"No, it’s not obvious." She shakes her head, genuinely confused. "My head is spinning. Your moods shift so fast."
What if she could be with Cliff?
"I'm not feeling so hot right now. But I’m crazy about you, Frankie. You have to believe that." He runs his hands up her shoulder blades to gently caress her neck.
What if she could forget about who he is and who she is and just be a girl who is falling in love a boy who is falling in love with her?
"But you’re Cliff Tatum."
He kisses her again, their bodies syncing as she leans into him.
"With you, I’m just myself. And I see you as you truly are."
What if she could love him and be loved by him as well?
"Who do you see?" She genuinely wants to know.
She knows what she wants. She wants Cliff.
"I see someone who is sweet and strong and also can do anything she wants in this world. I see someone I want by my side."
He wants her too.
He kisses her again.
"You want me by your side." She grins, so happy. But almost instantly fear kicks in and her heart drops. "For tonight."
16
Cliff sees the fear on Frankie’s face, and as hard as it is to stop kissing her, he does stop.
"I do want you," he says gently. "So much. But not until you’re ready. So not tonight."
Cliff takes her hand and guides her down the path to the darkened bungalow. When she snuggles into his arm, he knows he’s made the right decision. A warm tenderness spreads through his body. His heart swells. He kisses the top of her head. He’s never felt like this before, and he realizes this is the first time he’s put someone else’s needs above his own. Because he does need her. He needs her in his bed and so much more. But only when she’s ready.
It will be that much sweeter.
Inside the bungalow, he asks if she wants some tea.
"I’ll turn on the kettle." She fills an electric kettle with bottled water while Cliff inspects the gift basket.
"Let’s see," she says, looking through a basket with a selection of tea packets. "Chamomile? Green tea? Or, what’s this? Fruity Delight?"
"Score," he says, pulling a box of ginger snaps from the basket. "I’ll have green tea."
"Me too." She grins at him and rips open two packets, placing the bags into mugs.
He leans against the wall and watches her. "I realized tonight that I don’t know about your ambitions. I told you mine."
"I don’t have anything as exciting as an Oscar in my future."
"But what do you want to do?"
"I want to be a reporter." They both sit on the leather couch.
"In Los Angeles? Why would you want to work for Elle Hudson, then?"
"I want to be an entertainment reporter."
"That makes sense. But if you’re an entertainment reporter, won’t you have to work with paparazzi? God, I hate those bottom-feeders. You've met Dave, Elle's cameraman. He's always sticking his camera in people's faces."
"Writing is the only thing I’m good at," she says with a shrug. "Plus, I love movies."
"Why not write scripts, then? Sorry, I don’t mean to tell you what to do. I’m just curious. I’d rather dig ditches in a desert than have to work with paparazzi."
"No, it’s okay. It’s good to have someone to talk with about this. The thing is, I don’t like writing made-up stories, even though I like reading them. I like facts. And truth."
"Just the facts, ma’am? What do you have against fiction?"
"My mom wrote novels. She never got anywhere with it."
"Is she still trying?" Cliff rips open the box of cookies and offers her one.
"No." She looks down at her hands before looking up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "My mom died three years ago."
"Oh, no." He pulls her to him in a gentle hug, rubbing her back. "I’m so sorry."
"She got sick and then two months later she was gone."
"That must have been so hard. You were just a kid."
The kettle whistles. Frankie pulls away from him. She sniffs loudly and pours the boiling water into their waiting mugs before answering.
"She was a great mom. She didn’t want to die. She would have done anything to stay with me."
"I’m so sorry." He keeps rubbing her back.
"And I would have done anything to keep her with me. I have a box full of her unpublished novels. She was good. Better than me."
"So you don’t want to write fiction too, I get that."
"You do?"
"Sure." He kisses her tenderly, not pushing, just staying connected. He picks up the tea mugs and walks with Frankie to the couch. "My friend Tom Ellingham is an editor at Entertainment Now. I’ll get you an interview when we’re in LA. He hires all their reporters. And he knows everyone."
