She looked over at me and grinned when she caught my smile. “What?”
“Where did you come from? Why do you know about shifters?” Are you engaged?
Clearing her throat, she focused on the road again. “Originally, Maine but I traveled all over the world with my parents until I was a teenager. Then after…” she swallowed hard when her voice cracked. “Then I moved to New York after high school.”
The scent of sadness pouring off of her crushed my heart. She was also being secretive. Not lying, but not telling the full truth. “And how do you know about shifters?”
She twisted in her seat to face me. “From Major.”
Hmm. Partial truth.
“How long have you two known each other?”
She smiled and I wanted to touch her lips. Those plush, red lips that matched her hair color perfectly.
“Since we were little. His house was close to mine and both our parents worked in similar…circles I guess.”
“Circles?”
She waved her hand. “They worked for the same company so our paths crossed every few years.”
Interesting. Not really knowing anything about Major’s childhood made me very curious to understand how and why humans like Kenzie and her parents hadn’t been killed by the ISC for knowing about us. “So, what are you exactly, Kenzie?”
She sucked in a surprised breath. “Why does it matter?”
“Because I’d like to know who I’m going to be spending my days with.” And nights if she’ll allow it, my bear rumbled. I was surprised by his interest in her. This wasn’t normal.
“I’m a contractor for the ISC. I help…fix things,” she said cryptically.
“Fix?”
“Hide might be a better word.”
I sighed. “Well, I still don’t understand how you’re alive and working for the ISC if you truly are human.”
She giggled and I melted again. Damn her cute laugh. “Are you suggesting I’m not a human woman?”
Biting my lip, I tried to decide what to say. Do I call her out on it? Or do I bide my time? “I tell you what,” I said with a grin, “how about we play a game.”
“A game?”
“Yes. If I can guess what you are, you let me take you out to dinner.” I flashed her my best smile, knowing that the dimples would do their job.
She shook her head as the blush grew on her pale, but freckled cheeks. “Oh no, Bo Callaghan. Nope. No way.” She started twisting the ring again. “I’ve heard enough about you to know that this charm of yours is not going to work on me.”
“What?” I said with a gasp, covering my heart in exaggeration. “I’m offended that you would even think that about me.”
She giggled again and bit her bottom lip. I felt something move in my pants. “Let’s just say that I’ve been warned.”
“Warned?”
“And I’ve heard the stories.”
“Stories?”
Another giggle tricked through the Jeep. “I’m not a one night stand kind of girl.” Her voice dropped and I caught the hint of sadness in her scent again. She twisted that ring like it was the only thing keeping her safe.
“Who was he?”
Kenzie glanced at me quickly before hanging her head again. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she whispered.
“You know, my brothers always tell me that it helps them when they talk about their issues.”
“They do?”
I shrugged. “Well, I tell them that, I guess.”
A small smile graced her sad features. My bear wanted to take her away and hide her from this sadness. My bear. The very same bear who’d shown zero interest in any of the multiple women that have been in my life over the past decade.
I was in trouble.
“It happened a long time ago. Seven years actually.”
I stayed quiet, letting her speak at her own pace. In fact, she stayed silent so long that I didn’t think she would share anything more.
“We were teenagers and he gave me this promise ring.”
“A promise ring?” I asked.
“You know, like a promise that someday, when we were adults and had careers, we would get engaged and then married.”
Her voice drifted off again and I caught her wiping at her eyes. Damn it, I’d made her cry.
“It’s stupid, though. I don’t even know why I still wear it. It happened so long ago,” she said again.
“What was his name?” I asked quietly, doing everything I could not to reach over and comfort her.
She let out a deep breath. “Evan.” Turning to look out the window, her breathing increased. Scared. “I should have died, too.”
“What?” I shouted, nearly veering off the road at the thought of her not sitting next to me right now.
“I was in the car with him,” she said after grabbing onto the door handle for support.
“An accident?”
She nodded.
“I’m really sorry,” I said, meaning every word.
“I still don’t know how I survived,” she whispered. “I missed his funeral.”
I found myself at a loss for words again. Her pain was palpable in the tiny space between us and I would have done anything in the world to take that away from her. Without second guessing myself, I reached over and grabbed her hands. Giving them a tight squeeze, I tried my best to provide some sort of comfort for her. Her soft skin ignited below mine. But she didn’t smell of fear anymore and that let me know that we were making progress.
We drove in silence for another ten minutes, my hand still holding hers, until I remembered that I had to make a stop. “I need to pull in here and get something for Calvin. Do you want a snack? You must be hungry. What do you want?” I sounded like a babbling idiot but at least I got a smile.
“Do they have popcorn?”
“Popcorn?” It was a strange request.
“Yeah, the cheddar kind?”
With a laugh, I nodded my head and jumped out of the Jeep. “One cheddar popcorn coming up.”
“Oh, and an iced tea!” she called out after me.
I gave her a thumbs up and jogged into store. Five minutes later I came back with our supplies and passed them over to her. Kenzie dug through the bag and pulled out her snacks. Then she lifted the extra-large bag of salmon jerky. “Is this for you?”
