“Jessica! Jessica!” She cringed and turned to face Sherman Landry. She’d completely forgotten he’d probably attend this event, but Phil and Sabina had insisted she needed to come.

“Hi, Sherman.” When he stood in front of her, she gave him a big forced smile. “How are you?” she asked.

“Fine. Fine. And you?”

“I’m fine.”

“And your wolf friend?”

Lie, Jessica. Lie! “Oh, he’s around here somewhere.”

“I assume you had to pay for his ticket.”

Jess didn’t answer; instead, she used her forefinger to rub away the sudden tic in her left eye.

“You don’t see many Smiths around these kinds of events,” Sherman continued. “They’re much more your beer and NASCAR crowd.”

Jess’s eyes narrowed, suddenly envisioning Sherman not as a true wild dog but one of those pampered pups sitting on a pillow. A bichon frise or a papillon. Imagining him with bows in his hair did make her smile.

“I love NASCAR,” she admitted, hoping the truth would make him go away. “It’s fun, the people are nice, and it has fast cars. I love fast cars.”

“Yes, yes. Nothing like watching people drive in a circle.” Before Jess could say anything—like “fuck you”—Sherman stepped back as far as he could in this crowd and smiled appreciatively. “Jessica, I must say you look gorgeous.”

“Thank you.” She’d kill Phil.

“You take my breath away.”

“Sherman, that’s very sweet. Thanks.”

He cleared his throat. “I was wondering... ” Another throat clear. “About us going out again. For dinner?”

“Dinner? Um... ” Think of an excuse. Think fast! “Uh... Smitty.” She took in a deep breath. “I can’t ’cause I’m seeing Smitty.” There. That’ll work.

“Jessica, seriously.” He stepped closer. A little too close. “I’ve discussed this with my sister and we both understand a girl has needs.” His sister? He’d talked about this with his sister? Suddenly, Jess felt a tad ill. “And wolves are perfect for the short term. But you’re not getting any younger.”

Wait. Did he just say that to me? No, no. He couldn’t have.

“You have to think about the future of your Pack. I’m sure you’ll want to breed pups of your own. Normal pups. Not hybrids. I believe you and I have much to discuss in that area.”

Jess stared at him. She couldn’t help it. Apparently the presence of Smitty had pushed Sherman’s hand. Instead of romance, though, she got the word “breeding” tossed at her.

“Jessica... ”

He moved in closer, and to her horror, she thought hemight kiss her. But her phone rang and she yanked it out of her tiny designer purse with an urgency she’d never felt before.

“Phone! I must answer my phone.”

“Yes, but—”

“Bye now.” Jess turned and walked away, answering the phone at the same time.

“Yes?”

“Hi, Jess. It’s Bets.” Her assistant. Someone would be getting a quarterly bonus for saving her wild-dog ass from more breeding discussions.

“What’s up, Bets?”

Betsy went into a litany of problems with one of their accounts while Jess headed toward the bathrooms. This problem was not normally something that would work its way up to Jess, but the client was pissed and she brought in a lot of serious money and other important accounts. It would not be in their best interest to ignore this woman.

“Can you put me through to her?”

Standing outside the ladies’ room, Jess leaned against a wall and waited for her call to be patched into a very nice office in Detroit.

Once she had her, Jess went into her usual soothing spiel. She’d gotten really good at it. Must have had something to do with working with cops for a few years. They’d come busting into her department, anxious, annoyed, and usually pissed off at some ADA, wanting to know what she’d found on some scumbag’s computer. At that point, Jess had two options: get pissy right back, which a lot of her coworkers did, or soothe. She soothed, and to this day she still had friends on the force who watched out for her, her company, and her friends.

As Jess listened to her client and made lots of “I absolutely agree with you” noises, she turned and realized she had the females of the Stark Clan standing there, glaring at her. Their eyes glowed in the low light of the narrow hallway.

“Think that was funny, did you?” Madeline practically snarled.

In answer, Jess held up one finger. “Give me a sec, hon,” she whispered, “until I’m done with this client.”

The hyenas blinked in shock. They always expected some first attack from her. She wasn’t a wolf. She only did a first attack when her pups were in danger. Then all hell broke loose. But some bullshit show of strength? That could wait.

“Hey. I’m speaking to you.”

Jess smiled and nodded in agreement. They hated when she did that. She saw a fang, but then Marissa Shaw came up behind them and slammed her hands against Madeline Stark’s back.

Now lionesses? Yeah, those big cats were all about the first attack.

Jess stepped back and out of the way of the yearly fight that would most likely ensue between the females. While she did, she continued to keep the conversation going with her client. Living with her Pack, one learned to multitask.