Geek Bearing Gifts (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance): A BBW in search of love + A sexy shifter who secretly loved her = Smokin' Roaring Romance (Paranormal Dating Agency Book 2) (11 page)

“I have to go home,” she answered, wrapping the towel around her torso in a more discreet cover up.

“Already? I thought for sure the chief would find a way to keep you here
.” He winked.

Her cheeks heated with embarrassment. “Believe me, it wasn’t for lack of trying. But I do have a job to do. And I
kinda ran out of clean clothes.”

Liam shrugged. He filled a glass with iced tea and took a gulp. “Clothes are overrated.”

“My thoughts exactly,” said Ky.

She choked on a giggle
, trying to keep a straight face but failed miserably. “Figures you guys would think that.”

She eyed
Ky’s naked torso, slowly lifting her vision up to meet his gaze. His smile told her he knew she was bullshitting. If she could figure out a way to keep him naked then she’d happily allow it.

“I’ll go change.” She stood to go to the small cabin but stopped a few feet away and turned back to Ky. “I might find myself taking some more time off. If I’m invited back, I’d happily return.”

“Are you leaving already?” Liam asked.

“No. I’ll be back in a few.”

Liam waved as she walked away. By the time she reached the cabin her phone was buzzing with text messages from Tally, Mrs. Wilder and one from Ky. His was the only one she wanted to see.

No invitation needed. I want you here
with me all the time.

She grinned like a fool and went to take a shower. She’d probably lose her job taking all that time off, but she hadn’t taken vacation
time in a few years. All those hours of unused time off were going to come in handy now. She knew what she’d do. Go home and get more time off, then visit Tally and Mrs. Wilder before heading back. So what if she looked sort of desperate? She liked being with Ky. It wasn’t all about sex either. He was a genuinely nice guy. That meant more to her than anything.

Nita took longer than she anticipated showering, dressing and packing her bag. By the time she returned to
Ky’s cabin, Jess was there but there was no sign of Ky.

“Hi,” she said to Jess. “I’m heading out, don’t want to wait until it’s too dark before I go. Do you know where
Ky went?”

Jess winced
, her hands gripping some oven mitts before she finally threw them on a counter. “There’s a problem he went to handle. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

That didn’t sound good. Especially not the way Jess said it.

“I guess I’ll go home then.” Shit. She’d really wanted to see him. Maybe kiss him goodbye. Give him a hug. Ah, damn. She was much too attached to the big guy. Distance was probably a good thing. “He has my number and we’ll talk when he isn’t so busy.” She strolled forward to give Jess a hug. “Thanks so much for feeding me while I’ve been here.”

“Oh, you’re very welcome
.” Jess sighed. She patted her on the back and marched to the front of the house where Nita’s energy saver was parked. “I’m just happy you’re back.”

Nita stopped by the car door and turned to Jess. “Back?”

Jess’s sparkling hazel eyes filled with happiness. “Yes! I’m so happy that Ky finally got you back.”

Say what? “
Got me back from where?”

“Oh,” she gushed
. “You know. You were his first love back in high school.”

Oh. My. God.

It couldn’t be real. She had to be kidding. Ky wouldn’t have withheld that kind of information. Would he? “His first love?”

“
Let me think.” Jess’s brow puckered. “You guys were like fourteen or fifteen I think. Anyway, he’d gone to live with one of our uncles at Silver Falls. He and my dad didn’t get along. But that’s another story. You went to the same school.” Jess grinned. “I’m sure you’ve talked about it already, but I just think it’s so awesome that you’re here. And he’s got the woman he always wanted.”

Silver Falls. The word resounded in her head like a painful drum. Jess’s words
were drowned out by the painfully loud beat of her heart. He’d been her high school best friend?

Jess gave her another hug. “Drive safe and come back soon! I know
Ky will be counting the minutes until you do.”

“Right,” she mumbled and slid behind the wheel of her car.

She got lost in her thoughts. Hours flew, one after another, and her mind turned to a complete mess of questions. Why hadn’t he told her who he was? She felt like a fucking idiot for not putting two and two together. He didn’t look so much like he had back in school that she’d assume he was the same person. The vile taste of acid rolled up the back of her throat. Bastard!

“How?”
she asked herself.

Her phone rang repeatedly but she refused to look at it.

She was hurt. Angry. Frustrated. An emptiness took hold of her chest. He’d lied to her. It didn’t matter that it was by omission. For every mile she drove, the sense of desolation and sadness grew.

She got home late that night, having spent hours stuck in traffic with nothing to do
but think. Hectic sounds of the city surrounded her once she hit the main roads. None of that mattered.

After a quick shower, she lay on her sofa,
trying to decide what to do. The days with him had been so nice. So...perfect. Why would he choose to not tell her about their past if he’d had feelings as Jess said.

Thump
! Thump! Thump!

She
jerked up on the sofa, her heart beating double time. Had the building fallen around her and she hadn’t noticed?

“If you’re in there open up, Nita!” Tally yelled
, her knocks bouncing off the door. “I’m ten seconds from calling the police and filing a missing person’s report.”

Scurrying to open the door, she almost fell over her slippers. She cursed her tendency
to trip over her own two feet and jerked the door open.

Tally shoved her way in without waiting for an invitation.

“Come in,” she said sarcastically.

“What the hell, Nita?” Tally asked with shock. Then she gave her a once over and frowned. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Nothing happened. I’m tired.”

“Bullshit!”

Argh! She hated that Tally knew her so well she could tell when Nita was upset.

“Really, Tally. It’s not a big deal. I’m unsure where this is going with
Ky.”

Tally marched for the kitchen, ignoring Nita’s
words as if she’d said come in instead.

