Page 4 of Rejected Broken Mate

"My wife," he said, leaning back. "And she has a point. The last bake sale we had wasn't great."

I snorted, thinking back to that. It was a dumb idea to begin with. Why he thought any of us could bake was beyond me.

"Did Wendy also come up with that?" I asked, a smirk plastered on my face. "Would explain why your baked goods sold and none of ours did."

He blushed before answering my question.

"Anyway, I hired a gal to help out. She will be the coordinator and administrator. So, when we aren't here, someone can still answer the phones and take care of things."

I understood his point. We had been lacking over the past couple of months since he and Owen spent more time at home.

"Why are you telling me?" I asked. "Not that I can't do whatever it is you're going to ask, but you and Owen are both here today. Shouldn't one of you be showing her around?"

"We are leaving for a meeting," he said, his face shifting. I felt the hairs on my neck rise.

"Is this about Logan?" I asked, knowing it was. He'd been becoming a problem a long time ago, but after his latest decision to kidnap Ashley, the guys had been on edge.

"We are having a meeting with a few other alphas, asking if they have been experiencing anything as well. He's pretty much cut all ties with us, so things are becoming tense around here."

Everyone knew this. He never showed up at the last meeting where he and Ayden were supposed to talk. Ayden was pissed.

"When do you leave?"

"In an hour," he said. "She should arrive around noon, so show her around and give her whatever she needs. We told her we would give her the room down the hall so she could turn it into an office. I haven't gotten to cleaning it out, so if you could just move a few things, that would be great. And since you've been the one doing extra work around her, I figured you could help guide her better than the others."

"Anything else I need to know?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. Just behave. I would like her to stay a while. She was the best candidate we had, and I wanted it to work. She has an impressive resume, and I have several letters of recommendation for her."

"I can behave," I said with a snort.

Ayden raised an eyebrow. "I'm just saying. She comes from a different state and a different culture. She's also human, so I don't know if she's ever really been around shifters. Let's get her comfortable before you start cracking jokes."

"Fine," I said. "Anything else, boss?"

"Yeah, I'm leaving you in charge, so make sure everything goes smoothly today."

"Understood."

An hour later, Ayden and Owen left for their meeting. I went down to start on some chores and make sure things looked good.

I watched as a little white car pulled into the parking lot. I raised an eyebrow, taking in the plates, and saw they weren't from around here.

"Must be the new girl," I said, turning the hose off.

The car door opened, and a woman stepped out of the car. She was wearing jeans and a white blouse. She had on some tan boots, and her hair fell freely. It was a nice, deep red, and a shiver went down my spine. I hadn't seen hair that red since college.

The door shut as she turned, and my eyes widened. It was Laura.

"Oh, shit."

She started walking towards the building, her eyes looking around as she moved. I stood stiff, feeling my heart skip a beat and that sudden snap of recognition clicking in as my wolf realized who she was.

This had to be a sick joke, right? She couldn't seriously be the person starting work here, right?

She smiled, and then her eyes snapped towards me. She stood a few feet away now, and her eyes widened. "Miles?"

I felt like I was back in college, watching her dance at a party. She was wearing a yellow dress with her red hair down. I was sitting on a bean bag, my eyes unable to leave hers. I felt that pull, the tug to be near her.

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