“No. For Calvin. It’s his favorite and he can’t get it out where he lives.”
“Bribing him then?” she teased.
Damn if I didn’t love the way she looked right now. All smiles, and teeth, and bright blue, happier eyes. “Hey, whatever works. Although you’re the one that supposedly has all the skills of persuasion.”
“Oh, I have skills,” she said and then immediately slapped her hand across her mouth. “Oh my god, I don’t even know where that came from.”
I laughed and relaxed back into my seat. “Well, maybe I’ll get to see those skills at work.”
“You wish,” she said and then opened her mouth to apologize again.
It only made me laugh harder. “Look, we’re going to be working together for at least the next week. I’d rather we feel comfortable with each other than carry on like a bunch of stiff logs.” Smiling at her and flashing my dimples, I gave her a wink. “Plus, I like my women saucy.”
“Well, then that’s going to be a problem,” she said, shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth.
“What do you mean?” I reached into the bag on her lap and pulled out my own snack of elk jerky. She froze underneath my touch.
“I like my men tame.”
My jaw dropped and I snapped my head over to see if she was joking. Her cheeks puffed out with the amount of popcorn in them and she was holding in a giggle so she wouldn’t spit it all over the Jeep. I started to laugh and soon we were both laughing hard enough that she started coughing. Taking a long swing of her tea, she shook her head and then punched my shoulder. I barely felt it.
“You almost made me choke,” she said.
“You’re the one that made the comment.”
“I know, but it’s always going to be your fault.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me in the most flirtatious way since we’d met.
“Okay,” I said with my own charm. “I’ll accept that if I get to take you out to dinner.”
She tilted her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. “You’re persistent, aren’t you?”
“I thought you’ve heard all about me.” Her blue eyes met mine and something deep inside, something buried so far below the surface I hadn’t even known it existed, flared to life. Fire blazed through my bones and the thought of being away from Kenzie suddenly had me in a panic.
“I’ve heard a lot, yes.”
“Then you know that I can be very persuasive,” I said, trying to ignore those feelings in my gut.
“We’ll see,” she said quietly just before closing her eyes and giving me a slight smile.
She must be tired after all of that traveling. I should let her sleep but yet I liked talking to her. I wanted more of her. More of Kenzie. And this craving went far beyond what I’ve felt with other women. There was something about her…something almost magical that drew me to this tiny red-headed female with the turquoise eyes and broken heart. I reached over to brush her cheek, but stopped at the last second. I wanted to touch her. He wanted to touch her. There was just something so special about her that I had a hard time focusing on the road.
And this something just fired up my bear for the first time ever.
“Are we almost there?” I asked again. It was bad enough that I’d drifted off on the drive, but now I could see the daylight getting a little thinner and I still had no idea where we were. Plus, I needed to go to the bathroom. I shouldn’t have chugged that iced tea.
“Almost,” Bo said with a smile.
Good god how I was starting to tingle every time he flashed it my way. Don’t fall for it, I warned myself. He’s charming and he knows it. Just focus on your job so that you can get back to the city and lead your anonymous life.
Focus. Okay. Looking out the passenger window, I tried to focus. But all I saw was an endless stream of trees. We were so deep into the forest now that Bo had switched the Jeep into four-wheel-drive. Bouncing along the old logging road, I had a mini panic attack thinking about just how far away from everyone we were right now. And as soon as we stopped, I would be out here with a grizzly and a mountain lion. Just me and them.
My breath hitched in my throat and Bo made a small noise. “Why do you smell like fear again?” he asked.
“Again?” I hated how my voice squeaked.
“You have nothing to worry about.” He reached across the seat and grabbed my hand. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
After swallowing down my attraction for his declaration and for those damn dimples, I nodded. Okay, I could do this. The ISC hired me to negotiate and convince these rouge shifters to comply with their plans. Using whatever means I needed to get the job done. I had my own bag of tricks up my sleeve to protect me, but the least amount of attention I attracted to my “special circumstances” the better.
Bo suddenly veered off the log road and onto what I could only describe as an animal path. “I’m not sure how much further we’ll be able to drive.”
He was certainly capable of maneuvering the Jeep through the narrow path much easier than I would have been able to. I felt another rush of attraction to this man roll through my lower abdomen. Shit. He could probably sense it. Thankfully, he didn’t make any indication that he could tell his charm was starting to grow on me. His focus was only on the rough road ahead of us.
“Calvin lives out here by himself?” I asked, amazed by just how remote we were.
“The large cats tend to live solitary lives most of the time.”
I knew that. Just from my relationship with Major, he’d always mention how he preferred to be alone when I’d give him a hard time about not having a mate.
“But isn’t this a little extreme?”
Bo chuckled and shook his head. “Calvin prides himself in being a true mountain man.” He then looked at me with a raised brow. “Have you ever met a mountain lion shifter before?”
“No.”
“Well, have you read up on Calvin? Did Major give you some background?”
Pushing through the information stored in my brain, I tried to remember. “No, Major didn’t. But I found a small file on him at the ISC office in New York.”
“They have files on us?” Bo sounded surprised.
