“That's humans for you.”
“She went back to her friends.”
“Don't give up,” Diana said. “Don't ever give up. No matter what happens.”
It hurt Zach to see how sad she was.
“Diana, do you think Liam knows about the wolf attacks? Could he be part of it?”
“Shhh,” Diana said. She stopped the car and turned off the engine. They had arrived. “Enough talk. Let's be bears.”
They both got out of the SUV. Zach removed his clothes and put them in the gazebo his uncle had built fifty years before. This was their changing spot, deep within the boundaries of their property lines. No one else ever came here.
By the time he looked back at Diana, she was a golden brown grizzly. She smiled and sat back to watch him.
Zach could hear the rushing river, and he could smell the salmon swimming upstream. This was his favorite ritual.
To feast. To be a bear. To be one with nature.
Zach rolled his head around and lifted and dropped his shoulders, loosening up.
Ready, dude? he asked his bear. Let's do this.
In response, his bear roared forward like a bull out of a gate. Zach dropped to his hands and knees and before he even reached the ground, he was a giant grizzly, fierce and invincible.
He raced into the woods, with Diana by his side.
They bounded for the river and dove in, only to come up for air in the midst of the running salmon, spraying water everywhere. The bears laughed and feasted and swam and splashed in the water until they were completely satisfied.
Then they collapsed together in a pile on the shore and slept until dawn.
Zach awoke feeling energized and determined to get his mate. As he stared into the river he knew exactly what his next move would be.
14
From: 152 Market <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, Oct 17 at 6:33 AM
Subject: New Rental Space
To: Cocoa Girl
Dear Cocoa Girl,
If you don’t mind my asking, what is the address of your website?
Best,
152 Market
15
From: Cocoa Girl
Date: Sat, Oct 17 at 7:02 AM
Subject: New Rental Space
To: 152 Market <[email protected]>
Dear 152 Market,
What is it about websites?
Why does everyone need a website?
Driving me crazy,
Cocoa Girl
16
From: 152 Market <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, Oct 17 at 7:08 AM
Subject: New Rental Space
To: Cocoa Girl
Dear Cocoa Girl,
No website?
Business is war and must be fought on all fronts. Just selling products in a brick and mortar store with no website is like fighting a war but attacking only from the sea and not from the air. You're fighting a relentless enemy: failure. You must use all possible resources.
Don’t worry, you’ll get there.
Best,
152 Market
17
From: Cocoa Girl
Date: Sat, Oct 17 at 7:21 AM
Subject: New Rental Space
To: 152 Market <[email protected]>
Dear 152 Market,
I wish I'd met you five years ago.
Seriously,
Cocoa Girl
18
From: 152 Market <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, Oct 17 at 7:41 AM
Subject: New Rental Space
To: Cocoa Girl
Dear Cocoa Girl,
Do you believe in fate?
I think people come into our lives for a reason, and timing is everything.
I wish I were a poet. But I'm not.
All I can say is that the past is gone.
There's only now—
152 Market
19
Cleo and Steph were still asleep when Amy got out of bed the next morning, so she quietly got dressed and made coffee and cinnamon buns.
She ate two—yum!—then propped a note on the counter that read: “Enjoy! oxo.”
She grabbed her keys from the counter and ran down the steps to the street where her minivan was parked. She still had a few more trips to get the last of her boxes of chocolate syrup, and she also needed to take care of getting the inventory into a storage area she'd rented a few miles away.
If business was a war, maybe she had only lost a battle.
As she drove the familiar five miles to her store, Amy felt her lips tingle and remembered the passionate kiss from last night. Damn! Zach could kiss. She wouldn't be able to resist many more of those.
But what did he want from her, anyway? Did he feel sorry for her because of the lease?
Amy parked her van as close to the mall entrance as possible and walked to Peace, Love, and Chocolate. There were no customers today. The mall was closed. She couldn't believe it. It was like a construction zone. She heard the sounds of power tools and men's voices from the other end of the mall.
No one else was at her end, but the lights were all on and pop music streamed from the mall speakers.
Because of her work yesterday, she would only need to make a couple of trips to carry boxes to her van and then sweep up a bit, so she was eager to get to work and get it finished.
Amy brought out her hand cart and stacked six boxes of chocolate syrup on it, pushed the cart out to her van and returned to get the next load. When she got back, Mitchell's friend Liam was waiting just outside the store.
“Amy!” he said. “We didn't get a chance to talk last night. Can I give you a hand with your boxes?”
“No, that's okay,” she said, used to doing things on her own.
“Bummer about the mall closing,” he said, helping her move a box anyway. “Where are you moving to?”
“I'm not sure yet, I don't actually have a new space.”
“That's too bad,” he said.
She didn't need his sympathy.
“Do you want a sample?” she asked, opening a box of chocolate mints for him.
“I'm allergic to chocolate,” he said, holding up a hand to keep her away.