"Really? You would do that for me?"
"Of course." He’s so happy to see her smile return. "And when you’re ready, maybe we can look at your mom’s novels and see if we can get them published for her. What are they about?"
"They’re mysteries. Paranormal mysteries. Remember I told you earlier about shifters? Her novels are full of them."
"They are?"
"And they’re really good."
"I think I would have liked your mom."
"I think she would have liked you too."
He smiles. "Thank you for putting up with me tonight," he says. "For being here through this crazy day. You'll see. When I'm well I'm not like this. So moody."
"You’re so easy to talk with," she tells him.
"Sitting and talking with you like this, it just feels so great."
"I feel like I’ve known you forever."
As she leans in and kisses him, Cliff wants more than anything to pull her into his arms and into his bed. But his head begins to pound again and he knows he needs to say goodnight.
"What time do we leave in the morning?"
"Our ferry is at eight a.m."
"My head is pounding again."
"You should see a doctor tomorrow."
"Okay. But for now, sleep?"
"Sleep."
They each go into their own bedrooms. He reluctantly closes the door.
Once alone, his bear interrupts. What the fuck? Get in there, man. Mate with Frankie.
Leave me alone, he tells his bear. I shifted. Let that be enough for today.
Thankfully, his bear lets it go.
The next morning, everything is the same. But everything is different. They board the ferry same as yesterday, but Cliff sits in the front with her.
"‘Sea Spray Inn, a romantic retreat for lovers,’" Frankie reads from the itinerary as they wait for the ferry to push off. "And tonight, we’ll finally see your film. It starts at eight p.m. with a Q-and-A afterwards."
"Be right back," he says as soon as the ferry clears the dock. He returns with two coffees and a box of donuts.
"A dozen donuts?" Frankie is surprised.
"We’re celebrating," Cliff says.
"We’re celebrating with donuts?" She laughs.
"Ford gave me the lead in his film. It starts shooting in two months and I have to gain forty pounds to play the part."
"Forty pounds?"
He puffs out his cheeks. "Can you see me as a bear of a man? ‘Cause that’s what I’ll look like."
He grabs onto the muscle of his belly. "Pretty soon, this will be significant."
"I can think of worse things than having to gain weight." She smiles, biting into the donut.
"I never have a problem with gaining, it’s trying to lose it afterwards that’s difficult."
"Yeah, I bet. It looks like you have a real problem with your weight." She lifts her eyebrows and grins.
"It’s tough work, but someone’s got to do it." He shoves an entire jelly donut into his mouth. "But it’s all part of the job." He grabs a second donut, honey-glazed, and offers it to her. "Here, have another."
"I’m pretty sure it’s no
t part of my job."
"I love seeing you eat and enjoy yourself," he says with a shrug.
She takes another. "Maybe just one. Don’t expect me to keep up with you, though."
"Anyway, you’re gorgeous."
He does love seeing her eat. He’s never felt that way before.
All part of the fated-mate package, dude, his bear informs him.
Today Cliff doesn’t even complain about his nosy bear.
"Tell me more about the movie," Frankie says. "Or is it a film? I never know which one to call it."
He shrugs. "I play a narcissistic cancer doctor who gets cancer. I die, but first I transform into a good man. It’s a love story, kind of a chick flick."
"Who plays your love interest?" She pretends to be very interested in her donut.
"Are you jealous? You seem a little jealous." He reaches over and tickles her. "I don't think it's been cast yet."
"Forget it. I'm not ticklish." She pushes away his hand, then grabs it, holding it tenderly. "Congrats on getting the part."
"Yeah." He smiles. It is great. It’s everything he wanted, except now he wants something else entirely.
He wants Frankie.
Told you, his bear says, but gently, because his bear is getting everything he wants. Frankie.
When he thinks about the Oscars, he imagines Frankie beside him on the red carpet, and hopes she’s his wife by then.
Although Cliff’s head is soon pounding again, he doesn’t sleep on the ferry.
