Tactical Bear (P.O.L.A.R. Series Book 4)

by Candace Ayers

  Maxim growled again, louder, and the spoon bent in his grip. He leaned into me, his blood pumping so loudly that I could hear it. “Go out with me, Bunny.”

  I snapped back to reality just in time—before I did something stupid like accept his offer. I swallowed the cake and leaned back in my chair, putting a few more inches of much needed distance between us. “No, thanks.”

  “Well, at least you were polite that time. We’re getting closer.”

  I scowled. “You should leave.”

  “Why? Your skittish little date is long gone by now. His mommy took him home.” He snorted and shook his head, like he couldn’t believe any of it.

  “Yeah, thanks to you. Look, I don’t need you showing up, running my prospects off. You and the rest of your polar buddies. It’s hard enough to find rabbits around here as it is.”

  “Prospects? He was a prospect? Why the low standards?”

  “I don’t have low standards. It just so happens there aren’t many of us to choose from.”

  “Us? Who’s us?”

  “Rabbit shifters.”

  “Yeah, see, why are you limiting yourself like that?”

  “None of your business.”

  “Come on, Bunny. Talk to your big, bad polar bear. Tell me what’s wrong.” He smirked. “Why are you so worried about me chasing all the scared little rabbits away?”

  Fuming, I leaned into his space and poked him in the chest. “Stop being such a dick about rabbits.”

  He reached up and used his thumb to scratch his eyebrow, then twisted his mouth as though he was contemplating my request. “No. Probably not going to happen. It’s just too tempting.” He leaned forward and poked me back. “Now, tell me why it’s so important for you to find rabbits. Did one of them steal all the Trix?”

  I glared at him. “Oh, my god, you really are a complete dick!”

  “So, they didn’t steal the Trix?”

  “I’m looking for a mate, you asshole.” I hissed it out with another jab of my finger to his chest. “It’s not easy to find a decent rabbit shifter who hasn’t been scared away from the island by you Commando wannabes. Good enough answer for you?”

  He caught my hand and held it, his smirk gone. In its place was a dark scowl. “Why does your mate have to be a rabbit?”

  I jerked at my hand, but he was too strong. “So, I can have pure rabbit babies! Now, let go of me.”

  He let my hand go and watched as I stood up and pulled money out of my wallet.

  Still, he was silent, that jaw working.

  I threw down cash for the meal and shoved my wallet back in my purse. Glaring at him, I pushed in my chair in and skirted around the table, farthest away from him. “Keep your damned paws to yourself from now on, bear.”

  11

  Maxim

  A few days had passed since I’d crashed Parker’s date, but she hadn’t left my mind the entire time. Worse, she hadn’t left my bear’s mind. He was infatuated. Every second of every day he urged me to find her—go to her. The whole thing was making me incredibly cranky.

  Work had been busier than usual, so I’d at least been able to pretend to have some self-control. I hadn’t been able to look for her and I hadn’t embarrassed myself by admitting to any of the guys how much space in my head was dedicated to her.

  Every hour that passed, I wondered if she’d found another fuck head rabbit to date like the one she’d been with at Tuna’s Seafood House. I couldn’t help wondering why a woman like her would resort to dating a loser like that. Rabbit babies? There had to be more to it than that. The thought made me want to hunt down the little underachiever who’d been with her at dinner that night. Hunt down, sink my teeth in, and rip his loser throat out.

  It was late in the afternoon and I was slowly going insane. Work had slowed down and everyone else was checking out for the day. They were either rendezvousing with their mates or…doing whatever Konstantin did. I was proud of myself for staying away from Parker for a couple days. It had been a struggle, but I’d managed it by keeping busy with work. In the quiet of the office that afternoon, though, I felt my resolve caving in. I had an irresistible urge to find her, even if it was just to see her lips twist in annoyance when she saw me coming her way.

  I went home and showered before dressing and getting ready. As I was styling my hair, I remembered Parker’s barb about it and smiled to myself.

