Shiftr: Swipe Left for Love (Lori) BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Hope Valley BBW Dating App Romance Book 5) (12 page)

“Bruno, I’ll be forever grateful that you saved us that day. And I can’t pretend to agree with your reasoning, but I do respect it. I hope, with time, you’ll feel differently. But for now, I think it’ll be too difficult for me to be around you for a while.” She took his huge, rough hand and kissed his knuckles. Then, before her eyes filled with tears, she turned and walked back to the house.

Chapter Ten

Days passed and Lori tried hard to put Bruno out of her mind. It wasn’t easy. His kiss still burned on her lips; her body still felt alive with the memory of him lifting her up and holding her against the tree. It had been by far the most passionate moment of her life. It was the kind of thing she’d dreamed about in high school, when she’d lounged on her bed, scribbling in her diary and fantasizing about finding someone who’d love her, despite her puppy fat. Bruno had wanted her badly. She’d felt it in his kisses, in his impulsiveness, in the way his hands had held her so tight. And he’d turned her on like crazy too. After she’d walked away from him, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the roughness of his stubble as he kissed her, the softness of those well-shaped, masculine lips. It had taken all her self-control not to run back to him, take him by the hand, and lead him deeper into the woods. But she couldn’t. Because, if they’d slept together, she knew she’d never be able to get him out of her head.

She told Andrea all about it, and Andrea listened attentively and comforted her, with a sweetness that she wished they’d shared when they were teenagers.

“It’s such a bitter irony that if the accident hadn’t happened, and I’d just met him on Shiftr, we could’ve dated. It’s the fact that he saved our lives that makes it impossible,” Lori said, when they were curled up on the couch drinking tea one afternoon. Nancy was tottering around in a patch of sunlight, propelling herself from one piece of furniture to the next, and falling on her butt every couple of minutes.

“I know,” Andrea said sadly. “It doesn’t make sense to us humans, but I know that shifters believe in these things very strongly.”

“Do you believe in fate?”

“I’m not sure,” Andrea said, after a pause. “When my life sucked, and I felt like no matter what I did, men would never like me for myself, and would always pick the skinnier girl over me, I felt like life was a random collection of crappy events. But now I’ve met Magnus, and he talks about how I’m his fated mate. Like there was a hole in his life that was waiting to be filled with me. And it kind of makes sense. I mean, Magnus was not short of offers, believe me. But he didn’t find his mate till he was in his thirties, which makes it seem believable. But how about you – do you believe in fate?”

“I think I used to feel like you did, when I was with Rob,” Lori said. “Now, I don’t know. Maybe it’s coincidence that Bruno was on duty the night of the accident, instead of another firefighter, who wouldn’t have risked his life to save us. Maybe it was more than that.”

“And maybe you should speak to him again,” Andrea said, nudging her shoulder.

“No,” Lori said firmly.

“He’s made his decision. I don’t want to cause the poor guy any more emotional torment. Now I need to forget about him and move on with my life. I’ll get back on Shiftr, maybe not for a few weeks, but I will eventually. The whole thing with Bruno has given me a little confidence that other shifters might be interested in me too.”

“That’s great to hear, sis. I can’t wait for us both to be mated, and our kids to hang out together,” Andrea said, squeezing Lori’s hand.

*

A couple of days later, the real estate agent from Hope Valley Property Services called. He couldn’t sell Lori’s old store back to her.

“It’s an issue with the contracts, I’m afraid,” he said, his voice tight and quavering.

“But isn’t there any way around it? Maybe I could take over ownership, and work on evicting them myself?” Lori insisted, suddenly feeling determined to have the store. She wanted to take it on as a project, and pour her energies into it.She wanted to grow a sustainable business that would support her and Nancy. She loved the idea of being able to care for her child and work at the same time, instead of having to put her in childcare while she went off and worked in an office.

