“Who cares what Zach’s problem is? I want to hear more about what’s going on with you and River,” Hunter said, and narrowed his eyes. “I’m assuming you mated with her?”
Luke nodded.
“Bonded?” Hunter asked.
Luke nodded again, and Hunter fist pumped the air.
“Yes!” Hunter said, his voice jubilant. “That’s so awesome. Zach can get over his whiny self. I remember you telling me you thought maybe you didn’t even have a lifemate, and look at you now! Bonded to a hottie like River.”
“Yeah, well, I’m really excited about it, but I’m also terrified of how River is going to take the news that I’m a bear shifter.”
Hunter’s face grew serious. “Did you try to explain bonding to her?”
Luke shook his head no. “I have no idea how I could explain it without explaining the whole shifter thing. And I want to get to know her better before telling her I’m a shifter.”
Hunter frowned. “Just don’t wait too long to tell her. You know how it goes. The longer they go without knowing, the more they feel like you’ve betrayed their trust by not telling them.”
“I know,” Luke said. “I’ll tell her soon. But we just managed to get past the whole situation where she didn’t even want to talk to me, so I want to give her a little bit of time before dropping more bombshells on her.”
Hunter shrugged. “You know what’s best, man. When is she going to come meet the crew? Riley is going to be so excited to have her around more often—she can’t say enough good things about River.”
“Hopefully tonight. I’m going to drive over to the library where she’s working and see if I can get her to agree to come have dinner here. Are we barbequing again tonight?”
“Of course. Gotta take advantage of this unusually warm weather. I thought that monsoon last night would have driven the temperatures down some, but it seems like it had no effect. This is the warmest November I’ve seen in a long time.”
“Yeah, I agree. I hope we don’t have any more fires this season. I’m tired.”
“You mean you’re old,” Hunter said, laughing at his own jab.
“Very funny,” Luke said. “I’m going to go shower and then go back to town. If nothing else, at least it’ll give me a chance to get away from all of you assholes.”
Luke headed for the bunkhouse, leaving Hunter to continue laughing.
After showering and changing, Luke headed to the library. There were quite a few cars in the parking lot, and when he entered the building, he was surprised to hear the sounds of children laughing and screeching. River was sitting at the front desk, reading a book.
“Hard at work, I see,” Luke said.
River looked up at him and grinned. “Hey, it’s for book club, so it counts as work. What brings you in to the library today? Had it been too long since you saw me? Or are you actually interested in finding a book to read?”
“Very funny,” Luke said. “I actually stopped by to see if you want to come out to base tonight for dinner. We barbeque almost every night, and we always have a really good time. I’d love to introduce you to the rest of the crew. Riley will be there, so you’ll know someone else besides me, too.”
“I’d love to,” River said, her face lighting up. “Are you sure you’re not embarrassed to be seen with a geeky librarian.”
Luke leaned over the counter and gave River a quick kiss. “Why would I be embarrassed to be seen with the most beautiful woman in the world?”
River blushed, but she was saved from replying by another loud outburst of children’s screams.
Luke raised an eyebrow. “I thought libraries were supposed to be quiet,” he said.
River shrugged. “Usually, they are. But we have lots of community programming and storytimes for kids. They tend to get pretty excited. Right now we’ve got someone from the zoo in there giving a lecture on reptiles. Sounds like it’s going over pretty well.”
“It does sound like it,” Luke agreed, glancing warily in the direction from which the screeching had come.”
“Hey! I just had an awesome idea,” River said. “What if you came and did a talk for the kids about fighting wildfires? I bet they would love that. Especially the part about jumping out of airplanes.”
Luke made a face. “I’m not good with kids,” he said, and River’s face fell. Her disappointed expression made Luke feel badly. Maybe he should try to do a short lecture for the kids. How bad could it be? If it meant that much to River, he would do it.
“Okay, okay,” he said in response to River’s pouty look. “I’ll do it, as long as my boss approves of the idea. He’s not big on us getting involved in public speaking type things about our job.”
River raised an eyebrow. “It’s just a bunch of kids. It’s not like you’re going to be addressing the city council or anything.”
“I know. I’ll ask my boss,” Luke said, giving River what he hoped was an encouraging smile. He couldn’t explain to her that the reason his boss, Ian, didn’t like his crew members to address the public was that the more involved they were in the community, the higher their chances of being exposed as shifters. But the library program would just be kids. Hopefully Ian would be okay with that.
Luke leaned over to give River another kiss. Her lips were so soft and warm, and he could hardly wait for his next chance to really kiss her.
“I’m going to go get some supplies for woodworking, so I’ll let you get back to work,” he said. “Do you want me to pick you up tonight, or do you want to drive out there yourself?”
“Text me the address and I’ll drive out,” River said. “That way I have my car and I can easily leave for work in the morning if I end up staying over.”
Luke grinned. “Why would you be staying over?” he teased.
River pretended to throw her book at him. “Get out of here,” she said. “I’ve got work to do.”
Luke did as he was told, but couldn’t resist sticking his tongue out at River as he walked out the front door. He loved the way they teased each other. River could definitely give as good as she got, which was a good quality to have for anyone who spent time hanging around Luke’s clan.