  Not sure where to go, I ended up heading to Mimi’s Cabana and settling in my booth. I hoped she’d show up there again and I’d get a chance to talk to her. I didn’t know where else to look for her.

  About ten beers and three hours in, I started to feel like a complete pathetic moron. Not just for waiting around the bar on the off chance that she’d stop in, but for thinking that if she did stop in, I’d have the remotest chance with her. She’d made it crystal clear that she wanted nothing to do with me.

  She was a rabbit shifter who only wanted to meet another rabbit shifter to have rabbit babies with. Her intentions were clear, and they excluded me.

  I was man enough to admit that I wasn’t used to being rejected and it wounded my ego a bit. When she was with me and I could see the heat in her eyes, I didn’t mind her words of rejection, or insults, or whatever she dished out. But not seeing her at all, that was hard, and it was leaving me with an empty feeling that was fast growing as I sat there pounding beers.

  God, I was pathetic. Why was I sitting there crying in my beer over a woman who had told me over and over she didn’t want me?

  Plus, there was the whole issue of her wanting children. The last thing on my agenda was being someone’s baby daddy. Hell, I had yet to graduate from wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am. One-and-done’s were way more my style. Hell, I’d never woken up next to a woman—or wanted to. I didn’t do relationships.

  And I sure as hell didn’t do children.

  Parker…well, she was clearly not a one-night kind of girl. That much was obvious. I was barking up the wrong tree with her.

  The longer I sat there, the more I was able to convince myself that I should overcome my obsession with Parker by spending a few hours of quality time with someone who did want to be with me and who was on the same wavelength as me. What was that old saying? The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else? There was a brunette at the bar who’d been giving me the ‘come hither’ eye all night.

  My bear was not only outraged at the very thought, he was disgusted, repelled and nauseated. But, he wasn’t my judge and jury. It wasn’t often that I went against what he wanted, but he was just a polar bear, after all. What the fuck did he know?

  Heidi was behind the bar watching as I approached the brunette. Her eyes rolled so hard I was afraid they’d fall out the back of her head, but she turned away and went about her business.

  I bought a drink for the brunette and a few cheesy pickup lines later, we left. She was all over me by the time we got to the beach and even though I wasn’t into her, I was ready to try anything in hopes of forgetting Parker—even for a night. Down in the sand we went, the brunette kissing me and both of us rolling around as she attempted to make out with me. I felt nothing but revulsion, though.

  It only took me about two and a half minutes of forcing myself to endure her kisses and trying to summon feelings of arousal to realize that nothing was going to happen. My bear was roaring so loud in my head that I couldn’t have focused even if I wanted to. I didn’t even bother to fake a phone call that time. I just rolled off of her and told her it wasn’t happening. She pouted, but she left pretty soon after, realizing that I was serious.

  I stayed there in the sand, accepting that my dick was broken. It refused to react to anyone other than Parker. Who could blame it? No one looked as pretty or smelled as sweet. No one spit words of fire at me quite the same way, either. My bear was pissed at me for even thinking another woman might have been an option. Parker was the one. He wanted me to find her and apologize.

  Oh, Jesus, my bear had turned into some sort of r
omantic sap while I wasn’t looking. My bear? Hell, I was becoming the same sap.

  I knew what was happening. I knew exactly what all this meant. Parker was my mate. And just like with the other guys, the mate bug was about to sink its teeth into my ass, bite down hard, and turn me into a mushy, cuddly teddy bear.

  I groaned and flung my arm over my eyes, needing to just hide away on the beach for a little while longer. I wasn’t ready for all that mate shit. I’d seen the guys become ultra-possessive and pissy. Grown ass men, all needy and helpless without their women.

  I wasn’t ready for that.

  I knew it didn’t matter what I was or wasn’t ready for. Ready, or not, I was about to become Parker’s bitch.