“Miss Bianco, I couldn’t let you do that with a clear conscience. I’m afraid that I can’t sell. Please don’t ask me any more about it.”

“Mr Reynolds, please – ”

“The tenants are not very nice people. Please take my advice and forget about the store. Look for a property somewhere else in the town.” He sounded terrified.

“They threatened you, didn’t they?” she persisted. But the line went dead.

Lori put her phone down and stared into space. That was it, then. Her place had been occupied by some gangsters, or whatever they were. Bruno said there were rumors they were into money laundering. She didn’t really understand what that meant, except that it was highly illegal and made some criminals very rich. She thought back to the day that revolting biker had threatened her, the feel of his big, swollen beer gut pressing against her belly, and the naked menace in his yellow eyes, and she shivered. She’d take the real estate agent’s advice and move on, find a place in the south end of town, maybe. It was a crushing disappointment, but it just wasn’t to be. It would probably have needed a lot of renovation anyway. She picked up Andrea’s laptop, and started looking for vacant commercial properties in town.

*

Bruno was on autopilot. He went to work and put out fires, rescued cats from trees, and helped forgetful old ladies get back into their houses when they’d been locked out. He took Tad to school and collected him, when his shifts allowed, and he played ball with him and helped him with his schoolwork. But inside, he was hollow. It was as if something had been ripped out of him. When he’d lost Karen, he didn’t think he could lose any more, but he was wrong. And until a few weeks ago, he was sure he’d never feel desire and passion ever again in his life. But Lori had proved him wrong. So wrong. He’d found another mate, his second chance at love. But fate told him he couldn’t have her. He couldn’t stop thinking about the look in Lori’s eyes just before she’d turned away and left him in the forest. They were huge and unnaturally bright, and full of incomprehension.
How can you show me that you want me, and then tell me that you can’t be with me?
they seemed to say. He shouldn’t have kissed her. And he certainly shouldn’t have lifted her up and held her in his arms. That was the most damn fool thing he’d done in a long time. But he couldn’t control himself. Her mouth had felt so nice, so soft and velvety, and he’d sensed the passion lying beneath those calm violet eyes.
And her body!
She was so deliciously curvy as she writhed in his arms. It was doing all kinds of things to him. He was glad he’d been wearing his heavyweight uniform, so she couldn’t see how much she’d affected him. His bear let out a howl of total frustration. It knew she was his fated mate, and it didn’t share his beliefs. But Bruno couldn’t let his bear rule his actions. If it did, he would have ended up ravishing her right in the middle of the woods.
There’ll be another mate, in time
, he told himself and his bear, but it didn’t sound convincing to either of them.

“Are you going to date the pretty lady?” Tad asked him.

“No, I’m not, son,” he said sadly. “We’re not right for each other.”

“But
WHY
?” Tad whined, with his child’s incomprehension of the complex emotions that adults created for themselves. In his youthful mind, if two people liked each other, that was enough.

“You’ll understand when you’re older,” Bruno said automatically, before stopping himself. It had driven him crazy when adults had given him that patronizing response when he was small. He considered the best way to explain it, and decided to be honest. Tad was a very mature kid, and he knew his mom had died in a fire. He couldn’t remember her too well though – in his conscious mind anyway.

“The way I met Lori, by rescuing her from the car wreck, makes me think it would be a bad omen for us to be together. Can I leave it at that?” Tad frowned, as if he was thinking hard.

“Omens suck,” he said at last.

“Yes, they do.” Bruno rubbed his head.

“I liked her. I think you and her looked like you should be together.”

“I liked her too, Tad,” Bruno replied.

*

The following Saturday, Bruno and Tad went to the supermarket, stocking up on the few things that the shifter community didn’t grow or hunt for themselves, such as breakfast cereals, some herbs and spices, and cleaning products. And just as they were leaving the shop, they ran into Lauren who was on the way in.

