Claiming His Mate by Van Cole

Author:Van Cole [Cole, Van]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hewlett-Packard Company
Published: 2020-04-17T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Jake

He was sore all over his body. It was early afternoon already, and he didn’t really feel much better than he had in the morning—but Jake wouldn’t trade that just-fucked feeling for the world. Even if it had been a one-time encounter that he absolutely couldn’t repeat, there was a sick kind of satisfaction in deriving his pleasure from someone like Mikhail.

The guy had seemed pretty screwed up when he realized who Jake was. Was he usually straight, Jake wondered? Or was he just scum in Mikhail’s law-abiding eyes? Either way, he quite liked the idea of being a source of regret for the asshole.

That’s what he told himself, anyway. The pinch of regret at the thought of never screwing like that again was easy enough to ignore. After all, he was still looking for a job; that took way more energy than daydreaming about muscular alphas fucking him into the ground in the running fields darkness.

It wasn’t like he wanted or needed anybody, anyway.

Rubbing at the base of his back as though that would ease the pain, he took a deep breath and headed into the bakery that was next on his job-hunting list. It was a busy time; the elementary school a street or so away seemed to have just kicked out, and there were a whole bunch of parents and students milling about the place together. Ordinary job-hunters might think of this as a bad time to inquire, but Jake figured he couldn’t have any worse luck than he already had. Besides, maybe seeing the place so packed out would remind the proprietor exactly how much they needed to hire a little more help.

That was the theory, anyway.

The moment he actually entered the little bakery, he felt the same air of suspicion he had experienced the other day. It wasn’t anything in particular that made him feel that way. Nobody said anything rude to him—at least not yet. Nobody outright stared. He could just feel eyes on him, and tense body language on every side. As he approached the desk, he could see the manager there drawing herself up as if preparing for a fight.

He might as well just walk away right now, but his pride wouldn’t allow it. Besides, he was here to ask for a job. Jake had no intention of letting them believe their assumptions about him had been right. If there was any chance of them feeling guilty once they realized he was totally innocuous and safe, then he wanted to take that chance.

“Hi there,” he said, voice totally professional and polite. Irritated as he was that their shackles were already up, he didn’t want to show it. “I was just wondering whether you’re hiring at the moment.”

The woman raised her eyebrows at him. “Really?”

“Sure,” said Jake, fighting to keep his cool. Stay calm. There’s no need to stoop to her level. “Sorry—did I miss a ‘help wanted’ card in the window…?”

“There’s no card,” she said, eyes still wide and unfriendly. “That isn’t what I meant.

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