Fated Shifter Mates Page 24

  “We could interview for that,” I agreed, nodding. “Stone? Preston? What do you think?”

  “The budget allows for it,” confirmed Stone, finally looking up from his cell phone screen. “We have a surplus. I think you’re right; I think it makes sense.”

  “We’re going to have to be careful,” said Preston. “If they’re not a shifter. If they don’t know...”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time we had to keep the secret,” Hale pointed out. “We could shift back before we got to the cabin every day.”

  “Would it be harder to make sure we’re not followed, that way?” Preston folded his arms, brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to answer his own question. “I’m not against it. Just want to make sure we’re doing the right thing here.”

  “Let’s think about it,” I suggested. “We can put out the ad and see who shows up to interview. Trust our instincts. If somebody fits, we’ll make it work. If they don’t…”

  “We teach Hale how to follow a rota,” said Stone, dodging as Hale tried to swat his arm.

  We had a plan. Now, it just remained to be seen whether it would actually work out for us or not — and if this was really a good idea.

  Jessica

  I sipped my coffee as I headed out of Starbucks, even though it was still a little too hot. The barista was so busy it appeared she would run off her feet, but she seemed to like her job a hell of a lot more than I liked mine. I checked my watch, picking up the pace to make sure I reached the station in time to catch the next train home.

  I didn’t want to spend a single minute more away from home. Today had really taken it out of me.

  You would think that sitting behind a desk all day would leave you pretty well-rested, but it was actually the exact opposite. The more time I spent cooped up and staring at expense reports on a computer screen, the more I wanted to run out of that place and never look back — not that I had the energy to run.

  The pay was okay. The benefits were reasonable. The commute was long, but it could be a heck of a lot worse.

  But didn’t I deserve something a little bit more than okay?

  It felt like I spent most of my life working. A few years ago, I’d left college believing that my life was just about to kick into high gear. Now, I barely saw the friends I’d made there, who I’d felt so close to back then. None of us ever seemed to have time off that coincided. My life had turned into the kind of treadmill I’d only seen in movies and ‘before’ pictures.

  I needed an injection of something good and different. Fast.

  Once I finally got a seat on the train and could settle down with my coffee and my evening paper, I fell into the usual routine. I scanned the Missed Connections section first, always hoping in vain that some Prince Charming or other would have seen me across the counter at Subarro and fallen head over heels in love with me. It could happen, right? But for some reason, there were no notices that fit my description today — just like every other day.

  Never mind. On to the classified ads.

  A couple of people were selling pure-breed puppies. If my apartment allowed pets, I might have considered it, but… not for the thousands of dollars these breeders wanted to charge. Somebody wanted five hundred bucks for an old couch. Judging by the attached picture, it might be worth that if it had four hundred hidden under the seat cushions.

  There really wasn’t much of interest today. I was about to close the paper and go back to daydreaming with my coffee when my eyes caught on a job advertisement.

  Live-in home manager wanted, it read. Competitive pay. Join our tight-knit team in a remote location for full three-month term, with a near-immediate start. Duties will include cooking, cleaning and general home maintenance. All applicants welcome to interview — good personality fit required. Call for details.

  There was nothing special about it. It certainly wasn’t my area of work. I studied finance at college, and now I stared at facts and figures all day, preparing detailed cost breakdowns and profit/loss reports. I could cook and clean, of course, but I’d never considered doing it for a living. Not even slightly.

  So why was I itching to call that number?

  My fingertips hovered over the ad. Could it be that I was just lonely? They mentioned a tight-knit team, which would be a far cry away from the cut-and-dry environment of my office, where nobody exchanged more than a couple of sentences with one another. Either that, or it could be the thought of getting out of the city for a couple of months.

  Now that the idea had wormed into my head, I couldn’t shake it. The feeling was surreal. I had never even thought about leaving my job before, at least not in a serious way. Now here I was feeling drawn to a random ad in the paper that didn’t even cover my expertise. However competitive the pay was, could it really compete with my current salary for my highly-trained job?

  I dropped the paper to my lap, frowning down at my coffee. I was probably just tired. I needed to get home, make a quick dinner and binge something on Netflix. If I needed to call that number and set up an interview just to scratch the itch, then so be it. It didn’t mean I had to actually attend it.

  Man, scratch ‘make a quick dinner’. I needed takeout tonight. That much was for sure.

  When I found myself in an Uber pulling up to a big house outside the city at 5:30pm the following day, I could barely believe I had come this far. Surely I wasn’t really going to leave my safe, secure office job for this opportunity, no matter how well the interview went? I was probably just setting myself up for an hour of awkwardness and a pointless rejection.

  All risk, no reward.

  “Alright,” said my Uber driver Shanice, giving me a big cheery grin as she pulled to a stop. “Here you go. Don’t look so nervous, okay? You’re going to do great.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Hey, none of that,” she said, wagging a finger at me. “You made a great impression on me. I’m sure they’re going to love you. And if you figure out you don’t want the job, then… at least you don’t have any regrets, you know? You took your shot. That’s what life’s all about.”

