Page 2 of Remington’s Mate

When she missed the scent of pines on the mountain, she sprayed her apartment with one of those spray scent bottles that made everything smell like Christmas.

Problem solved.

She continued down the list. Goals #2 through #5—check.

She’d earned a bachelor’s degree in Business and Marketing, and also an MBA. She’d worked an internship for a kickass executive bitch with a heart of gold who Jaeda basically wanted to be when she grew up.

And also, she’d dated lots of guys who were not butt-sniffers and did not turn into creatures that sniffed each other’s butts. Well, okay, there was that one guy her junior year, but it had been a momentary drunken lapse in judgement and she wasn’t sure he really had been sniffing her butt, so she wasn’t counting him.

Definitely no one had tried to bite her. At least, not in a bad way.

Goal #7 clearly needed some work, but she was well on the way to achieving Goal #6, with a new job starting in the morning.

She had totally lucked out with this gig. It was with a large company that invested in commercial construction across half a dozen states.

She’d applied for a junior executive position months ago, and heard nothing. All of the sudden they’d contacted her with a completely different job they needed to fill right away—Executive Assistant to Ethan Sutcliffe, Vice President in charge of procurement for the western half of the region.

It was a golden opportunity—above her current experience level, really. But they didn’t have time for a full search, and Mr. Sutcliffe had liked the look of her resume—especially her internship experience.

This was going to be the start of something amazing—she could feel it.

Her phone beeped with a text message. Shit. Not Dinner Date again. He’d texted her once last night and twice today. Apparently, he’d had a great time. She wished she had—it wasn’t his fault she hadn’t.

He was nice. And cute. Just not… she didn’t even know what, but he wasn’t it.

Nope, not Dinner Date. It was her dad. Video chat in 10 seconds, he said. Better answer, or you’re grounded for a week and I’m taking away your truck.

She smiled at that. It was an old joke, from back in high school. She had never been allowed to ignore texts from her parents; her dad was overprotective as only an alpha wolf could be. She really did miss him and her mom a lot. She even missed her pain-in-the-ass brother Aiden.

Jaeda made sure she was logged into the private video conference app she and her parents used, and counted down—three, two, one. The alert tone beeped and booped as the call came in, and in a second her dad, Jace Monroe, was there in front of her.

Chapter 2

“Hey, Wolflet,” Jace said. “I’m glad I didn’t have to take your truck for a week.”

“I’d be fine with that, since I gave it to Aiden when I left. Which you know perfectly well. And you’re not getting your paws on the keys to my Camaro.”

“I’d never take your Camaro. How’re you doing, kid?”

“Good,” she said. “Excited about tomorrow. Where’s Mom?”

“Here.” There was movement in front of the camera, and then her mom, Emma, came into view. “And don’t believe him for a second. He’d totally steal that Camaro if he thought he could get away with it. I’d even help. That’s a damn nice car.”

She sat down on the couch and snuggled up next to Jace. He kissed the top of her head and turned back to Jaeda.

She got a sudden, unexpected ache in her heart. Someday she’d find someone who loved her that much. After she became a successful executive bitch.

Emma said, “We wanted to wish you luck on your first day at the new job. We know you’re going to kick ass.”

“That’s the plan. I intend to be the ass-kicking champion of Stuyvesant Investments.”

Her dad grinned. “In a metaphorical way, I hope.”

“Yes,” Jaeda said. “Because, you know, humans. They frown on workplace violence. I don’t know why.”

“Frail little creatures, humans,” Jace said. “They can hardly handle getting bloodied up, even a little.”

Emma elbowed him in the ribs. “Watch who you’re calling frail, Monroe.”