“Feeling overwhelmed yet?” Rosalie asked as she and Bria walked toward the office kitchen.
“Surprisingly, no. You’re good at training,” Bria said.
“Good.” They were passing a cluster of cubicles and Rosalie said, “Hey, Sam?”
The squirrel shifter with the sand-coloured hair popped up like a gopher from her cubicle. “Yeah?”
“Can you listen for phones? Bria and I are going to have lunch.”
“You bet.”
As they walked into the kitchen, Bria said, “Sam is the assistant to the agents, right?”
“Mostly right,” Rosalie said. “She helps Rhonda, Derek and Warren, but I help Jace and Lincoln. Hey, Ivan. Thanks for getting Bria set up in the system so quickly.”
“No problem, Rosie.” Ivan held out his fist and Rosalie bumped it with her own. Rosalie was tall and curvy, she was over six feet tall in her short and sensible heels, but she still had to reach up. The office IT guy was a giraffe shifter and close to eight feet tall. His blond hair stuck up in short spikes and like most giraffe shifters, his face and long, thin limbs were covered in freckles.
“If you have any computer issues, just let me know, Bria,” Ivan said.
“Thank you.”
“Yep. Welcome to the office.” He grabbed a salad from the fridge and, ducking to get through the doorway, left the kitchen.
Bria grabbed her lunch from the fridge as Rosalie heated hers in the microwave. When they were sitting at the small table in the corner of the kitchen, Bria said, “Are you the only human in the office?”
“No, Derek is human too. Rhonda is an ostrich shifter, Warren is a wolf shifter and Lincoln is a lion shifter. You can tell by scent what Sam and Betty are, right?”
“Yes.”
Rosalie took a bite of her pasta. “It’s quiet in the office today, most of the agents are doing showings, but they have their weekly meeting tomorrow, so you’ll definitely meet everyone then.”
“Sounds good,” Bria said.
“You’re a tiger shifter like Jace?”
“I am.”
“Cool.” Rosalie hesitated, and Bria gave her an encouraging look, but Rosalie took a bite of pasta instead of speaking.
“How long have you worked for Mr. Shepherd?” Bria bit into her sandwich.
“Two years,” Rosalie said. “Jace is a good guy and a great boss. A little disorganized sometimes, but still great. You’ll like working for him.”
“Is he, um, going to be in the office today?”
Rosalie took a sip of water. “Probably not. He had a lot of client meetings this morning and some networking event this afternoon. I doubt he’ll come back to the office when that’s finished.”
“Oh, okay.” Bria took another bite of her sandwich. She wasn’t disappointed that Jace wasn’t in the office today. She wasn’t. In fact, the less she saw of him, the better.
“Can I ask you a question?” Rosalie asked.
“Sure,” Bria said.
“All right, and just let me know if I’m overstepping, okay?”
Bria nodded, and Rosalie said, “When you’re at home do you shift into your tiger form or do you spend most of your time in human form?”
Bria grinned and Rosalie flushed. “I’m sorry. Is that too personal of a question?”
“No. I spend most of my time in my human form, even at home.”
“Is that what most shifters do?” Rosalie asked.
“I think it depends on the shifter,” Bria said. “My dad spends a lot of time in his tiger form, but my mom rarely shifts. I can’t even remember the last time I saw her shift. I mean, she does shift, just not usually in front of others. We have to spend some time in our animal forms or we get…weird.”
“Do you have any siblings?”
“No. Tiger shifters aren’t known for their big families. If we even want kittens, most of us only have one, maybe two, at the most. We like our space.”
“What about lion shifters? Do they like to have big families?”
“That’s kind of tough to say. Female lion shifters love kittens and are great mothers but male lion shifters are a little on the,” she hesitated, “wild side. Not many of them want to settle down, you know?”
“Yes.” Disappointment coloured Rosalie’s voice. “So, male lion shifters never get like, uh, married or commit to one woman?”
“Some do,” Bria said. “I was dating a lion shifter for a while and he wasn’t your typical lion shifter.”
“Not typical how?”
“Well, he was ready to settle with one woman and um, honestly? He wasn’t super kinky in bed. Most lion shifters love the kinky stuff but Raden had pretty normal tastes in bed.”
