Polar Bear Daddy (Small Town Shifters Book 4)

by Lola Kidd

  He would leave in a few hours and they would find a time for him to meet George. If they hit it off, then okay. But nothing was going to happen tonight. Nothing was going to happen at all. Just sleep.

  When she went back to the bedroom, he was sitting up in the bed. She must have woken him when she got up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin your sleep.”

  “It’s fine. I’m pretty rested actually. I think that was just enough sleep for me.”

  The sun was just coming up. It had only been a few hours, but he did look better. Unlike her, he’d slept some. “Okay. You have my number. Call me to set up the time whenever you know your schedule.”

  He nodded. “Of course. Pretty sure it’ll be as soon as possible though. I don’t have a job lined up after this.”

  “Oh well...okay then.”

  She wrung her hands. She was going to have to explain all of this to her sister and parents before the end of the trip. That wasn’t going to be too fun. For some reason she felt uneasy. It had to be the lack of sleep. Her mind was all over the place.

  Her family already knew she’d gotten pregnant by a one-night stand. This wasn’t news to them. She guessed it was odd that they would be meeting George’s father not long after she had. She knew so little of him. An idea popped in her head.

  “Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” she asked.

  “What?” He looked at her, mouth gaping. “Us have dinner again? You sure?”

  “Yeah. We should start getting to know each other with everything out in the open. I think it’d be good for George if we were friends at least.”

  She heard the “at least” and cringed. He was going to think she was angling for something here and be creeped out.

  “I think that would be wonderful. I know a place if you’re game for some unusual dishes. It’s a fusion joint.”

  “Sounds great to me. I’m down for whatever.”

  “Great. I’ll phone you later to see what time, but I’m thinking around eight would be good.”

  “Sounds like a tentative plan.” She leaned forward and hugged him. She’d hugged him quickly the night before. That had been a sweet gesture. This was different. She felt different. The way he held her in his arms stirred something deep inside her. Not just lust. Something else too that she couldn’t name. All she knew was that she didn’t want to ever let him go. It was so strange.

  She dropped her head to his shoulder and inhaled deeply. She was going to let him go in a second. Just a second more.

  It had been so long since she’d been held by a man. What had she been waiting for? She was free to date this whole time and yet she’d let herself miss out on this delicious feeling for so very long. Or maybe it wouldn’t have been the sane with another man. Maybe this felt so nice because it was Nick.

  No. That was ludicrous. She barely knew him. Yes, he was the father of her child, but that didn’t mean she had any kind of claim on him or him on her. She didn’t belong to him.

  That was the feeling. It felt like she belonged in his arms. A shiver went up her spine.

  That was how shifters talked about their mates.

  She let her arms drop and stepped out of his arms like she’d been burned. She was fantasizing too much. This was about getting to know the father of her child, not getting carried away in some fantasy happily ever after.

  “See you later,” she told him, not meeting his eyes. She didn’t know what her eyes would reveal.

  “Yup. Have a good day.”

  He left the room and she locked the door behind him. She leaned back on the door and breathed a sigh of relief. What the heck had happened at the end there?

  There was a knock at the door before she could even gather her thoughts. She looked out the peephole and was surprised to see Kelly outside.

  Her sister held up her hand. “High five girl!”

  Pearl shook her head. “It’s not what it looks like.”

  “Sure. He was just stopping by for something very important.” Kelly winked. “Come on. We’re both adults and this wouldn’t be the first time you’ve had a one-night stand.”

  This was it. The perfect segue to tell her that Nick was her son’s father. Pearl took a deep breath. “Actually...we should go for breakfast. I’m starving and really want to eat before we start work.”

  “Great. Perfect for you to spill all the details.”

  “You know I don’t kiss and tell.” Pearl let her sister in and started to get dressed. It wasn’t like she was going to sleep anymore. She was going to need a gallon of coffee to get through this day.

  Kelly made a face. “Gross. I don’t want those details. I want to know what you think about him. Do you think you’ll see him again? I mean probably not, but was he nice at least?”

  “He’s very nice.” And she would be seeing him again. Lots of him. In fact, he would be a part of their lives forever now. But for some reason, she still couldn’t bring herself to tell her sister the truth.

  She yawned as she searched for her makeup. She needed to get her first cup of coffee in her, stat. Maybe she’d be able to take a break while the pageant was going on. Running on zero sleep, she just hoped she wouldn’t make an ass out of herself today. She would be seeing Nick again and she didn’t want to make it weird. She needed this to all to go smoothly.

  Chapter Nine

  Nick could barely keep his mind of the task at hand. Thank gosh it wasn’t a hard job. Mostly, he had to keep an eye out for the creeps. But since this was a shifter-friendly pageant and there was bound to be shifter parents in the audience, there’d never been a problem. This event didn’t need security as far as he was concerned. He was there more for peace of mind than anything else.

  Normally, he was glad to have the job, but right now the last thing he wanted was to be around any kids that weren’t his own. Somewhere at this very moment, his son was out there. He wanted nothing more than to blow off this stupid job and drive straight to wherever George was.

