Bear in a Bakery

by Liz Paffel

  Dax leaned down with one elbow on the counter so he could peer directly at her face. His voice was low, the whispered timber of it making her nipples perk.

  “I thought you owned this place.”

  “I do.”

  “You’re not acting like it. You want daddy to make decisions for your business?”

  They locked gazes. Dax’s was too self-satisfied. She wanted to wipe that look right off his face. Or lick. Or kiss. Anger and irritation and for fuck’s sake, a helping of lust, filled her completely. How dare he imply she wasn’t capable or willing to run her own damn business. She’d had enough of men always doubting her.

  Allie continued cutting the last row of cookies without taking her eyes off Dax. Her dad rushed over and took the cutter from her hand. “I’ll finish these up. I know, I know, 350 degrees for ten minutes and not a minute longer.”

  “Fine,” Allie said and untied her apron. Whipping it over her head and dumping it on the counter, she turned. “This way.”

  She wasn’t going to let this sexy brute get under her skin, or anything else. Allie walked briskly to the back hallway that led to the storage and refrigeration rooms. Looking up where the raccoons had damaged part of the ceiling, she gasped. Huge brown circles coated the remaining ceiling tiles. Damn, the sprinkler.

  Dax nudged her along, as if to prevent her from dwelling on the ceiling.

  She responded by walking into the storage room. The critters hadn’t made it to this room, luckily, and the sprinkler system was never installed in here. A sense of pride filled her when she stepped in, as always. The room was carefully and meticulously organized, the bright pink walls cheery, and the custom oak shelving lined with coordinated fabric baskets. Boxes and plastic tubs all sat in their places, along with extra baking trays, bowls and other equipment. This room mimicked the customer area of the bakery, the pink and yellow colors, and black and white damask fabrics exactly the way Allie had pictured for bakery when she’d bought it. She’d put a year’s worth of work into this place before she opened for business. No way was she going to let normal maintenance issues bring her down.

  Afraid to look up, but doing it anyway, her heart sank at the same water spots dotting the ceiling as in the hallway. She’d thought this room had gone unscathed.

  “Oh no.”

  Dax put a big hand on her shoulder and gave a light squeeze. She whipped a look where he touched her, her body humming at his touch.

  “This is fixable. Okay? Don’t worry.” He gave a sympathetic smile and drew his hand away. Allie involuntarily leaned toward him, her body not ready to give up the delicious contact. How did she fail to notice how good he smelled? Like pine and outdoors and clean, fresh soap. More delicious than the scent of her despair. Maybe it was his scent, or his touch, or both, but she felt comforted. Some of the tension left her shoulders, and the ache behind her left temple went away.

  Dax’s eyes fell to her lips and she really noticed how sculpted and soft his mouth was. Those lips were made for trailing a woman’s body, for kissing secret places, for...

  He abruptly moved away and headed back to the hall. He was walking into the second kitchen area when she caught up with him.

  “What’s this?” He asked, looking around.

  Her heart was still racing from his proximity in the other room. “It’s a secondary kitchen I had put in so I can produce gluten-free baked goods. All the recipes have been developed and tested, but I’m waiting on certification before I start offering them.”

  His face twisted a bit. “Gluten-free? That’s no flour, right?”

  Allie was used to having to explain it. Her mother had had celiac disease, making it dangerous for her to eat wheat, barely or rye because of the gluten content.

  “Well, wheat flour. That’s part of it. Gluten-free foods is a huge industry. I’ve done a lot of research and I think starting up a dedicated product line that can be shipped all over the US will be good for my bottom line. Anyway, it’s a work in progress.” And, it was something Bella Blu wasn’t already doing.

  Dax seemed to roll that around in his head for a moment before he turned to fully face her.

  “You know,” he whispered. Allie realized just how far he’d leaned into her. His breath touched her face, minty and hot. “Your dad is right. You should go on a date with me.”

  “He... he never said that.”

