“We need to get this job started. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising, so if we can get this first renovation finished and let people come and look around, then we’ll pick up more work. And the company grows, and you get a raise. So get going,” Dylan ordered.
“Sure, boss,” she said, although she wasn’t happy, and Dylan must have picked up on it.
“Jed, could you give us a minute,” Dylan said.
“Sure. Although, if you would prefer to avoid my company,” he said to Amanda, “I’m happy to go alone. Or maybe there’s someone else who I can go there with? If you don’t trust me.” She wasn’t sure if that last statement was pointed at her or Dylan.
Amanda held her shame in check as Jed left the office. “I’m sorry,” she said to Dylan as soon as Jed was out of earshot. “You’re the boss, and I shouldn’t argue with you.”
“And I’m sorry too, I should keep my nose out of your business.” He smiled, an unfathomable look crossing his face. “I wish you could feel what Jed is feeling, I really do. But I forget this all sounds like nonsense to you.”
“The whole fated mates thing… It’s a little out there.” Yet she knew it was true. When Amanda had visited her grandparents in Bear Bluff, they had spent many hours recounting the time they met. In those stories, her grandma often said she had felt a connection to her new husband. Even though she wasn’t a shifter, and already had two grown children, plus one husband in the grave, and had sworn off men for life.”
“And you don’t feel anything? At all.”
She let her defenses down, just for one second. There it was, a niggling worm in her head that seemed to be able to locate Jed, even though he was at least fifty feet away leaning against the wall, taking in the sight of the mountain.
“Just because I can feel it, doesn’t mean I want to,” she insisted to Dylan.
“So that’s it? I figured when you came for your interview that there was something lurking in your past.” He put his hand up to stop her protest. “Jilted at the altar?”
“No. Nothing quite like that. Worse.” She opened her mouth to speak, to tell him the truth, but he raised his hand and silenced her.
“Whatever it is, let it go. I don’t need to know, as long as you promise it’s behind you.”
“And it doesn’t bother you? That I have a secret,” she asked.
“It’s all about the future for me. Mine, Steph’s and my unborn child’s.” He placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. “And maybe you should give Jed the benefit of that same second chance.”
“I hear what you are saying, I really do. But I’m not interested in giving my heart away.”
“Ahh. So it was a broken heart. The worst kind of betrayal comes from those you love.”
“More than my heart,” she said, looking outside, her focus always shifting to Jed, unless she consciously pointed it away from him.
“My advice,” Dylan said, “is to get back out there and see what life has to offer. That man.” He pointed to Jed. “That man has made mistakes, but for the right reason. And as a shifter, he will never betray you, or ever break your heart.”
“Wow, you are a good ambassador for love,” Amanda said sardonically.
“That’s because I’ve come through what you two are about to embark on, and I’m so happy I want everyone else in the world to be happy too.”
“Damn it, Dylan. Why did you go into construction when you could have started your own website preaching about the joys of shifter love?”
“Already been done. Fated and Mated is in the business of fixing shifters up with each other. Me? I’m good at fixing property up. So, get out there and work for me.” Dylan didn’t exactly propel her out of the office, but he made it clear that was what he wanted. “Here are the keys to the company truck. Take it, and anything else you might need. Don’t come back until you have a list of everything we need to make a start.”
“You’re the boss,” she said as she grabbed her purse and headed out of the door.
In truth, she didn’t mind being out in the fresh air. It was being with Jed that posed the problem. What were they supposed to say to each other? There was no way she was about to share her life story with him. Absolutely no way.
“Hi,” he said as she approached. He had taken in the keys and her purse, and must have known she had given in. So it made her feel more relaxed when he asked, “Are you sure?”
“Dylan is the boss, and he wants us to do this. We keep it strictly business. Understood?” she asked.
“Completely. It took me by surprise, that’s all. I promise I won’t pressure you,” he said, and something about the way he looked at her made her believe him.
“What do we need to take with us?” she asked, unlocking the truck and putting her purse in the glove compartment. “I have a notebook, pens, measuring tape.”
“That should get us started.” He nodded, and went around to the passenger side and got in.
Amanda hauled herself into the driver’s seat. The truck was unlike anything else she had ever driven. It took her a moment to get her bearings, and she was thankful when Jed sat patiently while she adjusted the seat to her shorter legs, and then fixed the mirrors so she could see. “OK, let’s get going.”
She fished a map out of her purse; the truck had GPS, but she preferred to do things the old-fashioned way. Especially since the area they were heading to was unknown to her. When her grandma had been alive, Amanda had visited Bear Bluff in the summer, but they had stayed close to the cabin, and never ventured too far. Occasional trips into town were all her grandma could manage as she got older and her legs became stiffer.
“I know the way,” he said, as she folded the map over.
“Oh.” She looked down at the map.
“I can give you directions. Unless you particularly wanted to use the map.”
She looked at the map. “I’m trying to find my bearings. I thought if I could find it on the map and trace the route, it would be another part of Bear Bluff I’ll know.”