“I'm so sorry,” she said. “Are you sure you should be in here?”
“It's okay, as long as I don't breathe.” Liam took a big breath and held it in.
Amy looked alarmed.
“Just kidding,” he said, letting it go. “I have to eat a lot of chocolate to get sick. I don't chance it.”
As she placed another packing box on the handcart, she felt Liam watching her.
“What?” she said.
“I don't see it. Why you?”
“Why me, what?” Amy lifted another box onto the handcart.
“Oh, you don't know? Never mind.”
“What the hell?” It was such a strange thing for him to say. “If you're going to stay here, I guess you can help.” She nodded at a pile of boxes.
Liam’s shaggy blond hair made him look like a surfer. As he reached down, Amy could see the edge of a tattoo on his bicep. He grabbed two boxes and stacked them on the cart for her.
“Okay, all loaded up. I have to take this to my van now,” Amy told Liam.
“Yes, I have to run too,” he said. “Catch you later.”
As she walked to her car, Amy wondered about the good-looking men who had suddenly entered her life. Liam and Zach. Both tall and handsome. Both more interested in her and what she was up to than normal.
And then there was 152 Market.
He was a soulful, real person. She could sense it.
She felt like he was going to be someone important to her. She hadn't even met him, but yet he was the one she most wanted to spend time with.
Was it because she was starting to get the feeling he was a bear s
hifter?
She shoved all the boxes into her van and returned to the mall with her handcart.
As soon as her store came back into view she knew something was wrong.
The rest of the boxes she had packed so carefully were dumped everywhere and chocolate sauce dribbled from the walls. She'd only been away for a few minutes, but in that time she'd been vandalized.
She still had Mitchell's number in her phone, so she pulled out her cell and called him.
“Are you at the mall?” she asked. “My store was vandalized. Just now.”
“I'm on my way.”
Mitchell arrived in a golf cart less than a minute later. He jumped off the cart and ran to her.
“Your friend Liam was just here. Would he do this? Should we call the police?”
“I'll take care of it for you. This looks like a prank to me.”
“Wait a minute. What's this?”
He had chocolate sauce smeared on his arm.
“Is that chocolate?” Amy said.
“What?” He licked it off and grinned like a naughty boy.
“Did you do this to my store? Why would you do such a thing?”
“What? Dump your chocolates? Why would I do that?” Mitchell was smirking.
“What's the matter with you?” She still had her phone in her hand. She turned it on to dial 911. Mitchell swatted it out of her hand.
“Hey!”
“Girls like you like to be treated badly. Makes you feel alive.” He backed Amy into a corner of the store. His eyes were angry. “You never gave me what I wanted. But you'll give it to me now, won't you?” He pushed her further into the corner of the store and grabbed both of Amy's breasts, shoving her up against the wall with his hips.
“Get off of me!” she yelled, struggling to push him away. She reached her arm back to slap him and he pinned it to the wall, grinding his hips into her.
“I know you like it,” Mitchell said, squirming closer. “You practically beg for it every time you look at me.”
“I do not!” Amy pushed harder, feeling tears start. Why did anger always bring tears? “Stop it!”
Mitchell ran his hands from her breasts down to her belly, roughly grabbing and pinching her through her T-shirt.
“Get away from her!”
Zach!
Mitchell let go. Amy shoved him hard.
Zach grabbed Mitchell by the collar of his uniform, lifted him off the ground, and flung him out the open door.
Amy felt tears flood her eyes. Why did Mitchell have to be so awful?
“You're fired and if I ever see you again, I'll make you wish you were dead,” Zach said. “Do I make myself clear?”
Zach didn't have to do much to be threatening—the sheer size of him was intimidating enough—but everything about him was fierce. Amy's heart pounded. He was amazing. His voice was deep and resonant. His muscles were huge. He could kick anyone's ass. That much was obvious.
Mitchell picked himself up off the floor and scrambled away.
“Amy, are you okay?” Zach asked. He engulfed her in a hug, then tenderly smoothed down her hair and caressed her cheek.
“I think so.” She blinked up at him, still stunned. “Thank you,” she said.
“If he has a brain in his head, he's scurrying back into whatever hole he climbed out of,” he said, rubbing her arms and then giving her another hug.
“I wouldn't count on it,” Amy said, catching her breath.
She checked herself.
She really was okay.
“Anyway, I'm supposed to rescue myself. I'm actually capable of that. I don't know what's gotten into everyone.”
“Oh, sweetheart. You don't have to do that anymore. I'm here for you now.”
He was kidding, of course, but he had no idea how much Amy longed for it to be true. Everything can be taken away in an instant. That's what she had learned when her mama died. And the only person who can keep the wolves from the door—was her.
But still. Amy longed for the safety and security of a big strong man. She shivered a little as she realized it herself.
“Are you sure you're okay?” Zach asked. “You looked stunned.”
