Authors: Carmella Jones
Chapter 13
Miles
On Monday, I wanted to do two things. One was with Tyler, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t allowed during office hours. The other was apologize to Marjorie. She actually took it pretty well.
“Sometimes I come on a little strong, and guys have told me I get attached too quickly,” she said.
“Yeah, I’ve never talked about fate on a first date,” I joked.
She laughed a little, but I could tell she was disappointed.
“Well, we can still see each other here at work and from time to time when everyone goes out,” she said, hoping.
“We’ll see. I have to get to my floor, though. Lots to do before the meeting,” I said.
“Yeah, see you at the meeting,” she replied.
I got back on the elevator and found Chase inside, just arriving to work. He smiled at first. Then he grabbed each of my shoulders and spun me to face him. When the elevator opened, he dragged me to the office by my sleeve. He closed the door and drew his blinds once we were inside.
“Tell Auntie Chase who the lucky man was who popped your gay cherry,” he said, giving a tiny round of applause.
“What?” I asked.
How could he tell?
“Gays know these things. You’ve crossed over, Mr. I’m Straight. Who? Is it someone in the office?” he asked.
“I’d rather not say. It’s all still so new,” I said.
He sat back and looked at me for a moment. Then he shuffled a few things around on his desk and looked at me again.
“Alright. You can keep your secret, for now. When you are ready, though, I want all the details, even the juicy ones you savor with morning coffee,” he said, smiling.
“When I’m ready,” I said, returning his smile.
I returned to my desk space and it took me a few minutes to focus. Just before lunch, I received a call from inside the building. Tina’s voice came over the line.
“Tyler would like to invite you to join him for lunch today,” she said.
I couldn’t tell, but there was something in her tone that made it seem she was holding in a joke I didn’t understand.
When I reached Tyler’s office she saw me in with a knowing smile I didn’t quite understand.
“You told her?” I asked Tyler once she returned to her desk.
“No,” he said.
The door opened again a moment later. Tina stepped in looking confused. A delivery boy was behind her.
“Miles, I hope you are hungry. I ordered a lot of food for us. I want to talk to you about the meeting this afternoon. Tina, pay the delivery boy with petty cash. Then excuse us. Miles and I have a lot to discuss before the meeting this afternoon,” Tyler said.
Once they were gone, he kissed me. Then we got to business – actual business.
Chapter 14
Tyler
I enjoyed having actual lunch with Miles. It was a good change and gave me the opportunity to talk to him before the weekly meeting. When he went back to his office, I had a lot to pull together and set up in the conference room. I finished minutes before the meeting started, so I waited there for everyone to arrive.
As they did, one by one they looked confused. Then, understanding began to slowly wash over them. When Claudia and Nicholas came in, I began the meeting discussing the project Claudia, Tina, and I had been working on before he could do too much observing on his own.
“You will all see before you the business plan and first three years of expected projects for a new business venture. Several business ventures, in fact, all rolled into one. With the help of Claudia as silent stockholder and Tina as vice president. I will be branching out over the coming months as a new conglomerate, Pan Humanity,” I said.
I paused to look around the room. Outside myself, Tina, and Claudia, only a handful of the staff knew what was going on, the handful we had invited to join us at the new company. Those who knew only learned of Pan Humanity Friday or today.
The one I most wanted to join us, Miles, had only been told hours earlier at lunch, and needed to think about it.
“Am I to understand this is mutiny? You and my wife are jumping ship?” Nicholas asked, raising his voice.
“Well, not exactly. Claudia will continue working here. She is entering the venture with me as a silent financial backer. And don’t think of it as joining ship. Think of it as taking all that you have taught me and trying to walk in your footsteps. I see a market, and I want to dominate it from top to bottom as you have,” I said, hoping to win his consideration with flattery.
He thumbed through the materials I had placed at everyone’s seat in the conference room. I took the opportunity to tell him some of the numbers highlights.
“Nicholas, you don’t have to do a thing and Sir Name will still run smoothly. Top to bottom only one or two people per floor will be leaving initially. Others will be hired through an interview process. The overlap in market is minor, because Pan Human will target body types and styles of dress and interests that companies like ours often overlook,” Claudia said.
