Cinder's Wolf: A Shifter Retelling of Cinderella (A BBW Shifter Fairy Tale Retelling Book 2) by Sylvia Frost Read Free Book Online
Authors: Sylvia Frost
East Side’s models, actresses, doctors, socialites, artists, and musicians. Tonight was entrepreneurs.
Knowing it was probably useless, Rex breathed in, sifting through the hundreds of individual scents, both artificial and real. The alcohol-tinged perfumes were like a flimsy veil over the stench of sweat and heat, some speaking of sickness, some of hunger, many of desire and inebriation. None of them spoke of her.
His wolf whined softly. It knew she was close. Closer than ever. Rex grimaced. The beast was being so vocal tonight. Irksome.
He almost gave up and opened his eyes, when he tasted it.
There .
A hint of orange twisted through the air, like the echo of a dream. He’d know that scent anywhere. It was her. His mate.
His eyes flew open as he followed the scent to its source—a speck of white in the sea of off-the-rack tuxedos and ball gowns that belonged more in a Texas prom than the Plaza Hotel. He couldn’t see her face yet, or any other details, but it didn’t matter. He was sure.
Rex smiled, his matemark pulsing on his ankle. Twelve years later, his princess had finally returned.
Now he could show her the man he had become.
Chapter 6
Rules For Networking Events
1)Don’t drink.
2)Don’t bring up your company unless prompted first.
3)Keep ratio of talk about how awesome Boxes & Broom is to pandering to male investor’s egos at a healthy 1:20.
4)Really don’t drink.
5)Try not to get into a rapturous discussion with fellow entrepreneurs about the joys of post-it notes and vision boards.
6)Although clearly, vision boards are pretty fucking awesome.
7)Don’t hook up with anyone.
8)If you’re going to break rule 7, they cannot be better off than you are.
9)If you’re going to break rule 7 & 8, they must not be an investor.
10) If you’re going to break rules 7, 8 & 9, they can’t know who you are.
11) Don’t break rules 7, 8, 9 & 10.
“ Y es , thank you. I’d love to meet over coffee.” Cynthia kept up her drooping smile as she placed one of her minimalist white business cards in the oily palm of yet another investor.
He stared at Boxes & Broom’s logo quizzically for a moment before putting the card in his pocket. “I’ll have to check with my assistant, but I think you’ve got an idea that could really go viral here.” Balding and in his late forties, the man said the word viral like it was a foreign language, but he looked enthusiastic enough.
Cynthia patted his hand and withdrew. “Fantastic. Just call this number whenever you’re ready to talk. I’d love to get started,” she said. She had given this exact same line to at least sixty different men tonight and she was tired of them all.
The man nodded and continued staring at Cynthia’s chest before downing the last dregs of his wine and shambling back to the buffet.
He wasn’t going to call. At least not about investing.
Isn’t anyone here a professional?
The whole thing was more like a fancy frat party than a networking event. The masks, the stench of sex in the air, and most of all, the fact that there were far more women here than men.
I have got to leave before midnight anyway , Cynthia thought. That’s when the doormen change shifts. And Harry is, unfortunately, actually conscious when he mans the desk.
Just as she turned to leave, a lick of heat and pain shot up her leg from her ankle straight to her core. Her knee buckled. She peered at her ankle, willing the sensation to end, but it didn’t. Stranger still, the room had fallen quiet, not silent, but hushed, like a show was about to begin.
Cynthia glanced up and realized something very weird.
The show was her.
A man strode toward her with the authority of a ringmaster, and people parted to let him pass. Couples split mid-twirl, laughter fading, and a few really drunk partygoers actually pointed. Some at her, others at the man. It wasn’t until he got close enough that Cynthia put together the hints hidden behind his mask to realize why .
A
Knowing it was probably useless, Rex breathed in, sifting through the hundreds of individual scents, both artificial and real. The alcohol-tinged perfumes were like a flimsy veil over the stench of sweat and heat, some speaking of sickness, some of hunger, many of desire and inebriation. None of them spoke of her.
His wolf whined softly. It knew she was close. Closer than ever. Rex grimaced. The beast was being so vocal tonight. Irksome.
He almost gave up and opened his eyes, when he tasted it.
There .
A hint of orange twisted through the air, like the echo of a dream. He’d know that scent anywhere. It was her. His mate.
His eyes flew open as he followed the scent to its source—a speck of white in the sea of off-the-rack tuxedos and ball gowns that belonged more in a Texas prom than the Plaza Hotel. He couldn’t see her face yet, or any other details, but it didn’t matter. He was sure.
Rex smiled, his matemark pulsing on his ankle. Twelve years later, his princess had finally returned.
Now he could show her the man he had become.
Chapter 6
Rules For Networking Events
1)Don’t drink.
2)Don’t bring up your company unless prompted first.
3)Keep ratio of talk about how awesome Boxes & Broom is to pandering to male investor’s egos at a healthy 1:20.
4)Really don’t drink.
5)Try not to get into a rapturous discussion with fellow entrepreneurs about the joys of post-it notes and vision boards.
6)Although clearly, vision boards are pretty fucking awesome.
7)Don’t hook up with anyone.
8)If you’re going to break rule 7, they cannot be better off than you are.
9)If you’re going to break rule 7 & 8, they must not be an investor.
10) If you’re going to break rules 7, 8 & 9, they can’t know who you are.
11) Don’t break rules 7, 8, 9 & 10.
“ Y es , thank you. I’d love to meet over coffee.” Cynthia kept up her drooping smile as she placed one of her minimalist white business cards in the oily palm of yet another investor.
He stared at Boxes & Broom’s logo quizzically for a moment before putting the card in his pocket. “I’ll have to check with my assistant, but I think you’ve got an idea that could really go viral here.” Balding and in his late forties, the man said the word viral like it was a foreign language, but he looked enthusiastic enough.
Cynthia patted his hand and withdrew. “Fantastic. Just call this number whenever you’re ready to talk. I’d love to get started,” she said. She had given this exact same line to at least sixty different men tonight and she was tired of them all.
The man nodded and continued staring at Cynthia’s chest before downing the last dregs of his wine and shambling back to the buffet.
He wasn’t going to call. At least not about investing.
Isn’t anyone here a professional?
The whole thing was more like a fancy frat party than a networking event. The masks, the stench of sex in the air, and most of all, the fact that there were far more women here than men.
I have got to leave before midnight anyway , Cynthia thought. That’s when the doormen change shifts. And Harry is, unfortunately, actually conscious when he mans the desk.
Just as she turned to leave, a lick of heat and pain shot up her leg from her ankle straight to her core. Her knee buckled. She peered at her ankle, willing the sensation to end, but it didn’t. Stranger still, the room had fallen quiet, not silent, but hushed, like a show was about to begin.
Cynthia glanced up and realized something very weird.
The show was her.
A man strode toward her with the authority of a ringmaster, and people parted to let him pass. Couples split mid-twirl, laughter fading, and a few really drunk partygoers actually pointed. Some at her, others at the man. It wasn’t until he got close enough that Cynthia put together the hints hidden behind his mask to realize why .
A
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