Ignite: A Werebear + BBW Paranormal Romance (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 3)

by Ophelia Sexton

  Gently she said, "Look, I really appreciate what you're trying to do, Evan. But we've only known each other six days! And we've only been dating since Monday!"

  "You've always been a fast worker," murmured Mark, his voice luckily too low for Ordinary ears to catch.

  Evan didn't like the way this was going. He had thought that making the decision to marry her would be the hard part.

  He hadn't counted on her balking at the suggestion. Though in hindsight, and given his experiences in trying to ask her out, he should have.

  Okay, time to pull out the big guns.

  Evan slid out of his chair and got down on his knees. He was still holding Steffi's hand, so he leaned forward and kissed her knuckles.

  "Steffi Tristan, I know we haven't known each other very long, but I can't stand the thought of seeing you unhappy. Will you marry me and stay in Bearpaw Ridge so that we can raise Olivia together with the support of our families?"

  She bit her lip, still looking hesitant.

  "He's right," Mark chimed in right on cue, and Evan decided he was going to buy his brother a bottle of the best whiskey he could find. "Bringing you into the Swanson family as Evan's spouse could be the key to resolving this situation amicably."

  "I thought you were commitment-phobic," Steffi said, looking down at Evan with narrowed eyes. "Why are you volunteering to do this?"

  Evan considered his answer. Should he tell her that they were already mated? He could feel Mark's gaze burning into the back of his head and knew his brother was expecting him to come clean.

  I can't tell her! Not yet! I'll scare her away, he told himself. I'll confess everything on our wedding night, when she's mine.

  "I promised I'd help you, and this is the only way I know how. Marry me, Steffi."

  She stared down at him, still obviously undecided. And yet her heartrate had spiked, and now her scent was filled with strong emotion too. Then she looked at Mark for a long moment before returning her attention to Evan.

  "I know this is crazy," she began, "but yes. Yes, I'll marry you, Evan."

  Evan grinned at her as his bear rumbled in triumph. Yes! She's going to marry me, and then she'll be mine, mine, mine!

  He reached up, cupped her face between his hands, and rose to kiss her thoroughly.

  "I really appreciate the sacrifice you're making," she said softly when he drew back.

  "I don't know if you're religious, Steffi, but all of the churches around here are booked out months in advance for a wedding," Mark said, helpful as always. "May I suggest a courthouse wedding, and as quickly as possible? You can obtain a marriage license immediately, and I can make a few calls to see if there's a judge available to perform the wedding."

  Okay, Mark just earned himself a second bottle of top-shelf whiskey. Evan tried to suppress his triumphant grin.

  "Sure," Steffi said, looking dazedly and adorably flushed from his kiss. "I'll call my parents when I get back to the apartment. I know they'll want to come."

  The enormity of what had just happened began to sink in. His fated mate had just agreed to marry him. And his life was about to change radically. Very shortly, he was going to be a married man with a baby.

  He should be fucking terrified and running for the hills. Instead, he felt annoyed that they weren't immediately driving up to Salmon to get hitched at the county courthouse.

  "Thank you, Mark," Evan said to his brother with genuine gratitude.

  "Yes, thank you so much," Steffi echoed.

  "So should I get you those pink cowboy boots as an engagement present?" Evan asked her as he rose from his knees.

  "Maybe after we go beard the dragon in her den," Steffi told him. "Are you up for a visit to your aunt?"

  Chapter 17

  In the end, Mark came with them on their mission to Margaret Swanson.

  Margaret stood on the porch of her Queen Anne, watching the three of them approach, with Olivia in Steffi's arms.

  She pointed at Mark. "Mark Edward Swanson, I can't believe you're taking sides against your own family!" Her sharp brown gaze swung to Steffi and Olivia. "And as for you—"

  "I'm not your enemy, Aunt Margaret. In fact, I'm here because I think we can work together in Olivia's best interests," Mark said calmly.

  "Yeah. We came up with an idea that we're hoping you will agree to," added Evan.

  He walked up to his aunt, hugged her stiff form, and kissed her cheek. Mark followed suit.