He wasn’t worried about River. She was going to be just fine.
He was worried about telling everyone that they couldn’t mention shifting tonight. He knew his crew wasn’t going to be pleased to have to be on their guard tonight, but he wasn’t ready to explain shifting to River quite yet.
Things were going too well to throw that complication into the mix.
Chapter Eight
That night, River pulled nervously into the parking lot in front of the large hangar that her phone’s GPS told her was the location Luke had given her. She took a deep breath and asked herself why in the world she had told Luke to let her drive herself here. The idea had been good in theory, but now she realized that she had to enter the building alone, without Luke’s arm to hold onto. She considered texting Luke and telling him to come out to get her, but she didn’t want to look like a total coward. She felt her hands getting clammy at the thought of meeting everyone. Luke talked about his crew like they were family, and she got the feeling that part of her job was to impress them.
River had never felt like the impressive type, but she had brought one secret weapon with her—the four leftover pies that she had bought for yesterday’s book club that never happened due to the rainstorm. Although they were a day old now, the pies would still be delicious. Who could dislike her when she showed up with such sugary goodness?
River took a deep breath and got out of her Jeep. She grabbed the large canvas bag that she was using to carry the pie boxes, and then made her way to what appeared to be the front door. She knocked, and waited for several long moments without a response. Maybe this wasn’t the front door. No one had marked it as any sort of main entrance. She knocked again, harder and louder this time. If she didn’t get an answer, at least she’d have an excuse to text Luke to come get her.
Jus
t as she pulled out her cell phone to send Luke a text, the door flung open. A tall, dark-haired man with dancing green eyes stood behind the door. River recognized him as the friend Luke had been with the few times she’d run into them at Riley’s pie shop.
“No one ever knocks at this door,” the man said, looking amused. “You must be River. I’m Trevor, Luke’s best friend. But don’t tell Hunter I said that.”
“Don’t tell Hunter you said what?” came a voice from behind Trevor. Another tall man appeared behind Trevor. He had the same dark hair and green eyes as Trevor.
“Nothing,” Trevor said, giving River a mischievous wink.
“Dude, I heard you. Just accept that Luke is never going to love you as much as he loves me. We have a truly special bromance,” the man said, and then turned to look at River. “I’m Hunter, Luke’s real best friend. I’m sure he’s told you that already, though?”
River shifted her weight from one foot to another and held up her large canvas bag. “Um…I brought pie?” she said, smiling sweetly up at the two men and avoiding Hunter’s question.
Trevor burst out laughing. “Well played, River. You’re going to fit in just fine around here.”
Luke walked up at that moment, and gave both Trevor and Hunter a warning glare. Then he walked up and kissed River softly. She shuddered slightly with delight as his lips touched hers. A now familiar feeling of warmth shot from his body to hers. She had no idea how she could be so connected to someone that her body physically responded so strongly every single time he touched her, but that’s exactly the kind of connection she had with Luke.
“Hey, babe,” Luke said. “Did you find the place okay?”
River nodded. “Yup, easy peasy. Finding the front door was harder than finding the place itself.”
“Yeah there’s not really a front door. We mostly hang out back behind the hangar anyways. I guess I should have told you that. I’m just so used to it that it seems so obvious to me. I see you’ve already met Trevor and Hunter. We should get away from them as quickly as possible and go meet the more normal members of the crew.” Luke managed to keep a completely straight face as he said this, and Trevor and Hunter both threw back their heads and laughed.
“Right, like any of us are normal,” Trevor said.
River grinned as Luke took her hand and led her toward the back of the hangar. She finally started to relax as they went through a back door and headed for a grassy area with a picnic table and a grill. Several more people were gathered there, including Riley.
“Riley, look who I brought,” Luke called out. Riley looked up and squealed, then ran over to give River a big bear hug. River could hear Riley’s drink sloshing around in the red Solo cup she was holding.
“I’m so glad you’re here!” Riley said. “It’s nice to have another woman around. These men can get out of control sometimes. Come here, come meet Charlotte.”
Riley grabbed River’s hand to pull her away from Luke and lead her toward the only other woman in the group—a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty who was also holding a red Solo cup.
“Charlotte, this is River, Luke’s girl. River, this is Charlotte. She’s with Ian, the crew boss. He’s the taller guy over there by the grill.”
River extended her hand to Charlotte. “Nice to meet you,” she said.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Charlotte said, giving River’s hand a warm shake. “Please, tell me you like wine. Riley and I have a thing for red wine. None of the guys like to drink it, so we keep it all for ourselves.”
“I do love a good glass of red,” River said with a smile.
“Excellent. Let me grab you a cup,” Charlotte said. She set down her own plastic cup and went to grab another one for River.
Riley grinned and gestured to the Solo cup in her hand, which River suddenly realized was full of red wine. “As you can see, we like our wine glasses fancy,” Riley said.
Charlotte came back and handed River a cup of wine. “Cheers, ladies,” she said, and they all tapped their cups together.
