Protege(11)

“Adjust your schedule, Ms. Banks. I’m doing you a favor. Procrastination will only move you to the back of my agenda, and by the time my next opening comes around I’ll have likely forgotten why I wanted to help you.”

Her brow creased. “Why do you want to help me, Mr. Duval?”

She was a nosy little thing. “Go before your car gets ticketed. I’ll contact you soon.”

She shifted her bag more securely over her shoulder. “But—”

“And do yourself a favor and research the proper way to address and speak to a dominant male. Your ass will thank you.”

“My ass?”

“Good-bye, Ms. Banks.”

Understanding that their meeting was over, she dug in her bag for her keys. “Thank you, Mr. Duval.”

What was it about her? He sighed and gave her a polite nod. “My pleasure, Ms. Banks.”

As she left, he sucked his lip between his teeth. She was definitely not their typical applicant. The girl didn’t have a clue about the world she was asking to join. This wasn’t a dating game and she’d soon realize that, and likely go running for the hills when she did. Now he just had to explain who she was to Ezra.





Chapter Two


Two minutes after she left, Jude dialed Ezra. His friend didn’t waste time on a greeting. “What was that about?”

“I was with someone.”

“So I figured. Who?”

He explained the issue of Ms. Collette Piper Banks and how she’d stumbled across their private organization, as his friend traveled from his office on the twelfth floor to Jude’s on the fourteenth. When he reached his door, he said, “I’m here.” The call disconnected and the door opened. “Well, she can’t stay without an endorsement, Jude. You know the rules. You wrote them.”

Flexing his fingers in the air, Jude made a sound of annoyance. “I know. And typically I don’t have the urge to bend rules. You know how particular I am, but this woman . . . I don’t know what it is about her.”

“I’m amazed she discovered us online like that. We need to dismantle that link.”

“Already handled. I sent Aaron an e-mail with the link before I called you.”

Ezra’s brows lifted. “She gave it to you?”

Jude chuckled. “She’s a schoolteacher, Ezra, not a spy.”

His friend made himself comfortable on the couch in the back of the office. “It’s pretty crazy her father killed her mother. That’s not something I’ve ever thought about before. Must have been a hard life, coming back from that.”

Shaking his head, still struggling to imagine an eleven-year-old girl surviving such a massive adjustment, he muttered, “The world’s gone to complete shit.”

“Which is why we exist. No wonder she wants to find Fernweh. After losing all security, who wouldn’t feel adrift? She’s probably dying for a sense of belonging.” He turned and sent Jude a meaningful look. “She is a teacher.”

“No.” He recognized his friend’s logic.

“I’m just saying, we’re going to have to find one eventually. August and Chastity’s kids are almost four and Lisa and Josh are talking about trying. Our children would be persecuted in an ordinary school.”

“Our? I didn’t know Lea was pregnant.”

His friend arched a brow. “Very funny. Until I find a second wife she won’t even discuss children.”

Jude sighed. It wasn’t always easy. As incredible as their system was, it still had limits. With close to two thousand members spanning the globe, not everyone had a perfect match. Ezra and Lea, for instance, had very specific taste. His wife wanted to be one in a marriage of three. To Ezra, that was the perfect setup. To Jude, that sounded like enough estrogen to turn a good guy postal.

“What’s she like? Maybe she was sent here for a reason. She might be everything we’re looking for.”

“Who?”

“The teacher.”

“She’s not your match.”

Ezra frowned. “Have you even entered her data yet?”

Instinctively, he withheld minor details, but didn’t understand why he would do that when Ezra was his partner in Fernweh and closest friend. “There were some issues with her résumé.”

“Like what? You know we’re putting her info in no matter what. We don’t have to accept her, but I’m curious to see how she computes with the other candidates. If she fits what Lea and I are looking for, f*ck, I’ll sponsor her. Is she submissive?”

The first issue was her tendency to fib. “I’ll see how she computes, but we still can’t add her to the book without an endorsement and even then it’ll be difficult to tell. There are huge gaps in her application. She has no experience with the life she claims to want. It could turn out to be a total bust.”

“Well, if she matches us you better endorse her. Lea’s getting impatient.”

He stilled. He could endorse her. Why hadn’t he thought of that? With his endorsement, she could be written into the book and within a week the process of review would start and he’d be fielding queries from other men—if he felt her information was reliable. Experience trumped intuition every time.

He frowned. Announcing her arrival to the masses didn’t settle with him as easily as it should have. “I don’t think she’s what you and Lea are looking for.”