Liam stared at the woman, amused. His attention was drawn to her mouth the second she began nibbling her bottom lip with small white teeth. He couldn’t help noticing how sensually curved her plump, pink lips were and wondered how they tasted. Catching up on his wayward thoughts, he scowled. He could already tell the woman would be a distraction. He had only considered being a distraction for a female employee‒ not once did he think that he could be the one who got distracted. There was no room in his life for romance. He only ever engaged in brief affairs where the other party knew nothing about him and he didn’t care to know anything about her.

Skylar Moore, with her big, blue eyes and bright smile, made him feel funny inside and he didn’t like it. Hiring her after she lied to him wasn’t going to happen. Admittedly, it wasn’t only because she lied on her application. It was mostly because of the instant attraction he felt.

“Goodbye, Ms. Moore. I’m sorry you traveled such a long way for nothing.” It was all her doing so he shouldn’t feel guilty. Yet slivers of guilt and remorse went through him when her face crumbled.

Liam quickly turned away before he did something stupid like tell her she could stay. “Show her out, Farah.”

His housekeeper gave him a disapproving glare which made his brows shoot up. So he was the bad guy for turning down a con artist? He scoffed and kept walking. This was the last time he would leave putting up an ad online to his housekeeper.

Before sitting down at his desk, he walked to the window to look out. He froze. There was Skylar Moore, marching to her car with drooped shoulders. Her posture screamed dejection and he felt terrible, which made no sense because he didn’t know the woman. She turned to lean against her car, giving him full view of her face. It was a lovely face, heart shaped and utterly miserable.

He watched her nibble her fingernails before she let out a breath and then wiped a hand over her face tiredly. He frowned, recalling the dark circles beneath her eyes, marring her slightly tanned, creamy skin. A journey from Florida was quite long. Had she slept? Where would she stay before making her journey back home? Why did he care?

Maybe he should give her that one week trial. “No, no, no,” he hissed. He would not be sucked in by a pretty face. Yet he found his feet moving toward the door. He let out a groan as he made his way down the stairs.

Liam passed Farah who wore a satisfied smirk. “I see you’ve changed your mind, sir. I knew you would.”

Liam scowled. “How do you - never mind.” He pulled the front door open. “Ms. Moore.”

Her head snapped up and her eyes met his. Even from a distance, the blue orbs mesmerized him. Muttering a curse because of what he was about to do, he stepped outside. “I’ll grant you that one week. If you’re no good, you’re gone.”

Her eyes widened and a smile stretched across her lips. Skylar rushed forward and stumbled on her heels. Liam moved suddenly to lend a hand but she steadied herself and glanced up at him with a blush.

“These insanely high heels might get me killed,” she muttered. She extended a hand, which he accepted. “We have a deal. You won’t be disappointed. I promise.”

Skylar abruptly pulled her hand out of his and frowned. He stared at her with interest. Had she experienced the same jolt of electricity he had? Or the feeling of sheer magnetism and attraction that seemed to course through his entire being? Liam blinked and took on his usual scowl. Nonsense. Certainly there was no electricity or magnetism. It was his imagination.

“I hope so.” He said. “I’ll help you with your bags.”

“Oh, no. I can manage. I only have a few bags.”

Liam ignored her and marched to her small tan Toyota. He was already angry with himself for being weak and giving in because of a cute, sad face. He was getting soft and he didn’t like it.

“Now what kind of man would I be to let the lady carry her own bags?” He turned to her expectantly and she jumped to open the back door. Immediately he grasped the small suitcase and overnight bag on the back seat. His brows shot up. “Wow, light traveler?”

Her cheeks turned crimson as she shrugged. “Didn’t really have much to carry.”

Hearing the underlying sadness echo in her tone, he turned to study her briefly before nodding and heading back up the stone steps.

They passed Farah who was smiling from ear to ear. “Your room is ready, Ms. Moore.”

“Please, call me Skylar or Sky if you wish.”

“Sky,” Farah said softly.

Liam eyed his housekeeper suspiciously. Farah was a lovely woman who he got on well with. He knew she was a peculiar one but he couldn’t ignore the satisfaction radiating off of her. It was like she was ecstatic to have Skylar here. Maybe he was reading too much into her reaction. It could be that she was lonely in the middle of nowhere and wanted female company. Perhaps his new employee would begin to tire of being so far away from civilization as well. If she lasted the week anyway.

He turned to her. “I hope you don’t mind being surrounded by nothing but trees, Ms. Moore.”

“Are you kidding? I love it. This place is perfect. Who needs civilization anyway?”

He couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on his lips, which he quickly made disappear. He led her into a back room on the first floor. “This is your room for the time being, Ms. Moore. I hope everything is to your liking. Whatever you need, let Farah know.”

Skylar looked around. “Thank you, Mr. Conway. I really appreciate you giving me this chance. I can start right away. Whatever you need me to do.”

“There’s no need for that, Ms. Moore. Take the rest of today to get settled. You can start bright and early tomorrow.”

“Sure thing. Thank you so much.”

“You can stop thanking me now, Ms. Moore.”

“Right.”

Her face turned crimson again and he was annoyed by the fact that he liked it. Liam quickly made his exit and went in search of Farah. She was in the kitchen, rummaging in the refrigerator.

“Farah.”

Her head popped up. “Yes? Is Skylar settled in? She’s a lovely girl, isn’t she?”

He frowned. “I wouldn’t know. I just met the woman and so far I’m not impressed with her dishonesty.”

“Oh, come now, sir. She was desperate for a job. I for one admire her bravado.”

Liam grunted. “Sure. Let’s forget about my personal assistant for now, there are more important matters to discuss.” He lowered his voice. “Do you have anything to tell me about that arrow I showed you last night?”

“Ah, yes, the arrow. Where did you say you found it again?”

“In the woods, while I was… taking a stroll.”

Brown eyes bore into him and for a second he thought that she could see through his lie. But she smiled and nodded. “It took me a while to figure out the nature of the writing. You were right. They were ancient texts, very ancient actually. Sumerian to be exact.”

Liam stared at her blankly. “Okay.” Her words meant little to him. “I think I’ve heard the word before.” He shrugged. “I never paid much attention to history class and all that.”

Farah grinned. “There was an ancient civilization by the name of Sumer. It is said to be the first urban civilization in Mesopotamia. But I’m sure you’re not interested in all of that. You want to know what the writing on that arrow means.”

Liam nodded. “Yes.”

“Simply put, the writing means ‘destroyer of evil.’ I consulted with a cousin of mine who is very good with ancient languages.”

Liam continued to stare at her. Destroyer of evil? He wasn’t evil. Why would anyone want to destroy him? Sure, he was a wolf in the business world, but none of his rivals had ever tried to take him out before. He suppressed the alarm that rose inside of him. Deep down he knew what was going on. He didn’t want to admit it but it was staring him right in the face. A hunter was in Boulder Junction. He would have to warn the pack and every other shifter in the region. Bile rose in his throat. That meant confronting his old man; something he had been pushing back for weeks because he still hadn’t made up his mind about becoming leader of their pack.