lovely to meet you." He said as he reached out and caressed my hand, bringing it up to his mouth for a light kiss. I felt my cheeks heat and looked around the office. I am pretty sure every woman in there was looking at me with envy. I had to take a second to compose myself before replying because his kiss to my hand had left me standing there in shock.

"I'm Gwen." Super original, I know, but damn did he look good in his crisp black suit. I really needed to work on talking to attractive men, because I was too flustered to get out anything other than my name. He just took me by surprise. That's my story and I was sticking to it.

"We have been waiting on you, Gwen,” he said with a smirk. "Follow me to the office and we can get you introduced to the team."

I followed in silence. I wanted to be angry because they had woke me up at the ass crack of dawn with no appointment. Making me have to come into the office and deal with Derrick and who knows what else. However, if I was being honest with myself, I didn't mind much because I got to stare at his nice ass on the way to Derrick’s office. Man, what an ass it was.