Owen (BBW Western Bear Shifter Romance) (Rodeo Bears Book 2) (79 page)

Four months later.

“Hey look! Pantyhose!” Ben exclaimed.

“You need to not be so excited every time you see pantyhose,” Layla replied with a chuckle.

She was behind the counter of the Fairhaven General Store, which supplied tourists and campers with anything they’d forgotten to bring from home. Ben was browsing the shelves, and he’d picked up the hose and rattled the box with glee. He brought them over to Layla’s counter, and leaned over the register to kiss her.

“But it’s us,” he said brightly. “It’s how we met. I can’t
not
buy them.”

“What will you do with them?” Layla challenged wryly. “You only know three women, and Anina, Elise and I have got a plentiful supply already.”

Ben’s grin turned to a mock pout. Layla kissed him again, grateful that there weren’t any customers around to spoil her fun. Ben wandered back to the shelf where the hose was and replaced the box.

“What should I buy then?” he asked. “I ought to buy something. I come in here ten times a day and I never leave with anything but the shop-girl’s lipstick on my neck.”

“That’s no bad thing,” Layla replied.

Something had shifted in her voice, and she left the counter to walk along the shelves of the little store. It was time to have the conversation. Layla looked down at her own cocoa-colored hand, where a bright silver band held a shining diamond on her third finger. She toyed with the ring for a moment, then looked up to find Ben watching her with interest. His thoughtful dimple was firmly in place.

“You know we said we’d get married at Christmas?” she began.

Ben nodded enthusiastically. “Big Christmas wedding, super romantic,” he agreed.

“Well, I’m thinking we ought to bring it forward a little,” Layla explained, “just a month or so.”

“How come, baby?” Ben questioned.

“Well, I’m gonna put on a little weight,” Layla said. She knew she was messing things up, but the actual words that she wanted to say wouldn’t come out. Ben started to laugh.

“You’re intentionally planning to gain weight?” he chuckled. “What, are you gonna weight train or something? ‘Cause, you know I love your muscles, but that might be a bit much.”

Layla groaned, balling her fists. She marched to Ben and took him by the sleeve of his ranger’s uniform, dragging him to the clothing section of the store. Here, on a corner display, there were various shirts, socks and other garments emblazoned with the same slogan:
I came to Fairhaven, and now I’m in love.

“You wanna buy something?” Layla said. “This is what you should buy.”

She took a garment from the rack and put it in Ben’s hands. He held the small item in his muscular grip, the soft cotton shifting against his fingers. The garment was a baby gown, newborn size.

“First Dietrich and now me,” Ben mused. “Gram’s gonna have a heart attack.”

“I’m freaking out, babe,” Layla admitted. “Are we gonna be okay as parents?”

He reached out for Layla, pulling her into his arms. The baby gown was still firmly in his grip.

“So long as we love each other, I reckon we’ll do just fine,” Ben replied with a smile.

Kurt

Bear Dating Agency III

by

Becca Fanning

The car pulled up to the edge of the forest, and Stacey McKinley got her first glimpse of the mark. He was tall and broad, with a chest almost twice the width of the man beside her in the car, and he had a floppy mess of wet, blonde hair that he was trying to tame. It was a damnably hot day, the sun beating down on a happy crowd of campers by the lakeside. The damp blonde had just pulled himself out of the water, where he’d been recovering a small dog who could barely paddle. He was returning the dog to its grateful owners, his damp park ranger’s uniform sticking to every curve and bulge of his muscular frame.

He was, without a doubt, the most beautiful man Stacey had ever seen.

“Kurt Best,” the man beside her said, flicking through a notebook. “Owing seven thousand dollars, payment date was one month ago.”

Kurt looked happy and cheerful, not the sort of guy who was hiding a considerable debt. Stacey watched him among the crowd, seeing how those campers seemed to idolize him. What did he even need seven grand for? Surely a ranger’s salary in a park as large as Fairhaven was damn good money. Stacey found herself drawn to his cheerful face, that playful grin with the dimples. His eyes might have sparkled, if she’d been close enough to make them out.

