Page 43 of Witchwolf

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Dakota

There was something more to what Jax had been saying, that much was clear. It seemed obvious enough to me: if he couldn’t bite me, he just... wouldn’t bite me. Right?

But we were at work, and it wasn’t time to think about him biting me. Especially because even as he talked about how it could kill me, a tiny part of me was remembering how it felt to have him nibbling on my neck, and I wanted him to bite me.

I didn’t think I had a death wish or anything, it was just... it was sexy, wasn’t it? Biting? Maybe he had a biting kink, and wouldn’t be able to?—

The door to Jax’s office opened then, letting in Igarashi Minori, the annoyed, overly starched woman from the meeting, and one of the members of Crescent I’d met before, but whose name I couldn’t for the life of me remember. Ken? Kyle? He’d struck me as textbook confident business guy, but I didn’t know any more than that about him.

Jax stood from his chair, smiling at them both, then bowing to Igarashi Minori. Heck, it didn’t even look awkward or forced. Not too bad, in my own opinion. I did the same, and she returned the gesture, stiff and formal, but at least she was going to show some respect.

At the initial meeting, she’d given no indication that she knew English, but since she was alone, she had to at least know some, right?

“What can we do to help you today, Ms. Igarashi?” Jax asked. Also good. I didn’t know why I might have expected anything else. Jax had never been anything other than perfectly professional... except with me.

“I wish to know more about how Crescent does business,” she told him in flawless English with barely a hint of accent. Her tone was a bit clipped, but there was nothing outright disrespectful there.

Jax smiled at her. “That seems like a reasonable notion to me. If we’re going to be partners, everyone in both companies should be comfortable with each other.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t say anything shitty, or disagree, only nodded.

“What would you like to start with?” I asked her. Sure, it wasn’t my meeting, and maybe it wasn’t my place, but I thought what she cared about would say a lot about her.

She turned and looked at me, her eyes boring into my soul for a moment, before nodding. “Perhaps Human Resources.”

Interesting. That wasn’t remotely what I’d have expected, but also, it was one of the best things I could think of for her to care about: people. Also, I knew HR better than anywhere else in the building. I smiled at her. “That’s perfect. I would be happy to take you down to HR right now. I’m sure Maia would be happy to help out.”

I turned to Jax, raising a brow and waiting for his okay. If anything, he seemed a little relieved to leave it to me, nodding and holding a hand out toward the door. “Of course.” He turned to look at her, slightly hesitant. “I’m sure Dakota can get you anything you need, but if you’d like, I can come along.”

“Not necessary,” she said, holding up a hand and shaking her head. “Who would say anything against a company with their superior standing over them?”

It was a fair point.

Jax didn’t reassure her that wouldn’t happen, just once again bowed slightly, nodding. “Fair enough, Ms. Igarashi. I’ll be here in my office if you need anything else. Dakota can show you anything you’d like to see in the building, and he can call me if you need me there.”

A moment later, we were off toward the elevator banks to take us down to HR.

She looked at me from the corner of her eye for a moment, as though waiting for me to say something. Fair enough, as fast as I’d offered myself up to show her to HR, it was reasonable to assume I’d wanted to speak to her privately. I kind of did have something to say, too, I just didn’t think I should say it, since it wasn’t my place to point out that her employees’ behavior at the meeting combined with the contract language had Igarashi skating on super fucking thin ice with me already.

I wasn’t Jax.

I didn’t get to make that call.

She seemed to have read me all too well, though, as she cocked her head consideringly. “You don’t approve of the merger.”

“The merger isn’t my choice,” I offered right back. “It isn’t my place to approve or disapprove.”

The elevator was already on the top floor waiting, so it opened as soon as we pressed the button, and in a moment, we were alone on the thing. I had a momentary terror that she’d press the emergency stop and the whole thing would turn into a sitcom episode, but she didn’t move or say a word until the doors slid open once again.

“You’re right. You don’t have a say. But you have an opinion.”

I smiled and inclined my head to her, but I wasn’t gonna fall into that trap. “Everyone has an opinion on most things, Igarashi-san. Most of our opinions are irrelevant, and don’t need to be public.”

Her lips actually ticked up in one corner at that. Like I had amused her. But she turned to face forward, looking over the small bullpen of cubicles and offices beyond that made up the HR floor. Still, it seemed she’d decided to move on, because the next thing she said wasn’t about my personal opinion. “American companies have a... reputation, about how they treat employees. Disallowing vacations and even restroom breaks. I would not wish to see Igarashi associated with people who are overworked and unhappy.”

There was a gasp from one side, and when we turned to look, Maia was standing there looking absolutely aghast. “Absolutely not,” she insisted, and a muscle in her jaw clenched and flexed.

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