Wild at Heart

I called Lucas as soon as I got to the bar to see if he could come in a little earlier than what we discussed, and he was happy to. I had to admit, I was a little nervous. Luke and I have been friends for a while, and we haven’t let our sexual past get in the way of our friendship, but it was different working with him. I would have to see him daily and even though I was hiring him as a manager, he would still be my employee. Why couldn’t anything be simple in my life? I could just not hire him and find someone else that I didn’t have a past with, but this is a little town, sure there were wolves here I didn’t know, but the odds of finding someone who was qualified to do the job, and someone I trusted were slim to none. I just had to make sure I talked to Nick about it during dinner tonight.

I pulled Lucas into the office as soon as he arrived and had him take a seat in my chair. I pulled out the paperwork I just finished last night for payroll and quizzed him on a few things. I was happy to see that he actually knew what he was doing.

“We’ll have to do paperwork and get you acquainted with the place, but you definitely got the job if you want it.” I slid my backside onto the corner of the desk across from him.

“I do!” He shook his head excitedly. “I’d love to. I can do this, Emma. I promise, you won’t be sorry.”

“I know you can, Luke.” I had no doubts in his abilities, but he was a long way from being left alone with the bar. He needed to be put up to speed on everything we do, from how the bar is run to the dish room.

I took Luke around to the whole bar from the front to the back to explain everything I could in such a short period of time. I introduced him to the staff, and everyone was very polite with him. I’ve had the same staff for years, so we were like a little family within the pack. Bringing someone new into that family was always stressful, but I knew Lucas would get along with everyone just fine.

I took him back to the office and trained him some more on the numbers and the ordering. I was hoping in a few weeks I would be able to have a full day off. Maybe I could even plan a trip with Nick? That was going to happen in a fantasy land. Nick was so worried that a war was going to break out between the packs, he invited the East pack to stay in one of our pack homes. He was surely losing his mind. Or maybe it was me who was going crazy?

“Emma?” I noticed Lucas was talking to me and I had to focus back into what I was doing.

“Sorry, what?”

“I think you could use another server.” We were looking at the schedule. “We have enough servers to run the floor for the week, but if someone requests off then that’s where you’re running into problems. If you hire another part-time server that could also double as a part-time bartender then you have the option to give someone full times hours, but you don’t have to cut back the hours on the servers and bartenders you already have.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” I nodded. “I’d rather cross-train someone with more experience here as a bartender and split their hours between server and bartender and just hire a new server who can focus on the menu instead of learning both at once.” Lucas nodded again.

“Yeah, that would be better.”

“Okay, manager, get an add out that we’re hiring another server.” I smacked his arm and smiled.

“I will get that put out first thing in the morning, it’s a little late tonight, I don’t think many people will see it.” Little late? I darted my eyes to the clock in my office and cursed under my breath. It was almost nine o’clock and I didn’t have dinner with Nick.

“I’m sorry, I have to go.” I reached over him and grabbed my bag.

“Hot date?” He asked.

“Something like that.” I smiled back at him. “Krista is bartending, she usually takes care of the closing, if you want to stay and she can help you learn that.”

“Of course.” He stood up and blocked the door from me. “I’ll text you in the morning when I get that add posted.”

“Yeah, thanks.” I side-stepped him and went for the door again, this time making my escape so I could run to Nick’s. When I left my office, Lucas was right behind me, and to my surprise Nick was coming in the door. He smiled at me until his eyes went to Lucas and his face instantly turned cold. Nick’s emotions were all over the place lately when it came to me, so I couldn’t trust that he could keep his wolf in check and not lose his mind over Lucas, so I needed to defuse this situation quickly. I walked right up to him and blocked his view of Luke.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him as sweetly as I could muster. He lowered his eyes to me and lifted a bag in his hand.

“You didn’t call me, so I brought dinner to you.” I couldn’t hold back my smile. Why was he so good to me?

“Hi,” Lucas was suddenly standing beside me with his hand extended towards Nick. Nick looked down at it and then back up to Luke, but he didn’t shake his hand.

“Nick,” I pulled his attention back to me. “This is Lucas, I just hired him as the manager to take some pressure off me.” I turned to Luke. “Luke, I’m sure you know Nick.”

“Of course, Alpha of the pack, who wouldn’t know him.” He finally put his hand down, realizing Nick wasn’t in the mood for handshakes. “We’ve never officially met, but I definitely know you.” He had this stupid grin on his face that I’ve never seen before, but Nick was doing his best to ignore him.

“Can we talk privately?” Nick’s eyes were locked on mine and I couldn’t get a read on him. Was he mad? Was he happy I wouldn’t be at the bar so much now? I had no idea.

“Of course.” I led him to my office and shut the door behind us. He practically threw the bag of food onto my desk and pushed me into the door. His huge hands were pressed against the door on either side of my head, blocking me in. I could smell the jealousy seeping out of his skin, but there was something else with it… arousal? His breath was rigid, and his elbows were locked in position. “Nick—” I breathed, trying to control myself as the smell of my arousal mixed with his. His nose curled in disgust.

“You smell like him.” He leaned into me more, and I knew exactly what he was doing. He was trying to replace Luke’s scent with his own.

“He’s just a friend.” I stated with a shaky voice, but I knew Nick wasn’t listening to me. His wolf was taking over his body and all he wanted to do was claim me as his own. His hand finally moved from the door as he slid it down to the handle, fingering his way to the lock until it clicked in place. “Nick—” I put my hand over his hand, and he paused for just a moment.

“You’re not in charge right now, Emma.” The voice that spoke to me was that of an Alpha. The gentle tone Nick often took with me was nowhere in my office and I couldn’t help but feel my panties go moist. For once in my life, I was taking orders from my Alpha and I was completely okay with that.