  Get with it, Allie! She gave herself a mental shake and shuffled a step back. Not because she didn’t want Dax this close, but because she was this close to throwing herself into his arms. What was wrong with her? She’d never had such a fast and deep reaction to a man. None of her ex’s had brought about this kind of want in her. The want to be taken, to do naughty, dirty things. The want to be taken so hard she’d feel Dax for a week afterward.

  “He implied it.” He trapped his lower lip under his top teeth before wetting his lips with the tip of his tongue.

  “Lots of things have been implied today.” Like her body implying that Dax’s gesture of comfort made him suitable enough to have hot monkey sex with... even though he’d just hurt her in the end, like everyone else. He’d find something to add to the Loser Allie List.

  Worse, he was a shifter. What if his temper was as unpredictable and hot as Blake’s? A slight shudder rolled over her body. No way was she putting herself in the path of a man like that again. She was taking her next relationship slow and give it time to develop true colors before she fully committed.

  “Go out with me.”

  She took another small step backwards, Blake’s anger-filled eyes on her mind.

  “I’m not interested.” She crossed her arms over her full breasts to ensure he didn’t see how her nipples pressed against her shirt. Traitorous boobs.

  “That’s a shame.”

  Before she could respond, he asked her to show him the access to the attic, and he disappeared into it, all traces of playboy Dax gone. She looked after him a moment, expecting he’d pop back down and make some comment about trying to convince her. He didn’t.

  Allie swallowed and walked back to the kitchen. She and Dax needed to be strictly professional. She wasn’t looking for another moody shifter or damn heartbreak!

  So why did she feel so disappointed?

  Her cell phone buzzed from her back pocket. Pulling it out, she peered at the screen. Allie.

  One word. Just one. As she read it, Blake’s flat, warning tone of voice filled her mind. It was the tone he used specifically to say her name when he was displeased or upset with her. She shuddered and put the phone away.

  She thought she was past the days of being afraid of her own name.

  Chapter Four

  Dax inspected the plumbing and took samples of the black stuff from above the window. He made a point to stay out of Allie’s way while he worked. That woman did something to him, and her refusal to go out with him only made it worse. What guy didn’t want a challenge? Her voice had had a cautious undertone when she’d turned him down, as if she was rejecting him on autopilot instead of giving it any real thought.

  If she really wasn’t interested, fine. He wouldn’t bring it up again. But if she was trying to tiptoe into a maybe-yes, he’d push a little. There was a fine line between pursuit and being a creep and he’d never want to make her uncomfortable. But damn, the way she looked at him when she didn’t think he was paying attention made it easy to think she was, at least a little bit, interested. Not that it should matter. He never had a lack of women vying for his attention. Lately, his father and brothers have been digging up women left and right, trying to pressure him into picking one.

  The problem was, not a single woman he’d been with or met had been The One. He’d been attracted to his ex’s, of course. They’d had fun in and out of bed. But to commit a lifetime to any of them? No way. Some had been more interested in his family money than him. Others, hadn’t been mother and wife material.

  He hadn’t felt that spark, that need and want for more with any of them. But All
ie did something different to him—gave him an antsy electricity that he couldn’t control. Whatever it was, he wanted to explore it further. If only his clock wasn’t winding down. But it was, and he didn’t have time to explore anything.

  In a handful of days, he’d be forced take a mate or lose his manhood.

  He slipped out the back door and walked around front where he’d parked his truck. A group of people were gathered in front of Sticky Sweet, arms crossed as they chatted in disappointed tones about the bakery being closed. Those must be some maple sticky buns if Allie could attract a crowd like this, plus enamor his father with her baking.

  His cell phone rang just as he pulled up to the health department to drop off the samples.

  “Hey dad,” he said as he jumped out of the truck.

  “Yeah, you going to come help chop wood tonight for the Pairing Festival?”

  His dad wasn’t really asking a question. He was telling Dax to show up tonight. Dax waited for traffic and jogged across the street. “Yes, sir. I’ll be there.”

  “Good. Half a cord yet to split. Hopefully, it’ll be enough.”