“Hey, you listening to me?” the man beside her asked.

He’d said something else, after the seven thousand, but she hadn’t heard it. Now, she tore her gaze away from the lakeside and the sunshine, back to the dark recesses of the car. Their windows were tinted to block the sun, and the AC was blasting a frozen stream of air straight at her legs. The man beside her put his hand on Stacey’s knee, and he was just as cold to touch.

“Sorry Jack,” Stacey said with a stammer. “I was just thinking.”

“Good,” Jack answered with a thin smile. “It’s going take strategy to get to this one. Best’s line is that he can’t pay, he doesn’t have the money, but I think it’s bull. You’re gonna get in there and find out if he’s got savings or possessions we can reclaim. A car, a property share, whatever. You got that?”

Stacey nodded. She had to play the role Jack had made for her. It was her job, had been for a few years now, and it paid well. When she’d first met Jack, he was only a doorman throwing people out of nightclubs. Now, he was a collector, and she was too. It was their job to source money back from those who’d borrowed from Big Al Moschino. Once they had Kurt’s seven grand, they’d see a nice slice of commission. Jack took hold of Stacey’s hands, like he was thinking the same thing.

“We do good work together,” he said. “Just focus on the task.”

Stacey felt her stomach do a flip. Jack sometimes tried to cross a line in their partnership. She hated it but the money was too good to pass up.
 

“I’d better get to work scouting this guy out,” Stacey said, breaking their contact to reach for the door.

She was almost out of the car when Jack cleared his throat. Stacey looked back at him, seeing the hope in his dark eyes turn to grim seriousness. He got little lines on his pale face when he was serious, and there were shadows beneath his gaze.

“One other thing I ought to mention,” he began.
 

Stacey waited in silence.

“This guy,” Jack continued, “I’ve got intel that says he’s a shifter. He can turn into a bear, Stacey. Be careful.”

Stacey simply nodded, and walked towards the lakeside.

Kurt Best was probably the easiest mark Stacey had ever had to find. She had watched him at the lakeside all afternoon, reclining in the Californian sun from a respectable distance, until the crowds seemed to be drawn away by an imaginary dinner bell. The sun was fading when Kurt got into his Land Rover and cruised away, but he soon popped up again at the grill-style restaurant where dinner service was beginning. Stacey had booked herself a table for one, and she was sitting alone in the corner when the maître-d’ approached her.

“Excuse me, miss, but I wondered if you wouldn’t mind sharing your table?” he asked politely. “We’re almost at capacity.”

When Stacey looked up and saw Kurt standing behind the waiter with a hopeful grin, she couldn’t believe her luck. She nodded, and the waiter vanished a moment later, leaving the bulky ranger to settle himself in a chair. He was still dressed in his uniform, though he’d dried out, and smoothed his blonde mop of hair back into an unruly wave. He had a shadow of pale fuzz growing about his jaw, and a sprinkling of chest hair visible in the v of his shirt.

“I saw you today at the lake,” Kurt said. “I hope you don’t mind the intrusion.”

Inside, Stacey let out a curse. She had meant to be inconspicuous at first, approach the guy slowly, but clearly he was alert. Whether that was to do with his shifter powers or not remained to be seen. When Stacey offered him a casual smile by way of a reply, she happened to catch his eye. His gaze was golden, shining like two perfect rings, reflecting the glorious lights of the restaurant. He dazzled her for a moment, and she lost her footing.

“I, uh… No. I mean, of course not. I’m Stacey.”

She hadn’t meant to give her real name, and when Kurt gave her his, she tried her best not to look like she already knew it. Stacey nodded and shook his hand, her fingers warm in his grip for the briefest moment.

“I was out catching some sun today,” she explained, hearing the nerves in her own voice. “I’m just here to relax awhile, you know? I live in LA, and it’s pretty busy down there.”

“It is,” Kurt agreed. “I go down to the city most weekends.”