  Funny enough, he liked the name. He didn’t have much of a preference on kid names. He was never that concerned about the naming. It was the healthy baby he cared about. By all accounts, George was as healthy as any parent could hope for. A good baby too. He hadn’t shifted yet, but Nick wasn’t worried. They had a long time until it was a problem. He was actually happy it hadn’t happened yet. Maybe he’d missed his first steps, but there was still time for him to teach his son all about the joys and responsibilities of shifting.

  He got choked up again and had to wipe his eyes. His family was just within reach. A family of his own. It was going to happen. A real Christmas miracle.

  Pearl liked him. He could tell when he left that morning. She was going to be fun to chase. Soon enough, they would be giving George a little brother or sister. He knew it. His polar bear knew it. But first, he had to get through this stupid job. He’d already looked up Pearl’s town on the map and checked the job situation in the area. There were so many options. In fact, he had a contact who could hook him up with a job in the area if he asked.

  But the more he was thinking, he realized it would be good to keep working in the pageant world. When Pearl and Kelly went to shows for makeup, he could do the security. It would be a sweet deal and the directors loved stories like that. He’d seen them feature other families who worked together at one or two other pageants. And for sure the contestants and regulars would talk about it. It would be all heartwarming and shit. It would be perfect. Plus, they could travel as a family whenever possible.

  He got more excited the longer he thought about it. Really, he wouldn’t need to work much. He had so much saved up at this point. The vagabond life was pretty cheap all in all. Lonely, but cheap.

  “Nicholas!”

  He looked up at his name. He scanned the area but there was nothing out of place. “What?”

  “Exactly. What the hell is going on with you? You’re barely paying any attention,” his coworker scolded. “I know this is an easy day, but still keep your
eyes open. Don’t want anything to go wrong.”

  He nodded. “Of course. I’ll pay more attention.”

  Nick kept his eyes on the room and the onlookers. It wasn’t anything exciting, but around the halfway mark and just before lunch, he spotted Kelly near the stage. She was touching up a little girl’s makeup before she got in line to walk the stage. When the round was done and everyone was scattering, he found her again.

  “Hey, how’s your day going?” he asked.

  She wiped her hand on her brow. “Long. It’s going long. Even with Pearl, this pageant is a madhouse. People are so excited to have her back, they’re throwing money at us to book for the next one.”

  “Crazy. You guys must be very talented.”

  She smiled. “I don’t want to toot my own horn, but yes. We’re very good at what we do. I’m so glad to have Pearl back with me. If she can keep it up, we’re going to be set for the slow months for the next three years.”

  “Wow. I didn’t realize you guys could make so much.”

  “The more in demand we are, the more we can charge. Nothing too crazy of course. We both do enjoy the job and get close to our customers. Especially the ones who’ve been with us a long time. We don’t want to price our favorites out. Some of these girls we’ve been working on since they were babies.”

  “If either of you ever have a daughter, she is going to have a leg up on everyone. Besides being beautiful, she’ll have the best team on the circuit.”

  Kelly laughed. “Our daughters won’t be into pageants with our luck.”

  “You don’t think? I see legacies all the time.”

  “Well then, Pearl’s daughter will be the sure thing. She was the one who did all the winning and competing. She’s always been a natural on the stage. She keeps saying I should coach, but really she’s the one with more experience. I could never do it without her.”

  “I didn’t know she’d competed.” There was so much about his mate that he had to learn, but he was surprised that hadn’t come up yet. “When did she stop?”

  “At the teen level. It gets very competitive and if you aren’t going to go for Miss USA or Miss America, there’s not much point in putting all the money into it. Better to buy a car or save for college.”

  “Let me guess, Pearl chose college.”

  “Of course she did. Studious Pearl would never do anything as crazy as buying a car when there was saving to be done. Plus, we got a very steep discount on education. Our mom is a professor.”

  “So a very studious and intellectual family. You guys must have been shocked when she showed up pregnant then, huh?”

  Kelly’s eyes went wide. “She told you she had a baby? Wow, guess your little sleepover wasn’t as wild as I imagined.”

  He chuckled. “I’d say it was kind of wild.”

  She blushed. “Sorry, she didn’t reveal any details. I just happened to see you leave her room this morning. My sister isn’t the kiss-and-tell type. I’m just surprised she mentioned her son. We thought it would be better to keep it a secret. I know it can scare some guys off, so I’m glad you’re not one of those.”

  Nick tilted his head and rubbed his chin. She didn’t know. Pearl must not have had a moment to break the news. He was going to leave that up to her, so he would have to be careful with his words.

  “I don’t mind kids. I want a big family someday.”

  She nodded. “Me too. I never thought I’d be able to have a nephew or niece to be honest. Pearl was always adamant about being child-free. I feel lucky I even got one. She’s really happy too, so maybe she’ll do it again.”

  “She didn’t want to have kids?” Nick could barely get the words out he was so shocked. From the way Pearl had talked, it sounded like she loved being a mom and would be more than ready to do it again. Maybe she had changed her mind, but it would have been nice to know where she stood on the whole thing.

  “Nope. But she was young. I know sometimes people change their minds. I don’t know if I should be telling you all this,” she laughed. “Maybe ask my sister out? Have her tell you all about her offspring plans.”