The tall man that River had pointed out as Ian looked over from the grill and grinned. “I see you ladies have recruited another member for your plastic cup wine club,” he said. Then he wiped his hands off on his jeans before coming over and reaching out to shake River’s hand. “I’m Ian. Very nice to meet you.”
“River. Nice to meet you, too,” River said.
“That’s Zach over there by the grill,” Ian said, pointing at the last member of the crew. Zach barely glanced up or acknowledged River, and River thought she a dark, frustrated look pass over Ian’s face. The look lasted less than a second, though, so River couldn’t be sure. Zach focused on the grill intently, as though the burgers would burn if he didn’t watch them every single second.
“So how did a buffoon like Luke manage to land a beautiful girl like you?” Ian asked with a twinkle in his eye.
Luke let out a long, exasperated sigh. “What the hell? Is it gang up on Luke night? I’ll have you know that I make a very good boyfriend.”
“I believe it,” Charlotte said. “I heard about the bookshelf you made for River. That’s so awesome.”
“It is awesome,” River said. “And he brought it up to my third floor apartment without any help, which is hard to believe. This guy has superhuman strength or something.” River reached out to give Luke’s biceps a squeeze, but she saw Zach shoot her another dark look. Ian coughed uncomfortably, and even Luke seemed suddenly interested in his feet. Had she said something wrong?
“Well,” Charlotte said, jumping in and saving everyone from the awkward pause. “He should be strong. We smokejumpers have to carry almost a hundred pounds of gear with us on every jump.”
“Wait, ‘we’ smokejumpers?” River asked. “You’re a smokejumper, too?”
Charlotte nodded proudly. “One of the only female smokejumpers in the country. I know how to keep these boys in line. If they give you trouble, you come to me.”
This assertion was met with howls of laughter from the men, including Hunter and Trevor, who had come out to join the group.
“Look who’s getting too big for her britches,” Trevor said. “I’d like to see you take on any of us for real.”
The teasing and ribbing continued as Zach started handing out the food. River smiled over at Luke, who reached out and squeezed her hand. Any last bits of nervousness floated away, and River sighed happily as she watched her new friends laughing and eating. She could definitely see herself fitting into this lively crew.
Chapter Nine
Over the next week, River spent all of her free time with Luke. It had been a long time since she’d enjoyed the all-consuming rush of a new relationship, and she was loving the feeling of being head over heels for someone again. As she got to know Luke better and better, she realized that her snap assertion that they were incompatible had been completely wrong. Although Luke wasn’t a book lover like River, he shared a lot of other common interests with her. They enjoyed cooking together, and they had similar tastes in movies. And Luke was just as excited as River was for long walks on the nature trails near Red Valley. The pair spent hours walking and talking, discussing everything from the meaning of life to which brand of ice-cream was really best. No subject was too deep or too silly.
And yet, River couldn’t shake the strange feeling that Luke was holding something back from her. Every now and then, he would clam up and look uncomfortable. River was at a loss as to what was bothering him. To her, everything seemed to be going so perfectly. The deep connection she felt to him only grew stronger and more intoxicating.
Exactly a week after she had first met Luke’s crew, she came back for another cookout. Like the week before, the evening was filled with plenty of good-natured teasing, and plenty of good food. After she couldn’t eat another bite, River lay in the grass near the picnic table, looking up at the stars and listening to the sound of laughter echoing through the still night. Riley and Charlotte came over and lay next to her, and the
three of them started chatting about holiday plans. It felt weird to discuss Christmas when the weather was still so warm, but December was only a few weeks away.
In the middle of Riley’s discussion of her plans for The Sweet Crust’s holiday menu, a loud, squawking beep started echoing across the lawn. Riley groaned, and Charlotte sat straight up in an instant. Everyone stopped talking and looked at Ian, who pulled a radio out of the back pocket of his jeans.
“Boise, this is Burning Claws Base,” Ian said into the radio. River slowly came up to a sitting position, and was surprised at the serious expressions on all of the crew’s faces. She had never seen them be so quiet when they were all hanging out together.
“Burning Claws, we’ve got a small fire down south of L.A. we need your help with. It’s still really dry down there, and we had another lighting storm.”
“Roger that,” Ian said. “When’s pickup?”
“5 a.m. tomorrow morning. We’re sending a Twin Otter aircraft,” the voice on the radio replied. A collective groan came from the crew when they heard the time. River looked over at Luke, but his expression was neutral and hard to read.
“We’ll be ready,” Ian said, and then looked up at the crew. “You heard them. Start getting your gear together.”
Riley and Charlotte got up, and started helping to clean up the remaining food from the picnic table. Everyone on the crew sprang into action, clearing food and throwing out the beers they had been in the process of drinking. River sat on the grass, unsure of what to do. She would have been happy to help clear the food, but there didn’t seem to be any more room in the crowd.
Luke came over and sat on the grass next to her.
“So, you probably gathered that we’ve just been called in for a job. Sounds pretty straightforward, but we’ll have to leave early tomorrow morning. You’re more than welcome to stay here if you want, but I understand if you’d rather go back to your place and not be woken up at 4 a.m.”
A Burn To Bear (Fire Bear Shifters Book 3) Page 6