Loving Bear
Love Laid Bear Book 2
By
Amber Belmont
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright 2016 by Amber Belmont - All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information in it may be quoted from or reproduced in any form by means such as printing, scanning, photocopying or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Epilogue
Want a FREE book and the possibility of joining my advance reader review group? For more details, head on over to http://bit.ly/2bsZEkG
Chapter One
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The banging on the door made me jump, my hand crushing the delicate flower I was holding.
“Dammit,” I muttered before yelling over my shoulder. “We’re not open yet! Come back in an hour!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Whoever it was, they were persistent, so I put down the flower arrangement I was working on and slouched over to see what they wanted.
“I’m sorry, but we’re not open until 9,” I began as I unlocked the door, trying to hide my annoyance at being interrupted, but when I looked up into the bluest pair of eyes I’d ever seen, the words stuck in my throat.
“I’m Nick,” said the vision in a suit. “And this here’s Matt and Justin.” He indicated the two men standing behind him, but I barely glanced at them. I was too caught up in trying not to turn into a quivering mess in the face of Mr Gorgeous.
“I’m Jess,” I finally replied, “but we’re still not open until 9.”
“That’s fine. That gives you plenty of time to show us around.”
Nick strode forward into the store and I automatically moved out of his way, his confidence demanding nothing less, as Matt and Justin followed him in.
“Not bad, not bad,” he nodded, looking round Tulips Are Better Than One, the floral boutique where I worked as head sales assistant. Well, actually, I was the only sales assistant, but I liked that Shelby, my boss, didn’t mind that I’d taken on the grand title to make myself feel like I was important.
“I’m glad it meets with your approval,” I murmured sarcastically, before my professionalism took over. “Look…”
“Nick,” he prompted, although I was hardly going to forget the name of someone with a face like his.
“Look, Nick, I’m glad you like the store, but I’m going to have to ask you and your two friends to leave and come back when we’re open. Otherwise, I’m going to have to call the cops.”
“I really wouldn’t do that if I were you,” warned Nick, gazing at the décor. “Shelby might not like it. Cops crawling over her store isn’t exactly the kind of image she’s been cultivating.”
“Shelby?” I did a double take. “You know Shelby?”
“Not exactly,” Nick replied. “I know Caleb and he thought it would be nice if Shelby took some time off, so he called us in to help out.”
“Well, that’s nice of Caleb, but I’m sure I can manage all by myself for a day or so.” I folded my arms defiantly. Now that the novelty of his looks had worn off, Nick’s arrogance was starting to annoy me. Sure, I could see the outlines of muscles on top of muscles through his shirt and if he ever wanted a career in movies, he’d give Chris Hemsworth a run for his money, but a jerk was still a jerk, even if the packaging was pretty.
Unfortunately, my attempts to assert myself seemed to be met with humor, if the twinkle in Nick’s eyes was anything to go by when he finally turned to face me.
“I’m going to call Shelby,” I said at last.
“You do that,” shrugged Nick, seemingly more interested in our display of bougainvillea than anything I had to say.
I headed out to the back of the store and pulled my cell out of my purse. There was a text from Caleb sent in the early hours of the morning.
Your temporary manager Nick will be arriving tomorrow. He’ll be taking care of Tulips for the next week, so do what he asks and I’m sure you’ll get on just fine.
I snapped my phone shut. “Why’s Caleb texting me and not Shelby?” I wondered.
“Perhaps because he’s planning on surprising her?” said Nick, making me jump. He’d crept up behind me so quietly I had no idea he was there. “He can be quite the romantic, you know.”
“Yeah, well, speaking of romantic, I’ve got a heap of bouquets I need to prepare for delivery,” I told him, “so if you don’t mind, I need to get on with that. You can wait out front for the first customer of the day.”
“Ah, but I do mind,” he countered. “Matt, Justin and I aren’t here just to make the place look good. We can start by doing the deliveries with you. All you need to do is tell us what orders are still waiting and we can get on with it while you get the store front ready for the first customer.”
“I don’t know.” I bit my lip, struggling to get my brain around what was happening. “Shelby has a very particular way of doing her bouquets. I don’t think it would be a good idea if I let just anyone prepare them.”
Nick sighed and shook his head. “All right. I’m going to level with you, Jess. I get that you’re protective of your boss and you had no idea that we were going to be here because Caleb only texted you five minutes ago…”
The expression on his face suggested that he knew that Caleb had, in fact, sent the message a few hours ago. If I’d checked my cell instead of leaving it buried at the bottom of my purse where it usually lived, not only would I have been prepared for the strangers knocking at the door, I could have taken a bit more care over my makeup this morning.
“However, I’m in charge, at least for a few days. And since this is a florists, the chances are pretty high that I’m going to have to do one or two bouquets while I’m here, so you might as well unclench and let me get on with it.”
