Not his type

Aaron

The door closed behind Bree, and for several seconds I stayed exactly where I was, staring at it like it might open again and explain what had just happened.

She had walked out of my office with a job she had no experience for, an arrangement I would have called unthinkable if it had been anyone else sitting in that chair. 

I should have regretted it the moment she left. Instead, I found myself reaching for my tablet, pulling up the estate security system before I'd fully decided to.

The reception camera showed her walking toward the entrance with her friend beside her, talking animatedly, her hands moving as she spoke. Her friend was laughing at whatever she was saying.

Apparently, the woman had already recovered from the fact that I'd just offered her a position she hadn't applied for and clearly hadn't expected to get.

I watched them a moment longer than I meant to.

Bree had no idea what had actually happened in this office. She thought I'd hired her because I'd seen something useful in her, and that wasn't entirely untrue.

She was outspoken, unimpressed by wealth, and comfortable enough in her own skin to insult a stranger in his own garden, then apologize the moment she learned who he was.

But none of that explained why I'd hired her, and I still couldn't account for why my wolf had reacted to her the way he had.

Mate.

My wolf called out as if saying it again would somehow make me accept it.

I ignored him.

Bree Carter was human. She knew nothing about our world, nothing about what it meant to carry the responsibilities of an alpha, and certainly nothing about what it meant to be tied to someone like me.

She was also too loud, too carefree, and far too comfortable saying exactly what was on her mind. She wasn't the sort of woman I would normally notice, much less choose to stand beside me as Luna.

She wasn't my type and would never be my type.

Whatever my wolf believed, I had no intention of accepting a human as my mate.

*Mate.*

“No,” I said, shutting him up.

If keeping her close was what it took to settle him, then so be it. Maybe once the instinct understood I wasn't going to give in, it would finally stop fighting me.

That was the only reason I'd hired her.

At least, that was what I told myself.

The door opened, and Evelyn, my younger sister walked in with a tablet under one arm and a cup of coffee in the other hand. She stopped the second she saw my face.

"I heard you hired someone”

“Yes.”

She glanced around the office, half expecting to find someone hiding behind the desk.

“Since when?”

“Since today.”

“And you didn't think to tell me?”

“I didn't realize I needed permission.”

“You don't.” She set her coffee down on my desk with more force than the cup deserved. “But considering I'm currently your personal assistant, I would have appreciated hearing it from you instead of the receptionist.”

I picked the tablet back up.

“Her name is Bree Carter. She starts Monday.”

“Bree Carter.” Evelyn frowned, turning the name over like she was trying to place it.

 “Who is she?”

“A woman I just met today.”

“You interviewed her yourself?”

“No. HR did. According to them, she wasn't exactly the strongest applicant.”

Her eyebrows went up slowly.

“That's interesting.”

“Why?”

“Because you usually go for the best, not someone HR didn't consider particularly impressive.”

“I did this time.”

“Does she have experience?”

“No.”

“Qualifications?”

“Not particularly.”

Evelyn stared at me as though I'd just told her I'd hired someone off the street to run the company.

“And you hired her anyway?”

“Yes.”

She shook her head slowly.

“Aaron, what happened?”

I almost smiled at that.

“She fits what I wanted.”

“That explains absolutely nothing.”

“She isn't impressed by money, or status, or power. Most people who walk into this building are. She wasn't.”

Evelyn considered that for a moment, some of the suspicion in her face easing into curiosity.

“Still not convinced, though.”

“That is a you problem, Evelyn.”

She pulled out the chair across from my desk and sat, settling in like she wasn't planning to leave anytime soon.

“So what does she look like?”

“Why does that matter?”

“Because you've never hired an unqualified assistant in your life, and I'm trying to understand what possessed you to start now.”

“She’s perfectly capable.”

“You just said she has no experience.”

“She can learn.”

“You're avoiding the question.”

I leaned back in my chair.

“She isn't my usual type.”

“That's not what I asked.”

I didn't answer that one.

Evelyn studied me for a long moment, and I watched the exact instant a teasing smile broke through the suspicion on her face.

“Wait. Are you planning to sleep with her like the others?”

“No. Take your mind out of the gutters.”

The answer came out so fast that she laughed.

“Don't blame me. I'm trying to understand why my brother suddenly decided to drop his very high expectations and employ someone who doesn't seem to fit his criteria.”

“I don't owe you an explanation.”

“Then perhaps you should tell me why you hired her.”

I looked down at the tablet instead of answering right away because the honest answer wasn't one I was ready to give her.

How do I tell her that my wolf had gone half out of his mind the moment I met Bree? That I'd spent the last few hours fighting an instinct I had no intention of obeying? That I'd decided if I kept Bree close, maybe the wolf would finally understand there was nothing to fight for?

I gave Evelyn the version I was willing to let her hear instead.

“Because I'm getting married.”

She tilted her head.

“And?”

“Having her around will make my commitment to Cassandra stronger.” Evelyn went very still, and I kept talking before she could interrupt. She’s outspoken. Unconventional. Completely different from the women I usually associate with. If anything, having her around will remind me exactly why I've chosen the life I'm building with my fiancée.”

A slow smile pulled at Evelyn's mouth.

“So you hired an irritating woman to strengthen your commitment to another one.”

“Essentially.”

“That is possibly the strangest logic I've ever heard from you, and I've heard a lot of it.”

“It doesn't need to make sense to you.”

She laughed, short and disbelieving.

“Fine. I'll meet her Monday.”

“You'll meet her before Monday.”

Her smile faded a little.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“I want you to train her.”

“Of course you do.”

“In everything. She knows nothing about the position.”

Evelyn sighed.

“You've really lost your mind.”

“Probably.”

I picked the tablet back up as if the conversation were over.

“And make sure she has an appropriate wardrobe before Monday.”

“A wardrobe?”

“She'll be working for me.”

“Aaron, she's your assistant, not your fiancée.”

“I know that.”

“And you're buying her clothes?”

“I said make sure she has appropriate clothes. I didn't say I was paying for them myself.”

“You've never once cared what an assistant wears.”

“She'll be working closely with me.” I paused, then added the part that I knew would earn me another look.

“I've asked her to move into the estate.”

Evelyn's jaw actually dropped.

“She’s moving into the mansion?”

I nodded.

“You're letting an employee live here?”

“She asked if her friend could move in with her. The accommodation is large enough for two.”

Evelyn sat back slowly, studying me the way she used to study me when we were children, and she suspected I'd broken something and hidden the evidence.

“You're making an awful lot of exceptions for someone you met this morning.”

“They're practical decisions.”

“Of course they are.”

I ignored the knowing look spreading across her face and went back to the tablet.

She stood, coffee in hand, and made it almost to the door before she stopped.

“For what it's worth,” she said, “I'm curious about her.”

I looked back at the screen.

“So am I.”

The words were out before I could stop them, and I heard exactly how that sounded the second I said it.

Evelyn smiled like she'd won something.

“I thought so.”

The door closed behind her, and I waited a moment before opening the security feed again.

Bree and Leslie had already left the reception area. The screen showed nothing now but an empty lobby. I stared at the empty frame anyway.

"She isn't my type," I murmured, as if saying it was enough to convince myself.

Whatever instinct had awakened the second I saw Bree standing in my garden, I would not let it dictate my future.

Bree Carter was my assistant.

Nothing more.

And if keeping her close was what it took to keep my wolf from unraveling entirely, then I would use that to my advantage.

That was all this was. It had to be.

I would not accept her as my mate.

Not now.

Not ever.