  The Pairing happened every three years on the brightest full moon of summer. Shifter packs from all over Colorado and surrounding states came to find a mate. His family was hosting the festival this time around on one-hundred acres of land. His father had the perfect spot which offered a mixture of woods and a four-acre spot of grassland where the bonfires would be.

  Each six-foot-wide fire circle offered a place for mingling, conversation and hopefully, pairing up.

  “We’ll cut extra, just in case.”

  Rowan Mitchell cleared his throat and Dax took a deep breath. He knew what was coming next.

  “You’re the oldest of my sons. You have an example to set for your brothers. How’s it going to look if you’re mating age passes and what? You’ll never produce a cub from your loins.”

  “Dad,” Dax interjected. “Come on. My loins? Really?”

  “I mean it.”

  Dax stood outside the Health Department door, wishing this conversation was over. But he knew better than to hurry his father. Rowan had built a construction business from the ground up and was one of the most successful corporate contractors in the tri-state area. Among shifters, his very name brought respect. He’d helped govern the Estes Park pack for sixty years and was a respected Alpha leader among the bear shifters. He’d passed his Alpha genes to his sons and now, Dax was obligated to do the same.

  “Yes, sir.” Dax knew nothing he said would satisfy his dad. “I’m — “

  “I was going to wait to tell you this, but there’s no point in waiting anymore. You take a mate at the Pairing, or you’re out of the business. It’s come to this, Dax. You’re playboying around has done nothing but bring you within days of losing your ability to mate. Family is everything and you’re not going to have one because of your dicking around.”

  Dax clenched his eyes and rubbed his temple. “You’re cutting me out?”

  “I will.”

  Tension rolled down Dax’s spine, anger flaring within him. “I haven’t found anyone want.” Not entirely true. “You’d rather I settle for someone I don’t want just to see me mated?”

  There was a pause and Dax hoped his dad had come to his senses. How was it fair he was expected to pair bond for the sake of reproduction and not, well, love?

  “Yes.” Short. Simple. “I know it’s not what your mother would have wanted, but you’ve left me no choice.”

  With that, his father hung up. Dax started at the phone for a minute, trying to get a grip on his emotions. His mother wouldn’t want this, no. She’d rather settle for no grandcubs than watch her oldest son bonded to a mate he didn’t love. Damn the human cancer that had taken her too soon. Emotion pricked at his eyes, but he forced it back.

  He was first heir to the Mitchell corporation. He wanted a family of his own. He wanted a partner for life. More, he wanted those things with someone he actually loved. Why wasn’t love coming easily so he could just get on with it?

  Frustrated, Dax went inside and dropped off the samples, then drove to the contractor supply store to drop off a materials list for the bakery. His head ached and his body felt too tense. When he made it back to Sticky Sweet, he was wound tight and ready for a beer or an orgasm to help him relax. Both. He could go home and give himself both.

  Right, if he had nothing better to do.

  Using the front door, Dax stepped inside Sticky Sweet. Amazing smells of sugar and frosting and baked deliciousness filled his nose and immediately relaxed him. His stomach rumbled quietly, and he realized he’d never tried anything from this bakery before. He’d driven past it how many times over the years, but had never thought to stop. Allie had been inside—waiting—all that time.

  An odd feeling captured him. They’d probably passed each other in town; eaten at the same restaurants, gone to the same stores. Yet not once had his primal senses gone off to draw him to her. His mating radar hadn’t led him to her. But these feelings he had when he was with her were strong enough to make him believe she could be his mate.

  So... why hadn’t he found her until now?

  Becks stood on a ladder, hanging curtains over the big front windows. She smiled at him as he walked in.

  “What if you fall asleep up there? Then you’ll fall and sue me.” Allie’s voice called out from somewhere nearby.

  Becks didn’t take her eyes off Dax.

  “Narcolepsy doesn’t work that way, smart one. Besides, there’s a really hot guy right here who will have no problem catching me.”