  “I already did,” Nick said. “Well, I mean, she asked me. We’re going out tonight.”

  Obviously, she hadn’t told Kelly that either. It was getting a little hard to not take this personally. She’d spent the morning with her sister. You’d think she would have mentioned her dinner plans once. Unless she planned on canceling on him. That would suck.

  “Really? Huh, she didn’t say that. We were supposed to have dinner with some of the other artists.”

  “Well, I mean, maybe I misunderstood our plans.”

  “No, she probably hasn’t told me yet.” Kelly laughed and shook her head. “She doesn’t want to disappoint me, but I’d rather her go on a date than spend a night in with me. She’s been doing that for the last year plus!”

  He nodded. “Well, I’ll see you later. Good luck with the rest of your day and I hope you book tons of clients.”

  “Thanks. And thanks for keeping us safe.”

  They parted and he went in search of food for lunch. As he snacked on his slice of pizza, he mulled over what he knew about Pearl so far. Which didn’t take long.

  Next to nothing. He knew almost nothing about her and it seemed like she wasn’t telling him much either. He hoped he could change that tonight.

  He was still bothered that she hadn’t told her sister for some reason. He knew it was stupid. She wanted to wait and tell her at a good moment. But all he could think was that she was waiting and testing him. If he failed any part of her test here in Celebration, she would try to keep him from their son. It was crazy and not a helpful mindset to have, but he couldn’t shake the feeling. It would have been so easy to tell Kelly that morning, but maybe she didn’t want to ruin their whole day.

  He would ask her tonight. Better to get to the source than drive himself crazy with speculation and trying to read her mind. He needed to give his mate the benefit of the doubt.

  Chapter Ten

  Pearl reapplied her lip gloss for the fifth time. She was licking her lips nervously and licking it off every two minutes. It was awful. She was debating switching to a matte lipstick when Nick knocked on her door.

  “You look great.”

  She did not. She hadn’t packed for a date scenario and she was wearing jeans and the sexiest top Kelly had in her suitcase. It did look okay on her but not good enough for a date. She’d compensated by doing her hair and makeup extra special. Kelly had even helped her so she knew her face looked gorgeous. If only she could keep the lip gloss on her lips.

  “Thanks. You look good too. Who’s driving?”

  “Me. I assume you don’t want to strand Kelly at the motel without a car.”

  “Good point.” She grabbed her purse and followed him down to his car. The drive to the restaurant was much more pleasant than the last time they’d been in a car together.

  They talked about their day and the winners so far. The teen pageant was the next day. It was unusual to split it up like that, but the teens were a big draw for this pageant and there would be a ton of spectators.

  “Are you worried about tomorrow?” he asked her.

  “Nope. We’re working on two clients that we’ve been doing since we started. I could do both of their hair in my sleep.” Pearl joked. “I am nervous for the girls though. This is a big deal. I’m sad they both can’t win, but if they can take one and two, it would be awesome.”

  “I ran into Kelly earlier today and she said that you used to compete.”

  She nodded. “I did. But I stopped in my teen years.”

  “Why?”

  “I knew it wasn’t going to be a forever thing for me.”

  “So what is your forever thing?”

  “No idea.” She laughed. “I’d like to say what I’m doing now, but I think this has an expiration date for me. I’m not sure when that’ll be, but I feel like at some point I’m going to have to move on. Maybe to coaching but who knows.
What about you?”

  “I think I’m going to stick with security, but I don’t know how long I can stay on the pageant circuit. It’s a lot of travel. For now it’s perfect, but with a family I’m not sure what I’ll do. Probably something that lets me stay in one place. Reserve travel for something I do with my family.”

  He’d said family twice. Did that mean George or the two of them? Would he want to take her son on trips by himself? She didn’t know how she felt about that. Not good. She didn’t feel good about it, but she didn’t know if it was because George would go alone or because she might not be able to go with the two of them. Those were two entirely different things, and she wasn’t quite ready to explore what the answer meant.

  “Do you travel much besides for work?” she asked him.

  “Nope. Never really got the bug. What about you?”

  “I’ve wanted to travel. We did a bunch of it when we were kids. But then we got older and got jobs and it wasn’t as easy to do. Now with a baby, I can’t imagine taking him anywhere just yet. But I want to. I want to take him to all the places I got to see as kid and to the places I wished I could have gone.”

  “I guess that’s one of the great things about having a kid. You can experience all the stuff you did as a kid again. Christmas must be the best.”

  “Not quite.” She grinned. “He’s only had one and he was very small. Too small to understand what was going on. I may have gone overboard the first year for nothing, but it’ll be better as he gets older. His first birthday was the same way.”

  “What have you got him for Christmas?”

  She knew this was where she should invite him, but she couldn’t get her mouth to form the words. They were right there on the tip of her tongue, but it left a sour taste in her mouth just thinking of saying it.

  She was in a weird mood tonight and was pinging back and forth so fast it was giving her whiplash.

  Why couldn’t she figure out how she felt about him? Why was this so hard? She was supposed to be trying to get to know him and get on good terms so she could make it easier for George. Why was she being so difficult?