Page 5 of Seduced By the Werewolves

The tall guy with the blue eyes clasps his hands in front of him.

“It’s wonderful to meet you,” he says, without a trace of sarcasm. “I’m sorry for acting like an idiot. What’s your name?”

My mouth bobs open and closed. I think there’s a chance I misjudged these guys.

“Um,” I manage. “I’m Tiffany. Tiff for short. I hate being called Tiffany, actually.” My lack of oxygen has gone straight to my brain.

“Tiff,” Leon says, letting the word slide off his tongue. God, even the way he says my name is hot. “I’d like to apologize if we made you feel self-conscious. We just...”

“Are you seeing anyone?” The younger-looking one named Quinn interjects, stepping out in front of Leon. “Would you be interested in going on a date with me?”

I gape at him. What on earth? That came out of nowhere.

Then a creeping anger comes over me. Is that what this all boils down to after all? They just want a piece of ass?

I take a step back and put my hands up. “No. Absolutely not.” I give all four of them a dark look. They were never worried about me. They just see me as meat. “I have to get to work.”

Leon elbows Quinn hard in the side. “Asshole. You’re scaring her off.”

“You shouldn’t move so soon after—” Eli begins, trying to stop me from leaving.

I shove him away, furious. I don’t wait around for anything else to happen before I turn on my heel and take off at a jog back toward home, running much faster than my usual speed.

“Tiff!” one of the men calls to me. As gorgeous as they are, now I know that they’re also total creeps.

They don’t come after me as I head home, sweating profusely from how hard I’m pushing myself. I promise not to go down that street again tomorrow.

I’m still trembling in the shower, frantically cleaning off whatever those guys smelled on me.

I’ve had those kinds of attacks before, usually after work, thinking about things Mr. Bosley did that day or how I might disappoint him the next day. I hate the way my throat closes up so tight I can’t breathe and it feels like my heart is about to explode out of my chest.

Today might have been the first time, though, that someone has ever talked me through it. Usually I sit in the bathroom alone, desperately fighting for air as sobs wrack my body. But Eli’s hand had been so warm and comforting in mine, his voice so steady and reassuring, that I’d recovered much faster than I usually do.

I groan as I try to get my makeup right with my shaking hands. Finally, I head to the office, making sure I have enough time to stop off at the coffee shop on my way.

Mr. Bosley has nothing to say to me as I deposit it at his desk. Every once in a while, I think how nice it would be to hear a “thank you,” but there’s no chance I’d ever get that from him.

We’re placing new orders today, so I try to put all my attention on adding up wholesale costs. But I keep thinking about this morning instead.

It was so bizarre, I still feel like it was a dream. Why had all four of them looked like they were hypnotized? Am I emitting some kind of pheromone that only landscapers respond to?

Mr. Bosley can’t stand it when I’m idling for even a moment, so while he’s in the office, I try to look busy. But today he has a lunch meeting, so I finally get a moment to relax.

For the next hour, I think about asking the girls from accounting if what happened was as weird as I think it was, but they probably wouldn’t believe me. You got hit on by four smokin’ hot guys at once? Now that I say it to myself, it feels like the world’s tackiest humble-brag.

I have all the numbers ready to present when Mr. Bosley comes back from his lunch meeting, but he’s absolutely infuriated and waves me off dismissively. He’s pink all over, even down his neck. “Cancel my 1:30 appointment, Ms. Dockett. I have things I need to deal with.”

“Oh, of course—” But before I can even finish talking, he slams his door closed.

I blink at air. What happened at his lunch meeting?

After postponing his appointment, I hear Mr. Bosley’s raised voice booming inside his office. He runs his own small heating and plumbing empire, the “tri-county destination for your HVAC needs.” It’s working for him, given the Tesla he drives in to work every day, but the business isn’t usually so stressful.

After obsessing all afternoon, I text my friends Hannah and Aisling to meet me for drinks—if just to get my mind off of things. They usually have interesting stories to tell about their coworkers at their tech company, one of those places that has work-sanctioned beer nights and free kombucha on tap. We exchange a few messages, and they agree to meet up at our favorite place for chicken wings and beer. Maybe this is just the thing I need.

It’s always good to see my high school friends again, even if we’ve found ourselves in very different places in life. We met when we were fourteen, and they’ve been my support network ever since.

Once our hands are all covered in hot sauce and our first round is gone, I tell them the story of the landscapers.

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