  “You’re adorable,” I said, although privately I couldn’t help but feel like I needed to stop telling my life story to every friendly stranger I met. Shanice was cool, but she probably didn’t want to know about my unnecessary job interview woes. “Thanks for the pep talk. Have a good day!”

  I watched the car pull away. I wasn’t a nervous person, but I couldn’t help chewing the inside of my lip as I walked up to the front door of this house. It looked like a nice place. The advert was asking for a ‘good personal fit’. If the people who lived here were really well-off, chances were that I wasn’t going to be on their level. I lived paycheck-to-paycheck, pretty much.

  Still, I had no choice now. Shanice was already halfway down the street.

  I plucked up my courage and rang the doorbell.

  When the door opened, I was immediately glad I hadn’t run screaming. The guy who opened the door was… well, really hot. My first thoughts didn’t get any more eloquent than that. I forced my mouth into a smile so that my jaw didn’t drop open, and held out my hand,

  “Hi,” I said, hoping my blush was light and rosy and not completely humiliating. “I’m Jess Dorsey. I’m supposed to be here for an interview, though I think I’m a little early.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” he said. When he took my hand, I felt his grip strong and serious around mine. His hand was huge, and his jaw so firm and square that it looked like somebody had cut it that way on purpose. “It’s great that you’re here. Come on through. And, uh. Sorry about the mess. I swear it’s not usually this bad.”

  “Hey, no problem. That’s what you’re advertising for, right?”

  “I think this is beyond the scope of one person’s daily duties,” he said, throwing me a sheepish look over his shoulder. God, he had a handsome smile. “We’ve just been a little busy getting ready for our trip, that’s all. It’s kind of mounted up. I’m Hale, by the way.”<
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  We stepped into a living room space, with a huge corner couch and huge bay windows. Of course, the room wasn’t really what I paid attention to — because as well as Hale, there were three other intimidatingly good-looking men scattered around the place.

  Holy shit. What do they do…?

  “Alright,” said Hale, clapping his hands together. “Jessica. Like I said, I’m Hale. This is Preston, with the piercings. Stone’s the bottle blonde.”

  Stone threw him a withering look and shook his head at me. “The shit I get from this guy,” he said. “You wouldn’t believe.”

  “And I’m Blake.”

  My eyes shifted away from Stone’s easygoing smile to a much more serious face. His deep grey eyes seemed to carry a lot of weight, and his dark, short-shaven hair had a pretty military aesthetic. All this, and he also had muscular arms even thicker than the rest of his colleagues. He looked almost dangerous. The kind of guy you’d like to have on your side, and definitely wouldn’t want as an opponent.

  “We appreciate you coming down here on such short notice,” said Blake, gesturing at an armchair that sat beside the couch. I dropped down into it, trying not to look nervous or outnumbered — though of course, I definitely was outnumbered. “We know it’s a fast turnaround. We really should have started looking a long time ago, but… as you can see, we haven’t been fully organized for a little while.”

  I smiled, appraising the room around me. It was a little messy, sure, but nothing too heinous. I didn’t feel uncomfortable, or felt like I’d need to take a shower as soon as I stepped outside. “It’s not so bad,” I insisted. “Hale was telling me that you’ve been pretty busy getting ready for these three months away.”

  Blake nodded. “That’s right. And we’d like to tell you more about that, but… before we do, I just want to point out that what we do is pretty serious work. It’s classified, and we’ll need you to sign non-disclosure forms and complete background checks if you’re successful.”

  “Don’t worry about all that,” Stone advised. “It’s just government rules. If we trust you, we trust you. We like to think we’re pretty good judges of character.”

  I nodded, taking it all in. “I understand. It’s fine with me, anyway. I’ve got nothing to hide.”

  “Open book, huh?” said Stone.

  I smiled, spreading my hands. “What can I say?”

  Casual as I was acting, this was all very strange. Government rules. Classified. Maybe the ‘military’ feel I had detected on Blake wasn’t far off the mark. What exactly had I walked into?

  “You wouldn’t be doing anything dangerous yourself, of course,” Blake continued. “What we described in the ad is exactly what we’re looking for. While we focus on the reason we’re out there, you’ll be helping us by keeping everything running smoothly in a domestic sense.”

  “Right,” I agreed. “Making sure there’s food on the table and clean clothes to wear.”

  “Honestly, we’re not real fussy,” Hale added. “We’re not going to expect shiny sinks and three-course dinners. Probably, we’ll be able to take care of a lot of things ourselves. We just want to make sure we’ve got you there to handle the basics if we’re pulling really long hours.”

  “I get you,” I said. “That makes sense.”

  My eyes flicked over the four men again. Stone seemed the least scary, but he was still the kind of model-pretty you’d follow right away on Instagram. The one with the fleck of premature grey in his hair and the ear piercings — Preston? — hadn’t spoken at all, but he was definitely paying attention. I felt he was observing me, not in a creepy way, but it still made me a little hot under the collar. I hoped those blue eyes found that I was up to par.

  “We’re leaving in one week exactly now,” said Blake. He spared a glance at each of his colleagues, then turned back to me. “Since the location is classified, you’ll need to travel with us, and we really would need you to stay for the full three months. Could even be longer, depending on how things go for us. Will that be okay with you?”

