Page 12 of Holly Jolly Heat
And I was his manager. I needed to make sure everything went perfectly.
Which meant I needed to be professional. Focused. Not distracted by the fact that my client was also my fated mate who was currently driving toward me with his pack.
My phone buzzed. A video call from my best friend Sasha, who I'd been avoiding for three days.
I almost didn't answer, but she'd just keep calling.
"You're alive," Sasha said the moment her face appeared on screen. "I was starting to think you'd been kidnapped."
"Sorry. I've been... dealing with something."
"Dealing with something in Cedar Falls, according to your mom, who I had to call because you weren't answering my texts." Sasha's dark eyes narrowed. "Spill. What happened?"
"I met my fated mates."
Sasha's jaw dropped. "WHAT."
"Three of them. A pack. At Pike Place Market on Thursday."
"OH MY GOD. Michelle, that's—wait, why don't you look happy? That's amazing!"
"They're my clients."
Silence. Then: "Oh. Oh shit."
"Yeah."
"Wait, which clients? Please tell me it's not the crypto bros."
"Lucas Morrison and his team."
Sasha's eyes went even wider. "CozyLuke? The wholesome gaming angel? Michelle, that's—that's actually perfect! He's like the nicest person on the internet!"
"He's also my client, Sasha. The one I signed a few months ago. The one whose career I'm supposed to be managing objectively."
"Okay, but he's also your fated mate. That beats out professional ethics."
"Does it though? Because I built my entire business on the principle that professional boundaries are sacred. If I start making exceptions?—"
"It's not an exception if it's a once-in-a-lifetime fated pack bond," Sasha interrupted. "Michelle, do you know how rare this is? Most people never meet even one fated mate. You met three. At the same time. That's...that's cosmic intervention. Destiny. Whatever you want to call it."
"I call it a professional nightmare."
"You call everything that involves emotions a nightmare." Sasha's voice gentled. "You've been running from personalconnections since your dad died. I know why. I get it. But honey, you can't run forever."
My throat was tight. "What if I lose everything? My business, my reputation, my clients?"
"What if you gain everything? A pack, a family, support, love?"
"That's not a fair trade."
"Isn't it?" Sasha leaned closer to the camera. "Michelle Rodriguez, I love you, but you're so scared of depending on anyone that you've built your entire life around not needing people. And that's lonely. I know it's lonely because you've told me it's lonely."
"Sasha—"
"When's the last time you let someone take care of you? When's the last time you admitted you needed help? When's the last time you weren't the person solving everyone else's problems?"
I didn't have an answer.