Stacey knew that too. Kurt had to be involved with something in LA, else he never would have met Big Al and borrowed so much money. She took a sip of her drink, hoping that the maître-d’ would be back soon to take their food order. But the grill was overflowing with customers and not very well staffed. She hadn’t had time to plan what she would say to Kurt, to wile her way into his confidence, but she couldn’t throw the opportunity away now that it had landed in her lap.

“You don’t like to eat at home?” she asked him. “I mean, if you’re a ranger here, you must live nearby.”

“I do,” Kurt said with a nod. “Fairhaven’s family run. We all live in a huge lodge in the east sector. But to be honest, if I get dinner at home my Gram tries to make me eat sauerkraut. Like, every night. I’m not joking.”

He made her laugh. It was a natural laugh, something Stacey hadn’t done in quite a while. Her life was so serious, and Kurt was so jolly. They didn’t match, not really, but Stacey could play her part well enough to make him think that they did. Jack had always been very specific about how she should lead the marks on. Give them giggles, be flirty, and she could kiss them if she needed to. Nothing more than kissing, though, not ever. Just enough to make them trust her, and answer her questions.

“And you like eating out here, with everyone else?” Stacey pressed. “I thought you rangers would be sick of people after running around for them all day.”

“I guess,” Kurt said, cocking his head to one side. “My brother, Hart, he likes his quiet time at the end of the day. And our cousin Reinicke, well, he hates people in general. He practically lives at the outpost where only a few hikers go by every day.”

“But not you?” Stacey said, smiling.

“I like to meet new faces,” Kurt replied. “Like yours.”

Something flushed in Stacey’s chest. The smile on her face had come unbidden, and she knew at once that she was in trouble. Of all the men she’d beguiled for Jack over the last couple of years, Kurt was the first that she’d felt easy with. She had known from the moment she saw him that he was painstakingly gorgeous to view, but up close, there was something else about him. He gave off joy like it was a scent, with every movement and every flicker of his golden gaze.

“Say,” Kurt began, a cheeky grin overcoming his lips. “Maybe this is a little bold, but if I pick up the tab, can we call this a date? I don’t meet a lot of heavenly brunettes out here.”

The remark made Stacey toy with her hair, just for a moment. She felt like a schoolgirl trapped in a woman’s body. Kurt’s grin was unwavering as he waited for her answer. If he was bluffing, then he was good at it, the sweetest poker face she’d ever seen. But Stacey had built up her repertoire too, and she was damned if she was going to let some hunky ranger break it down in one fell swoop. She took a breath, and fluttered her lashes as she cast her gaze to the floor.

“Well, since you called me heavenly,” she crooned.

That was how they came to be at the campsite entrance a little after ten o’clock. The moon was almost full, bathing a range of little triangular tents in its silver light. A few people were still up, cooking on campfires or telling stories on the lawn. Stacey stood at the path which wound among the tents, looking forlornly over her shoulder.

“I didn’t have you down as a camper,” Kurt mused, apparently delighted. “I figured you’d be a hotel lady. Luxury, you know?”

Stacey nodded. She would be, normally. It was Jack’s idea to rent a pair of separate tents, pitched on either side of his car. It would save them money, Jack had said. The thought of a night in the woods next to Jack gave Stacey a shiver, and Kurt reached out at once to hold her shoulders.

“You shoulda told me you were cold,” he said apologetically. “I shoulda offered you my jacket. What a jackass.”

“Hey, that’s for me to say,” Stacey replied with a grin. “I’m fine, really. Just tired. Looking forward to a rest, and maybe another date tomorrow?”

Her voice rose with a hitch at the end. But that was the first time that she saw Kurt’s unstoppable grin fade. His face was half in shadow from the angle of the moonlight, and he looked away for a moment, his golden eyes flashing. He rubbed at the back of his neck for a moment before the smile climbed back into place.

“Actually, I go into the city on Saturdays,” he explained, “it’s just something I have to do. But I’ll be back first thing Sunday. I’ll book the day off. We can go everywhere in Fairhaven. All the best sun spots and views. If you’d like that?”

Stacey tried not to show the suspicion that was brimming in her mind.