Free Desperately Seeking Shapeshifter by Jessica Sims Page A

the moment, but I put on a brave face for my sister. It was a good idea. “I like it. It’ll show we’re committed to the agency and that we treat things seriously. Plus it’ll give us a chance to meet some of our clients out of the office environment. I think it’s brilliant. And hopefully we can get the wolves out of our hair soon and I can help with planning the next few events.”
    My sister’s smiling expression immediately changed to one of concern. “How’s that going?”
    “Oh, swell,” I said cheerily. “Connor’s going to help me figure out how to shift without the nighttime nosebleeds, and everything’ll be taken care of.”
    “You have nosebleeds ?”
    Oops. “Only every once in a while,” I soothed. “Between Beau, Ramsey, and Connor, we’re covered for teachers. The nosebleeds will go away when I get a handle on my shifting. There’s no need to worry.”
    “Beau also suggested something else, and I agreed with him.”
    Uh-oh. I looked at her, waiting.
    Her smile was a little too bright. “You need to date Ramsey.”
    “Haven’t we passed that point? I’m mated to him, remember?”
    “But Ramsey’s a big, scary guy. He’s Beau’s muscle when stuff needs to be done. Everyone in the Alliance is afraid of him, and everyone sees you as—”
    She stopped. I knew what she was going to say. A victim. That hurt.
    “So I’m already getting a lot of calls from people asking about Ramsey and you,” she continued on in a rush. “You two need to be seen in public, laughing together, smiling together, holding hands. Make people realize that you are a couple.”
    His face would probably break if he had to crack a full-on smile. “So you think I have to date him date him? Living with him isn’t enough?”
    Bath shook her head. “I don’t think so. Beau doesn’t either. He got some calls from other leadersunhappy about the arrangement. Another wolf leader, and the badger clan. Tigers, too. They’re worried you’re being coerced against your will.”
    How ironic. The fake relationship with Ramsey was to prevent me from being coerced into a relationship. I glanced down the hall, then back at my sister. I spoke low enough that Connor couldn’t hear it. “There’s a slight problem here. How am I supposed to date him when we have Connor crawling up our asses?”
    She gave me a wry shrug. “We’ll hook him up through the agency. It’ll be like double-dating.”
    I groaned. This was worse than bad. “Do I even have a choice?”
    “Not really.”
    I sighed. “Okay. I’ll talk to Ramsey.”
    She toyed with the end of her long ponytail. “That’s what Beau’s doing right now. I’m guessing he’ll be back any minute.”
    Ramsey was back a few moments later, and he looked ready to kill something. He stormed back into the office, sat in one of the chairs in the waiting area, and began to text feverishly. I watched him for a minute, fascinated at how fast his big hands moved on that tiny phone.
    Bath returned to her desk and gave me a meaningful look.
    I glanced over at Ramsey. “I hate to keep you here all day. If you want to head off to work, I’ll be just fine.”
    His angry glare softened as he looked over atme. “Not leaving while the wolf is sniffing around you.”
    Ah. “Got it. Well, we might be spending a lot of time together in the next few weeks,” I said in a cheerful voice. “Hope one of you likes to play video games.”
    He just went back to texting furiously.
    My sister looked appalled at Ramsey’s unfriendliness. I almost smiled. I didn’t mind his silence, and when Ramsey did speak, he was honest. I’d take that over the wolves’ playful antagonism any day. I’d figured out that his silence was simply him processing his thoughts, thinking through his words. He knew he intimidated people, so he chose his words carefully.
    I had to admire that. When I got nervous, I had verbal diarrhea.
    Ryder and Connor came out of the back office a short time later. Ryder