His Bear Hands (Bear Creek Grizzlies Book 1) (3 page)

Z
oe fumed
as she served the bacon and sausages to the guests, then as she cleaned the pans and followed Ethan's quiet directions on loading the dishwasher and bagging up the fresh muffins so everyone had snacks later. Ethan seemed like a quiet soul, thinner than Simon though he was just as tall, and after the guests wandered off on their hike, he pointed her at one of the stools at the kitchen island. Zoe sat, irritated and tired and hungry, and leaned her arms and head on the island.

Ethan fussed with another pan and mixed something up in a bowl. He glanced back at her. "Coffee?"

"Do you have any Zow?" The energy drink was sometimes the only thing that got her through the day. Maybe she could order a few cases of it. She'd need it, if Simon insisted on making her get up so damn early. She still couldn't believe he actually got a bucket of cold water and threw it on her. Even the worst group home she'd been in didn't do that. She closed her eyes and muttered a few interpretations of his family tree. Even that wicked twinkle in his eyes wasn't enough to make seven a.m. worth seeing.

Ethan laughed. "I have no idea what Zow is, so no, we don't. Try this." And he placed a mug of fresh coffee near her elbow, along with a little pitcher of cream and a dish of sugar.

Zoe managed to crack one eye open and sipped from the coffee, though she made a face and dumped in most of the sugar and half of the cream. Then she hid her face again, waiting for the caffeine to kick in. It wasn't an auspicious start for her first day on the lam. A delicious scent filled the kitchen, like vanilla and nutmeg, and she lifted her head to look around. Pancakes.

Ethan slid a short stack in front of her, along with a bottle of warm syrup, and said, "Breakfast is served. Don't expect this every morning, young lady. Just your first day at the lodge."

"Thanks." Her stomach growled and Zoe mustered the energy to prop herself up and eat. Maybe sugar and coffee together would keep her awake. Since Simon apparently had a long list of chores for her to complete. "How do you weed a garden?"

He smiled, light brown hair tousled across his forehead, and flipped a pancake in the skillet. "Maybe we'll tackle that later this afternoon. Not sure I want to turn you loose against the vegetables without you knowing what to look for."

"Well," she said, pointing her fork at where Simon had disappeared. "Someone told me to weed the garden."

Ethan leaned back against the counter next to the cooktop as he rolled up a pancake and dunked it in some syrup, studying her with an odd expression on his face. "So you're some kind of computer genius?"

Zoe made a face and concentrated on the delicious pancakes. "I guess. I like computers more than people."

"I like animals more than people." He smiled with half his mouth. "You'll fit right in. Can you fix the wifi here as well?"

"Probably. But Simon told me not to touch anything." She wiped syrup from her chin. "Other than the dishes, I think."

"I'll talk to him." Ethan loaded the dishes into the dishwasher and started scrubbing the pan. "But you should double-check your marching orders."

Irritated, Zoe checked her phone — still no reception — and shoved away from the kitchen island to go find Simon. She never cooked, not when there were dozens of delivery and takeout places in her neighborhood. Then she didn't have to worry about cleaning up. Who wanted to spend time doing dishes when there were a lot more interesting things to see and do? The wood floor creaked under her feet as she wandered down the wide hall to where Simon disappeared; she still carried her coffee, hoping to leech some warmth and energy out of it.

The door to his office stood open and she peeked inside. Simon sat behind an enormous wooden desk in the small room, a couple of bookshelves lining the walls, and frowned at a massive ledger book open in front of him. She hesitated in the doorway, uncertain of her welcome, and jumped as he said, "If you're coming in, come in."

Zoe edged into the room and wandered around the perimeter, studying the titles on the books, and dared a glance at him. Simon made a note in the ledger before he leaned back in the chair, studying her with a neutral expression. Zoe flushed but didn't know why, and finally spoke. "What's that?"

He glanced down at the ledger, then back at her. "It's how I do the bookkeeping."

"On paper?" Zoe blinked, at a loss for words. "People still do that?"

"We do." He carefully closed the ledger and folded his hands on top of it, waiting patiently for her next question.

