Page 23 of Remington’s Mate

“I got tired of being the freak with no animal, okay? I wanted to feel normal, so I decided to leave the shifter world and go full-on human. This job is supposed to be a fabulous stepping-stone to my high-powered human business career.”

“Working for Sutcliffe?” he said. “Yikes. I hope it gets better from here. No offense, but he’s a dick.”

“Yeah. I’ve been working for him a week, but it only took me a day to figure that out.”

Colt nodded. “So, why the fake name? Who are you hiding from?”

“Harris is the name I’ve used since college,” she said. “And, hiding from shifters, duh. I’m Jace Monroe’s daughter, for fuck’s sake. I’m a, quote, ‘valuable prize’ unquote.”

She saw him wince when she called herself that, but she’d accepted it a long time ago. At least, that’s what she always told herself.

She added, “And without the protection of a crew or the defenses of a shifter, my dad thinks I’m a sitting duck. The only way he and Kane would agree to me living without bodyguards was to live under an assumed identity.”

Colt said, “I think it would be cool to have bodyguards. You could send them out for pizza. Pretend you’re a celebrity and get into any club you wanted. Drape your wet lingerie over them and use them for drying racks.”

Jaeda rolled her eyes. She took back any respect she’d given him; the McCall twins were obviously as ridiculous as ever. “Which part of ‘leaving the shifter world’ did you not understand? It’s kind of hard to leave a culture when several big, burly members of it are following you everywhere you go. It’s also hard to get laid when they’re glaring at every guy who even looks at you sideways.”

“I guess that would be a little off-putting for humans,” he conceded.

“Meaning that you’d have no problem getting it up while scary Enforcer bodyguards glared at you disapprovingly and fondled their weapons?”

“My weapon is bigger than their weapons. I guarantee it.”

She sighed. “Why am I even talking to you?”

“Because I’ve piqued your curiosity. I’m irresistible, in fact. You want to know more about me.”

“I want to know why you’re fucking here, interfering in my life. You’re not working for the Enforcers, are you?” Despite the fancy professional degrees, she couldn’t wrap her head around either of the McCalls getting that serious. Or following that many orders.

Besides, her dad would have told her.

He shook his head. “Nah, this isn’t a shifter thing. Did you know my brother and I are in a new crew under Brandon Fierro?” She nodded. “Brandon started a private investigation firm. There was a former project manager for your company—a guy named Bruce Martin?”

Jaeda had read his file. “Yes, we’re still processing the medical claims for his accident. The paperwork comes through Mr. Sutcliffe’s office.”

“That was no accident,” he said.

Jaeda felt like she should be surprised, but she wasn’t. Not after she’d heard the conversation between Colt and Mr. Sutcliffe and realized how much corruption was going on.

“What happened?” she asked quietly.

Colt sighed and took a swallow of his drink. “We don’t know, exactly,” he said. “It’s his wife who hired Brandon. All Martin told her was that he believed substandard materials were being used in their latest project, and had maybe been used in others. He was going to go to Sutcliffe about it. Next thing she knew—bam. Tragic ‘accident’.”

“That’s horrible,” Jaeda said. “And so you managed to get yourself in as his replacement?”

He nodded. “His sleazy, willing-to-be-corrupted replacement. We want to collect enough hard evidence to bring this guy down—and hopefully, find out how many other buildings are compromised.” He turned towards her, their shoulders and thighs touching. “How long did you say you’ve been working there?”

“Only a week.” She frowned, thinking. “It was kind of weird, actually. And knowing what I know now, even weirder.”

“How do you mean?”

“I didn’t apply for this particular job. It’s above my experience level, actually. I applied for a more junior job in another department a while back. Out of nowhere, they contacted me and said this opening had come up suddenly and needed to be filled right away, and Mr. Sutcliffe had liked the look of my resume.”

Colt nodded, drawing lines in the beads of condensation on the table with his finger. “He probably mostly liked that you were young and inexperienced.”

“Fuck you very much,” she said. “I was top of my class in college, had a very prestigious internship, and spent a year in an excellent entry-level position, with a promotion.”

“And you said yourself this job is above your normal pay grade. He wanted someone who would be less likely to catch on to what he’s doing. Like I said, young and inexperienced.”