  I nodded, listening. Then I realized something.

  “Oh. Does that mean I got the job…?”

  My cheeks flushed. That was quite an assumption to make, but something in the tone of his voice sounded like he was making an offer — not checking, just in case. I looked at each of the team members again, hoping I hadn’t made a fool of myself.

  “If our terms work for you, and you’re still interested,” said Blake, with a little smile. “Then yes. We’d love to have you join the team.”

  I flushed. They hadn’t even discussed it. How could they possibly know that I was the right person for the job? But despite the fact that this didn’t make sense, I couldn’t fight the happy feeling that was flooding through my chest. As certain as I had been only twenty minutes ago that this was a pointless endeavor, I was thrilled. In fact, I was already composing my letter of resignation. Hopefully one week’s notice would be enough.

  If not, well… tough.

  “I’d be happy to,” I said despite myself, feeling the hair on the backs of my arms stand up. This was sheer madness, but at the same time, it felt so right. “Thank you so much. I’ll start making my preparations right away.”

  My Uber driver on the way home wasn’t nearly as talkative. It was then that I realized I hadn’t even asked about the pay. No wonder they offered me the job on the spot. They probably thought I was the dumbest candidate they’d seen — but even so, I still couldn’t bring myself to regret accepting their offer. Something felt good about that group of men, even beyond how painfully attractive they were. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it yet, but… hey.

  I was about to have three whole months to work it out.

  Hale

  The drive to the cabin was long and uneventful, but it gave us an excellent opportunity to confirm that we were 100% right about Jessica. No matter who was driving and who was hanging out with her in the back of the van, she seemed totally comfortable with us. It was obvious that she was a little nervous, but that made sense. She had no idea where she was going, and had only met us a couple of times.

  Still, she was managing to laugh and joke along with us. We heard a little about her family, and how lame her past job was. The story about her asshole boss’ reaction to her leaving with such short notice had us all in stitches.

  All our instincts about her had been right. When we met each other’s eyes in that brief moment before Blake offered her the job just one week ago, we had already been pretty sure. Now, finally pulling up to the cabin after many hours of driving, there could be absolutely no uncertainty left. At least, not on our part.

  We probably still had to earn her full trust.

  “Alright,” I said, closing the door behind her as she climbed out of the van. “Honey, we’re home.” Was it weird that I was so drawn to hang around her? Probably not. She was a beautiful woman. Her smile was really charming. Even when it had been my turn to drive, I could see her lighting up the van every time she flashed it.

  I wasn’t the kind of guy to get smitten, but… suffice to say, I knew she had my attention.

  “Shall I get my bag?”

  “Not yet,” said Blake, heading straight for the front door. “We’ll get them later. Let’s just go settle in first. I think we’ve earned that.”

  The cabin itself was pretty basic, with wood-panel walls and an open fire. The place was open-plan on the inside, and not quite as spacious as our home, but it would definitely do for the time we spent here. Most of the time, we’d be working in shifts anyhow; we wouldn’t need to share the space altogether much.

  “Hale,” said Blake, nodding down the hallway. “Why don’t you show Jessica to her room?”

  “You know, Jess is fine,” she said, following after me with an awkward smile. “But I’d love to see home for the next few months, sure.”

  I swept my arm, leading her down the corridor. There was only one direction to go, so it wasn’t exactly a grand tour, but there was
no harm in playing. I opened the door for her with a slight bow. “Right this way, madam.”

  “You’re too kind, sir,” she said, bowing right back. She stepped into the room and took a look around. Judging by the smile on her face, she wasn’t disappointed. “It’s nice. Much bigger than my bedroom back in the city.”

  “I guess that’s the benefit of being out here in the wilderness,” I said, choosing not to tell her that we’d given her the biggest room on purpose. She seemed like the type to try and refuse it. “No Starbucks unless you drive for two hours, but… man, plenty of room to swing a cat.”

  “I will not be swinging any cats,” she said, dropping her bag onto the bed with a playful smile. “But it’ll be nice to go through my morning yoga routine without bumping my head on the dresser, for one thing.”

  “Right, right,” I said, folding my arms. “I thought the same thing.”

  Jess smiled at me, shaking her head. “Don’t make fun of me. We can’t be all that bendy with muscles like that.”

  “Glad you’ve noticed.” I grinned, pleased by the blush on her face. “You want to see the rest of the place, anyway? May as well get familiar.”

  Back out onto the main corridor, I pointed out the rooms on the side opposite to hers. “Alright. That door’s Blake and Stone’s room. This one is mine and Preston’s. Bathroom on the end there will probably be ours, since you, Blake and Stone are all en-suite, but… you know. We’re easy.”

  “And this is the main room,” she said stepping out into it. “Kitchen, dining room and living room all in one.”

  “Right you are,” I said. “Pretty cozy, I guess. Convenient.”

  “Does that door lead to a garden?”

  She stepped over to it, peering out through the glass. I pulled up beside her. “It does,” I said, “but you might want to watch how often you’re out alone, especially after dark. Not to freak you out, but… you know. Safety first, on a job like this.”