Blane’s Nanny: Beverly Hills Dragons

by Ripley, Meg

  Damien swiped a hand down over his face. It seemed that no matter who he talked to or what they were supposed to be talking about, the conversation always turned to his divorce. With both he and Linda being involved in the entertainment industry, it had been somewhat of a high-profile affair. That was only exacerbated by the fact that Linda had been sleeping around with every man—and every coke dealer—in Hollywood. “It’s fine. I’m adjusting to it.”

  “Well, my condolences, anyway. I’m never going to get married. I’ll just be single for the rest of my life, and then I’ll always be happy.”

  Stephanie was trying to leverage her way into Damien’s lap. “Good luck with that, Mike. I’ll talk to you later.” He hung up the phone and hoisted his daughter up easily, smiling as she patted his cheeks with her little hands. “I guess you’ve decided it’s time for me to call it quits for the day, huh?”

  The little girl grinned again. She was a gorgeous child, with dark, curly locks and brilliant blue eyes. “Daddy!” she squealed.

  “What?” He tickled her ribs, getting a kick at the way she thrashed around in response. It was a simple way to play, but it was one of his favorites because it always ended in snuggles. “What’s the matter with you? Why are you acting so crazy?”

  Stephanie squealed with delight. “Daddy!”

  Damien scooped her up and stood, carrying his daughter under his arm as he headed for the kitchen. He wasn’t the world’s best cook, so fortunately, there were several containers of leftovers from when the cook had been in. Damien had reduced her to part-time to help make up for his alimony payments, and he hoped he wouldn’t regret it. “What do you think?” he asked as he held open the fridge door. “Lasagna?”

  “Yucky!” the little girl replied.

  “Okay, how about some pork steak?”

  “Steak?”

  “Um, no. It’s a little bit different than the kind we usually have. But there might be some beef steak in here.” That was one thing he did know how to cook. He set Stephanie down so he could dig through the fridge more easily, but couldn’t find it.

  The phone rang, so dinner would have to be put off for a few more minutes. He grabbed the cordless off the kitchen counter. “Hello?”

  “Well, I hope you’re happy,” seethed a bitter voice from the other end.

  A row of shimmering spikes emerged along the back of Damien’s neck. Rubbing his free hand over his forehead, he paused to collect himself before responding, and the spiny projections slowly melded with his human flesh once again. “What do you want, Linda?”

  “What do I want? I thought you already knew that, which was exactly why you took it away from me. You don’t think I know, but I do.”

  “It would be nice if you were direct for once. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” Damien dodged across the kitchen to stop Stephanie from getting into a knife drawer. Instead, he opened a cabinet full of Tupperware and let her have at it.

  Linda made a noise of disgust. “Yeah, right. I know the only reason you insisted on taking custody of Stephanie was because you wanted to get your revenge on me. Well, it’s not going to work, Damien. I’m her mother, and she should be with me.”

  Damien tipped his eyes up to the ceiling and drew in a deep breath. Linda had only been out of the house for a week. It would have been sooner if he’d had his way, but she refused to leave until the divorce was final. Even so, he had already realized just how peaceful things were around the house without her. The fights they used to have were so intense that it was nearly impossible for them not to shift, and having two dragons thrashing about inside a mansion in Beverly Hills could get a little too expensive, even for them. “We’ve been over this, and I don’t see any point in covering it again. You can say whatever you want, but the judge’s word is final.”

  “Only because you paid him off.”

  “No, I didn’t!” Stephanie turned her big eyes to him when she heard his raised voice, and Damien paused for a moment to try to calm himself down yet again. Linda was trying to drag him into an argument. It was what she was good at, and it had taken him far too long to figure it out. The knowledge wouldn’t have saved their marriage, but it might have saved him a few years of grief. He couldn’t remember the last time they had actually gotten along. “I’m not arguing with you about this. Be an adult. For once.”

  “Oh, trust me, I am. I’m having a blast now that I don’t have your sorry ass dragging me down anymore.” Her voice dripped with venom, even over the phone.

  “Good for you, but I’m pretty sure I never stopped you before.” He reached into the fridge for a container of macaroni and cheese, unable to keep the memories from flooding to the forefront of his mind once again. He’d been heartbroken when he discovered Linda’s infidelity and could still feel the surge of anger and jealousy in his chest when he caught her with another man—a human, at that. The saddest part was that he hadn’t been surprised, and at that moment, he’d realized that the two of them hadn’t been in love for a long time.

  “You’re right. You haven’t. You were always so nice to me, Damien. There are so many awful people here in Hollywood, but I could always count on you to be there for me. It’s what made me fall in love with you in the first place.”

  He recognized the cajoling tone in her voice, and he was thankful that he wasn’t that gullible anymore. Linda had realized that she couldn’t get him riled, so now she was trying a different tactic. “I don’t want to hear this.”

  “But Damien, you and I were so good together. You had your music and I had my shows. We never even got a chance to collaborate like we always wanted to, with you finding the perfect opening music for my latest series. I think that’s something we could still do. There are so many things we could still do.”