“All right,” I sighed eventually, pulling out the book with pictures of all our standard bouquets. “We’ve had two orders for the Darling Princess bouquets, which are the purple and pink ones here, so why don’t you do one side by side with me so I can talk you through it, while Matt and Justin make sure the store front is all ready? Although I did sweep it out last night. It should be fine.”
“By your standards, perhaps, but I’m here now,” replied Nick.
My eyes narrowed, but I bit back the sharp retort I wanted to make. There was nothing wrong with my standards!
“Okay, Matt, Justin, you heard the lady,” he ordered. “Go and make sure the store’s ready for opening while Jess here teaches me how to make a bouquet.”
Matt and Justin grinned at each other and I soon heard the sounds of them chatting as they bustled around the store front, getting to know where everything was kept.
“Right,” I said, setting aside the bouquet I’d been working on. “The Darling Princess is built around a base of pink roses, so we start by taking four of those and alternating them with purple irises.”
I moved slowly to make it easy for Nick to follow, paying
careful attention to every bloom, but when I glanced over, he’d already done over half of the bouquet.
“I told you,” he shrugged when he noticed me watching. “This isn’t my first rodeo. I can make up any arrangement if there’s a photo of it.”
“Fine,” I nodded. “In that case, I leave you to get on with it while I go back to preparing the Euphoria bouquet I was working on before I was interrupted.”
Much as his attitude might suck, I had to admire Nick’s work. I thought Shelby was amazing with flowers, but he was something else. By the time Jed, our delivery driver, arrived, not only were all the arrangements ready, Nick was already busy rearranging the flowers displayed around the sales counter.
“The trick to encouraging customers to spend more is to engage all their senses,” he explained, as he tucked a gardenia into a vase. “I always have the sweetest smelling flowers by the till and door. It puts people in a good mood right from the start and happy people always spend more money.”
“I see.” Shelby had her own way of encouraging people to spend by creating stunning visual displays, but I guessed it couldn’t do any harm to try Nick’s way of doing things while he was here.
“Speaking of which, didn’t you say that you opened at 9?” Nick nodded towards the clock and I gasped when I saw the time.
“It’s all right, Jess. I got it,” smiled Matt as he strode over to undo the latches and turn the sign on the door to ‘open.’
I smiled gratefully in return, but before I could say thank you, our first customer walked in.
When I first applied to work at Tulips, I must admit that I thought it would be easy money. After all, how hard could it be to sell a few bunches of flowers? I soon found out how wrong I was, but by that point, I didn’t care. I loved dealing with customers, helping them find the perfect way to mark a special occasion. My favorite time of year was Valentine’s Day. It was a beautiful reminder that romance wasn’t dead, even if I was single and likely to stay that way.
Still, given that that first customer was the first of a never-ending stream, I couldn’t help but feel glad that Nick had brought two extra pair of hands with him. We’d have been sunk without them. It seemed like the whole of San Francisco was having a flower emergency and only Tulips could save the day.
I was just wrapping up a get well soon bouquet when I heard familiar voices at the door. I looked up to see Shelby and Caleb coming in. The way that he looked at her made my heart melt. Shelby had been on her own for so long. She deserved someone good in her life.
I waved at her and she came over to talk to me.
“Where did you find these people?” I gasped. “Nick’s amazing! I was so worried when you weren’t here this morning, but he told me you were taking some vacation.” I glanced at Caleb, deciding not to mention his text. Shelby might give me a little more detail if I pretended that I didn’t know anything and there was nothing I enjoyed more than a juicy piece of gossip. “I didn’t realize you were going away with someone.”
Shelby blushed. “Yeah, well it was all very last minute.”
I opened my mouth to ask her to tell me more, but a customer walked in. Justin headed over to help them, but my opportunity to find out what had happened with Caleb had passed, as Nick came forward to introduce himself.
I moved away and pretended to busy myself tidying the displays, trying to hear what Nick was saying. I couldn’t get close enough to make out his words, but whatever he was telling her, it made Shelby smile.
As I watched, Caleb lightly kissed Shelby. A love-struck grin spread across her face and I smiled with her. She was obviously smitten, as she brought her hand up to brush against where his lips had met hers, watching him walk out of the store. If only I had someone who could make me feel that way.
However, all thoughts of self-pity were banished when Caleb went past the window and casually turned into a bear.
My jaw dropped. He was a shifter! I guess I should have known. He had that animal magnetism about him that all shifters did, an aura of power that spoke of unbelievable strength.
“What about your shirt?” Shelby called out to him, shaking her head with laughter as Caleb shambled off down the sidewalk.
“He’s a shifter?” I gasped. “And your boyfriend? Wow. I’ve heard that shifter sex is hot. Is it true that they can control every part of their body?”
Shelby glared at me. “Did you forget that you’re talking to your boss?” she snapped.
“Sorry.” I bit my lip and looked down to hide my embarrassment.
