Page 28 of Bria and the Tiger

“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?”

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