Romance: Claimed By The Ape: BBW Shapeshifter Romance Standalone (Spicy Shifters Book 4) (2 page)

Despite a tantrum (Brooke’s), a casual disregard for any kind of schedule (Jack), and a further delay (Erin’s new boss insisted on asking Frank the doorman how his morning was going), by some grace of a higher power, they made it to rehearsal with a minute to spare.

Everyone was still mulling around the cavernous rehearsal room chatting, though all heads turned on Jack’s entrance. He didn’t seem to notice, meandering through the crowd to say hello to lucky individuals.

This must just be every day life to him
, Erin realized, though standing next to the center of attention was a lot more intimidating than she would have thought; it made her regret, just a little, that she hadn’t chosen the wrap dress.

After ensuring he was settled for the time being, Erin stuck herself into a discrete far corner and buried her nose in her tablet. There were already dozens of emails to sort through, some from friends of the Broadway star and family (his parents apparently wrote every day), some from journalists looking for comments or packaged PR quotes or dirt, and some from overly-zealous fans that Erin quickly made note of then blocked. When the emails were mostly sorted and answered, she snapped a quick photo of the rehearsal to upload to his social media accounts.

Jack was, of course, front and center, his beautiful face tilted up towards the light and animated with passion, somehow even more unnervingly attractive. It received fifteen likes immediately.

A few times she got quickly to her feet when she noticed he was running low on water, but each time he waved her off and filled the bottle himself. Despite the circus of this morning, he was surprisingly low-maintenance thus far.

It wasn’t until her cell phone pinged with a notification that Erin even noticed it was nearly lunchtime. She jumped at the sound with a twinge of guilt-she’d been so absorbed listening to Jack’s mid-play monologue on the nature of love she’d lost track of the time.

“How’s it going?”
read the text from Dawn, his PA currently on leave.

“Great! Got him to rehearsal on time”,
Erin quickly responded.

“Nice!”
, came the reply, with a smiley face, “
Did you end up having to do Item 5 from the binder?”

“One night stand interference? Oh yeah
,” Erin grinned down at the screen, “
Piece of cake. Was a little worried-he seemed kind of shy about me knowing
.”

“Jack? Shy?! Wish you’d recorded
that
for posterity.”

“So he’s not normally like that?”
Erin wrote in wonder.

“Not at all…
.” replied Dawn’s text.

“Now that’s the face of someone concentrating way too hard.”

Erin looked up to find Jack standing over her, the entire company splitting off into smaller groups and wandering towards the exit.

“Oh wow, lunch already? I’m so sorry, I completely lost track of the time. I’ll run out and get you food now-”

“We broke early,” Jack shrugged, “And I don’t feel like sticking around here. You’re a local-what’s something tasty nearby? I mean, besides what’s in front of me.”

Erin deliberately chose to ignore his remark, biting her lip in concentration. There was an amazing bodega just across the bridge, but she doubted it’d be up to the standards of someone like him. “Well… there’s a five star restaurant attached to the theater itself…”

He groaned, “Ugh, for lunch? Come on, I saw that shifty eyes look. Where would
you
go to lunch if you were by yourself?”

“This little Somali place over on University.”

“Then it’s decided! And you’ll be joining me, of course.”

A statement, or a request? Erin stared up at him in astonishment, “Are you sure?”

“Naturally. I’d be lost without you,” he actually winked at her, and offered his arm, “Shall we, milady?”

Laughing despite herself, Erin stood and looped her arm through his. It simultaneously felt like the most absurd and bravest thing she had ever done.

At normal walking speed, the tiny restaurant run by a family of Somali immigrants was fifteen or so minutes from the theater. Erin found that yet again, time seemed to hold no meaning in Jack’s presence.

It was like the man defied the very laws of nature, because suddenly they were on the sun-drenched patio besides the tiny bodega, waiting patiently for their order, his hair gleaming auburn in the strong spring light.

“... and that’s why you should never use real, live elephants in theater,” Jack finished, leaning back to pillow his heads with his arms. There were those defined upper arms again, somehow even more noticeable in his short-sleeve gray T-shirt than they’d been this morning. Erin hurriedly shifted her gaze down into her drink.

“But geez, thanks for letting me be a spaz and go on and on about my theater stories. What’s the matter, do I suddenly intimidate you? You seemed pretty chatty this morning.”

“Surprise at seeing your new boss in a towel will make anyone candid,” Erin commented dryly.

“Weird, me in a towel usually has the opposite effect on ladies. And come on, Dawn said you’ve been a PA since college-I’m gonna guess two years ago?”

“Five,” Erin said, trying to keep the pride from her voice that he assumed her so much younger.

He smiled, as if well aware of how much the misassumption pleased her, “Then you’ve gotta have way crazier stories than this morning.”

“My lips are sealed,” Erin sipped at her water with an air of dignity.

“Just tell me I wasn’t the first real life guy you’ve seen shirtless, and thus have ruined all other men for you forever.”

Erin scoffed indignantly at her grinning boss, “Yes, I’ve seen shirtless guys, thank you very much!”

“Well, do you have a boyfriend?”

Erin shifted uncomfortably. He’d asked the question in a perfectly pleasant tone, the same kind a new acquaintance would use when asking if she enjoyed roller derby or had a great aunt named Martha, but a struck a nerve nonetheless. “No, I don’t. I’m… choosing to focus on my career right now. Speaking of, you have a hair appointment scheduled for tomorrow, but Dawn said on Saturdays-”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down,” Jack lowered his arms, brow knit together in concern, “Hello, sudden Queen of the North Pole. Did I say something to piss you off?”

“No, not at all!”

“Then why the sudden business switch? I apologize if I offended you; I admit, I can be a pretty clueless brute sometimes,” his charming smile suggested otherwise, “But I really thought we were just chatting.”