  Steffi hesitated. She didn't really want to hug the woman who was trying to take Olivia from her, but on the other hand, if they were all going to be one big happy family…

  She settled for giving Margaret a quick peck on the cheek, and, after a moment's thought, she handed Olivia to her grandmother as a goodwill gesture. With Evan and Mark both here, she didn't think Margaret would try anything.

  The woman’s expression softened as she looked down at Olivia. The baby made a happy sound and grabbed at her grandmother's sweater.

  "All right," Margaret said grudgingly. "Why don't you all come in and tell me what you have in mind?"

  A few minutes later, they were all seated in Margaret's living room, holding steaming cups of tea. Evan and Steffi were on the loveseat, while Margaret and Mark had both taken the armchairs on the other side of the coffee table.

  Evan took Steffi's hand. She clutched it nervously.

  Margaret's eyebrows rose, nearly disappearing into her silver-streaked brown hair when she heard what Mark was proposing.

  She stared at Evan in obvious shock, then her gaze dropped to their joined hands before rising to fasten on Steffi.

  "So let me see if I've got this," she said slowly. "You're willing to relocate to Bearpaw Ridge, marry my nephew, and raise Olivia here if I agree not to take you to court?" Margaret shook her head. "How on earth did you manage to convince Evan, of all people, to agree to marry you?"

  Evan cleared his throat. "Actually, it was my idea. I had to talk Steffi into it."

  Margaret eyed him with deep suspicion. Then, to Steffi's bewilderment, she leaned forward and sniffed deeply in Steffi's direction. She repeated this with Evan.

  And then sat back with an Aha! expression on her face.

  "Why didn't you tell me that you'd finally taken a mate, Evan?" She smiled broadly at Steffi. "And you didn't breathe a word of it when you came to visit me yesterday! I wouldn't have said the things I did, if I'd only know that you and my nephew were a mated pair!"

  "A…what?" Steffi turned to Evan. She had no idea what Margaret was talking about, but it felt important. "We're a what?"

  He didn't look at her. "It's just shifter-speak for 'Aunt Margaret is happy I've finally found someone to marry,'" he muttered.

  "And I never thought I'd live to see the day when a woman—an Ordinary woman—managed to catch the elusive Evan Swanson. Elle is going to have an aneurysm." Margaret chuckled.

  "So our proposal is acceptable to you, Aunt Margaret?" Mark asked. "If so, we can work out a formal visitation schedule."

  "I don't need a visitation schedule," Margaret said quickly. "As long as Steffi and Evan get married, and Olivia stays in Bearpaw Ridge, then I'll be able to see her whenever I want to." She looked at Evan and Steffi. "I think I can trust you both to do the right thing and not keep my granddaughter away from me."

  "Of course," Steffi said and felt a huge weight lift from her. She wouldn't be forced to go to court, after all! And she would get to keep Olivia.

  Really, though, she should be running and screaming. She had actually agreed to marry someone she'd known for less than a week and was about to relocate from her home in Silicon Valley to a small town in rural Idaho.

  As she sat there, holding the hand of the sexiest man she'd ever met—a man who could turn into a giant bear at will—Steffi tried to suppress her incipient panic and told herself that she needed to think about this as an exciting fresh start rather than as a disaster waiting to happen.

  * * *

  "You're being awfully quiet," Eva
n observed as Steffi maneuvered the Subaru down the bumpy gravel road that led down to the highway. "Is everything okay?"

  Mark had driven his own truck to Margaret's. They could see him up ahead, his tires raising a dust cloud.

  "I just have a lot to think about," Steffi said. "Right now, I'm trying to figure out if I should sell my condo in Cupertino or hire a property management company and rent it out. And I need to call Rajesh and see how he feels about letting me become a remote employee…and my parents are going to have heart attacks when they hear I'm getting married."

  She sighed and glanced over the nearest pasture. Cattle grazed peacefully on the lush green grass, framed by a spectacular vista of rugged, snow-capped mountains in the distance.

  Bearpaw Ridge was beautiful, but living here was going to take some getting used to, with the nearest Starbucks a two-hour drive away. Though Cinnamon + Sugar came close to making up for the loss with their cinnamon mocha…

  As they were passing the cluster of houses where Elle's half of the family lived, Evan pointed out a large, modern cabin. "That's my place. Can I give you a tour?"