  12

  Parker

  As part of my foray into the social scene on the island, I’d been heading to Mimi’s when I saw Maxim step out of the place with a sleazy brunette on his arm. She clung to him like Saran wrap as they headed towards the beach. I shouldn’t have cared. I should have been grateful he was with someone so he would leave me alone. I should have just going on into Mimi’s and minded my own business. I damned sure shouldn’t have stood outside the bar long enough to hear the sleazy chick’s heated moan coming from that direction a minute or so later.

  My plans to hang out at the bar were completely ruined. I was overcome with anger, so much so that all I could do was march myself home and crawl into bed.

  My rabbit was crushed. She’d had some stupid fantasy about Maxim, but clearly she was played for a fool. Maxim was a player. He was an arrogant, cocky, philanderer and I wanted nothing to do with him, no matter what my sad little rabbit said.

  I hadn’t seen him for two days, anyway. Maybe he’d done what I’d told him to do and forgotten about me. It was for the best. After the stunt he pulled with my last date, I didn’t need him around.

  I slept like absolute crap that night and the next morning I was basically a zombie as I got dressed and headed to Latte Love to fuel up on caffeine. I ordered a giant mug of black coffee and sat behind a palm leaf while I drank it in peace.

  Hidden away there, I dragged a book out of my purse and tried to get in a little reading it before going to work. It was a romance novel, though, and as I read, I kept thinking of Maxim. Grunting, I slammed the book closed and drained the rest of my coffee. I couldn’t even enjoy my morning without it being ruined by him.

  “There’s a lot of grunting and swearing coming from over here in this corner, Parker. You okay?” Paige stuck her head over my leaf and raised her eyebrows. “I’ve got customers concerned that you’re losing it.”

  “They’re not too far off.”

  “What’s going on, babe?”

  I frowned at my book and shook my head. “Romance novels are such utter crap. These men are so chivalrous and honorable.”

  She settled into the chair across from me. “And that’s not been your experience?”

  “Hell no!” I laughed. “Not even close.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know many women who’ve found the perfect man.” She grinned. “When they do, he’s usually gay.”

  “Honestly, even a man who was halfway decent would be a rare find.” I shoved the offending book back in my purse and stood up. “I’ve got to get to work. It’s time to spread this sunny disposition to the lucky guests at Rise and Shine.”

  Paige hurried over to the counter and grabbed a basket of goodies. “Take this with you, will ya’? Penny beat me at gin rummy last night, and this is what I owe her.”

  * * *

  Work went by slowly and by the end of the day, I was ready to snap and rip the bell from over the door. I was cranky, hungry, and feeling just about as dragging-on-the-ground as I could get. When Laila canceled our dinner plans because she had to handle work late, I ended up going straight to Mimi’s when I got off.

  It was too early for the place to be busy and probably too early to be drinking, but I ordered a basket of wings and some mozzarella sticks and topped it off with a spiked sweet tea from the bartender anyway. I’d just been served the food and was digging in when Heidi appeared from the back.

  A grin spread across her face as soon as she spotted me. Coming over, she leaned against the bar in front of me and looked me up and down. “You don’t look like you’re having a fun day.”

  I shoved the rest of a mozzarella stick into my mouth and finished chewing. “You know what my problem is?”

  She poured herself a glass of coke and shrugged. “Hopefully not me. That’d be awkward.”

  I paused, dipping a buffalo wing in bleu cheese. “Why would I have a problem with you?”

  “A lot of people do.”

  “I don’t.” I chomped on the wing and licked the sauce off my fingers. “It’s men. I hate ‘em. All of them. The big ones, the little ones, the scared ones, and especially the cocky ones.”

  “Uh oh.”

  I nodded. “Yeah. Uh oh is right.”

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t think you want to hear it.” I bit into another mozzarella stick. “Especially since it’s about your mate’s buddy.”

  “Maxim?” She clapped her hands together and leaned in closer. “I do want to hear it. Talk to me.”