“Of course they do,” I said. “It’s the International Shifter Coalition.”
“Okay, smart ass,” Bo teased. “I guess that makes sense, I just never thought about it before.” He jerked the Jeep sideways to avoid a fallen log. There were a few more up ahead. “Looks like Calvin fortified this place.”
“Well, that would make sense. He is a veteran.”
Once again, Bo looked surprised. “No shit? Huh, I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, Vietnam.” His file mentioned that he’d been honorably discharged but he seemed to drop off the face of the earth after that. It still surprised me how much longer shifters lived compared to regular humans. I would bet Calvin barely looked thirty years old despite pushing eighty. Unless living out here in the middle of nowhere had taken a toll on him.
“Geez. That’s rough,” Bo said, eyes taking in the obstacles on the trail. Now we had to maneuver around a large boulder that certainly didn’t belong in this part of the woods. After successfully doing that, Bo pointed up to the top of the hill we’d been climbing the past ten minutes. “I think that’s him up there.”
Squinting my eyes to see in the fading light underneath this thick canopy, I could just make out the glow of the fire. We got another hundred feet closer before Bo hit the brakes.
“This is our stop,” he said with the playful tone in his voice again. But when I made a move to get out of the Jeep, he leaned to the side and grabbed my arm. “Stay near me, okay?”
I gave him a look, questioning his intentions without saying it out loud. He shook his head as though understanding my silent communication.
“It’s not like that,” he said. “Calvin isn’t used to having people visit him up here. Especially not beautiful redheads.”
You think I’m beautiful? The words flitted on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t ask. That would give him too much power over me and I was already concerned with the amount of attraction I felt. So instead, I simply nodded and gave his hand a quick squeeze. He jumped out of his side and opened my door before I even reached for the handle. How the hell had he moved so fast? Apparently, I couldn’t hide the surprise on my face and when Bo helped me out of the Jeep he smiled that wicked smile again.
“Shifters are fast.”
“Yes, I can see that,” I said. Steady. Don’t let him in. “But I am capable of getting out of a vehicle by myself.” I tried to sound annoyed but failed miserably.
He laughed again and then stepped back with hands raised. “Gotcha. No acts of chivalry around Kenzie.”
Ah, the nickname again. I was really starting to like that.
“You two dip shits just scared away every elk within a hundred miles,” Calvin yelled at us from the darkness.
I couldn’t see him at all. Craving a night vision spell, I had to remind myself that I needed to keep my secret hidden as long as possible. At least Bo had no problem spotting the man.
“Good to see you too, Calvin. Thanks for not returning any of my calls.”
“I’m off the grid,” Calvin yelled back, grumbling something under his breath that I couldn’t understand.
We started to walk the last twenty feet or so up to his den. Yeah, according to me, it was a den way out here in the woods. My foot slipped in the downed leaves but Bo wrapped his hands under my arms faster than he should have been able to. Again. I gave him another look.
“Okay fine, next time I’ll let you fall on your face.” His eyes t
raveled to my dress and then to my platforms. “Please tell me you have other clothes with you,” he groaned.
“Of course I do, but none of you gave me a chance to change.” I did have a pair of jeans and some hiking boots, newly purchased just for this trip. City girls knew how to shop for appropriate clothing. Yes, we did.
“Oh, sorry about that,” Bo said sincerely. “Let’s see what Calvin has up here and then get you changed.”
He pulled me up the last little incline and into the space where a fire was burning. Calvin’s home looked exactly like what I imagined a burly mountain man to have. He’d fashioned a hut of sorts, closely resembling a beaver’s dam with its dome shape and twisted branches. It would easily fit one or two people plus supplies. Surrounding his camp was a small fence built from reeds that would keep out the smaller pests. His fire pit had been constructed from stones he no doubt dragged up here from the closest river bed. Large pines and firs popped up every few feet around the perimeter making this an ideal location for seclusion.
And while I marveled at that, I noticed how Calvin himself looked nothing like a man who thrived in the wilderness. His large frame resembled that of a football player, and his dark skin had him blending in with the shadowed areas. His hair had been twisted into dreadlocks that sat wrapped in a loose bun on top of his head. But it was his eyes, reflecting in the firelight, that sent my fight or flight instincts into overdrive.
Bo held out his hand to Calvin. It took a minute before the cougar reciprocated. “Good to see you again, Calvin,” Bo said.
Calvin simply grunted before turning his attention to me. He shuddered when he sucked in a breath, causing me to shake as well. Bo moved a step closer but then Calvin did something unexpected. He smiled wider than I would have thought possible, and his warmth filled the air.
“Well hello there, ma petite sorcière.” Stepping forward, he grabbed my hands and kissed them gently. “Accueillir ma belle soeur.”
With panicked eyes, I tossed a glance at Bo, hoping he wouldn’t understand. And from the blank look on his face, I was safe for now. “You speak French?” I questioned Calvin.
“Raised by a Haitian mother and grandmother,” he said proudly. “It’s all we spoke in our house.”
Catching the Bear: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (The Callaghan Clan Book 3) Page 3