Page 9 of No Harm No Howl

“Let’s go back to my office.”

Stephen flipped the lock on the glass door and followed Russ to his office. “She was here? I can smell her,” he gasped.

“She was. She’s looking for a job.”

“That complicates things a bit. Doesn’t it?” Stephen asked.

“Why should it? Your mate works here. Or have you forgotten that?” Russ fired back.

“No, but it does make things a bit more complicated. Tell me how you met.”

“I was scrolling through social media when I found an ad for The Paranormal Dating Agency. I fired off a quick message, wondering if it was nothing more than a scam,” Russ explained.

“And Gerri got right back to you,” Stephen laughed.

“You know Gerri?”

“I’ve known her for a while. How do you think I met Selena?”

“You never said anything? Why?” Russ was flabbergasted that his brother had never told him how he’d really met his mate.

“Because I … I don’t know. It was weird, and I never expected it to work. When it did, when Gerri found my mate, I was stunned. Much like you are right now, I’m assuming.” He arched an eyebrow and took a seat in one of the chairs across from Russ.

“You could say that. She’s amazing, but she’s afraid. I could tell the second I opened the door to let her in. Gerri didn’t tell her she would be meeting her mate. Only that she had a job interview here this morning.”

Russ still couldn’t figure out for the life of him why Gerri failed to tell her. It didn’t make a bit of sense. He picked up his phone and shot Gerri a quick text.

“Why didn’t you tell her she’d be meeting her mate?”

“Did you ask Gerri?” Stephen asked.

“Just now. I’ll see what she says. Needless to say, Gia was dumbfounded and nearly ran away. I had to talk her into staying.” Russ would never forget the look of shock on her beautiful face.

“Is she qualified for the job?” Stephen asked.

“More than qualified. She worked at KPS for a decade until they laid her off out of the blue. She’s more qualified than any other candidate we’ve interviewed. I swear, she could probably do this job blindfolded and with one arm tied behind her back.”

After looking at her resume, Russ knew she was the right person for the job. Even if she hadn’t been his mate. Her skills matched up exactly to the tasks she’d need to accomplish on a daily basis at WSI.The only thing that she wasn’t familiar with was traveling with her boss to meetings. Russ liked to have his assistant with him at all times. It would be a huge bonus considering the fact that she was his mate.

“Did she take the job? I’m assuming you made an outlandish offer to get her to say yes.”

“I did, but she said she needed some time to think about it. She was in a pretty big hurry to get out of here.” As much as Russ hated to admit it, he didn’t know whether or not Gia would say yes. He usually had a good read on people, but not Gia. He had no idea what was going on in that mind of hers.

“So, what do you think has your girl so spooked?” Stephen asked.

“I’m not certain. I think part of it could be the whole mate thing.”

“And the other part?”

Russ hated when Stephen gave him that look. The look an older brother gives, silently questioning his younger brother despite the fact that Russ had built WSI on his own while Stephen had been in the military.

“She’s pissed that Gerri lied to her. She had made that crystal clear. I think she just needs to wrap her head around all of this. She’s definitely interested in the job. And I could tell she was interested in me as well.”

“You sure about that, chief?” Stephen laughed.

“Yep.” Russ puffed out his chest and sat taller. “I know she was. I have a nose that easily picked up on that shit.” When he had gotten a whiff of her arousal, he’d nearly jumped her right then and there, but he held back, knowing she was already scared.

“What about Julie?” Stephen asked.

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