Frankie wears the day like it's a bright sundress; she is so optimistic and ready to be happy, despite all the hardship in her life. Despite losing her mom and being alone.
Cliff wants to give her everything and make her the happiest woman in the world.
All he has to do is get well.
The ferry delivers them to the most secluded side of the island. The forest is dense here, pressing into the road as Frankie follows the signs directing them to the Sea Spray Inn.
When they arrive, Frankie gasps.
The Sea Spray is another rustic cluster of bungalows, but the entire compound is gorgeous, overlooking the beach and surrounded by gardens of wild pink and white roses. They glide into a parking space.
Cliff pulls down his sunglasses. "You okay?" Frankie asks.
He shakes his head. His head is killing him again. It makes no sense. He'd been feeling better.
You’re a bear shifter, his bear tells him. Just be a bear.
"Do you want to wait in the car and I’ll get the keys?"
"Maybe that would be a good idea." He feels like he can’t get up. Her car feels so comfortable and safe now.
What’s happening to him?
"I’ll be as quick as possible." Frankie gives him a kiss and is gone.
Shift and you’ll feel better, his bear says.
He tries to ignore the beast, but what if it’s right?
He doesn’t remember enough about shifting to know how shifting back works. Can he count on it? He couldn’t even speak yesterday after he shifted back to human. Cliff probably can’t go to the screening with this headache, but he certainly can’t go as a bear.
Thank god Frankie found him, or he still might be wandering in the forest, confused and naked.
Shift and you’ll feel better, his bear says again.
Will you guarantee that? Cliff silently questions his bear. Will you guarantee that I can shift back?
Shift and you’ll feel better. Eventually.
Great. Thanks a lot.
Just let me take over for a while.
Let the bear take over? How can that be a good idea?
If it will only take a shift to feel better, he should just do it.
But what if he's unable to shift back?
17
Cleo is standing just inside the Sea Spray Inn lobby. She waves briskly at Frankie, and looks relieved to see her. "Lawton called me. Are you okay, doll? He said you were lost in the wilderness?"
"No, I’m fine. My cell reception has been nonexistent. Lawton and I got cut off."
"Thank goodness. I was so worried." Cleo gives her a quick hug. It’s nice to have someone worry about her after being on her own for so long. "I think I’m finally getting maternal," Cleo adds with a wink. She rubs her baby bump, clearly visible under a sky-blue catsuit that leaves little to the imagination.
"I love your outfit," Frankie says. But right now she’s got to get help for Cliff.
"Thanks." Cleo pats Frankie’s arm.
"Cliff isn’t feeling well. He’s got a wicked headache and it keeps getting worse."
Cleo looks around. "Where is he?"
"I left him in the car. Is there a doctor here? I think he needs one."
"My friends are coming on the next ferry, Steph and Rex. She’s a nurse, he’s a doctor."
"I’ll get him into our suite. The itinerary says there’s a lunch today. Can you cover for him? He doesn’t want anyone to know he’s sick, he’s up for a big part in a movie."
"Sure, doll. And I’ll bring Steph and Rex to you as soon as they get here. Let’s check you in." Cleo turns to the lobby desk and hands Frankie her key and directions to the suite.
Getting Cliff out of the car and into the suite is easy, as he is as docile and sweet as a lamb.
Frankie tucks Cliff into bed, then she wets a washcloth in the bathroom and lays it over his forehead.
"Thanks, sweetheart," he says, without opening his eyes. "That feels nice."
"Can I get you anything?" she asks. "Do you want a massage? Or something to eat?"
"Stay here," he says. "I just want to know you’re with me."
"Of course." She pulls an overstuffed chair over to the bed and sits beside him, keeping his hand tucked in hers as he drifts off to sleep.
His hand is getting hot, and she realizes he has a fever.
God. What could be going on? He’s really sick.
The last time she sat with someone in a sickbed, it was her mother, in the final week of her life. With a tug of her heart, Frankie realizes she might be about to lose someone else she loves.