Zoe gulped some coffee to buy time, with no idea why he made her so nervous. He just sat there, so quiet and still, as if he feared startling her. "You should automate. Get a computer and one of the accounting programs. It'd be a lot faster. Easier to audit. I bet you'd find some places to save money, too."

"Thank you, but I'm fine with this." He patted the ledger, dark eyes tracking her every move as Zoe paced.

"I could set it up for you." She forced the words out in a rush. "It would be easy and I think it would help. I'm much better at that kind of stuff than weeding or cleaning or cooking. I swear. It would really —"

"Thank you for the offer, I appreciate it, but I'll keep doing things this way."

She gulped, a little hurt, but shrugged. "I just think —"

"I'd prefer not to let a master criminal set up my accounting software," he said, and even the hint of a smile didn't take the sting out of his words.

Zoe rocked back on her heels. She flushed, felt adrenaline rush through her and make her hands cold as she struggled to find something to say. She hadn't thought he would judge her like that. She gnawed on her lower lip and looked at the legs of the desk, deflated. She couldn't even meet his eyes. "Right. Sure. I'll just — go."

She turned on her heel and almost ran into the door. She cleared her throat and tried to steady herself, feeling even worse as he stood and sighed. "Zoe, I didn't mean—"

She fled. Hustled out the back door, not wanting to go through the kitchen and risk facing Ethan. He would be nice but would probably call her a criminal too. They didn't understand. Sometimes you ended up in something without realizing how you got there. She hadn't set out to be a criminal. It just — happened. And she felt really badly about it. She tried to make things right. She really did.

Zoe shoved open the door and burst outside, not stopping to think before heading for one of the trails. She took off on the trail Simon highlighted for the tourists. She hugged herself and tried to clear the knot from her throat. She paid her way through college creating characters in video and computer games, then selling them to the highest bidder, she moved money around for people, and somehow ended up working for a company that didn't have the greatest ethics. Then Mick Castellano's people head-hunted her away and suddenly all the brakes were off and she had free rein. All those skills that kept her safe and ahead of the competition were suddenly worth a lot. They paid her a ton, more than she ever could have made using a business degree. It was just digits, moving from one place to the other. Just files and numbers. All make believe. It wasn't supposed to actually hurt people. People weren't supposed to die.

She stumbled on a tree root in the trail and nearly fell. She paused to take a breath, fighting for control as her breath came faster, a little desperate. Had to get a hold of herself. Life online was so much easier. She could hide in her apartment and do everything she needed to do without ever seeing another person. People just hurt you. You opened yourself up to them, offered them part of yourself, and they hurt you.

Her vision blurred and Zoe cursed, dashing tears from her eyes. Simon was too good-looking to be nice. He pretended, like they all did, and used that to get close enough to really hurt her. She pulled out her phone and hoped for a signal, any type of connection, so she could call Tate. Tell him to come get her. She would take her chances with Mick and his guys. She could get all the money back, could hide all the files again somewhere better. It wasn't too late.

Nothing. Not even half a bar. Zoe shook her head. There had to be a phone in the lodge somewhere. It was just a matter of finding it without Simon catching her. She started down the trail again, still looking at her phone as the trail curved and an enormous meadow full of flowers stretched out in front of her. Zoe blinked, more than a little awed. Holy shit. Maybe there was something to all this nature crap after all.

She fiddled with her phone to take a picture, then froze. Three baby bear cubs, little black roly-poly things with giant paws, played in the flowers. One reared up and chomped the head off a flower, and another one tackled him with a growl. Zoe bit her lip to keep from laughing at their antics, and instead she hit the video on her phone to record them playing. It lifted her spirits a bit so see them rolling around and wrestling. So much cuter in real life than on a computer screen.

Zoe inched a little closer, off the trail, and zoomed in on the babies. One sat up on his hind legs and stared at her, then made an odd little squeaky sound.

Something rustled behind her, and Zoe looked over her shoulder. A bear — a much bigger bear — lumbered out of the undergrowth behind her and sat up on its hind legs. Its small eyes flashed red as it looked at her and made a growling noise that set Zoe's heart racing. She fumbled with her phone, trying to remember if she'd read anything about bears. Surviving bear attacks. Maybe climbing trees? Making noise?

Her mind raced. What the hell had Simon said this morning to the guests?

