Bears & Beauties - Complete (17 page)

Julie nodded her appreciation to the secretary then stepped into the office, taking a moment to let her eyes adjust to the dark atmosphere of the room. Even though it was still midday, the lighting in the room was very minimal. The walls themselves were a deep gray, and dark cobblestone floors ran from one wall to the other. Off to one side of the room sat a pair of sofas and a small coffee table. In the center of the room, a large desk was positioned facing the doorway, with an even larger man standing behind it.

“Ms. Flanders,” the man greeted her, extending a hand.

For a moment, Julie’s heart caught in her throat. The man behind the desk - presumably Anthony Drake - was
gorgeous
. Or, well, as gorgeous as a man could be. He was huge, for starters, in that he towered over almost everything else in the room. He was dressed in a well-tailored suit that perfectly accentuated his broad shoulders and the hard muscles that Julie imagined were underneath his clothes. He had a kind face, with weary features that gave testament to his recent struggles, and gorgeous green eyes that reminded her of spring. He was, no doubt, the most handsome man Julie had ever seen. And just thinking about that took her off guard.

Julie had spent the better part of a decade working alongside some of the wealthiest and most attractive men in the world. And yet, none of them stood out to her like Anthony Drake did. None of them had made her heart skip a beat on mere sight, and none of them had left her stammering before them as they waited for a response.

“Ma’am?” the giant of a man offered, snapping Julie out of her stupor.

Embarrassed, Julie walked over to the desk and took Anthony’s outstretched hand, electricity pulsing through her body at his mere touch. “Mr. Drake,” she offered. “It’s my pleasure.”

“On the contrary, the pleasure is all mine.” Anthony smiled, flashing a set of pearly whites that almost made her melt right then and there. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

“Not a worry,” Julie said, forcing herself to regain her lost composure. “I owed Grayson a favor.” She smiled at Anthony, her mind wandering toward a different sort of favor.

“Well, I appreciate it nonetheless,” Anthony stated, finally pulling his hand from Julie’s and taking his seat. He gestured to the chair just behind where Julie was standing, and she followed his lead.

“Well then,” Julie started, trying to shake off the effect the man was having on her. “Shall we get started?”

Anthony bit his lip, looking somewhat disappointed. Then, with a sigh, he said, “I suppose so. Tell me, where should we start?”

Julie didn’t need to think it over. She’d paid enough attention to the stock market and the financial press’ near-constant coverage of the company’s plummeting financial strength. “Let’s figure out where all of your money is going, and why in the world one of the world’s largest tech corporations is bleeding dollar bills.”

“Fair enough,” Anthony grunted, his eyes seemingly lingering on Julie’s lips, forcing her to fight off a blush. “But it will take a while to get all of the documents together.”

Damn, the man was sexy, and it was all she could do to keep from flirting. Never mind the fact that her imagination was constantly rebelling against her more rational side. She kept going over all the things he could do to her on that desk.

Get it together
, Julie told herself. But, if she was honest with herself, she knew that would be easier said than done.

“Fine,” Julie said, trying to get over her lustful thoughts. “In the meantime, I need to know about your secrets.”

Anthony arched an eyebrow at her. “Secrets?”

“Yes,” she nodded. “Is there anything I need to know? Anything that someone inside or outside the company could use against you?”

Anthony furrowed his brow, taking a moment to think. He took a deep breath and shook his head, staring Julie straight in the eyes. “No,” he said. “Nothing.”

Julie smiled, somehow believing him. Everyone had secrets, but Anthony seemed…she didn’t know. Genuine maybe? Something about him felt authentic, real. She barely knew him, but she felt herself trusting him already. There was just something about him.

“Okay then,” Julie said, smiling. “Well let’s get those documents and get to work!”

2

ANTHONY RAN HIS hands through his hair for the dozenth time in the last five minutes. He was frazzled, and in more ways than one. He’d been working alongside Julie for over a week now, and every second he spent with her was torture. From the moment she had entered his office the first time, his bear had been in a frenzy. Anthony knew that Julie was his mate, he couldn’t deny it any more than he could deny that the sky was blue. His bear had wanted to take her then, to claim her, and to declare an undying commitment to her. But the human in him had protested, forcing a wedge between the two halves of his personality.

It wasn’t that Anthony didn’t want to be with Julie. If anything, he wanted nothing more than to follow his bear’s lead and take the gorgeously curvy woman who sat across the coffee table from him now. The fact of the matter, however, was that it was impossible. Anthony needed to worry about getting the company back into shape, keeping things stable and civil, and then he could figure out the mating game. Right now, there was way too much at risk.

And besides, Julie hadn’t even let on in the slightest that she wanted more than a working relationship. She’d never dropped any hints, flirted, or let her eyes linger on his body. Where he couldn’t stop himself from being aroused just by her presence, he never once sensed anything similar emanating from Julie. Still, what he wouldn’t give to run his hands through those gorgeous brown locks and to trace his lips across the curve of her neck…

“I think, and I could be wrong,” Julie said, pouring over a document that was lying on the table in front of her, “It looks like the redistribution to development from quality control will solve a huge part of the problem. That’s where a consistent eighty percent of the deficit is. You’re funneling way too much money into a division that doesn’t require it.”

Anthony harrumphed. The vast majority of what Julie had told him over the past week went well over his head. He’d never had any experience with financial management, aside from his own personal money, so he tended to just throw cash at whatever problem arose within the company, thinking that there was enough to cover the issue. He couldn’t have been more wrong. With Julie’s budgetary suggestions, however, it looked like he’d be able to turn the company around in record time. Not only that, but if he implemented all of her suggestions, the company had a good chance of coming out of turmoil in a better shape than it had ever been. The thought of that had Anthony more than a little excited.

