“So it’s a phone,” she whispered.
“Communication ready. Are you ready to listen?” said the phone.
“Computer, this is Gerri Wilder. Please link,” Gerri replied, moving into the office and placing the tablet on the desk.
The blue light returned, and an image shot out of the tablet, settling into a 3D visual of a man with his arms folded in front of his chest.
“Wow,” Bella gasped. “That guy is huge!”
Gerri snorted. “Senior Officer Karel. How can I help you?”
The man glanced at Bella and then at Gerri. “Gerri. It’s been far too long since our last conversation.”
“Indeed! How is King Alyx?” Gerri asked with a smile.
King? King? Gerri knew royalty? Holy crap!
“Frustrated. He requires your services.”
Gerri gasped. “Mine?” Then she burst into laughter. “I believe the last time I visited, he told me it would be a cold day in hell before he wanted my help finding a queen.”
Karel shrugged. “He has changed his mind. He wants to show the rest of the kingdom he is no longer interested in leading alone. Searching on his own hasn’t gone well.”
Gerri chortled. “I can imagine. What did he do, order women to just show up and try to figure out if one of them was the one?”
Karel sighed. “Yes. We spent weeks with him shaking hands and speaking to them. The lion wanted none.”
“Yes, well, I’m not surprised. Alyx needs more than just a pretty face,” Gerri said, placing her hands on her waist. “He needs someone who won’t be wowed by the fact he’s a king. More importantly, he needs to find whomever his animal chooses.”#p#分页标题#e#
Since Tally was mated to two wolf-shifters, none of the conversation happening was strange to Bella, except for the fact that there was a 3D hologram of the guy. Of course, with technology the way it was, she wasn’t surprised by that either.
Tally had two men who loved curves. Bella stopped and thought for a second. A man who loved curves. As a woman who loved her body, Bella had yet to meet a man who went crazy for curves the way Mrs. Wilder promised her clients did.
Bella had enough curves for herself and anyone who needed some. She didn’t mind being a big girl. She loved it. Her body was hers, and that was that. A lot of times, her parents tried to guilt her about it, but she was pretty bold in telling them to mind their own business.
“Will you come?” Karel asked Gerri.
Gerri glanced at Bella. “I’m not sure. I’m training a new assistant. We have a lot of work. It would serve Alyx right for me to just let him figure things out on his own.”
“Unless you want him to come down there and start searching, I suggest you rethink that strategy,” Karel shrugged. He glanced at Bella. “Bring her along. I am sure it will be quite an adventure. There’s a lot to see here.”
“I’ll think about it. I’ll get back to you in a few days, my time.”
“Thank you, Gerri. I hope to see you soon,” Karel said. The image was sucked into the screen, and the tablet shut off.
“Sounds like you have a new client,” Bella said. “I don’t mind going with you if you need to do an offsite visit.”
Gerri laughed and patted her on the arm. “Come with me, Bella. I need to explain something to you.”
Bella followed behind Gerri and took a seat on the same sofa she’d tried hiding the tablet in. She watched Gerri pour a glass of whiskey. Gerri then brought it over and gave it to Bella. “Trust me, you’re going to need this.”
Okay. She grabbed the tumbler and waited.
Gerri sat across from her, removing her shoes and placing her feet on her chair, something Bella hadn’t seen her do before. “Gerri, you’re making me nervous.”
She’d visited Gerri’s home two times, and neither of those times had Gerri seemed so preoccupied. In fact, Gerri was one of the only women she’d ever met who appeared to have her shit together.
“All right, so let’s give you some shifter history,” Gerri started. “What do you know of shifters?”
She thought about it for a moment before replying. “That they’re strong. They live longer and can change back and forth between animal and human. That’s about it.”
Gerri nodded. “That’s pretty good. Okay, so what if I told you shifters came to this planet a long time ago and started mating with the humans and creating a new breed of shifters?”
She lifted her hand for Gerri to stop. “Hang on a sec. What do you mean ‘came to this planet’? Where the hell did they come from?”