“So,” Rosalie poked at her pasta with a fork, “if a woman wanted to attract a lion shifter, she needs to be really kinky in bed. Is that right?”
“It helps. Obviously, there are exceptions to the rule, but if he’s a typical lion shifter, then yeah, it helps if you’re open to trying new things in the bedroom.”
“Okay.”
“Is there a lion shifter you’re interested in?” Bria asked.
“What? No, no, that’s not it,” Rosalie said. “I just – I’m curious about shifters that’s all. I’ve never even dated a shifter before, although I’m, you know, open to that. There just aren’t a lot of shifters on the online dating app that I use. I think they stick mostly to the Shifters Love one and humans aren’t allowed to sign up for that site.”
“I just signed up on Shifters Love,” Bria said.
Rosalie grinned at her. “Been on any dates yet?”
“No, but I’ve had a couple of messages from a squirrel shifter and a wolf shifter.”
“A squirrel shifter?” Rosalie gave her a look of surprise. “Do tiger shifters date prey animals?”
“Not usually,” Bria said. “Again, there are exceptions, but if a prey shifter is looking to date a predator shifter, it’s because they usually like to be dominated. I’m not into that.”
She laughed at the look on Rosalie’s face. “Sorry, did I share too much?”
“No, not at all. I hope I’m not coming across as being too nosy. I’m very interested in your culture, but I’ve never really felt comfortable talking to Betty or Sam about it.” She lowered her voice and glanced at the doorway of the kitchen. “They won’t admit this, but neither of them are very fond of humans.”
“I don’t think you’re being nosy,” Bria said. “If you have any questions about shifters just ask me, and if I have questions about humans, I’ll ask you. Deal?”
“Deal,” Rosalie said.
As Rosalie reached into her lunch bag for an apple, Bria finished the last of her sandwich. She’d never been friends with a human before, Willow and Ava were the first humans she’d really hung out with, but she was already fond of Rosalie. The woman seemed very sweet.
“Well, it must be my lucky day. Two gorgeous ladies in the kitchen.” A deep voice purred.
The musky smell of lion filled the kitchen and she stared at the large blond man standing in the doorway. He smiled at her as his dark green eyes dipped to her chest before back to her face. He ran a hand through his shaggy hair and strolled into the kitchen, dropping into the chair next to Rosalie with lazy grace.
“Lincoln, this is Bria, our new receptionist.”
Rosalie’s voice was a little breathy. Bria knew she had a thing for Lincoln even before she smelled Rosalie’s arousal.
“Nice to meet you, Bria.” Lincoln held out his hand and Bria shook it. He held onto her hand for a beat too long and she had to fight not to roll her eyes in front of him. She could already tell he was a typical lion shifter, completely full of swagger and bullshit.
“You’re tiny for a tiger.”
Bria didn’t reply. After a lifetime of teasing about her small stature, she was over the remarks about her size.
“I didn’t know you were coming in today, Lincoln,” Rosalie said.
Lincoln gave her a flirty grin. “I was close to the office and couldn’t resist popping in to say hello to my favourite girl. How’s your day, Rosie-girl?”
Bria contained her urge to make a retching noise as Lincoln sat back in the chair and rested his hand on his upper thigh next to his crotch. His pants were tight, but she refused to look at the bulge in his pants like he so obviously wanted.
Beside her, Rosalie took a quick glance at his crotch and then flushed when Lincoln tugged playfully on a dark curl. “Your hair looks pretty today.”
“Th-thank you. Um, my day is good. I’ve been training Bria.”
“Good, good.” Lincoln glanced at his cell phone. “Do you think you could do me a favour, Rosie? I have my dry cleaning here but I need to meet a client this evening. Could you drop it off for me after work? It’s in the direction of your place, right?”
“Oh, um, I was going to my mom’s for dinner after work, and she lives in the opposite direction,” Rosalie said.
Lincoln cocked his head at her before nodding. “Sure, okay. Thanks anyway. I just thought my favourite girl could help me out.”
“You know what? I can do it,” Rosalie said. “My mom won’t mind if I’m a little bit late for dinner.”
“I knew my best girl would help me out. I’ll just throw the clothes on your desk, okay? Oh, and can you pick up my shirts while you’re there? I’ve got five of them waiting for pick up.”
