Her Wolf

“I’ll always find a way to come through for you,” Jess projected. “And there’s something else too.”

Ryan and Catherine exchanged glances and she held up her hand, indicating she would fill him in afterwards.

“What else?”

“He’s here,” Jess said, her small lips puckering into a tightened smile. “He didn’t want to meet at all and that’s what took so long to get you the information, but we were able to get him here. Your developer is in conference room three waiting for you now.”

Catherine turned on her heels to direct her attention to Ryan and the perplexed expression that was written across his face. There was a part of her that knew he would potentially be upset that she went around him to find out what she needed to know, but the truth was if he had been there, she wouldn’t have needed to.

“I don’t know if you’re mad, but I did what I needed to do,” Catherine said suddenly, her hip jutted out and her heel tapping against the carpet. “You weren’t here and I needed to make a judgment call.”

“It’s okay,” Ryan replied. “I understand why you did it. We needed to find out who the developer is and that’s exactly what you did. Good work.”

The meeting had come so suddenly that Ryan and Catherine didn’t have much time to prepare. They each took a few moments in the bathroom to freshen up and rid themselves of the flustered and flushed looks on their faces that came from Ryan’s session beneath her desk.

“We will probably only get one shot at this,” Ryan said, using one of Catherine’s spare combs to pull back his disheveled hair. “We need to make it count. I’m really familiar with the project and what the developer wants to do, so why don’t I initiate the conversation as a start and bring you in for back up support?”

Catherine mused silently for a few moments as she applied a fresh layer of lipstick to her already stained lips. She wasn’t used to stepping back and letting someone else take the wheel, especially when it came to important meetings being held in her office.

“This isn’t the time to hang on to your pride, Catherine,” she said to herself while capping her lipstick. “This is for the greater good.”

“Are you okay with that?”

Ryan’s question brought Catherine out of her train of thought and she pulled back her lips to offer him a luminous and encouraging smile. Her body was still on fire from the literal tongue lashing he had given her and the ache between her thighs was begging her to cancel the meeting.

“I’m perfectly okay with that,” Catherine said, forcing herself to deny her needs until after the meeting or later tonight. “We shouldn’t keep our guest waiting.”

Jessica remained in her place when Catherine and Ryan made their exit from the bathroom. She held out the manila envelope full of everything Catherine would need in order to secure the result they were looking for.

After taking the package from Jess, Catherine and Ryan left the office and made their way to the third conference room on the floor of Catherine’s office and they both breathed in a deep breath of air. They were both preparing themselves. Single-handedly, both Catherine and Ryan had accomplished a lot in their lives and on different ventures but as they stood outside of the meeting room door, they found themselves nervous.

“This is our first real break with this project, Catherine,” Ryan said, smoothing his palm over her shoulder. “If this goes the way we want it to, everything else will be a breeze and we will have a monument up in the park to idealize your family for as long as it stands.”

The heavy wooden door that separated Catherine and Ryan from the developer they were meeting with creaked open with a light push from Ryan. The warmth of the room hit Catherine’s face like a hot summer day but before she had the chance to step in and introduce herself, Ryan’s hand smacked against the wall, blocking her entrance.

“Ryan? What are you doing?” Catherine asked, annoyance noted in her tone. “Remove your arm.”

“I didn’t think you would actually show up, Metcalfe,” an unknown voice registered and Catherine rose to the tips of her toes to get a peek at the man in the room. “Your partner sure does know how to do her research, which is more than I can say about you.”

“What are you doing here, Alan?” The bitterness in Ryan’s tone caused Catherine to knit her brows together. “We have a meeting with the developer and you have a strong talent when it comes to screwing things up.”

“You’re being rude,” the man said as he dipped his head in order to get a look at Catherine. “This is her office, she’s called me for the meeting and you’re blocking her from entering. I can smell her, I know she’s there.”

“He can smell me?” Catherine asked herself, shaking her head as she smelled her wrist to see what perfume she was wearing. “I’m fine, Ryan. Let me in.”

There was an obvious display of hesitance as Ryan lowered his arm and made room for Catherine to enter the conference room with him neatly tucked at her side. The testosterone brewing between the two men was almost suffocating and Catherine cleared her throat to garner their attention.

“I’m not sure what’s going on here, but this is a business,” Catherine stated matter of factly. “I don’t have any time for alpha male dramatics in my office. This meeting can be conducted in a professional manner, or it doesn’t need to happen at all.”

“Alpha male dramatics,” the man repeated, his attention wavering towards Ryan as he smirked darkly. “Funny she should say that.”

“Does this man know you, Ryan?” Catherine asked, her patience wearing thin. “He seems to think he does.”

“Catherine, this is Alan Nichol,” Ryan replied. “I’m sure you’ve heard me mention him a few times since we’ve been working together.”