“Pan Human. Live your life. We’ll help,” Tina said, doing her best Vanna White impersonation beside the display presentation.
Nicholas Schmidt sat silently for what felt like an eternity. Finally, just as I was starting to feel doubt for the first time in years at work, he spoke.
“Tyler, you have been a key player in this company for years. My company. You have been a son,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” I said.
We had been very close.
“Well, I just think you should know, I have never been more proud than in this moment. It’s about time you step out and run something of your own. I was beginning to wonder if you were just waiting for me to retire or die,” he said, laughing now.
The tension in the room dissipated into celebration, except for one thing. I still didn’t know if Miles was ready to join me, in business or otherwise.
Chapter 15
Miles
As the meeting seemed to be ending, aside from those staying to talk about Pan Humanity, I decided to return to my desk. I had a lot of work to do and a lot on my mind.
“So, it was Tyler,” Chase said, startling me.
“I didn’t realize you left, too,” I said.
He cleared his throat and folded his arms. He wanted an answer to his question. I looked around and no one was close by.
“Yes, but it was one time, Friday night. Then he dropped the bomb on me today that not only is he leaving to start Pan Humanity, but he also wants me to leave a job I just started, and enjoy, to join him,” I said.
It was good to have someone to talk to.
“Well, you said yes, right?” Chase asked.
“No, I told him I would think about it,” I said weakly.
“What’s to think about? A rich top like him wants to whisk you away to romance, a promotion and raise, and a company that has more possibility than your current employer. Gasp, I’m appalled,” he said, feigning disgust.
“It’s just really sudden, and what makes you so sure I wasn’t top?” I asked, unsure how I felt about being assumed to be bottom.
I had done both, once.
“Miles,” Chase said.
I nodded and focused back on the bigger issues.
“Did you know he was gay?” I asked Chase.
“I told you, we can read these things. I don’t think many people here know. He is definitely discreet. I do know that most think he doesn’t even date. Sure, you can look at him and tell he gets laid when he wants to, but if he is actually making some sort of plans with you he really means whatever he is saying. He has had the same assistant since he was able to have an assistant. He also seems to value relationships, because he and the Schmidts have been close for years,” he said.
“And, he thinks he may love you, but that you both need to take things slow for now,” another voice said, entering the room.
“Tyler,” I said.
“Sorry about springing so much on you the past few days. It’s all true, though. You have an effect on people that I want to carry to the new company. You also have an effect on me that I would like to continue as well,” he said, joining our conversation.
Chase excused himself to his office, but left the door open so he could hear.
“Well, I think I could come around to the job, but I’m still sorting out how I feel. I’m still processing. Do I come out now? There is so much slang, I already don’t know half of what Chase says to me,” I said.
My nervous side was showing, and Tyler was staring at me again.
“Some things you just know, others you learn. I know that I have been living a quiet personal life and focusing on work. Now I know that I want to build something more that bridges the gap with someone important,” he said, stepping closer to me.
“What if things don’t work out?” I asked.
“Then I’m sure you can always get hired here again,” he said.
“I mean you and me,” I said.
“Oh, well, love is a lot like sex. Your heart will guide itself to pleasure,” he said.
He stepped forward and kissed me without looking around to see who was there. I felt my heart beat a little faster and kissed him back deeply.
“Well, I’ll have to speak with HR about interviewing for a new assistant again,” Chase said.
Bear Hug
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Chapter 1
James Vincent was adding apps on his tablet and phone. He had heard about a new one dedicated for gay shifters, of all things, but it fit the bill for what he was looking for, so he decided he wanted to try it out. Even though he was human, he was determined to find a shifter mate. The power, the animal magnetism, drew him in a way that a regular man could not. Where some ran screaming in the other direction when they found out their boyfriends or husbands were shifters, he ran right into their arms. He shivered at the thought. He hadn’t decided what breed of shifter he liked the most yet, but he ’d had some luck finding wolves in the area.