“Sure, happy to help.” The scent of Rosalie’s arousal increased when Lincoln leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
“Thanks, Rosie-girl. I owe you.”
“No problem.”
Lincoln stood. “I should get going. I have another showing in half an hour.” He smiled at Bria. “Nice to meet ya, tiny tiger.”
“It’s Bria,” she said.
“Right. Sorry. I like to give nicknames.”
“I prefer to be called Bria.”
He grinned at her. “Message received. Bye, Bria.”
“Good bye.”
Lincoln winked at Rosalie. “See ya, Rosie-girl.”
“Bye, Lincoln.”
When the lion shifter was gone, Bria smiled at Rosalie. “So, you like Lincoln, huh?”
Rosalie paled and dropped her half-eaten apple on the table. “What? No, of course not. Why would you say that? I do favours for everyone in the office. It doesn’t mean I like him.”
“No, I – sorry, I could just smell your… when he came in, your scent changed and was… uh, never mind. I’m being stupid.”
Rosalie stared at her. “What about my scent?”
“Nothing,” Bria said. “Your scent was nothing.”
“No, you said my scent changed. What do you mean by that?”
Cursing her stupidity, Bria lowered her voice. “When Lincoln came in, I could smell your, uh, attraction for him.”
Rosalie gripped the edge of the table as her face paled even more. “What? You can what?”
“It’s no big deal. Shifters are used to smelling other shifter’s and human’s arousals. Half the time, we just block it out, you know?”
“Oh my God,” Rosalie whispered. “So, any shifter can smell… Jace – my boss – smells that I…”
“Some shifters have better senses of smell than others. Tigers actually don’t have that great of one, at least not compared to like, a lion or -”
“Lion?” Rosalie went from white to green. “Lions have a great sense of smell?”
“Shit.” Bria leaned forward. “Okay, yeah, lions do have a good sense of smell but it’s really no big deal, Rosalie. I promise you. Shifters are used to it.”
“Oh. My. God. Lincoln knows. He can smell it on me and he knows that I, that I… oh no, this can’t be happening.”
Rosalie lurched to her feet and Bria stood up. “Rosalie?”
“I – I have to go home. I’m not feeling well. Just, answer phones and if there’s something you don’t know, ask Sam.”
The curvy brunette ran out of the kitchen. Feeling sick to her stomach, Bria sank into her chair. Fuck, she’d really screwed up.
* * *
Jace locked his car and walked toward the office. Yesterday was Bria’s first day and he hadn’t purposely avoided going into the office. He was busy yesterday. Sure, he had slipped out of the networking event early and could have gone back to the office, but a workout at the gym seemed like the smarter choice. He’d been slacking on his workouts lately.
Yeah, that’s it. So, why are you sweating through your dress shirt at the thought of seeing Bria again?
He ignored his inner voice. He would keep things professional with Bria. Maybe there was a big part of him that was regretting his decision to hire her, but it was too late now. If she occasionally smelled his need for her, so what? It’s not like it would be a surprise to her. They’d had sex for God’s sake.
That thought brought on an image of Bria, naked and moaning. Her legs spread wide as he licked and sucked her clit. God, her little pussy was the sweetest he’d ever tasted. His cock was hardening in his pants and he groaned inwardly. What the hell was he doing? Thinking about Bria naked was the last thing he should be doing.
He thought about the boring network event, the mountain of paperwork that he never seemed to get to, and the pain-in-his-ass client he was meeting with this afternoon. By the time he’d crossed the parking lot to the office, his half-a-woodie was gone. He pulled open the door and stepped into reception.
“Good morning, Bria.”
“Hello, Mr. Shepherd.”
He stopped at the desk and smiled at her. “You can call me Jace.”
“Right, okay.”
“How was your first day?”
“Uh, good.” She chewed on her bottom lip and he could smell the faint scent of her anxiety.
Shit. He was making her nervous. “Good. Where’s Rosalie?”
“She’s, uh, at her desk. Listen, Jace, I screwed up yesterday. I told Rosalie that -”
“Jace?”
Rosalie walked out of the hallway and into reception.
His smile of greeting died on his lips as he stared at his assistant. Her curly dark hair was piled on top of her head in an untidy bun and she wasn’t wearing makeup. Her shirt was badly wrinkled, as if she’d just grabbed it out of the laundry, and her dark pants were covered in cat hair.