“What are you doing?” Nita asked. She followed after Tally into her
small but open kitchen.

“Tea. It’s too late for coffee.”

“I’m surprised Theron and Connor aren’t here with you,” Nita said of Tally’s mates. Wherever Tally went, the men followed.

Tally sat down on the breakfast nook and motioned her to take a seat. “They don’t need to be here with me. This is girl talk.”

Nita raised a brow. “What did you do, leave them in the car?”

Tally sighed. “
No. I’m an independent woman. I can get around without them. I did it for most of my life.” She shrugged. “Plus, I warned them that if they even suggested coming along I’d probably stab them in their sleep with a fork.”

“That sounds more like you.”

“Forget about me,” Tally stated. “What happened to you? Why do you look so...sad?”

Tally stood and got teacups
and sugar, and then proceeded to unwrap something from a bag she’d carried in.

“Is that—?”

“Yes. Cake. I knew that if you weren’t answering me you’d need this.”

Okay, maybe she wasn’t too upset that Tally had shown up.
Besides, Tally was probably the only person she trusted enough to tell how she felt and discuss what happened.

“Tally, you didn’t have to.” She forked a piece of cake and shoved it in her mouth. “But I am glad you did.”

Tally sat down again, her arms resting on the kitchen table. “Okay, so what happened that things went from you having a great time with Mr. Beautiful Eyes, to you being home moping?”

“I’m not moping,” she grumbled. Disgusted with herself, she slammed the fork down on the plate. “He lied to me!”

Tally’s scared wide-eyed stare almost made her laugh. “Lied how?”

She inhaled sharply, trying to rein in the anger over the bear’s sly
omissions. “He is the Ky I knew back in high school.”

Tally’s eyes got even wider.
“Wait. The one you said was your best friend?”

“That one,” she growled.

“You didn’t notice this when you first saw him?” Tally sounded as confused as she felt. Welcome to the club, sister.

“I need some liquor. This tea shit
ain’t gonna cut it.”

“Nita!” Tally burst into laughter.

“What? It’s true!” She remembered her first view of Ky. Half-naked and passed out on his kitchen floor. “As for noticing, no. He’s changed. A lot. He’s all big and buff and...”

“And what?” Tally asked, leaning forward.

“And sexy as hell. He was a cute guy back in school, but he had braces and his hair was kind of long. He was shy so he was always hunched over a little. God!” she hissed. “I must have been really stupid to him. Not knowing he was the one guy I trusted back then.”

“Oh, Nita. I’m sure he had a reason not to tell you.”

“Yeah?” she snapped. “What? Because as far as I’m concerned he was my best friend. You’d think that after the friendship we had he would be acknowledging that right away. Besides,” she huffed. “His sister said he’d been in love with me back then. More of a reason for him to tell me who he was.”

“But honey, men are stupid.”

“Yes, we know that. But he’s smart. This is Ky Stone. He was in advanced classes. About to head off to an early college program. He’s really fucking smart. So he can’t use stupidity as an excuse when he’s a genius. And,” she groaned, shoulders dropping. “Tally he’s so sexy. He did things...”

Tally blinked. “What things?”

A hot shiver ran down her spine. “Things no man had ever done with his tongue. I swear my legs melted to the floor the first time we had sex.”

“Damn, girl!”

“Why would he do this?” she asked herself more than Tally. Ky had changed. Not just physically. He was hiding things from her. That’s not something the younger version of him had ever done. They’d been honest with each other. There had been more than just friendship between them. A special bond had formed and now she wondered if what she felt was all an illusion. An illusion created by the new Ky Stone. A lie.

“I think you need to talk to him.”

“If I see him, I won’t be responsible for my actions.” Already she visualized smacking him upside the head with her frying pan. That would teach the bear to mess with her. She didn’t care that he was bigger and buffer than her. She had Latin genes on her side.

“Stop and think for second. He treated you so well while you were up there with him. You had a great time. You got to know each other,” Tally said suggestively. “In every sense of the word.”

“I also opened up to him. I told him things only you know.”

“I’m sorry,
prima.” Tally placed a hand over Nita’s on the table, squeezing her in an attempt at comfort. “We’ll figure it out. If you need me to go up there and castrate him, say the word.”

Tally had grown a lot more aggressive since her mating to the two wolf shifters. It helped Nita feel better to know her cousin had her back. Not that she wanted to truly hurt
Ky. The more she thought about it, the more she worried she’d developed more than just feelings of attraction for him. She’d never felt so hurt or distraught over a man. It didn’t matter that she’d only spent a handful of days with him. Ky was an anomaly. He’d slipped in through the cracks and gave her emotions a run for their money.

She hated to admit it, but she feared she fell in love with him. This was so not the way things were supposed to go.

* * *

Ky tried again to reach Nita. Nothing. They’d had an amazing time together. He couldn’t figure out what happened. His cell phone rang just as he was getting ready to leave his house.

“Liam?”

“I’m down by the river. There’s a group of outsiders here.”

“I’m coming,” he growled.

He’d decide on Nita later. As it was, the fishing problem needed resolution.

He stripped out of his clothes and dashed out of the cabin. No more asking nicely. The bear grunted, ready to take control.
As he ran, the shift took over. His bear roared the moment he was out. Anger over his missing woman and now the trespassers meant the bear wanted to knock some heads off.

He arrived at the river bend in time to catch David and Liam fighting with some brown bears. They didn’t seem to be from the neighboring clan. He roared loud for all to hear.

The fight didn’t stop but two of the bears left, scared. Then Ky noticed a large brown bear off to the side, watching him. The brown made a dash for Ky.