  Damien pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it, trying to decide whether or not he should hang up. He was incredibly tempted; after all, Linda had been calling him almost every day. But he also knew what happened when he hung up on her. The last time he did it, she called back incessantly until he’d had to turn off the ringer for the rest of the night. That wasn’t something he really wanted to put up with, considering he still had a few calls he needed to make for work.

  “Linda, just stop. You and I are done. We weren’t good together, and that’s okay, but it’s time for both of us to move on. I just want to do my job, take care of Stephanie, and live my life.”

  Another snort of disgust came over the receiver. She was back to her original tactics. “You’re pathetic, Damien. You think I can’t see straight through you? You were so bent out of shape about me sleeping around a little, but you just said you’ve moved on. Who are you fucking?”

  It wasn’t any of her business, and the question didn’t even deserve an answer, but it was difficult not to defend himself. “I’m not sleeping with anyone, and I never said I was. I’ve got to go.”

  “Sure. Take the easy way out. That’s always been the way you’ve done things. But let me tell you something: there is no way you can handle this on your own. You can’t work and take care of Stephanie. You’ll be begging me to come back to you in less than a month; mark my words.”

  “Don’t hold your breath on that one. Look, I’ve got to get going.” He clicked the button before any more of her vile words could spill from the receiver. He was so sick of her. Maybe he and Stephanie could take a vacation and just get away from everything for a week. But he had plenty of work to do still, and he wasn’t sure how easy it would be to take a two-year-old out of town.

  With a sigh, he set down the phone. Stephanie had pulled all of the plastic containers out of the cabinet and was happily stacking them on top of each other. She was adorable and good-natured, and she was everything Damien needed in his life. But as much as he didn’t want to admit Linda was right, he knew that he couldn’t really do this on his own. Working from home was great when he had the chance, but he still had to get out and scout new talent and attend business meetings. If Stephanie w
as older, things might have been different. He could have left her with his mother for a few hours a day. But she was still so young, and she needed so much attention. Damien touched one of her curls, hoping he knew the right way to take care of this tender life he was in charge of.

  She looked up at him, her attention drawn away from her play for a moment. “Dinner?”

  “I’ve got it right here for you, pumpkin.” He picked her up and seated her at the table, placing a plastic Rainbow Brite plate in front of her. While she enjoyed her macaroni, he promised himself he would find a nanny as soon as possible.

  * * *

  If you enjoyed this preview of Damien’s Nanny, you can check out the remainder of the story HERE. Available with Kindle Unlimited.

  Snowed In With The Soldier Bear

  Werebears Of Glacier Bay

  1

  Quinton

  I sat up in bed suddenly, my heart racing, and glanced at the clock.

  3:18 a.m.

  Another night interrupted by dreams. I lay back on the damp sheets and let out a sigh. The air was cool on my sweat-drenched skin and it woke me further. After staring at the ceiling for another ten minutes, I threw the sheet back and got out of bed.

  Moonlight shone through the windows and lit my way to the kitchen, where I grabbed a cold drink. As I sipped my water, I continued on to the living room. The large picture window showed me the view of my piece of Nome in the Bering Land Bridge area.

  The snow blanketed the rocky terrain as it stretched out in rolls, with dried grass peeking through in places. No houses were visible from mine; there were no signs of human life to interrupt the picturesque landscape before me.

  I knew it was frigid outside—it never got much warmer than the 20s in that part of Alaska. But the coldness I felt came from within. Even as I watched a fox dig for food in the snow—a sight I usually enjoyed—I felt nothing.

  I turned from the window and wandered to the far wall of the living room where the photos hung. I stood in front of them and gazed at each for a long moment before moving onto the next. My wife, Jessica, held my hand in one photo. In another, she held our daughter. There were many of Emma as she grew. My eyes first settled on a black and white photo of her as a baby, juice dribbling down her chin. Then to another of her as a toddler, wobbling unsteadily toward a giant bear. Another photo from her first day of school was right below that one. The most recent, of Emma at age seven, was the last one I looked at.

  That was a shot Jessica had taken of Emma one morning before school when the sun was shining brightly, reflecting off the snow. Emma grinned and held up a hand as if she were waving. I’d stared at that image a lot over the last three years. Jessica had sent it to me in the last care package I’d received while serving overseas. It was the last photo of Emma ever taken—unless you’d count the autopsy photos, which I couldn’t even stomach the thought of.

  I turned from the photos to the sight of the empty house. The only audible sound was the gentle hum of the refrigerator. Wind blew outside and caused the house to groan with the effort of standing against it.

  Why was I still there, in one of the world’s most remote areas, living in a house full of ghosts? I worked as a Ranger, but even that wasn’t fulfilling to me any longer. Bering Land Bridge National Preserve was, by far, the most infrequently visited attraction in the country. That had never bothered me before. I’d come as a single young man with my eyes set on the open ground and the money to be made in Alaska. And I’d found so much more.