“Rosalie? What’s wrong?”
“Your two o’clock appointment cancelled. Rhonda wants to know if you can meet with her at ten to go over her commission for the Warrant house sale, and,” she plucked an envelope from the pile of folders in her arms and handed it to him, “this is for you.”
He studied his name written on the front in Rosalie’s neat handwriting. “What is it?”
She didn’t reply. She looked tired and the skin under her eyes was puffy like she’d spent the night crying. When she tried to walk away, he touched her arm. “Rosalie, wait.”
She turned and stared at him. “What is it?”
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“What’s in the envelope?” Why did he have such a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He glanced briefly at Bria. She looked like she was going to vomit as she stared at Rosalie.
Rosalie glanced at Bria before shrugging. “Whatever. I might as well just tell you. It’s my letter of resignation. I’m quitting.”
“What?” Panic flooded through him and he squeezed the envelope in one fist. “Rosie, you can’t quit.”
“I can, and I am.”
“No! Whatever’s wrong, we’ll fix it. Okay? Just tell me what’s wrong and -”
“Nothing’s wrong.” Her voice broke and he watched as tears dripped down her face. She wiped angrily at them. “I just – I can’t work here anymore.”
“Of course you can,” he said. “I can fix whatever’s wrong. I swear.”
“No, you can’t!”
He stepped back. Her usual low, calm voice was shrill with anxiety, and he didn’t think he’d ever seen her on the verge of losing her shit like this.
“Rosie, please, let’s just talk.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Please. You owe me at least that.”
She wiped at the tears still flowing down her cheeks. “Fine. Let’s talk.”
“In my office,” he said. “I’m just going to get a coffee and I’ll meet you in there. Okay? Do you want a coffee?”
“No, I don’t want a coffee.” She turned and stalked out of reception.
“Fuck,” Jace muttered. He stared at the envelope in his hand. “What the fuck is happening?”
“Jace?” Bria’s soft voice made him twitch. He’d forgotten she was there.
“What is it?”
“This is my fault.”
He stared at her. “How?”
“Yesterday we were having lunch and Lincoln came into the kitchen. I could smell Rosalie’s need for him and when he was gone, I…”
“You what?”
“I didn’t know that she didn’t know shifters could smell a person’s arousal,” Bria said in a tiny voice. “When she found out, she… she kind of lost it and went home.”
“Oh shit,” he said.
“I’m so sorry. I feel unbelievably stupid. She was upset that you knew she liked Lincoln and that he knew and -”
“Yeah, okay.” He started to leave, and Bria stood up hurriedly.
“Jace, wait! Let me talk to her, please?”
“I think you’ve done enough.”
She flinched, and he muttered a curse under his breath. “Sorry. That wasn’t fair. I didn’t mean it, I just… I’m fucked if Rosalie quits.”
“Let me talk to her. I’ll fix this. I promise.”
He studied her for a moment. “Okay. Go talk to Rosalie.”
“What about phones?”
“I’ll answer them.” He moved behind the desk.
Bria gave him a look of surprise. “You’ll answer them?”
“It’s my company. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Right.”
“Go on. Talk to Rosalie and convince her not to quit.”
“I will,” Bria said.
She hurried away and Jace sunk into the reception chair. Christ, what a shit show today was turning out to be.
* * *
“Nothing you can say will convince me not to quit, Jace.” Rosalie was staring out the window with her back to the door. “Just be happy that I gave you two weeks notice.”
“Rosalie?” Bria said tentatively
She swung around. “What are you doing in here?”
“I asked Jace if I could talk to you.” She shut the door and sat down in the chair across from Jace’s desk. “Will you sit and talk with me?”
Rosalie stared out the window again before turning and dropping into Jace’s chair. “Yeah, okay.”
“I’m so sorry about yesterday. I feel really awful for upsetting you. I shouldn’t have said what I did. It’s none of my business who you like.”
“I don’t care if you know that I like him, okay? Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re just the receptionist. I don’t give a shit if you can smell my – my,” her face flushed, “arousal for Lincoln.”
She pounded her fist on Jace’s desk. “Do you know I was going to talk to Jace about getting my real estate license next year?”