  "Sure," Steffi said.

  "You know," Evan said, looking out the car window as she pulled up in front of the house. "I've never brought any of my dates here before."

  "I guess you wanted to save something for your wedding night?" Steffi quipped as she parked the Subaru in front of the cabin.

  Evan laughed as he exited the vehicle and opened the rear door to get Olivia out of her car seat.

  "I know we haven't really discussed any details yet," Evan said, leading the way to the cabin's front door, Olivia resting comfortably in the crook of his arm. "But I was thinking…if you don't want to live here, I could talk to Dane and Annabeth about renting their apartment. You like it there, right?"

  "It's a really nice place," Steffi agreed, thinking how weird it felt to suddenly find herself engaged to Evan. "But I was thinking that Olivia should have her own bedroom. And it would be nice to have a real office."

  "Well, I have six bedrooms and seven bathrooms," Evan said, leading the way inside. "My parents built this place as a vacation rental. Right after the contractor finished it, my dad was killed in a car accident. My mom was so busy running the ranch that she asked Aunt Margaret to take over the B&B side of the business. She's done a great job with it, and the money it brings in has helped save the ranch when times were hard. Mom lost nearly the entire herd to arrowgrass poisoning the year after Dad died, and she wouldn't have been able to afford new breeding stock without the B&B revenues."

  "So how did you get the house?" Steffi asked, following him through a small mudroom lined with coat hooks and shoe racks.

  "When I finished my doctorate, the family decided to give me the house, since Dane and Mark had already gotten a house each. I think Margaret expected me to keep up the vacation rental part of the business, but that was impractical, because my field assignments always coincide with tourist season." Evan laughed. "Hell, the last couple of years, I've been spending more time camping out in the wilderness than living here. But it's got lots of room."

  They emerged into a great room that soared two stories to a peaked beam ceiling. Steffi stopped and looked around in wonder.

  The floor-to-ceiling windows filled the space with light, and a huge freestanding fireplace made from water-smoothed river rocks dominated the center of the room.

  With a little work, this could be a wonderful place for a vacation, very warm and welcoming, just the kind of place to relax with a book and a drink after a day spent hiking or fishing.

  Instead, it looked sad and neglected, with a jumble of worn, mismatched furniture that looked shabby chic without the "chic."

  There were thick woven rugs scattered over the hardwood floor, but like the furniture, they looked worn and dusty. A wide wooden mantel above the fireplace held a fascinating collection of animal skulls, shells, and fossils under a thick layer of dust.

  On the other side of the fireplace, one corner of the room was fitted out as an open-plan kitchen, with tiled countertops and dated appliances. Next to it was a dining area, with a scarred wooden table large enough to seat ten, and another huge window.

  In the early morning, the kitchen side of the great room would probably be filled with sunlight, Steffi guessed.

  On the other side of the fireplace, a wide wooden staircase led up to a second story built loft-style around the perimeter of the great room.

  "I'm, uh, not home much," Evan said apologetically. "And I never paid much attention to decorating."

  "This is a really nice house," Steffi assured him. "And you're right. There's plenty of space. It's just…"

  "A mess? In need of a makeover?" Evan interjected. He sounded hopeful.

  "—a little far out of town," Steffi finished. "And I'm not any kind of decorator, myself." She looked around again. "But my mom would be in seventh heaven if you let her loose in here. She loves renovating places, and she could probably work miracles updating a house like this."

  Evan laughed. "I'll keep it in mind. Okay, let's stay put in Annabeth's apartment for a while and get your mom—or someone else—to redo this place so that it looks like less of a junkyard." He paused. "Thanks to Ash, I do have high-speed Internet and a wireless router set up."

  "I'll keep it in mind," Steffi said. She ran her fingers along the carved wooden back of an armchair that looked at least a hundred years old. The upholstery was dingy, and white batting tufted from a hole in the seat cushion.

  Evan stepped close and put his arms around her.

  She raised her face, hoping he would kiss her. He did, long and slow and deep, until the familiar, welcome pulse of arousal beat between her legs.

