Safari Island Shifters: The Complete Collection(60)

Clem pretended to think. “I don’t think so. Pretty sure I can do it all and do it well.”

“I’m kind of afraid you’re going to realize that you are way out of my league.”

Clem hugged him close. “Not a chance. You’re my mate, and I’m not going anywhere.”

And she meant it. She was never going to let anything come between her and Parker. It had turned out that Polly was right. There was such a thing as true love, and Clementine Blue had been lucky enough find it.





Don’t Kiss and Gazelle





One


“Another?” the bartender asked Ward Langston.

Ward looked at his empty mug and put another ten dollars down on the bar. “Keep them coming.”

It had been a very long day for Ward. Days, in fact. He’d been working non-stop for the last three months. All his hard work was paying off tenfold, but he was exhausted. He had the next two days off and he was going to spend them relaxing and recharging.

After a grueling day of interviews, he was treating himself to a quiet night at the bar. Tomorrow night, he was going out to Club Safari with a group of friends. By the time Monday came, he would be ready to continue his interviews.

All the heavy work was done. He’d been planning this celebration since the last one five years ago. The vacation spot he worked at was turning ten—a whole decade of success when people had predicted they would fail in the first three years. Ward had been with Safari Corp since day one and had been on Safari Island since it was just Island Number 125 in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. When the fifth anniversary rolled around, the company had thrown a massive and very well received party. Ward wanted to go even bigger for year ten.

He had been working with on this project for years and was surprised it had come together so smoothly. If he got to plan the fifteenth and twentieth year celebrations, he had no idea how he was going to top this. He was bringing in a slew of international performers and world-class chefs. There had been runway shows from top designers for their resort collections in the spring. Daredevils had performed stunts on the first day of summer. There was a temporary carnival and a new ride at the Safari Park theme park.

Most impressive of all, they’d been able to complete all construction during the winter. This was the first year the park had zero construction going on anywhere. He had no idea how the engineers had pulled that one off, but it was glorious. The animals were all cooperating too. There were brand new rhino, giraffe, and elephant calves and a whole bunch of lion cubs.

It had been a massive undertaking for the entire island and every worker on it. All that was left now was the celebrating part. As PR director, that meant a lot of interviews for Ward. He had completed most of them already. Only one big gun was left. Mitch from Travel Log was doing a big article on the celebration. It was the May cover story for the magazine and they were filming a special for the Travel Channel. The special wasn’t going to air until October but the principal shooting was taking place now. Ward wasn’t nervous; he’d known Mitch for years. It was going to be a nice, easy way to close out his interviews about the big project.

As great as it was all going, there was still an emptiness in Ward. He was having spectacular success in his career but his personal life was floundering. He’d been going to weddings all year and had even helped plan two for island staff members. As happy as he was for his friends, he wondered when it would be his turn. Ever since he was a child, he’d thought he would be married with a child on the way by the time he was thirty. His thirty-second birthday had come and gone in February but he was still single as ever.

He went on dates all the time. None of them ever worked out for various reasons. He was starting to think it wasn’t him but the location. There was one fated mate for each shifter. Some employees on the island had gotten lucky and had found their mates while they were working. Ward wasn’t ruling that out, but he also wanted to try searching farther away.

He’d been with Safari Corp for over a decade and was a respected member of the operation. The pay was also more than he’d ever hoped to earn. The place just kept growing and growing. They were the world’s second largest tourist attraction, behind only Disney World in Florida. It would be a real point of pride to overtake the mouse. The thought of leaving before that happened was painful. Not after all the work he’d put in.

It had been ages since he’d sat down and actually thought about his career and life plan. He’d been working so hard that he hadn’t given himself time to stop and think. That was why he was spending his first night off alone. Just a little Ward time. It had been hard to get into this contemplative mood. There were people everywhere at Bar Safari. Many of his fellow patrons were beautiful tourists. Ward wasn’t above picking up a barfly, but not tonight.

“Is this seat taken?” One of the women who had been eyeing him sat down on the stool next to him. Ward shook his head. He couldn’t stop her from sitting next to him, but he wasn’t going to engage in conversation with her. He turned his body away from the woman and kept drinking. As soon as he finished his beer, he was going to head home.

“Come here often?” the woman asked.

Ward didn’t answer. He finished his beer and stood up. He nodded at the bartender and left a tip before exiting the crowded room. The night air was still warm but the humidity of the daylight hours was gone. It was a perfect night to walk home. He didn’t live too far from the bar. Everything in Safari Town was close except for the schools and the new health complex. The clinic that had been part of the original build had been turned into a gym once the town grew.