“That’s great,” Bria said.
Rosalie laughed bitterly. “Except I just found out that he knows I’m nothing more than a horny human who can barely think straight when his goddamn best friend walks into the office.”
“He doesn’t think that.”
“You don’t even know him,” Rosalie said. “I have spent the last two years trying to prove to him and everyone else in this office that I would make an excellent agent. It was for nothing because they all know I – I want to screw Lincoln! That’s not exactly professional work behaviour.”
Bria grabbed a tissue from the corner of Jace’s desk and handed it to her. “Rosalie, I know you don’t want to believe this, but it is no big deal to shifters. We smell all sorts of things every single day about other shifters and humans, and we just learn to ignore it.”
Rosalie wiped her face and Bria leaned forward. “Sam has a crush on someone in the office.”
“What? She does?”
“Yes. I smelled it this morning when she saw him, and she knows that I know and that all of the other shifters know too. Do they treat her differently?”
Rosalie shook her head. “No. I mean, I don’t think they do.”
“They don’t, and they won’t. Smelling arousal is no different to us than smelling hunger or anxiety. I promise you, Jace does not think differently of you because he knows you like Lincoln. Just like he doesn’t think differently of Sam.”
“Okay, maybe he doesn’t. But what about Lincoln?” Rosalie’s cheeks flushed bright red. “All this time, whenever he’s around me, he smells… God, I want to die of embarrassment. I can’t work with him anymore.”
“I know it’s weird, and I’m sorry, but quitting isn’t the answer. Shifters are everywhere in this damn city. Finding a job where there aren’t any won’t be easy. What if at your new job, you develop a crush on one of your coworkers? Are you going to quit that one too?”
“I won’t develop a crush on someone else.”
“Fair enough. Still, I know I just started here, but it’s obvious that you run this place. Jace is freaking out. Hell, I can smell his anxiety from here. If you quit and start over, it’ll take you that much longer to get your license, right? Not to mention, Jace will probably stalk you and beg you to come back for the next six months.”
A small smile crossed Rosalie’s face. “He would be up shit creek without me.”
Bria reached across the desk and squeezed her hand. “He would be.”
“It’s just, I don’t think I can face Lincoln. I can’t help my reaction when I’m around him, Bria. I try, but…”
“Lincoln doesn’t need to know that you know he can smell your attraction to him,” Bria said.
“I know he’s taking advantage of me with all the personal shit he gets me to do for him,” Rosalie said abruptly. “I’ve seen the women he, uh dates, and I’m not his type.”
“Lion shifters don’t have a type. They love women. All women. Trust me on this.”
“They do have a type. Maybe not physically but they like women who are wild and kinky in bed and,” a bitter laugh escaped from Rosalie’s throat, “that’s not me. I’ve slept with one guy – a human – and we didn’t exactly set the bed on fire together. Half the time he couldn’t even make me – fuck, sorry. I’m sharing way too much.”
“That’s okay. I don’t mind,” Bria said.
“I know I’m wasting my time with him, I do, but you can’t help who you love, right? I know he likes women who know what they’re doing in bed and are up to trying crazy things. I want to be that type of woman.”
“Or,” Bria said, “maybe it’s none of that, and he doesn’t want to date a coworker.”
“There’s no policy against dating a coworker,” Rosalie said. “Trust me, if I believed he wasn’t asking me out because I was a coworker, I would have quit a long time ago. I overheard him just the other day telling Jace he wouldn’t date me because I’m not kinky enough for him.”
Another bitter laugh. “I wanted to argue, wanted to get him alone and tell him that I was plenty kinky only… I’m not. He mentioned handcuffs to Jace and I’m surprised he didn’t see the glow of my face from the hallway. I want to try new things in bed, I do, but not with someone who is already expecting it from me. I’d look like an idiot.”
Bria shrugged. “Learning something new doesn’t make you an idiot.”
“Yeah, I guess. I just – it doesn’t matter because Lincoln wants someone who is already kinky in bed, not someone who’s willing to learn to be kinky.”
“I think,” Bria hesitated and then decided to forge ahead, “the bigger concern is that lion shifters aren’t really into settling down.”
“Some of them are. You said your ex was ready.”
