The Beast in Him by Shelly Laurenston

into. Especially when there was an unattached female manning the front doors. But the pixie-like brunette with the adorable squeaky voice could not be charmed. Never rude, she still would not let him simply head to the boss’ offices.
    “I’m so sorry, sir, but you’re not on the list,” she’d told him in no uncertain terms. “No, can’t call. They’d put you on the list if they wanted to talk to you,” she’d insisted. “I am sorry, sir.”
    All said with a big grin and perfect white teeth.
    Of course, Smitty wasn’t the kind of guy who ever gave up. He was still trying to convince her to let him head on up when the elevator doors opened and a bleeding, battered Mace Llewellyn had to be helped into the lobby by one tiny little She-dog and several of her tiny little Pack.
    “What the hell happened?”
    “It was an accident!” At least she looked distressed by the situation. Even better, she looked like the Jessie Ann he remembered. Gone was the polished, pristine, boring Jessica Ward he’d seen on Friday and Saturday, and in her place was the geeky, “I’m still wearing my hair in ponytails” beauty he’d always liked. “We forgot he was coming up for the final check.”
    Smitty stepped in front of them, stopping their progress, and grabbed a handful of Mace’s hair. He lifted the big cat’s head and examined him closely. Not completely knocked out, but Mace was damn close with blood oozing down his face. “Well, good Lord, woman. What the hell did you hit him with, anyway?”
    Jess cleared her throat. “A skateboard.”
    “Excuse me?”
    She shook her head and kept moving forward. “You need to get him to a hospital. He was definitely out cold for a couple of minutes there.” She stepped outside the building and glanced around. “Where’s your car?”
    “There.”
    “That’s a ‘no parking’ space.”
    “You’re going to argue that with me now?”
    Smitty remotely unlocked the doors. Grabbing hold of Mace by his jacket, he lifted him away from Jessie and shoved him into the car, causing the man to moan a bit.
    Jessie’s Pack quickly retreated to the warmth of the lobby, watching them from behind the glass doors, leaving only Jessie standing outside in the cold. She twisted her hands in front of her. “I’m so sorry about this.” She looked at Mace. “God, you don’t think he’ll have permanent brain damage, do you?”
    “You’d never be able to tell if he did.”
    She scowled at Smitty. “Is this time to joke?”
    “If you’re that worried”—he opened the back passenger door—“come with us.”
    “Huh?” She glanced back at her Pack before shaking her head. “No. No. That’s not necessary.”
    “You want him to pay the bills for this?”
    “Of course—”
    “’Cause personally I’d like to avoid any legal problems stemming from this little episode.”
    “What? You’d sue—”
    “Now, now, darlin’. Let’s deal with Mace first.” He gave her his best earnest look. “He’s all that matters right now.”
    “But—”
    He pushed her into the truck and closed the door, enjoying his good luck. True, his best friend had been wounded, but sacrifices sometimes had to be made.

CHAPTER 5
     
    He’s not quite sure how it happened. One second he was in an elevator heading up to a dog den for the final check from his company’s recent job, secretly enjoying the fact that Smitty couldn’t get past the front desk. The next he was flat on his back looking up at a bunch of dogs staring at him, horrified.
    Two hours later, he had a face full of stitches and a raging Desiree, who had somehow backed a predatory male wolf into a corner.
    Mace had to admit he was enjoying the show.
    “Well, where the hell were you?”
    “Uh... ” Hands in his front jean pockets, Smitty glanced over at Mace. His big dumb dog eyes pleading for help, but Mace only grinned, ignoring the pull of stitches.
    When Dez looked at Mace over her shoulder, his face dropped into an expression of