  When the kiss ended, he said, "Wait here for a minute, will you?"

  He handed Olivia to her, then headed upstairs, taking the steps two at a time.

  Steffi stood in the middle of the huge living room and tried to imagine herself living here. With Evan. It didn't feel real. She still couldn't believe she'd agreed to marry him.

  Evan quickly reappeared, descending the stairs as quickly as he'd climbed them. "Give me your hand," he said.

  She was holding Olivia with her right arm, so she extended her left hand. He slipped something on her ring finger and grinned.

  "I thought it might fit you!" he said triumphantly.

  Steffi looked down and saw a beautiful antique ring on her finger. Two pearls were surrounded by curlicues of gold set with clusters of tiny diamonds.

  "This was my great-grandmother Swanson's engagement ring," Evan said. "I'd like you to have it…if you like it, of course."

  "I love it," Steffi said, raising her hand to admire the fine Edwardian workmanship. "But are you sure you want me to have it? I mean, you're only marrying me to help me out, right?"

  "That doesn't mean I'm not going to try to be a good mate, er, husband," Evan said, sounding resolute.

  Steffi couldn't help wondering how he really felt about this whole crazy scheme. Is he feeling trapped? Is he sorry he volunteered to marry me?

  And is he actually going to go through with this, or will he cut and run, like Mary said he did with all of his girlfriends?

  As they were walking back to the car, Steffi's phone rang. She looked at the screen and saw an unknown number.

  "Hello?" she said, bracing herself for a telemarketer.

  "Steffi?" said Jessica's voice, sounding panicked.

  Steffi tried to answer, but shock drove all the air out of her lungs. Black spots danced in front of her eyes, and she swayed. Evan caught and steadied her.

  "Steffi is that you? Where's Olivia? Did they get her, too?"

  Chapter 18

  "Jessica! Oh my God, Jessica!" Steffi said in disbelief. "Where are you? Is Patrick okay? What happened?"

  "Olivia!" Jessica insisted. "Is she with you? Is she all right?"

  "Yes." Steffi's knees felt wobbly. She leaned against Evan, who responded by wrapping his free arm around her. "
Yes, she's fine. She's with me right now. But you will not believe—"

  "Where are you right now?" Jessica interrupted. "They know where you live! You can't go back to your condo!"

  "Jessica, calm down. I'm okay, Olivia's okay, and we're in Idaho right now, visiting Patrick's mom."

  "Bearpaw Ridge? You made it to Bearpaw Ridge? Oh thank God, Steffi, we're heading there right now." Steffi heard Patrick's voice saying something in the background, but the words were drowned out by what sounded like road noise.

  "Patrick says to tell his mom that the people who tried to kidnap Olivia are probably going to come to Bearpaw Ridge, too. She'll know what to do."

  "Already on top of it," Steffi assured her. "In fact, Olivia and I seem to have picked up our own personal Swanson bodyguard. Did you ever meet Patrick's cousin Evan?"

  Evan squeezed her waist and shook his head. And Steffi remembered that Patrick had been estranged from most of his Swanson relations since his wedding to Jessica.

  "A bodyguard? Did something happen?" Jessica asked.

  "A whole lot of somethings have happened since you left, but I'll tell you about those when you get here. The important thing is that you're both okay, and so are we. Where are you? Do you need me to come get you?"

  "We're only a couple of hours from Bearpaw Ridge," Jessica said. "Oh, Steffi, you don't know how awful it's been! They kidnapped us on the way to the airport, and we only managed to get away because Patrick—uh…"

  She stopped speaking abruptly, as if she was about to say something she shouldn't. Steffi made a guess.

  "—turned into a giant bear?" she asked.

  Dead silence followed her question. Then Jessica asked, "You know about that?"

  * * *

  Even after speaking with her sister on the phone, Steffi couldn't quite bring herself to believe the miraculous news until Jessica and Patrick were actually sitting in her apartment several hours later.

  They were battered but alive.

  Patrick looked pretty much as Steffi remembered him, as big and broad-shouldered as the rest of the Swanson men, with short dark hair and hazel eyes. He wore a dark beard that badly needed trimming.