“You're kidding, aren't you? About being here for me? Why would you say that?”
“I’m absolutely serious,” he said. “I am here for you.”
He reached out and took her arms in his hands, tenderly hugging her then briskly running his hands up and down as if to warm her, to awaken her. She felt electricity shoot through her body.
“I would never kid you about that. I'm here one hundred percent.”
He was so strong that as he ran his hands up her arms, he practically lifted her off the ground. She felt light as a feather in his arms.
She laughed and pushed him away, her hands tingling to touch his.
“I think I'm okay,” she said, as he came even closer, leaning his face down toward her.
“You're better than okay,” he said softly.
She remembered to breathe.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I brought you a present.” He grabbed a cooler he had left by the mall door. He carried it over to her and opened it with a flourish.
Three salmon on ice.
“These are for you,” he said proudly. “I went fishing last night with Diana. We slept in the forest.”
The salmon were beautiful. Amy couldn't wait to grill them, but—why? What did it mean to bring dead fish to a woman you've just been kissing?
“Your aunt?”
“Well, she's not really my aunt. But, yes.”
Not his aunt? So he was dating Diana. And bringing Amy salmon.
“I'm confused,” she told him. “Why are you kissing me?”
“Don't you feel this connection between us?”
“I don't know what I feel.”
That was a lie.
What she felt was that she wanted to kiss him and never stop, to fall more deeply into his arms, to feel his skin naked against her skin, and to feel him inside of her.
Her face flushed and she looked away. What was happening to her?
“Actually, can we just leave all of this here for a moment. I want to show you the video studio we're finishing today. I want you to shoot a video. I know you'll be great at it.”
“I told you I don't want to do that. I like to know my customers. One on one. That's just me.” Amy was sure about this. Knowing her customers and seeing their joy when they bit into a chocolate or used a body product was what lit her up about having a store.
“But if it's the difference between having a store and not having a store, don't you want to have a store? Even if it's online?”
“Honestly? I don't know.” But she grabbed her tote and started closing up the shop.
“I'll bring the cooler,” he said, picking it up.
She'd have to come back to clean up, but for now she was happy to walk away from the mess Mitchell had made.
As they walked to the other end of the mall, Zach told her about the plans for video studios.
“We're shooting test videos today and a commercial. I'd like to show you how easy it is.”
Amy realized it couldn't hurt to just check out what they were doing. She really didn't feel like being alone right now.
Inside, the dollar store had been turned into what could only be described as a TV studio. Amy had never seen anything like it. A stage had been built where there once was bargain shampoo and toothpaste. In what had been the gifts section, a camera was set up with director's chairs.
Diana stood talking with a construction crew. She was tall and elegant in black jeans and a silk blouse.
She waved when she saw them, and dismissed the crew.
“Amy! Great to see you,” she said. “What's up today?”
“I'm casting Amy in the commercial we're shooting today. We'll give her the line, and she can earn twelve thousand dollars. She can use that to open a new store.”
“Wait...what?” Amy s
aid. “I told you I didn't want to be in a video.”
What was it with Zach? He just did whatever he wanted to do and didn't listen.
“You told me you didn't want to have an online store. This is different. You'll be an actor in our commercial.”
“And I'll earn twelve thousand dollars? Why?”
“It's our standard commercial rate. Do you want to do it or not?” Diana said.
“Hell, yes!”
“Let's audition you, then,” Zach said.
“Do you really think that's necessary?” Diana asked.
“Yes,” Zach said, “I do.”
“Oh, Amy! You've already gotten him to say I do!” Diana laughed.
Amy flushed and felt her nerves jump.
“Then let's get on the stage,” Diana said, turning to lead the way. “Amy, this commercial is a satire of the Meg Ryan-Tom Hanks movie You've Got Mail. Did you see it?
“Sure, of course. A long time ago, though.”
You've Got Mail was one of her mama's favorite movies. Friday night was movie night at their house and they usually watched a romantic comedy, because her mama always cried too much at sad movies. Her mama loved to laugh. It was their treat for the week to curl up on the couch with pepperoni pizza. It made Amy smile to think about it.
“You'll play Meg Ryan—actually you look a lot like her. Doesn't she, Zach?”
“No,” Zach said, in a grumpy voice. “Amy is much more beautiful than Meg Ryan. She's curvy and soft and sweet and real. We're lucky to have her here.”
Amy looked down at her body, but didn't say anything. No one had ever told her she looked like a movie star before.
“Maybe I should go brush my hair?” Amy said.
“It’s only an audition,” Diana said. “Just stand here.” Diana placed Amy in front of camera and walked to stand behind it.
She flipped a switch. Lights came up.
“You are in a park and the man of your dreams walks up to you and says, 'Don't cry, shop girl,' and you say, 'I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly.' And then you kiss.” Diana flourished her hands through the air, as if describing a dream.
Shifters in Seattle: Box Set Books 1 - 5 Page 4