He lived in California, working as a server at a cross dressing cocktail bar on Venice beach. He liked the job, the excitement of the nightlife, and the interesting people who came to the place. Sometimes they came to meet up, and sometimes they came to sober up before going home after a night of partying and drinking. James generally worked the overnight from 8 PM to 5 AM shift.
Meeting lots of interesting people was fun. It’s how he’d learned about this new app he was trying to install. One of the shifters who’d come in the diner, had told him about it. He liked living here and didn’t really miss his family, a bunch of farmers in Montana back home a bunch of farmers in Montana. While he sometimes did miss country life, there were plenty of things in big cities to make up for it.
Finally getting the app installed, he filled out his profile and added a picture. In it, His smiling face, blue eyes, and curly, blonde hair screamed country boy, especially with the cowboy hat and boots. He might live in California these days, but you couldn’t completely take the country out of a boy. Especially one who lived and breathed farms and ranches his whole life. He loved animals, always had. Maybe this was why he preferred shifters over humans. He wasn’t sure. Maybe he’d just been born to the wrong parents.
Finishing his shift, he hung up his apron and took off his name tag, putting it in his pocket to go home with him. The servers shared aprons, but each had their own name tag. He was headed out to his little car to drive home when his phone started dinging. He took it out of his back pocket and checked the new app. He had a hit already. The man was good looking, he’d give him that. He was in his mid-thirties. He wondered why a man like him would be interested in a twenty-two-year-old cocktail server from Venice Beach. He hadn’t lied about his job in his profile. He wanted people to know what they were getting into with him. The other man didn’t disclose his profession, but he had a clean-cut appearance and could easily have passed for a model.
Texting him back, James smiled. The profile didn’t say what kind of shifter he was, but since James was advertising himself as a human looking for a shifter mate, he already knew he wasn’t able to shift.
They texted back and forth a few times, and the guy made it clear he wanted to meet. He wanted to meet him tonight. James wasn't comfortable meeting him that quickly and tried to play it off. He told him he had just gotten off work and was tired, but he had a day off in a week. asked if he could meet him then. When he texted back, the chill James got from his messages irritated him. This guy was demanding and egotistical, telling him that he was a tease and that he was intentionally leading him on. Getting frustrated, James blocked him. He put his phone back into his pocket and thought that would be the end of that.
Until he messaged again. He'd 'd blocked him, and yet he'd been unblocked. James knew he hadn’t done it. Blocking him again, he put his phone back into his pocket. When the man continued to be able to message, he decided the app had some bugs and made the report. James didn’t respond to him, but couldn’t help but read his messages.
He wasn't scary, exactly, but James did feel intimidated by his authority. He didn't apologize for being demanding, he was point blank about his intentions and his interest, and he kept pushing it. James tried to block him again.
Over the next couple of weeks, he kept getting messages from him. They weren’t nonstop, just enough to get him upset that the app wasn't keeping blocked profiles blocked. But the thing was, every time he read another message from the man, he was more intrigued. He wasn't scary or rude. He just pestered James and gave him a hard time for trying to avoid him. Mostly he was impressed that he didn’t give up.
After a couple of weeks of playing hard to get, the man finally said he was done. He had found the game amusing for a while, but now it was time to be honest. Did he find him as interesting as he found James? Would he be willing to meet, or was it time for him to walk away?
James had to be honest with himself. The man had grown on him. James wasn't sure meeting him was the best idea, but he agreed.
He offered a public place near the cocktail bar. He had suggested the boardwalk of the beach during broad daylight to get ice cream. It was a place where no one would notice them but it was still fairly safe.
Agreeing, James arranged to meet him on his next day off and then put his phone down. He couldn't believe he went from trying to block him repeatedly to agreeing to meet him. He had no idea how he'd gotten under his skin like that, despite his arrogance. His attitude that James would love him if he'd give him a chance was oddly hard to resist.
He snorted at his own thoughts. He wasn’t sure if he was walking into a lion's den or if he’d met a man who could actually thrill him, entice him, and keep him on his toes.
One way or another, he would find out soon enough if this man was dangerous or had the potential to be his soul mate. Pausing in his thoughts as he ran a comb through his hair, he wondered if maybe this man could be both.