“We were-are,” she fiddled with the corner of her napkin, not quite meeting his eye, “I just… don’t see why my personal life should be interesting.”

“I want to get to know you,” he replied, the earnestness in his voice so obvious Erin couldn’t prevent a smile of indulgence. He leaned forward, continuing softly, “We’re going to be spending an awfully lot of time together, you know. If you’re going to be chasing off all my girlfriends, I think I’m entitled to know at least a few things about you.”

Erin laughed. “Okay, fine. But I demand quid pro quo; I answer your questions, you answer mine.”

“You mean there are things you don’t already know about me?” Jack leaned back, once again grinning mischievously,” If I had less of a massive ego, I’d be hurt! Here, we’ll start with a question that satisfied both sides-what is your favorite song by yours truly?”

Erin shrugged helplessly.

“Seriously?”

“My friend Amanda loves your cover of Moonlight Sonata. She says if the DJ plays it at her wedding, she might regret marrying anyone but you.” Oh boy, Amanda was going to kill her.

Jack let out a hearty, low laugh. “I’ll be sure not to crash and make her regret it even more. So, when you’re not working or living under a rock, what do you do for fun?”

Erin slowly twirled the straw in her glass. “Not much. I-guess I read a lot. I was a lit major in college-clearly that’s served me well. I do some editing on the side for writer friends of mine. I knit.”

“You knit?” Jack raised an eyebrow teasingly.

“Yes, multiple sweaters for the dozens of cats I hope to someday own,” Erin stuck her tongue out at him.

“So how does a lit major end up a personal assistant?” Jack asked, interest lighting his cobalt eyes with warmth.
You could drown in eyes like that
.

“I’m pretty organized, good at multitasking. I wanted to find something that would challenge me, always keep me on my toes. I learn a lot being around successfully folks,” Erin shrugged.

“Ambitious,” Jack commented with an enigmatic smile, as if confirming something to himself, “You strike me as a woman who’s never been… satisfied.”

The words were completely innocent, yet the tilt of his head and the mischievous lilt to his voice gave meaning to them that made the blush come fast and hot on Erin’s cheeks. She ducked her head, embarrassed by such a violent reaction.
Holy hell, what is wrong with me?
“I don’t know what you mean,” she replied with bravado, even though the sudden clench of her heart suggested otherwise.  

“You’re like me. I’m never satisfied, either,” Jack said, once again light and nonchalant, “Oh, that looks fantastic!”

Erin glanced up to see a giant platter of food coming towards them. She hadn’t quite realized how much food Jack had ordered until it was right in front of them; the waiter required both hands to carry Jack’s meal alone.

The moment after he’d thanked the waiter, he dug in with gusto, his handsome face alive with happy anticipation. Erin gawked at him, unable to help her amazement; she hadn’t seen someone unironically enjoy food in so long.

He paused after two mouthfuls, eyeing her curiosity, “You were right, this place is amazing. Is there something wrong with your meal?”

Erin colored, and quickly picked up her fork. She’d ordered exactly what she’d wanted, but there was no denying she’d been a little nervous that Jack would be one of those image-conscious employers who expected everyone around them to maintain the same excruciating exercise and diet regime.

She’d had more than enough run-ins with ex-boyfriends who expected that she would starve herself to meet their standard of “proper” girlfriend weight, and had no plans to let such toxicity invade her work life as well.                

“No,” she said, spooning up a decent mouthful of her food, “It’s fine. I was just… thankfully kind of glad you aren’t judging me for eating this much food.”

Jack stared at her blankly, “Why would I do that?”

“Cause, ya know, some people might think I… shouldn’t be eating this much food.”

“Assholes,” Jack scoffed disdainfully, sending waves of relief through her. She happily took another forkful of food, beaming, “Yeah. And guess what else? I only go to the gym
twice a week
.”

“The horror,” Jack grinned, “You should know you’re the reason we don’t have world peace already. Seriously, though, I can’t stand pricks who think they have some kind of right to dictate someone else’s body.”

She studied him curiosity. His face had transformed once more, the easy glamour slipping into a passioned intensity she hadn’t seen before. The seriousness of his expression made him look older, mature, and frankly, sexy as well. It was suddenly very, very easy to see why he filled theaters night after night.

Erin cleared her throat hurriedly, “That reminds me, Dawn didn’t leave instructions about what gym you belong to. There’s a 24-hour one around the corner from the theater…”

“Oh, I don’t really work out too often,” he said nonchalantly, “I go when I’m in the mood, but not enough to have a regular membership.”

Yet again Erin couldn’t stop herself from gawking. “Wait. You look like
that
, and you don’t work out often?”

“Like what?” Jack grinned mischievously at her.

Erin rolled her eyes, “Wow, you really are perfect. You sure you’re human?”

She regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. It was like a dark shadow passed across his face; he sank back as if she had slapped him.

“Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry, I… meant it as a joke,” she said hastily, her first bizarre instinct to reach across the table and envelop him in a hug, “It was thoughtless…”

“No,” he cut her off, and smiled, the bad feeling apparently gone as quickly as it had come, “Don’t worry about it. I was just practicing. You know actors, never quite on break.”

Erin shifted uncomfortably. He did seem completely back to normal. The obvious pain that read clear as day on his face had been barely a blip, and yet her insides still squirmed with guilt. Though she couldn’t say why, it was as if she had voiced some great taboo. “Well,” she said, trying to resume her previous bluster, “Speaking of, we should probably hurry up and eat. I’d like to even try being early for a change.”

“Yes ma’am,” Jack winked playfully, tucking back into his food. She silently did the same, her mind racing. Not even a full day with Jack Silver, and she’d already risked a firing twice; yet, he’d forgiven her without a second thought.