My Shifter Boss

Lucy turned to Nathan. “Thank you for the escort, but it’s time for you to go.”

“What?” Nathan had fully expected to go in with her and join in the conversation.

Lucy smiled at him. “Nathan, this is a job interview, not a friendly conversation. I will go in by myself.”

Nathan nodded and touched her nose with his finger. “I’m constantly surprised by you, and forever proud that you let me call you my girlfriend.”

“You smooth talker,” Lucy murmured and kissed him on the cheek just as the secretary cleared her throat, a smile on her face.

“The Head will see you now.”

“Thank you.” Lucy waved at Nathan as she walked inside to face the Head on her own.

*****

The Head smiled at Lucy as she stepped into his office. He gestured for her to have a seat and offered refreshments before beginning the interview. At her decline, he moved behind his desk and sat in his massive chair, studying her as they discussed her degree, which she would have by the end of the year.

“You’ll be able to work on your classwork in your down time here at the office, if you need to,” the Head offered. “We have no problem with that at all.”

Lucy nodded her thanks and asked, “Is this a paid position or an internship until I graduate?”

The Head chuckled. “An excellent question, Lucy. It is a paid position, although I will tell you that after you’ve obtained your degree, your pay will increase.”

“What exactly does this position require?”

“We need someone to act as moderator between the Guard and various media outlets like newspapers, radio, internet, and television. We also need someone to monitor our social media sites.”

“The Guard has a Twitter?” Lucy asked, amazed.

Again, the Head chuckled at her expression. “Gotta keep up with the times, my dear.” Lucy smiled at this. The Head continued. “You’ll be in charge of press releases about both positive and negative events that take place regarding anything to do with the Guard or its employees.”

“Just so that I’m aware, wasn’t Marissa’s job to act as media liaison?” Lucy’s stomach jumped a little when she asked the question, but she wanted to know what she was getting herself into.

The Head puts his hands together and leaned his chin on his fists. He looked at Lucy seriously. “That was a part of her job, yes, but Marissa will no longer be working with the Guard in any capacity after her behavior.”

“I see.”

“The incident with the human revealing you to the reporter would be something you would handle, as well as anything else that comes up. Typically, if we can, we try to avoid the negative press. Our goal is to integrate into human society so we don’t have to hide any longer.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. She had no idea that weres wanted to be more involved in the human world, although it made perfect sense to her to do so. Hiding in plain sight had always seemed such a waste of perfectly good people. And all the humans she knew had only good things to say about weres.

“Sir, I would love to help this organization become a bigger part of human society. I love that idea!”

“We need forward thinking people like you, Lucy. We’ve spent too long in the shadows, as far as I’m concerned,” the Head claimed. “So, I’m offering you the job. What do you think?”

“Honestly, sir, I’d like some time to think. I am very interested in the job, but I have to make sure it’s the right thing for me right now.”

“I understand. Let me know sometime this week, if you don’t mind,” he replied.

“Of course! I’ll let you know tomorrow,” Lucy emphasized. She rose and extended her hand to him. They shook hands and he walked her to the door. Nathan was waiting outside for her.

“Nathan, hello,” the Head greeted. “How are you today?”

“Doing well, sir, thanks. How are you?”

“Good, good. Listen, talk this young lady into working here. She’s the perfect fit, in my opinion,” the Head claimed, briefly touching Lucy’s shoulder.

Nathan laughed. “Sir, I will do my best. I’d love to see more of her around the office.” The slightly s*xual tone with which this sentence was uttered was lost on the Head, but not Lucy. She gaped at Nathan before returning her attention to the Head.

“Thank you, again, sir. I’ll have my decision to you by tomorrow morning,” Lucy told him.

She and Nathan turned as one and walked to the elevator without speaking. The minute the door closed, she smacked his shoulder, grinning at him.

“Dammit, Nathan! I almost snorted when you said that,” Lucy admonished playfully. “I can’t believe he didn’t pick up on what you said.”

“Oh he probably did, but he’s too polite to say anything.”

Lucy gasped. “You butt. He’s going to think I’m a slut.”

“Why are you rhyming?”

“Shut up.” They were silent as the elevator made its ascent.

“Want to see my apartment? Or are you mad at me?” Nathan asked with a sidelong glance.

Lucy rolled her eyes at him. “As if I was mad at you. But we can pretend we’re fighting and have make up s*x.”

Nathan pushed a different floor just as they reached the ground floor. The doors opened and immediately closed, and the elevator rose ten floors. He glanced at her and smiled wickedly. “Damn elevator. It’s so slow.”

*****

The apartment he led her to was so much better than hers. It had an open design; the kitchen and the living room were one large room. To the left was a bedroom and half bath, and to the right was the master bedroom with attached bathroom. The decorations were sparse; it was a man’s apartment, after all. The apartment was clean, the furniture functional although plain, and the walls were mostly bare.

Lucy shook her head and looked at him. “Wow. Your bachelor pad is seriously in need of a woman’s touch,” she joked.