“Hey! How are you guys?” she called with her characteristic ebullience. “I haven’t seen you at the house for a while, Bruno. What’s making you such a stranger?”

“Oh, lots of work,” he said, not wanting to admit that he’d been staying away from the clan to limit the possibility of seeing Lori. And the work wasn’t a lie. He’d been picking up extra shifts whenever Tad wasn’t around to keep his mind off things.

He asked after Willow and Connor, and she said they were doing good, and updated him on other comings and goings in the community. She looked at him expectantly, sensing the unspoken question on his lips.

“How’s Lori?” he said at last. Lauren’s lips parted in a brilliant smile.

“She’s doing good, too. Spending most of her time chasing Nancy around, as the little one’s walking well now. Apart from that, she’s busy finding new premises for her shop. She’s starting the online business up again, and the website is starting to look good, but the actual, physical site has been a little harder to find, as Hope Valley doesn’t have many empty properties.”

“But I thought she was going to get her old place back?”

“Oh, no, that one’s a no go. Seems like the current tenants are pretty unsavory characters, and warned her off when she went to see it, and then stopped the owner from selling it to her.” Bruno’s breath caught.

“What do you mean, warned her off?” he said. Lauren ran her tongue between her lips. He sensed his tone had been too forthright. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that to sound so full on. I was just worried.”

“Don’t worry about that,” she said. “I’m not sure of the full details, but I think she just went to take a look at it, and some mean dude came out and was aggressive with her, and told her not to come back.” Bruno’s blood ran cold. She’d been to see the place right before she saw him at Andrea’s place, and he kissed her in the woods. And she hadn’t mentioned it
at all
. She’d said something like it was a shock to see it, but she hadn’t said that it had been an unpleasant experience and someone had threatened her.

“Is she ok now?” he said. Lauren waved her hand.

“Yeah, she’s fine. She’s written it off as a disappointment, but that’s all. She’s put her name down at all the real estate agents in town to let her know if anything comes up, even as a rental, and in the meantime she’s starting to purchase stock and sell it online. Andrea and Magnus’ spare room looks like a treasure trove!”

Bruno thanked her for the update and promised to visit her soon, and they went on their way.

“Dad, why aren’t you answering my questions?” Tad complained during the drive home.

“Sorry, squirt, I’ve got a couple of things on my mind at the moment,” he said, glancing at his son’s cute freckly face, which was currently screwed up in frustration.

“What were you asking me?”

“Ah, nothing.” Tad stared out of the window, affecting nonchalance.

“Tad!”

“I was just asking if you’d come and watch me at little league on Saturday. It’s the first game of the season.”

“Of course! When have I ever missed one of your games? Except for that one time when the station was short-staffed and I couldn’t have off?”

“Never, I guess,” he said with a dramatic sigh. He didn’t like it when his dad was distracted and lost in his thoughts.

The truth was, Bruno couldn’t stop thinking about Lori and what she’d been through. He’d heard the guys who were occupying her old property were a bunch of werewolf bikers from out of town, involved in some shady business. Which meant that they were dangerous, and likely to be ruthless if their criminal enterprise was threatened, whatever it was. They were ridiculously out of place in a safe, happy little town like Hope Valley, but they’d intimidated everyone out of getting rid of them. He was so furious at the thought that they’d intimidated Lori too, that he began to shift in the car. His claws burst out from his fingers and shredded the material of the steering wheel, and he felt that telltale loosening of his jaw, as it made way for two rows of razor-sharp teeth.

“Dad!” Tad yelled in alarm. Bruno shook himself and his bear retreated again.

“Sorry, Tad. I was just having a moment,” he said. “It’s been a while since I shifted, and my bear needs to go for a run.”

He wanted to find out what the biker gang was up to and see if there was a way of helping Lori get her place back. People said that they were into money laundering, but he wasn’t sure if that was true. It wasn’t a werewolf kind of crime. Slowly, he began to formulate a plan. A plan that would change his life forever.