At the end of the day, Natasha stopped at the information desk where the ever-watchful receptionist sat day in and day out. Surely she would know if Jacques had reported in as being sick from work.

“Hi Clara,” Natasha greeted.

Clara looked up from her cell phone. “Hi Natasha. Your dad just rushed past here only a minute ago.”

“Oh, he did?”

Natasha bit the inside corner of her mouth. With him working such odd hours, she barely saw her dad at home, which was probably a good thing considering the fact that she wasn’t on speaking terms with him.

She couldn’t remember why she thought it would be a good idea to accept a position at the same company where her dad worked, but given her circumstances then, she really didn’t have a choice. Not that she hated living with them, but the more she stayed there, the more her father tried to dictate every aspect of her life like he used. Now that she’d made it obvious to both her parents that she’d made one bad decision by becoming engaged to a complete, pathological liar, they felt the need to coddle and ward off things (and people) they thought weren’t good for her.

“Yeah, he flew right on past without saying hello…like he always does. I heard all of the execs are busy with the expansions up north,” Clara said, flipping her fluffy brown curls out of her face. “We haven’t chatted in a while, girl. How’s the new position coming along? Do you like it?”

“Yes, the position and the company are great.”

“Hmmm. You didn’t sound so enthusiastic about that. Also I noticed that you were moping around here a bit today. I bet I know the reason why.”

Natasha’s ears perked up and she almost wondered if Clara had witnessed her going on lunch dates with Jacques before he just vanished without a word.

“Why?” Natasha asked.

“This town isn’t as exciting as Miami, of course,” she said. “But you’ll get used to it. All you need is to make some connections with the right people here and they’ll tell you where to find all the fun, including the invitation-only parties.”

“Sounds like you know a lot about those parties,” Natasha replied.

Clara smiled, and then bent over an open desk drawer to pull something out of her purse. “I have an exclusive invite to a private party at LIVE nightclub. They only have these on occasion. The last one was so hype! I want you to go.”

She shoved the card into Natasha’s palm and then continued, “Invite only, so it’s not public knowledge. You can bring one friend, but last time I went, they were really skeptical of letting a bunch of people in at once. Two people I knew were turned away at the door.”

“I appreciate this, Clara, but I’m not really the partying type.”

Clara gave her a sheepish look. “Hey, I know what happened with your ex back in Miami.”

Natasha released a dismissive sigh. “It’s not that big of a deal. It’s over. And I’ve gotten over him.”

“Sure you have, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get on with your life and have fun while you’re doing it. Isn’t that why you moved away from Miami despite all of its pluses? To forget about that scumbag and close the door on that part of your life?”

Clara knew a lot. That meant people in this town gossiped—a lot.

“You’re right. I promised myself I wouldn’t waste the rest of my twenties sulking over what could’ve been.”

Clara grinned. “Maybe I’ll see you there. LIVE is shifter club, but they’re a friendly bunch and plenty of humans hang out there.”

“I’m sure they are. Actually, I wanted to ask you about someone. A guy that works here. He’s a shifter. Although, I’ve never seen his wolf…” Natasha felt herself blush. “Anyway…”

“Which one? The ratio of men to women at this place is like 3 to 1.”

“His name is Jacques and he works as a security guard. Nice gray eyes, dark brown hair, clean-shaven, and really built like he visits the gym or something every day. I haven’t seen him since Friday, and we usually eat lunch together.”

Clara’s playful expression turned to troubled. “Yeah, I know who you’re talking about. He’s a hunk and all. Pure eye candy and whatnot, but he was ugh…forced to resign.”

“Forced to resign?”

“Girl, are you living under a rock in Aspen Valley, or what? He was suspected of manslaughter. The case didn’t exactly make the news but people around town were talking about it up until they closed the investigation. We all thought the higher ups were okay with it, and then on Monday, I got notice that he’d been given his pink slip. I’m not at all sure about what made them change their minds. Something about company image for the investors.”

Clara turned her attention to the switchboard when a series of calls came through.

Natasha swallowed. So her father had been right. The news article he’d tossed at her the other day was real. She didn’t want to find out like this. She’d had every intention of asking Jacques about it on Monday afternoon. The least he could have done was to tell her that he had resigned or had been forced to resign and wasn’t coming back.

“So, yeah girl, that’s what happened to your lunch buddy,” Clara said.

“I’m sorry he lost his job over that, but it doesn’t seem fair.”

Natasha was still in shock and disbelief. She felt numb.

“I’m not sure how he got mixed up in it. He was involved somehow on the night of the crime, but he didn’t do it. He was cleared, but like I said, he’s not exactly a saint. There are some men in this town, including shifters, who you really want to steer clear of.”

“That’s terrible. He doesn’t strike me as the type of man that I need to steer clear of. He provides security here. This doesn’t make sense. Why would you say he’s not exactly a saint…do you really know him?”

“No,” she replied. “But do you?”

Natasha swallowed, her gaze dropping to the mosaic pattern on the receptionist’s counter. Did she really know Jacques? Why was she drawn to him? She should’ve asked him more personal questions when she had the chance instead of using him as a sounding board for her own issues. But dammit, he was just so easy to talk to. He never judged her, accused, or talked down to her. Believe it or not, she’d had her fair share of people expressing their opinions that she got what she deserved when it came to her breakup with Stephan. But never from Jacques.

“Gee, you know what? I’m sorry,” Clara said. “I probably scared you from going to that nightclub.”

“No, it’s okay. I was worried when he didn’t show up for work. Thanks for the info, but I’ve gotta get going before the traffic gets any worse.”

Clara smiled. “Stop by more often. Maybe we can go out for coffee one of these days.”

“Uh…sure thing.”

“Hope you got your umbrella. It’s raining outside,” she added.

“Oh, great…” Natasha grumbled and then turned to estimate how bad the downpour was. “Oh, it’s only drizzling. I’ll be fine.”

Clara waved. “See ya.”

Natasha headed for the door, but this time she felt worse than she did before. She needed to stop prying and stressing over things that didn’t concern her. Maybe it was best if she had continued to believe that Jacques simply vanished because he’d moved on to something else. But that was far from the truth.

Jacques—the shifter she’d been crushing on ever since her first day at work— was a mystery to her still. He’d warned her that he was imperfect and not a role model in the least. She should’ve listened to him. She should’ve known that he would end up letting her down just like someone else she knew. She hated comparing. But she’d been down this road before and it pained her every time.

To make matters worse, just as Natasha entered the courtyard, the slow, trickling rain turned into a torrential downpour. She began high-tailing it to her car, but it was too late. Her clothes were soaked and her hair was matted to her head. After saying a silent prayer in the hopes that there wouldn’t be any accidents on the way home, she started the engine and pulled out of the lot.