Page 7 of Wrong Number, Right Fox (Dial M For Mates #6)

GARNER

As I headed to my office, hiding a yawn behind my hand, I paused.

Joss was leaning against my office door, two coffees in hand and a paper bag with the name of my favorite bakery emblazoned on the side. This had become his habit, and I loved it.

“Rough night?” He wasn’t smirking as Booker would have been, but there was concern in his voice and those deep brown eyes.

“Ummm, didn’t get much sleep.” I should have said that I couldn’t sleep because my response suggested I’d been busy, and I didn’t want Joss to think I’d been clubbing or someone was sharing my bed. “Had a lot on my mind,” I clarified.

I took the proffered coffee and gulped a huge mouthful.

“Can you spare ten or fifteen minutes?” Joss jerked his head at the window. “Beautiful day.”

For once I was grateful Uncle had insisted on including a terrace in the new building, and I slid open the sliding door. There was a gentle breeze that ruffled Joss’s hair, and I drank more coffee so he wouldn’t catch me staring.

“I have an ulterior motive for bringing you out here.”

Hmmm. I stared at the street below and the people bustling across the street. “Hoping you’re not planning on throwing me over the railing.”

Joss spat out his coffee, and he wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. “Why would you say that?”

“Because I gave you an almost impossible task and you’ve been buried in paperwork since you got here.”

Joss shrugged. “That’s my job. I pull all the threads together into a manageable strategy so that my clients can do what they do best.”

“Do you say that to all your clients?”

He chortled. “I try to keep upbeat while tearing my hair out, but yeah, pretty much.”

I clutched my chest. “You’re telling me I’m not special? I’m hurt.”

“You definitely are,” he murmured under his breath. He wouldn’t have any idea that I picked up what he’d said. He sipped his drink and his face brightened. “But I have a proposal.”

Oh gods no, not more money. That wasn’t possible.

“I’d like to do a trial run of the new software.”

Did that involve money?

“Okay. What do you need from me?”

“Your time.” He extended his hand toward the doors. “But if we do it here, you’ll be distracted. At Denmarke Solutions, we prefer to take the CEO out of their regular environment so we can introduce and review our solution and conduct training.”

It would be more beneficial if he trained the entire department, though goosebumps paraded over my skin when I pictured Joss and me having a candlelight dinner. But when I brought it up—about my employees, not the romantic evening—he explained I needed to approve the new system first.

But I didn’t want to, because when I did, Joss’s contract would end and he’d leave.

I plastered a smile on my face and agreed because I had to put the business and the den before my personal feelings, and Joss didn’t know who I was.

He might not like me, as we’d not shared a meal or talked of anything besides work.

“I’m in. Should we rent a meeting room somewhere?” We had plenty of space, but if I was on the premises, my staff would badger me with questions.

“No, a hotel. Our company gets a special rate, as we stay there frequently. I’ve booked us two rooms for three nights.”

I relished being away from the office and spending time with Joss without my brother inserting himself in our conversations.

But there was a ding, ding, ding in my head when he mentioned a hotel.

Nights under the same roof as my mate. If we had adjoining rooms, I could put my ear to the connecting wall and listen to him breathing. Not creepy, especially for a shifter.

I had twenty-four hours to organize everything at the office. Luckily, there were no pending shipments, as the last one for the month was dispatched this morning.

While I hadn’t slept much last night, I didn’t close my eyes this evening while staring at the time and calculating how many hours before Joss picked me up.

It was a little odd that the consultant was driving, and it was rare that I sat in the passenger seat.

Booker was a maniac behind the wheel, and Uncle Cyrus had a driver, one of many luxuries he refused to give up.

An hour before the alarm went off, I was showered, dressed, and standing by the window waiting for Joss to pull up. The house was locked, plants watered, and I’d instructed my fox to be on his best behavior..

Five minutes away , he texted.

That was my signal to hotfoot it outside. If the new system made no improvements to the business, I’d have to sell my home and move to a smaller one, though if we went bankrupt, I might be couch surfing.

“Hi.”

I’d never seen my mate in anything but a suit, and while it was a cliché, he took my breath away.

Literally. He was wearing jeans that fit so snugly, my eyes were drawn to his crotch.

His tee showed off his bulging muscles. He must go to the gym regularly.

If he needed to work out while we were at the hotel, I’d offer my services.

Sex used a lot of calories, or so I’d read.

“Morning.” I put my bag in the back and tried to buckle the seat belt, but it wouldn’t lock in.

“Let me help you. It’s a little cantankerous.” When Joss grabbed the belt and inserted it, his fingertips brushed over me, and I shivered. He made no comment, but he had to have witnessed the goosebumps scurrying over my skin.

After a satisfying click, my mate lifted his head, and his eyes met mine. For a second, I thought he was going to kiss me, and I almost closed my eyes and puckered my lips.

But I was disappointed.

“There you go. All done.” He held my gaze longer than was the norm, and my chest was so tight, I couldn’t get air into my lungs. I longed to pull him closer and plant my lips on his, but the voice in my head, not my beast, whispered that I was doing this for the pack.

We chatted while he drove out of town and headed in the direction of the den land, but Joss turned off the highway beforehand.

“This is a small family-run hotel, not part of a huge chain, so I hope you won’t be disappointed. There’s no ballroom or boutique, but there is hiking, waterfalls, and stunning views.”

I doubted we’d have much time outside the hotel, but I wasn’t a fan of the ubiquitous hotel that could be translated anywhere in the world.

“This is lovely.” We pulled up, and I admired the wooden building that was originally built in the early twentieth century. The same family had owned it for over a hundred years.

The manager greeted Joss like the regular guest that he was. My belly roiled when I thought of other alphas he’d brought here. Had their business relationship morphed into something more personal?

“Joss, I must apologize.”

Oh no, they don’t have a room or it’d been renovated or a water pipe burst.

“There’s been a mistake. The booking system allocated you one room instead of two. My sincere apologies.” He explained our first night was complimentary, but I was picturing me in bed with my mate. Or maybe we’d argue about who would have the bed while the other slept on the couch.

“Sounds as though you need my services, Luke.” Joss turned to me, a plea in his eyes. But I didn’t speak silent-message Joss. Was I supposed to say that was fine or suggest we leave? I wanted to stay. I’d sleep on the floor if I got to stay in the same room as my mate.

“I think we’ll be fine for a few nights.”

Joss mouthed, “Thank you.” But I couldn’t figure out if that was because he didn’t want to cause a scene or he couldn’t be bothered returning to the city.

I paused in the doorway before entering our room. The bed was a wooden four-poster with a handmade quilt and piled with embroidered cushions. There was a chest at the foot of the bed, and with the wooden dresser and oval mirror, it reminded me of a film set in the nineteenth century.

“This is lovely.” But along with the old charm was a settee, not a plush twenty-first century sofa. The floor would definitely be more comfortable than that.

“There is a bolster.” Joss pointed out the long cushion that ran the width of the bed. “We could put that between us as the unmarried omega used to do in movies when forced to share a bed with the other main character.”

That bolster needed to be tossed out the window, but I offered to take the settee.

“You won’t get any sleep on that.”

Sleep was the last thing on my mind.