"Yes."
"Are you the Alpha?" She was pretty sure that he had a commanding presence.
"Yes." His mouth was pressed into a flat line.
"You don't seem very excited about the move. Forgive me for my presumption, but I find that it's helpful if I understand exactly what my clients are looking for and exactly what their situation is. It may feel personal, but it really does help me get a sense of what their needs are. And then I can find the best property."
He spread his hands apart. "You are very highly recommended."
"Where did you say you are from?" she asked.
"Outside of Fairbanks."
Okay, good. He wasn't from her hometown. She hadn’t thought there were any wolf shifters there. Unless they were nomads, which it didn't sound like they were. "Who did you say recommended me again? I'll be sure and send him or her a thank you note."
He froze for a second. It had better not have been her brother. She glared over at him but then he recovered. "A guy named Alan Jones. I had some business with him and almost forgot his name. That was embarrassing."
She could breathe a sigh of relief now, knowing that her brother had not orchestrated this potentially profitable contract. Moving an entire pack would likely require a lot of property. "Exactly how much land are you looking for?"
"As much as I can get. We don't want any human houses. We'll build our own cabins. We've lived very traditionally, compared to other packs, but now the younger generation is rebelling. They're all going off to human universities and they want human jobs. They want to be dentists. We don't even need a dentist. Next, one of them will want to mate with a human." He shuddered as he said the words.
These traditionalists really got on her nerves. But he was a client, and his own personal beliefs were not her business. She would find him the best property and deliver him exactly what he needed. She typed in a few things on her laptop. "Excuse me for just a moment, but I believe I may have a few properties that I can go ahead and show you today if you're interested."
"I'm interested,'' he said
"Can you give me a ballpark of what you're willing to spend?"
"2.5 million."
She just about fell out of her chair. She'd never made a sale that large before. Having dealt in mostly residential properties, her commissions just had not been that large; this would be a gigantic windfall for her if she was able to find what he wanted and close the deal.
She did her best not to react. She didn't want him thinking that she was brand-new at the job, so she took a deep breath. "With that much capital to work with, I have no doubt that we’ll find you something. We’ll find you the perfect new home for your pack.
"Would you like to ride in my car? I usually drive the clients."
"I'll drive," he said gruffly.
Other female agents rarely got in the car alone with clients they didn't know, and she thought that was a good policy. She usually tried to do the same thing, not wanting to appear out of place.
But she wanted to ride with Roman, which was weird.
It should've gotten on her nerves how he had demanded to drive. If her brother had done that, she would've refused to get in the car just on principle.
They got in the car together and all she could smell was his masculine scent. It smelled so good.
Oh no. Now biology was taking over; her bear liked Roman even more than she did. Her bear had some very clear and very inappropriate ideas about what should happen next.
Stop that,she said to her bear, making sure she didn’t speak out loud.
Oh God, why had she taken this client? Roman was going to be able to smell her arousal; it would be like a beacon.