  “He crashed my dinner date a few days ago. Scared off the guy I was with and was just an all-around arrogant dickhead. Then, I see him hooking up with some brunette last night. He’s a total player.”

  Her face twisted in confusion. “He hooked up with… I was sure he was going to…” She paused. “I thought there was something happening between the two of you.”

  “Nope.”

  “He was being all weird, hinting around about you without coming right out and asking. I thought maybe you two were, you know, like mates or something.”

  I dropped wing I was holding and reached for my tea with trembling hands. I drained half the glass in one swallow.

  “Mates? Not a fucking chance.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Yes! I’m sure. You don’t fuck around with other women if you’ve met your mate.” I realized I’d sounded really sharp and sighed. “Sorry. I don’t mean to be nasty to you. I’m just…”

  “Hurt?”

  “Hurt?” I looked away. “No. There’s nothing to be hurt about.”

  “Again… Are you sure about that?”

  “Positive.”

  She motioned to my glass and smiled. “Need a refill?”

  “In a big way.”

  13

  Maxim

  It took me another two days, but I finally sniffed Parker out. Turned out she worked at Rise and Shine Bed and Breakfast. I’d tried to find out more from Heidi without it being so obvious, but she’d instantly called me on it. Apparently, she and Parker were hanging out a little more which made me think Heidi had lots of things she could tell me, but none that she would. It’d been slowly driving me crazy.

  We’d been in the middle of a job assisting the coast guard, rescuing passengers of a capsized catamaran, when I’d spotted Parker entering the B&B. Deducing that she worked there wasn’t rocket science, so I went back later in the day to find her. I didn’t care about how it made me look, chasing after her like I couldn’t stay away. I couldn’t. It had been entirely too long since I’d seen her and I was feeling a little bit like I was going through drug withdrawal. Parker, being my drug of choice.

  Rise and Shine B&B was a huge, pink house with a beautiful front porch that had been decorated for fall. The front entrance was warm and welcoming, which I knew couldn’t be said for the little rabbit shifter inside. At least not once she saw me.

  When I opened the door, a bell rang so shrilly that I cringed. It was loud for anyone, but earsplitting to a shifter. I glared up and then grabbed it to keep it from ringing again when the door closed. The first thing I saw when I looked around the place was a wide-eyed, open-mouthed Parker sitting behind a desk.

  Her pastel hair was piled into a loose bun atop her head and she was wearing black rimmed
glasses that immediately filled my wicked mind with visions of her playing naughty librarian. Shit. I had to clear those lusty thoughts away if I was going to have a rational conversation with her without tripping over my own tongue.

  Her mouth puckered like she’d been sucking on a sour lemon and she shoved a pen into her hair before standing up and shaking her head. Her Rise and Shine T-shirt had the sleeves rolled up, revealing an entire tattoo sleeve down her arm. Once again, my mind wandered to the goodies that were hidden beneath her clothes—more tattoos? Other piercings? What, where and how many?

  “Oh, hell no! You have to leave.”

  I grinned and moved closer to her. “Why, hello, Parker. It’s lovely to see you, too.”

  She absently searched her desk and I worried that she was looking for something to stab me with. “I don’t want you here.”

  A middle aged woman came out of nowhere and slapped Parker’s arm. “Parker Pettit, what has gotten into you?”

  The answer to that question was not me, not yet. I smiled at the other woman and extended my hand. “Hello, I’m Maxim. Parker’s very good friend.”

  “Will you stop saying that? We are not friends. We are so not friends. In fact, you better get the hell out of here before I find my taser.”

  I edged closer, gambling on the hunch that she didn’t actually have a taser. Not that it would do much to me other than sting for a minute or two. “Bunny! You’ll hurt my feelings.”

  The other woman laughed suddenly, her face going mischievous. “You’re that Maxim. I’m Penny. I’ve heard a lot about you. Parker can’t stop talking about you.”