“Right,” nodded Shelby. “Now I need to talk to Nick about what’s happening this week, since I’ll be away for a few days, so you’re in charge out here while we talk out back. Nick? Could you come with me, please?”
Nick followed her out to the back of the store, leaving me with Matt and Justin.
“Did you see that?” I asked. “Caleb’s a shifter!”
“Yeah, we know,” grinned Matt, holding up his hand. As he wiggled his fingers at me, his hand filled out and turned into a bear paw.
“Wait- What?” My eyes practically popped out of their sockets. “You mean you’re all shifters?”
“Nick, Matt, Caleb, me… We’re all shifters.” Justin came to stand next to Matt, letting his teeth grow down into fangs. It was the weirdest thing I’d ever seen.
“Are you bears like Caleb?” I asked, shaking my head in disbelief. I’d never been so close to a shifter before and now I was working with three of them. Things were about to get interesting round here.
“Nick and I are,” replied Matt. “Poor old Justin’s a wolf though.”
“Hey!” protested Justin, elbowing Matt. “What do you mean ‘poor’? Everyone knows that sleek wolves are infinitely superior to lumbering bears.”
“Yeah?” Matt arched an eyebrow. “Try telling that to Nick when he’s in full on Kodiak mode.”
“Nick’s a Kodiak?” I echoed, wishing that I could think of something cool to say, but failing miserably.
“He is.” Matt leaned forward conspiratorially. “Just don’t let him know I told you. He’s funny about letting pretty girls know what he is. Says that it turns them into simpering idiots with one thing on their mind and he’s got better things to do with his time than fight off curious thrill seekers.”
“Is that right?” I folded my arms, blushing a little at being called pretty. I didn’t get compliments very often these days. “Your boss has a mighty high opinion of himself, doesn’t he?”
“That’s Nick for you,” laughed Justin. “And to be fair, he does get a lot of women throwing themselves at him.”
“Well he’s safe from my advances,” I reassured him, just as Nick followed Shelby out of the back of the store. I cast a quick glance in his direction, but he didn’t seem to have heard our conversation.
“Can I have a moment, Jess?” Shelby beckoned me over to her.
“Sure.” I was glad to be able to change the subject, as I went over to join my boss.
“You’re sure you’re going to be all right with Nick and-” Shelby cast a glance over at Nick and his assistants, clearly trying to remember their names.
“Matt and Justin,” I filled in. “Yes, I’m going to be totally fine.”
“Are you sure?” Shelby urged. “I mean, I’m just on the end of a cell if you need me for anything.”
“Positive.” I gently pushed her towards the door. “Now it’s my turn to tell you to leave. If I had someone like Caleb coming to pick me up, I wouldn’t be doing my best to be late. If there’s any problems, I’ll call, but I can guarantee that there won’t be.”
“Okay, okay, I’m going,” Shelby laughed, casting one last look about the place before walking out, leaving me alone with Nick, Matt and Justin.
“All right, guys,” said Nick, breaking the momentary silence. “Let’s not stand around here gossiping. Shelby’s left me in charge of her business and I want to make sure that I give it back to her with a nice healthy profit to welcome her back from
vacation. Matt, you stay out front with me. I’ve got a few ideas for rearranging the displays I’d like to try out. Jess, you go out back with Justin and finish up the bouquets due on this afternoon’s delivery.”
“Yes, boss!” Matt and Justin nodded their agreement and the four of us set to work.
Chapter Two
“Mom! Are you home?” I dumped my purse and keys on the table by the front door.
“In here.”
I headed out back to the kitchen where mom was fixing dinner.
“Hi, honey.” Mom smiled at me, the dark rings under her eyes a tell-tale sign that she wasn’t sleeping again. “How was work?”
I thought for a moment, trying to pick the best word to sum up the day. “Different,” I said at last. “I’ve got a temporary new boss and a couple of extra helpers. If it wasn’t for the fact that they’re here to cover her vacation, I could almost believe that Shelby was looking to replace me.”
Mom paled.
“I said almost.” I rushed to reassure her. “It was a joke. Don’t worry, mom. I’m not going to lose my job. I promise.”
“It’s all right, honey. I know you won’t. Shelby wouldn’t manage without you.” Mom smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“How’s the job hunting going?” I asked. “Didn’t you have an interview today?”
“I did, but they canceled it,” mom sighed. “Said they’d already filled the position.”
“Then they’re morons,” I said loyally. “You’ll find something soon. I know you will.”
“Thanks, sweetie.” Mom dropped a gentle kiss on my forehead.
“Anyway, I’ve got a quiz to study for,” I told her. “I’m going to my room. Unless you need help?”
“No, you go, honey,” mom replied. “Dinner will be another half hour yet.”
I headed off to my room, but the second I shut the door behind me, there was a knock on it.
“Yes?”
“Hey, sis.” My kid brother, Tate, came in. “What’cha doing?”
Loving Bear: A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Love Laid Bear Book 2) Page 1