“Yes, but Lincoln seems like a typical lion shifter to me. They start off great in a relationship when it’s new and the sex is hot and heavy, but they get bored easily.”
“Maybe a girl just needs to be really open to lots of sex and different, like, positions and stuff,” Rosalie said.
Bria hid her frustration. She’d already decided that Rosalie was way too good for Lincoln and she hated the idea of the sweet human’s heart being broken by the arrogant shifter. “It really has nothing to do with their partner, you know? A woman could have sex with them seven times a day and they’d still get bored and want to move on. They can’t help it. It’s their nature.”
“But not all of them,” Rosalie said stubbornly.
“No, not all of them.” Bria knew when to admit defeat, and like it or not, Rosalie was in love with Lincoln.
“Did you – I mean, in the kitchen yesterday, did you smell anything on Lincoln? Was he, uh, turned on by me even a little?”
“Um…”
“Shit. Forget I asked that. I know he isn’t attracted to me.”
“I’m sorry. But just because I didn’t smell anything yesterday doesn’t mean he isn’t,” Bria said.
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Please don’t quit, Rosalie.”
Rosalie rubbed at her forehead. “I’m not going to quit. I love working for Jace and just thinking about leaving makes me sick to my stomach.”
Bria grabbed her hand again. “I’m really glad you aren’t quitting, and not just because Jace will fire me if you quit and I’ll be broke and have to live with my parents like a loser.”
Rosalie smiled a little. “Now, I need to apologize to my boss and ask for my job back.”
“You won’t have to ask. He doesn’t want you to leave. I’m going to go back to reception and tell him to come see you, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Bria.”
“I’m sorry again, Rosalie. I – I hope we can still be friends.”
“We are. None of this is your fault. I should have done some research on shifters and figured it out for my damn self,” Rosalie said.
Bria stood and walked to the door before opening it. “I’ll send Jace in right away.”
“Thanks.”
* * *
“Rosalie?” Jace stepped into his office and closed the door. Rosalie was sitting in the chair across from his desk and he sat in the chair beside her. God, he hoped she wasn’t still crying. “Rosie? You okay?”
She gave him a faint smile. “Yes. Very embarrassed.”
“Don’t be. Shifters don’t -”
“Yeah, Bria told me. Shifters don’t care when they can smell a human’s arousal.” Her face was beet red and she looked like she was going to cry again.
“I’m attracted to Bria,” he blurted.
She gave him a startled look. “What?”
“I’m attracted to Bria. Which means that when I’m around her, she and any other shifter within twenty feet, can smell that I’m attracted to her. You’re not the only one in the office this kind of shit happens to.”
“Why did you hire her if you’re attracted to her?” She asked.
“Because it’s like Bria said, it isn’t a big deal.”
Did he sound sincere? God, he hoped so. He was only partially lying to Rosalie. Normally it wasn’t that big of a deal that a shifter knew you found them attractive, even if they were your receptionist.
Unless you’d seen said receptionist naked, tasted the sweetness of her mouth, had your dick buried deep in her very wet, very tight pussy and wanted desperately to be back in her very wet, very tight pussy.
“Jace?”
“Sorry, what?”
“I asked if I could have my job back. I don’t want to quit. I was just upset and -”
“Rosie, you don’t have to ask for your job back. You know the office would collapse in on itself like a dying star if you left.”
Her laugh sent relief coursing through him. “Yeah, it really would.”
He hesitated and then said, “I can set up Lincoln with a home office. Ask him not to come into the office unless there are meetings or -”
“No. That’s not fair to him and besides, he doesn’t know that I know… I don’t want things to get any weirder than they already are, okay? I know he’s your best friend, but please don’t tell him that I know he can smell my – my attraction to him.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
“Thanks.” She stood and gave him another faint smile. “I’d better get back to work. Sorry for all the drama this morning.”
“It’s fine.”
“Bria’s doing really well. I know it’s only her second day but she’s smart and picks things up quick.”
“Good, I’m glad.”
He waited until Rosalie left his office before moving to his own chair and sinking into it. He stared out the window. Bria was smart and doing a good job…it wasn’t a mistake to hire her.
No, not at all. Every boss should hire someone they’ve seen naked. It’s a brilliant idea.
He groaned and quickly opened his email. He really needed to stop thinking about a naked Bria.