Page 16 of So I Won a Werelion

Wanda still had that phone in her hand, and I had to come up with a better way to clear the parking lot right freaking now or she’d have the authorities do it for us.

“How about we find a way to make money off them?” I let out the breath I was holding when Wanda’s face brightened. “They must be spending a fortune on hotels, and now that ski season is over, I bet we could connect them with some of the condos in town.”

“Or those cute cabins in the mountains,” Wanda added.

“Maybe one of us could go out and talk to them, start making connections, spread some goodwill?” I suggested. If we did that, they might think twice before they posted the next tell-all exclusive with some shifter I’d brought to my bed years ago.

“It will have to be you. Everyone else here is terrified of them.”

“They’re just people.” I sighed. The worst gossips ever, but no one who worked at Woodhead Family Realty did anything newsworthy. My coworkers had nothing to worry about. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

“It’s very important that they don’t follow you to the groundbreaking ceremony. All the major investors will be there. We don’t want to give them the wrong impression.”

“Don’t you want the publicity?”

“We have our own public relations team covering the story. We want to get the right press.”

My stomach tightened. Today was the kickoff for construction at the new Ranchero Hills housing development. Formally known as Wolf Rock, for the giant formation that looked like a pack of wolves howling at the moon. The new houses were being built dangerously close to Colorado Ranchland, and the development made accessing the new road that led to Green Mountain village a whole lot harder. The only reason I said yes to representing Woodhead Family Realty at the groundbreaking ceremony was because someone needed to be looking out for shifter interests.

No, I hadn’t totally quit shifters since I walked away fromThe Mating Game.

Even if I hadn’t heard from Gabe at all. This was the longest we’d ever gone without talking.Not that I was keeping track, of course.

I hated the thought of getting used to life without him.

My favorite hobby in the last week had become replaying those fateful moments on stage. Wishing I’d handled it differently. Better.

That I hadn’t driven him away.

“Wendy, have you heard a word I said?” Wanda had her hands on her hips again.

“Nope.” No need to kiss ass when my sister was my boss. Lucky for me, I was amazing at convincing people to buy overpriced houses. It gave me the leverage I needed.

“I know you’re not feeling like yourself yet. And this isn’t what you were expecting.” That was some major sympathy coming from my sister. She usually had no patience for anything shifter, especially when it came to me. “But you have responsibilities. I need you to be one hundred percent at this groundbreaking. It might not be a big deal to you, but it is to the business.”

“Got it.” I grabbed my bag, my laptop, and my phone. Still no messages from Gabe.

Maybe someday we could talk about this. Talk about anything. Did I mention how much I missed him? Because I missed him something awful.

“Wendy!” The reporters wasted no time the second I walked out the door. “Have you met Hannah yet?”

Who the hell was Hannah? Did I forget about a client? And why would the paparazzi care?

The reporter gave me an exasperated look when I didn’t answer. “The latest contestant onThe Mating Game.Hannah.”

My heart dropped into my stomach like a rock. Of course they were moving on without me. They had a business to run, too.

Maybe I’d expected them to fight harder for me. Bibi promised she would.

But I’d broken my promises to her when I left the show.

I shook my head. “No, I haven’t.”

“Do you have any advice for her?” another one asked.

“Roll with the punches, because they’re coming.”

That satisfied them enough to let me slip into my car and get out of the parking lot without running anyone over. But I replayed the exchange in my head all the way over to Ranchero Hills. It would be too easy for them to twist my words around like I was talking trash about the show.

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