  But now that my wife and daughter were gone, the cold was getting to me. The hassle of having to fly the plane to go anywhere was getting to me. The aloneness—which I once relished—was getting to me most of all. There was no point staying in that house any longer. Maybe there was no point to being in Nome anymore, either. Only my clan—made up of a mere four guys total—was worth sticking around for, and they were all men with families who didn’t need me. A clan of loners wasn’t the most comforting group of people I could surround myself with.

  I set my empty water glass in the sink and headed back to bed. By that point, I was used to not having more than a few hours of sleep, but it never hurt to try. I lay down and considered my options.

  Not long before, I’d made a trip with my clan down to the Glacier Bay area. The shifters who worked in the national park there had needed help when several female tourists and a Ranger went missing. I’d loved the area and how it was still my frozen Alaska, but slightly less frozen—and slightly less remote. There were people around, and an actual town was nearby.

  The clan was wonderful, too. With four times the members and a vibrant, multi-species shifter life around them, Cooper Hurst’s clan clearly had a lot of fun and were there for each other. Like family. Like it was meant to be. Pack animals stayed together for a reason, and I had been feeling like a bear without a pack for too long.

  Maybe I could find some semblance of life again in Glacier Bay, I mused. Something that goes beyond merely surviving...

  I lay in bed, semi-consciously drifting in and out of my thoughts for hours. As the sun began to peek through the windows, I decided to pick up the phone and make a call.

  “Hey Jeff, it’s Quinton Bates.”

  “Hey! I haven’t heard from you in ages. How’s it going? How’s the wife and kid?”

  I swallowed hard. It had been years since I’d last spoken with my realtor. We didn’t have a close enough relationship where he would have heard what happened to my family while I was off fighting for our country.

  I spoke slowly. “I’m…I’m afraid they’ve…passed on. And that’s why I’m calling.”

  Stone-cold silence stretched on for several seconds.

  “You still there?” I asked. The phone service wasn’t exactly reliable, but I didn’t think the call had dropped out.

  “Yeah, I just…I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry. I—”

  “Thanks. It’s been tough, but I thought I’d give you a call because I’ve decided it’s time for me to move on. I’d like to sell the house and plane and get out of Nome. Too many memories here.”

  “I completely understand. Let’s set a time to sit down in my office. We can discuss the details, sign some papers and get you on your way. Are you free tomorrow at four?”

  “Yeah, that’ll work. Thanks, man; I appreciate your help.”

  Selling the house and plane would get me more than enough funds to start over with. I wouldn’t need the plane in Glacier Bay, but I’d definitely need a truck or Jeep.

  Next, I called Hunter, my clan mate who happened to be from Glacier Bay, and was once part of Cooper’s clan. Cooper and his sister, Kylie, were Hunter’s cousins.

  “I’ve been thinking about making a change,” I told Hunter. “I really enjoyed Glacier Bay, and I’m thinking of moving there. I’m putting the house on the market.”

  “Wait, you’re leaving?”

  “I have to get out of this house. And out of the area. The memories are killing me.”

  “Hey, I feel you, man,” Hunter said.

  He’d been the closest friend to me in the years since I’d returned from war to find my wife and daughter dead. A fucking avalanche. Of all things. We’d talked more about how to avoid them than any other natural disaster. And Jessica had always laughed it off like it couldn’t happen. Pain flared in my chest and I balled my free hand into a fist. “Maybe if I’m in a place where I’m not constantly reminded of them, I can finally heal.”

  “If this is what you need, I’ll fully support your decision,” Hunter said. “We’ll miss you, but I know I’ll get down to Glacier Bay now and then, so it’s not goodbye forever. They’ll be glad to have you.”

  * * *

  If you enjoyed this preview of Snowed In With The Soldier Bear, you can check out the remainder of the story HERE. Available with Kindle Unlimited.

  Also Available From Meg Ripley

  Daddy Dragon Guardians: The Complete Series Box Set

  When a devastating wa
r threatens their planet’s existence, four heroic dragon shifters flee Charok with their slain queen’s eggs to ensure the survival of their race. But will they manage to find their mates in this strange new place called Earth?

  Grab Your Copy HERE

  Available With Kindle Unlimited

  Also Available From Meg Ripley

  Werebears Of The Everglades Collection

  Deep In The Sultry, Subtropical Wilderness Of The Everglades, Four Rugged Bears Find Their Mates…

  Grab Your Copy HERE

  Available With Kindle Unlimited

  Also Available From Meg Ripley

  Dragons Of The Darkblood Secret Society Collection

  Forever sworn to secrecy and bound by their sacred vows, four powerful dragons find their mates amidst the skyscrapers of Manhattan…

  Grab Your Copy HERE

  Available With Kindle Unlimited

  Also Available From Meg Ripley

  Werebears Of Acadia Collection

  Fall In Love With The Action-Packed Werebears Of Acadia Series, Brimming With Enough Sizzling Chemistry and Passion To Start A Forest Fire!

  Grab Your Copy HERE

  Available With Kindle Unlimited

  Sign up for updates on my new releases, awesome deals on the hottest in paranormal romance and free book giveaways and get your exclusive copy of the Caught Between Dragons series!