  Allie popped up from behind the counter, her hair spilling out in bobbing curls around the purple handkerchief she had tied around her head. Her cheeks were pink, her lips shiny with clear gloss that made them look more plump and inviting. A dimple curved into her right cheek as she smiled at a customer and his heart beat faster.

  Had she looked this glow-y this morning? It was hard to tell because she was pretty no matter what, but his ego thought maybe she’d prettied up for him.

  The fucking urge to blow a load got worse. Forget the beer. He just wanted Allie. Under him, her legs wrapped around him while he drove into her; hearing her scream his name until he fucked them both into exhaustion. Then he’d hold her close and run his fingers through that beautiful hair and fall asleep to the weight of her head on his chest, over his heart.

  It took all his will not to rush at her, throw her over his shoulder and carry her off like a true shifter male should. Good thing he was feeling more human than animal today, though that was quickly beginning to change.

  She held a paper coffee cup between her hands as she appraised him across the space. A muscle in her jaw twitched; her pupils going round and big. The warmth of her scent increased, making his pulse quicken and his urges to get stronger. She was reacting to him in a very base way—her body saying loudly what it wanted, what it needed, without voicing a word.

  A sweet breeze blew in from the propped-open front door. It was a perfect day, warm and sunny, to take Allie to the woods. To show her what a true shifter male could do to her body, to her heart.

  Becks cleared her throat as the sound of high heels clicking on the brick floor filled the room. A woman brushed past him as she came inside, not paying him a bit of attention as she beelined it to Allie.

  Allie’s hands tightened around the cup and Dax thought she might crush it. The women began to speak in hushed tones; Allie doing more listening than speaking, as the other woman went on and on in a high-pitched voice that grated over his skin.

  Becks came slowly down the ladder. She seemed a bit unsteady. Dax rushed to place a hand on her lower back until she’d touched the ground.

  She nodded toward Allie. “This won’t be good. MB has had it out for Allie as long as I can remember.”

  “MB?”

  Becks whispered. “Mega Bitch, Mighty Bitchy, Massive Butthole... you get the idea.”

  Allie’s face was tense and it r
aised a red flag in him to intervene. He held back, knowing it wasn’t his place. This time.

  Dax picked up the older woman’s unhappy tones, and honed in his primal hearing to the sound. She was dressed all in pink with fingernails to match, which she drummed impatiently on the countertop.

  Curious, Dax moved closer.

  “I’d love to give you an order for a hundred more, Allie Mae, but I’m not sure you’re responsible enough to handle that many. I mean, just look what you did to my clothes the other day.”

  “It’s up to you Marybeth. I’m happy to make as many as you like.”

  “Yes, well. I’ve already checked prices at Bella Blu. Perhaps you’ll want to price match?”

  Allie’s chest moved with a tight breath. “I’m afraid I can’t go any lower on the price. But I will need you to decide today. I need to get started immediately to fill an order that big in time.”

  Without taking her eyes off the woman, Allie reached below the counter and produced a black coffee mug. She popped the top off the paper coffee cup and slowly poured steaming brew into the other mug. White lettering on the side said, ‘Tears of my enemies.’ She lifted the mug with the words clearly visible to her customer, and took a sip.

  Dax grinned.

  The woman shifted her weight and sighed, then sighed again. “Can you even complete my order in this disaster?” She waved a hand around the room. “Is it even sanitary?”

  Pinkie didn’t wait for a response as she took a slip of paper from her purse, slapped it on the counter and eyed Allie’s mug. “I swear Allie Mae; your manners are the reason you can’t get man. This is the final list. You need to come down price. Come on now, I know you need the money. Take my damn business. I’m doing you a massive favor.”

  Dax narrowed his eyes. Who was this bitch? It didn’t matter. He was putting an end to this right now. He flung the service door open, startling both women. Without preamble, he moved behind the counter and stood beside Allie. The woman looked him up... way up, and then back down, her eyes staying on his chest a little too long. Allie’s lips parted but she didn’t say anything.