Page 20 of Bear's Protection

Nadia narrowed her eyes. “Honestly, Oak, I don’t think leaving now is a good idea.”

“Why not? I wanted to get back at my dad, and I knew it was dangerous, but this is a whole new level of screwed up.”

“What will you say?”

“I don’t know… that it was too much for me, or something?”

“What if they get suspicious and look into youbecauseyou left so quickly again?”

Shit, I hadn’t thought about that. Would it be that weird to leave again so soon, so that Jameson would start digging? What if I hid myself with the spell… but I wasn’t powerful enough for it to work completely, and Jameson was a lot more powerful than most shifters. It wouldn’t stop him at all, probably.

“Don’t people quit all the time when they don’t think a job is going to work out?”

“I don’t know,” Nadia said. “I never have… but Jameson isn’t just anyone, either. I’m pretty sure he’s serious about his employees being the right kind of people, and after you met him, he might think it’s weird if you run.”

“Yeah,” I said, sinking down on the couch next to Nadia. My coffee cup stood on the pallets I used for a coffee table, getting cold. I felt sick. I hadn’t touched it at all.

I covered my face with my hands. “I think I made a mistake.”

Nadia sighed, and I waited for her to tell me “I told you so” after all. She didn’t.

It wasn’t just the fact that Jameson clearly hated my dad with a passion that hadn’t died out yet. It was what I’d felt when I’d been in his office.

The sexual tension had been through the roof. I’d wanted him to kiss me. I’d wanted him to touch me. If I had to be honest with myself, if he’d carried me to his desk and fucked me, I didn’t know if I would have fought it.

Something about Jameson had beendelicious, and the last thing I was at the club for was sex.

It sounded dumb even thinking it, since it was a sex club, but that wasn’t what I was doing back in LA. I wasn’t looking for a way to lose my virginity. I’d just wanted to start a new life and get revenge on my dad.

It had blown up in my face pretty badly, so far.

“I don’t know what to do,” I admitted. I didn’t tell Nadia about the sexual tension and how badly I’d wanted Jameson. I would keep that to myself—I was just a little fox shifter. Even if I didn’t have my past, and I’d grown up here, and I was a fully-fledged member of Jameson’s pack all this time, sleeping with him wasn’t going to happen.

Jameson was a god among mortals.

“Okay, let’s say you do quit, and you manage to get out of there without problems, what will you do?” Nadia asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t have any savings left aside from the money that will carry me through to my first paycheck. I have nothing to fall back on.” I would have to do this job at least until I could find something else.

“I’ll help you look,” Nadia said. “I’ll keep my eyes and ears open, and we’ll get you out of there as soon as we can. Until then… just keep your head down, do what you do without causing trouble, and maybe don’t wander into Jameson’s office again.”

I snorted. “Thanks for the sage advice.”

Nadia reached for me and squeezed my hand. “It’s going to be okay. You just have to survive for a while, and then you can get out and start over.”

“I’m so sick of starting over. I had to start over after my mom, and now I have to start over after my dad… I just wish my life could be simple for a change.”

Nadia bowed her head sadly. “I wish I could help you somehow.”

I tilted my head and sighed. “There’s nothing you can help with. I appreciate your friendship.”

Nadia hugged me.

“I’m always here,” she said. “But right now, I have to get to work, and you have to sleep after working all night.”

I nodded slowly, suddenly exhausted. She was right.

“Maybe you’ll feel better about it all when you wake up,” she suggested.

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