“Let’s do it then,” Anthony told her. “Whatever you think is best, let’s go for it.”

Julie stared at him for a moment, wrinkling her nose as if trying to figure out the best way to phrase her response. “You realize,” she told him, “That it’s not as simple as just doing it. Implementing these changes is going to completely restructure the company. Pay scale is going to shift dramatically, and a lot of people are going to be affected by it.”

Anthony shrugged. “Better for them to be angry than unemployed, yes?”

Julie’s jaw dropped at that. “Well, technically. But morale is important. You need to make a statement to the company, sent out a memo, something. Let your employees know what’s changing and why. You can’t run a business like some kind of tyrant. This isn’t some shifter clan where an alpha dictates everything.”

Anthony’s eyes widened. Did Julie’s referencing shifters mean that she knew about his bear? And, if so, what did that mean?

“I’m sorry,” Julie waved her hand dismissively. “That was a poor analogy on my part. It was well known that Mr. Dare was a bear shifter, and I suppose I misappropriated his attributes onto you.”

“So,” Anthony sighed, “I take it you have an issue with shifters?”

Julie snorted, something that Anthony found incredibly adorable. “Only the alpha-holes who think they can run the world however they see fit with zero regard for others. There are a few good ones out there, though. I’ve met a couple.”

“Oh?” Anthony questioned, happy to be moving the conversation away from business for a few moments. Even if the company was his foremost concern, he still needed a break from the monotony every now and then.

“Oh, yes. In fact…” Julie leaned across the table toward Anthony, her scent emanating into his nostrils and sending a pulse of electricity down his body. “You didn’t hear it from me, but Grayson Days is himself something of a bear.”

Anthony smiled, feigning surprise. While Grayson hadn’t gone public with his shifter nature like Kalvin had, his bearish habits were obvious if someone knew where to look. He was also pretty open about it with individuals he trusted and it seemed more and more like Julie was one of those rare individuals. And if Grayson could trust her, Anthony knew that he could too.

Right then, with Julie only inches away from him, and with her hot breath still pouring down on him, Anthony wanted to do much more than just
trust
her. His bear let out a low growl, and Anthony found himself staring directly into Julie’s eyes. He could almost taste her, could almost feel her perfectly luscious lips on his. Before he knew what was happening, Anthony found himself leaning in toward Julie. And, surprisingly, he found her closing the rest of the gap.

In a single moment of perfect bliss, Anthony took Julie in. Cupping her face with his hands, Anthony devoured Julie’s lips, the heat from her body emanating through his like a constant current of electricity, sending tingling sensations from head to toe. Julie moaned into the kiss, opening her mouth just enough for Anthony’s tongue to slip inside. Their tongues danced together for a while as the passion grew.

Anthony felt Julie grip her hands on his back and slowly pull herself up onto the table, letting him guide her closer to his body. In an instant, Anthony had Julie on his lap, straddling him in his chair, her curvy figure molding closely against his own hard body. He let his hands roam freely, taking her in completely as his fingers traced the nape of her neck, then worked down her back to her ass.

In a single lucid moment, Anthony pulled his lips back, just far enough away to look Julie in her eyes. “Should we?” he started, only to have his words smothered by her mouth as she pulled him back into the kiss.

She feels it too,
Anthony found himself thinking as he gripped Julie’s ass, pulling her against the growing bulge between his legs.

Julie started to move then, rocking back and forth, grinding against him as they continued their passionate embrace. With each movement, Julie moaned slightly and Anthony felt the pressure in his body continue to rise. His bear begged for release, to come out and to claim the beautiful woman in his arms.

For a moment, Anthony considered letting him.

A sudden buzzing noise sounded abruptly in the room, forcing the couple to break off their embrace as the secretary’s voice pierced the air. “Sir, there’s a package here for you. It’s labeled as urgent.”

Anthony groaned, pouting, and shrugged at Julie. “I should probably take care of that.”

Julie didn’t respond, only nodded as she clambered off of Anthony’s lap. He could tell that she was more than a little flustered, and he didn’t blame her. With any luck, he’d get to make it up to her sooner rather than later.

While Julie went about brushing down her clothes in an effort to straighten them, Anthony made his way to the office door, opened it, and retrieved a small package from his secretary.

Sure enough, the package - a mid-sized manila folder - was stamped URGENT in large print. Oddly, Anthony noticed, there wasn’t a return address. Looking at the package curiously, Anthony carried it over to his desk.

“What is it?” Julie called, walking over to where he was.

Anthony shrugged and began tearing gingerly into the envelope. He sat it down on the desk and pulled open the tab, then lifted up one end and let the contents spill out onto the counter. A lone document accompanied by a small, black flip phone fell onto the desk.

What Anthony saw then caused his jaw to drop and had Julie covering her mouth with both of her hands as the blood drained from her face. “Is that you?” she stammered, breaking an eerie silence that Anthony didn’t realize had fallen.

Anthony gulped and nodded, not daring to look at Julie’s expression as he examined the photograph on his desk.

It was a picture of a younger Anthony, naked and covered from head to toe in blood, standing over the disemboweled body of another man.

How in the hell?
Anthony thought, his mind racing. That had been so long ago. No one had seen. No one had known…

Or had they?

“What the fuck is this?!” Julie shouted, backing away from Anthony, her face still bloodshot and one hand over her chest. “What did you do?!”

Anthony stared at her for a long moment, doing his best to come up with an explanation. “Look, it’s not what it looks like,” he told her, taking a step in her direction.

“No!” Julie shouted, putting a hand out to stop him. “Not until you explain to me what the fuck that is. Tell me you didn’t kill that man.”