“We can do that.” He shuffled closer to her, and she felt the temperature in the truck rise immediately. Or was it just the temperature of her body? She swallowed and tried to keep her face from turning red as his arm brushed hers.
“OK. This is where we are.” He pointed to the old builder’s yard, where Dylan had set up his business. “We need to go along here, through the ford, then take this road here. It’s narrow, so take it slow. When we get to a fork in the road, we go left. Right takes you back in a circular route into town. OK?”
“I think so.” She traced the route with her finger, memorizing it. “Yeah. Looks simple.”
“Most of Bear Bluff is, when you get used to it. You have to think of it as being in tiers. The town is the lower tier, and then there are the small clusters of farms and houses on the lower slopes. The higher you get, the smaller the houses are and the narrower the roads become.”
“You like it here,” she stated, listening to the warmth in his voice. She started the engine, and let it rumble for a few minutes before putting it in drive.
“I do.”
“Then why did you leave?” she asked, cursing herself for already breaking her rule of not getting to know him.
“I had a reputation. I didn’t get caught often, and when I did, Declan would let me off with a warning. Mostly it was simple stuff, stealing apples, taking a sack of potatoes from Tulliver’s Farm. But even as a young inexperienced sheriff, Declan could see I was close to becoming a serial petty thief, and if I didn’t change, I would get into real trouble once I was an adult. Trouble my parents didn’t need.”
He stopped talking and looked at her. She concentrated on the road, refusing to meet his gaze. What did he want her to say? That it was OK to steal from other people? Well, it wasn’t.
“Stupid thing was, I learned afterwards that most people, like your grandma, would have given me what I needed if only I asked.”
Amanda remembered the exact same words coming f
rom Dylan’s mouth. “So why didn’t you ask?
“Pride. I was mixed up, things were changing and everything seemed out of control,” he said. Then he shrugged. “I’m over it now.”
She risked a quick glance at him, and saw him looking out of the window as they drove past a field of cattle. “And it helped? Being away.”
“Yes. Declan found me a job. Construction work, nothing much, but I had room and board, so I could send what money I earned home.”
“Oh.”
“Not what you were expecting me to say?” he asked.
“No.” She drew her eyebrows together, concentrating on turning the truck onto the narrow road he had indicated. “You weren’t wrong about this road. It’s similar to the one my grandma’s cabin is on. But it doesn’t feel so tight when I’m in my car.”
“Keep both eyes on the road, and you’ll be fine,” he encouraged.
Did he know that all she wanted to do was watch him? That the soothing tone of his voice was so different to the man she had thought he was. He made her want to strap him to a chair and interrogate him, to find out all his secrets. And more.
There was that excited warmth coursing through her body, making her nerve endings tingle. If she didn’t take care, she was truly going to be lost to him. But she was beginning to feel OK with that.
Dylan was right. The past was the past. The man who had hurt her, Mason Arnold, was far away, and had no idea where she was. This was her fresh start, and making it with Jed might just turn out to be an adventure she enjoyed.
As they drew up in front of the old derelict house she felt the first chink in her defenses come down. And who knew, by the time they arrived back in the yard later today, there might be a hole in it big enough for a man like Jed to fit.
Chapter Four – Jed
Amanda parked the truck, looking pleased with herself. Jed smiled. He liked that she enjoyed conquering the small challenges life put in her way. He could imagine there was not much that would faze Amanda. Which was good. There was enough in his life that was different, unexpected, and if his woman liked normal, she might be disappointed in him.
“So what do we do first?” Amanda asked, wrapping her arms around herself and rubbing her upper arms absently.
“Here. Take my jacket,” he said, stripping it off his back.
“No, I can’t.” She made to push it off her shoulders.
“I have bear blood; it keeps me warm.” He breathed in the cool air and let it back out, making a small cloud of mist. “It certainly is colder up here. We’re in the shade of the mountain.”
He looked behind them, seeing the dense forest that clung to the lower slopes of the mountain. Then his eyes swept away to the south; the view of the Bluff was magnificent.
“Wow,” she said. “It all looks so different from over here.”
“Have you ever been over there?” he asked, pointing to the Bluff. “The view is worth the climb.”
“No. My grandma only walked along the gentle slopes. We used to go there on a fall morning looking for mushrooms. I remember the mist clinging to the slopes, and always being disappointed when a bear didn’t appear out of it.”
“So she told you about us?” Jed asked. They were walking around the ruined house. He figured before they got down to details he should assess what they were working with. Some of the old stone walls would have to be knocked down. Getting big machinery up here was going to be difficult, but half a day’s work with a large hammer should have it resolved.
“Her husband, my step-grandfather I guess you would call him, was a shifter. So I knew about them. Never saw one, though. My mom only allowed me to come here for short vacations on the promise that my grandfather would not change in front of me.”
“So you’ve never seen one of us shift?” he asked. He had stopped walking and stood, studying her.
“No. I used to dream of what it would be like. My room was in the eaves of the cabin, and sometimes at night, I would hear noises outside and know that there were bears outside. But the window was in the roof, so I couldn’t see.”