Zoe gasped as the bear reared still taller and waved its paws in the air, snarling louder. She stumbled back, falling on her butt and nearly landing on the cubs. They squalled and ran for the trees, and the mama bear charged. Zoe screamed.

A flash of brown streaked down the trail and nearly landed on her, then reared up and roared at the black bear. The mama bear grumbled and redirected, bounding to where her cubs waited, but watched them warily. Zoe blinked, feeling faint, and then nearly passed out completely as the giant brown thing turned and she looked at a freaking grizzly bear. A grizzly bear. Easily five times as large as the mama bear, its teeth twice as long, its paws as big as her chest. She scooted back into the meadow, praying as fast as she could. She never read anything about dealing with grizzly bears.

She braced for the fatal swipe as the grizzly loomed over her, its eyes dark and angry, and she held her hands up to fend it off. "Please don't eat me."

It sounded so stupid she wanted to take it back. Worst last words ever.

But nothing happened. She looked up as the grizzly backed away, crouched down, and then disappeared. Disappeared.

Zoe sat up, heart in her throat. The grizzly deflated and then Simon stood there, buck-naked. Simon. Looking furious. He stormed over to her, grabbing her upper arm hard enough Zoe cried out, and he shook her until her teeth rattled. "What the hell is wrong with you? What were you thinking?"

She stammered, trying to come up with something, and searched for the grizzly. Couldn't be. Maybe they had a pet bear, trained to protect the guests. That would make sense. Simon wasn't a bear. Simon couldn't turn into a bear. That happened on the Internet with special effects magic, not in real life.

Zoe tried to breathe as he hauled her up the trail toward the lodge. "Wh-what did — what's —"

She couldn't get any other words out, between him yelling at her for putting herself in danger and her own labored breathing. Simon shook his head, the muscles jumping in his jaw as he dragged her up the porch stairs and into the great room, slamming the door behind him. He threw her into one of the chairs and loomed over her, posture so much like the grizzly her heart tripped. "What the fuck were you doing out there? You got between a mother bear and her cubs. Are you
trying
to get yourself killed?"

Zoe stared up at him, mesmerized by the dark eyes flashing with gold and the muscles that rippled across his chest and abs and thighs... She flushed and dragged her eyes higher to stare him in the throat. "I don't know what —"

"You could have died." He whirled and strode away, pacing in jerky movements that only made his muscles stand out. He had a perfectly tremendous ass. Zoe drew her legs up to her chest in the chair, huddling lower as he threw one of the kitchen stools across the room and it shattered into kindling against the massive stone fireplace. "That bear would have killed you for threatening her cubs. And then what would I do? What the hell would I do if you got yourself killed?"

Zoe held up a hand to block out his sizable dick so she could actually look at him without blushing, and gulped for air. She'd seen a lot of weird shit online but never seen one that large in real life. She felt almost like it was looking at her. Or pointing at her. Wanting to introduce itself.

Maybe she was in shock. That might explain the hysterical giggle that bubbled up in her chest. Zoe tried to regroup but her thoughts scattered like wild birds and she could only stutter, her voice wavering as the tears returned. "I didn't mean to —"

He swore, turning away once more to run his hands through suddenly shaggy hair. When he faced her again, he tried to look and sound calm, though Zoe didn't buy it for a second. "Please explain to me what you were thinking."

She moved her hands to continue blocking his junk. "I just — did you really turn into a bear?"

He blinked, looked down at himself, then up at her. A red flush crept up his throat and filled his face. He scowled at her, his finger jabbing the air. "This conversation isn't over. Stay right there. Don't move a goddamn muscle."

Then he turned on his heel and stormed up the stairs to his room. Zoe sat in the great room, stunned, and stared at the giant fireplace, almost big enough to walk into. Her brain didn't work fast enough to keep up. He couldn't be a bear. But nothing else explained how he showed up as the grizzly disappeared, and why he ended up naked in the middle of a meadow half a mile from the lodge. She looked down at her phone, still clutched in her hand, and held her breath. The recording... She played it back, watching the cubs play, then the mama bear rear up, then it bounced and blurred as she fell, then a grizzly, then... Simon. Simon standing up, looking afraid and angry. Afraid.