She finally admits it to herself. She loves Cliff. And she will do anything to keep him with her.
Tears well up and she wipes them away with the back of her hand.
When there’s a knock, Frankie gently pulls her hand away from Cliff and rushes to the door.
Cleo is waiting and she’s brought her friends. The man is tall, dark, and strikingly handsome. The woman is a curvy, dark-haired beauty. "These are Steph and Rex, the nurse and doctor I told you about. Where’s Cliff?"
"Thanks for coming so quickly," Frankie says. "He's sleeping in the bedroom."
"Before we see him, tell us everything you can," Steph says as they walk to the couch. "When did it start? What did you notice?"
"He’d been complaining of a headache all weekend. Yesterday there was a weird episode when I found him naked and confused in the forest, and since then he says his head feels like it’s about to explode. Now he has a fever too. He’s burning up in there."
"Naked? In the forest?" Rex asks. He exchanges a look with Steph.
"Was he alone?" Steph asks.
"He was alone. Yes. Later, I asked him what had happened, but he couldn’t explain it."
Rex stands quickly with a worried glance to Steph. "Take us to him."
"Sure. He’s right here," Frankie says. But when she opens the door to the bedroom, Cliff is not there. The bed is empty. The sliding glass door is open to the patio and the drapes are blowing in the breeze like a ghost.
Cliff is gone.
"He was right here," Frankie tells them. "Two minutes ago."
"He’s shifted," Rex says. "He’s gone."
"What do you mean, ‘he’s shifted’? What are you talking about?" Frankie feels tears start.
Dammit.
These are angry tears, but no one else will know that. They’ll think she’s a baby.
"Hey, hey," Cleo says in a soothing voice. "It’s okay, shifti
ng is normal for bear shifters."
"How can he be a bear shifter? He’s a movie star. He lives in Malibu." Frankie looks from Cleo to Steph to Rex. She takes several deep breaths. She’s got to calm down.
"Lawton told us Cliff Tatum is a shifter," Rex says.
"What? Why would Lawton even think that?"
"You know he reads People magazine like it’s his daily newsfeed," Cleo says. "He follows all the movie stars on Instagram and thinks a bunch of them are shifters."
"Really? Lawton never told me that and I’m his best friend." This is so hard to believe. Even for Frankie. And her mother wrote paranormal novels, even though they never got published. She practically grew up hearing about shifters. But it’s different when it’s supposed to be real.
"Not everyone is open to hearing about shifters," Rex says. "And most shifters don’t like to broadcast that fact, especially when they’re as young as Lawton."
"Lawton? A shifter? I thought he was kidding."
How could Frankie have ignored such an important revelation? Lawton told her last year that he is a bear shifter, but she had burst out laughing. And yesterday in the forest, she thought he was trying to scare her. Why is it so hard for her to accept the truth?
"I feel terrible. He tried to tell me. I was too stupid to listen."
Cleo puts her arm around Frankie. "He doesn’t hold it against you. Someday you’ll both laugh about this."
"Lawton was sick. Did he have the same thing that Cliff has now?"
"We think Cliff might have the same shifter disease that Lawton had. Illness X. But Lawton was in a hospital and we were able to treat him right away. If Cliff is sick and has shifted into a bear and is running around Salish Island in the middle of a film festival, he could be in grave danger," Steph says.
"He may not even know that he’s got a bear inside of him."
"He's in danger?" Frankie gasps. "Is he dying?"
"A lot of shifters have had Illness X, Frankie," Rex says in a calm voice. "Wolf shifters and bear shifters. Once we give him medicine, he’ll be fine. We need to treat him with a special strain of antibiotics."
"Do you have them with you?" Frankie asks. "Can you do it today?"
"Frankie, we need to get Cliff to our hospital in Seattle."
"It’s not like popping a Tylenol," Steph says. "It’s a little more complicated than that."
Shifters in Seattle: Box Set Books 1 - 5 Page 26