“Do you want me to show you?” he asked.
Her face lit up with excitement. Although she nervously pulled his jacket tighter around her shoulders, as if it would protect her from him. “I’d like that.”
Jed looked around. “We should go into the edge of the forest here.”
When he began to walk away, she didn’t follow. “Into the trees?”
He chuckled. “You are safe with me, Amanda. I only need to go into the trees so no one else can see me change. Shifters don’t exactly go out in public. So if I shift in the day, I have to be careful.”
“Right.” She hesitated again briefly and then followed him. “I’m sorry. It’s not you. My mom got kind of freaked out when she learned about her mom’s new husband. I know my grandma shouldn’t have told her. And she never told my stepdad. I only knew because my mom said I needed to be extra careful when I was here. She always made sure I carried pepper spray.” Amanda fished in her pocket and pulled out a small can of pepper spray.
“Great! At least you are armed if I get all bear crazy.” Jed hoped she didn’t get all freaked out when she saw him for the first time. He had never actually had that stuff used on him, but he had seen its aftereffects and it was not on his list of things he needed to experience before he died.
When they reached the edge of the trees, the ground sloped up steeply. Jed held out his hand to help Amanda. She glanced at it, and then the slope, and he knew she was going to tell him she could manage, but then changed her mind.
“Thank you.” She slipped her hand into his, and that first touch sent shockwaves through his body. Trying to keep himself together, he pulled her towards him, longing to take her in his arms and kiss her. He didn’t. Instead he put his mind elsewhere, a trick he had learned in his childhood days when hunger would scrape at his insides.
“You are welcome,” he said. He didn’t release her; instead, he led her through the sparse trees, looking behind them to check they were deep enough inside before he stopped and turned to her. “We’re safe here. No one can see.”
“So what do I do?” she asked, looking up at the lower branches of the trees around them. Did she think she would be safe in one of those trees if he wanted to attack her? His bear could climb; his bear could climb real good. But she didn’t need to know that.
“Just stand there.” He pointed to a tree with a big trunk, which must have been a hundred years old or more. “When I change, do you want me to come to you? Or shall I stay still?”
Amanda thought about it. “Just stay where you are.” He nodded and watched her move away, her back pressed against the tree trunk. “Can I stroke you?”
Yes, please, his bear replied.
Jed shook his head at his inner beast. We’re playing it cool. Right?
I guess, his bear said.
“Of course, stroke away. It’s whatever you feel comfortable with.” Jed reminded his bear once more to behave himself and then he cleared his mind, letting go of all the tension in his body before slipping out of this world. To return as a big russet-colored bear.
He heard her sharp intake of breath. Saw her eyes widen, and the way her hands went to her face. He scared her.
Standing perfectly still, he let her regain her composure, fighting his bear to keep his distance, when the beast wanted to run up to her with his tongue lolling out and lick her face.
Play it cool, Jed said.
His bear waited. A nervous energy built up inside him, as he began to think she would never move towards him, would never run her fingers through his fur. But then, she placed her hands on the rough tree trunk, took a big breath, and finally put one foot firmly in front of the other, to quickly cover the distance between them.
His bear quivered in excitement. When she reached out, he lifted his snout to touch her fingers, his warm breath caressing her skin, and he felt her tremble. Then she took one more step forward and her fingers curled ar
ound his fur, stroking him, patting him, as if to test he was real.
His bear nearly exploded with joy, shuddering with pleasure at their mate’s touch. Then, just to prove how cool he was, his bear flopped down on the floor, legs in the air, ready for her to stroke his tummy as if he were a playful puppy.
Nice work, Jed said.
His bear just grinned in ecstasy as Amanda knelt down beside him and buried her two hands in his fur.
What’s next? Jed asked. Are you going to ask her to throw a stick for you to fetch?
If it makes her happy, his bear replied.
And Jed had to agree, that was all that mattered.
Chapter Five – Amanda
He was a bear. It wasn’t as if this was completely new to her. She had grown up knowing shifters existed, but until the moment Jed turned into a real, living, breathing bear, she kind of thought it was one big hoax.
This changed everything. If the whole man-to-bear thing was real, then the fated mates thing was too. Right? It meant every word she had heard, about a shifter knowing who their mate was, was true. And the part about them never hurting their mate? That must be true also.
In that one shimmering, bear-fur-appearing moment, her life had changed. The weight of her past betrayal was gone. At least where Jed was concerned. She could trust him. This man, a stranger to her, was a person she could trust. At least with her heart.
The only question she needed answered now, was whether he was trustworthy in every other way. She couldn’t contemplate being around a man who stole from others. Could she believe him when he said that was in the past too?
She told herself to get over it and enjoy the moment. And what a moment it was.
Her hands were buried in the tummy fluff of a bear who could crush her with his two massive front paws. Not to mention bite her head off with his massive jaws. This bear didn’t seem capable of anything like that. The bear reminded Amanda of Jed; there was something about the eyes that was so familiar, but the bear side of this shifter was softer, as if he wasn’t tainted by the same hardships as Jed.
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