When lunch ended, Anderson still hadn’t quite figured out what to say, but he was able to stall a little longer when Sawyer called and asked if he could pick up some things from a hardware store in Kodiak. The hardware store in Frost Peak wasn’t always stocked very well, and Sawyer thought Anderson might be able to find a few things there that Sawyer hadn’t been able to find in Frost Peak.
Silver made her signature pouty face when she learned that they would be going to a hardware store instead of to more ballet schools, but Anderson promised her he would make the trip as quick as possible. He told himself that if he hadn’t come up with a creative solution to convince the ballet schools to tutor Silver before leaving the hardware store, that he would tell Silver they needed to look in another city. Maybe someone in Anchorage would be more accommodating.
Anderson grabbed a shopping basket and started filling it up with the items on Sawyer’s list, while Silver trudged along behind him and dragged her feet along the tile floor. Anderson had just finished finding the items on the list when he heard the man at the front counter raising his voice in annoyance.
“Look, lady,” the man said. “I’m the only employee here today. I can’t leave the register unmanned. If you wanted help with those bags you should have brought someone along to help you.”
“Please? I didn’t realize you wouldn’t have carts available to get this to my car, and it will only take a minute. The store isn’t that busy. I’m sure it will be fine if you leave the register for a moment.”
“Sorry,” the man said gruffly. “I’m a cashier, not a mule. You’ll have to get your bags out yourself. Take them one at a time if you want. I’m sure you can manage that way.”
Anderson wanted to roll his eyes. Was the guy at the front desk seriously refusing to help a woman carry her stuff? What an asshole. He rounded the corner, determined to show the man what it meant to be a gentleman. But he stopped short in his tracks when he saw that the woman at the front counter was Lexi. She had just turned her back to the man at the counter, and was struggling to lift a fifty pound bag of potting soil. Her hair was pulled up in a haphazard messy bun, and she wore a pair of black sweatpants along with an old, dirty t-shirt. Her tennis shoes looked new, though. They were hot pink, and bright and clean—standing out starkly from the rest of her worn out clothes. Even her face was dirty. Some of her loose tendrils of hair had escaped from the bun only to be plastered against her face by a mixture of dirt and sweat. She was a dirty, hot mess. And she looked stunning. Anderson couldn’t ignore the way his heart beat faster at the sight of her, but he did his best to push down the emotion once again. He would help her, like a gentleman. But he wouldn’t acknowledge the feelings of desire welling up from deep within him.
Anderson walked up to the counter, and slammed his basket of items down on the counter.
“I changed my mind on these,” he said, looking the clerk straight in the eye. “I have no interest in giving my business to a shop where the employees have no idea how to extend common courtesy to their customers.”
The man shrank back and did not reply. Anderson made an imposing figure, standing a head and shoulders above the clerk, with biceps bigger than the man’s thighs. Lexi didn’t speak, either. She just watched, open-mouthed, as Anderson grabbed all three bags of potting soil at once, and hoisted them onto his shoulder like they were bags of feathers.
“Where are you parked?” he asked.
“Uh, I’ll show you,” Lexi said, regaining her composure and walking toward the door. Anderson followed her, with Silver trailing along behind him and struggling to keep up. When they arrived at her vehicle, Anderson was surprised to see that it was a large pickup truck. He hurled the three bags into the bed of the truck, and then raised an eyebrow in Lexi’s direction.
“This isn’t exactly what I pictured you driving,” he said.
Lexi crossed her arms defensively. “What did you picture me driving?” she asked.
“I don’t know. An overpriced sports car that is sexy but completely impractical for an Alaskan winter?”
Lexi laughed. “I’m a practical gal. I know you think I’m nothing more than a spoiled celebrity who lives to party, but I’m actually pretty down to earth.”
Anderson noted the hint of bitterness in her voice, and he felt strangely embarrassed by her accusation. He did kind of think she was a spoiled celebrity who lived to party, but he didn’t want Silver to know he had judged Lexi like that. Anderson was always telling his daughter to see the best in people, and to give them the benefit of the doubt because we don’t really know their story. But here he was, being rightly accused of judging a woman whom, truthfully, he didn’t know.
“Sorry,” Anderson said sheepishly, avoiding Silver’s questioning look. “Maybe I overreacted a bit.”
Lexi shrugged. “It happens. A lot. I’m not even a celebrity really. I just dated one, and didn’t realize how much doing so was going to sweep me up into that world. Live and learn, I guess. Anyway, thanks for helping me with my bags. I can’t believe that guy in there was so unhelpful.”
“Yeah, no problem,” Anderson said. “Looks like you’re planning on doing some serious gardening.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t have any students for the next few weeks, so I figured I’d spruce up the garden around the studio and house a bit. Nothing better to do. It’s hard to make friends here. Everyone only sees me as the crazy celebrity.”
Anderson felt a pang of guilt. Lexi looked genuinely lonely. And, if he were to be honest with himself, he probably had overreacted quite a bit to seeing her take a swig from the whiskey bottle. After all, she hadn’t been responsible for watching any children at that moment. And she hadn’t been drunk. She really had just taken one or two sips. It’s not like he’d never been in a situation where he wanted to escape and enjoy a quiet moment and a drink.
He also couldn’t deny that seeing her here in old, dirty clothes, without makeup and with her hair all messed up, didn’t fit his perception of her as a spoiled celebrity. She was a real person, and didn’t seem to be afraid of work. Anderson felt waves of guilt washing over him as he slowly realized that, despite telling himself he wasn’t a gullible person, he had allowed sensational celebrity magazines to cloud his judgment of Lexi without really knowing her. That wasn’t the kind of person he wanted to be.
Without thinking about it, and before he fully realized what he was saying, he found himself asking Lexi to dinner.
“We’re in town for another day,” he said. “If you’re feeling lonely, you’re welcome to join Silver and me for dinner tonight. There’s a café down on the waterfront we really like. They have the best grilled salmon you’ve ever tasted.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them. What the hell was he doing? Asking a beautiful woman who turned him on out to dinner. It didn’t matter that Silver would be there, too. His bear was going to be going crazy inside of him all night long. But it was too late to take the words back. Lexi’s face flooded first with a look of surprise, and then relief.
“Really? I’d love to. Thank you.”
Silver started jumping up and down and clapping her hands, and Anderson knew he would have to act happy and composed during dinner, at least for Silver’s sake.
“Meet you there at seven?” he asked, wanting to get the hell away from Lexi before he said or did something else stupid, like signing his daughter up for more ballet lessons with her.
“Sure, see you then.”
Anderson grunted in response, and then turned to walk away from Lexi’s truck as quickly as he could. A startled Silver scurried to keep up with him as he made his way toward his own rental truck.
This was going to be an interesting night.
* * *
Lexi nervously hopped from one foot to another as she waited for Anderson and Silver to arrive. She hoped she wasn’t overdressed. She was wearing a simple, knit dress in a bright royal blue, and a pair of taupe flats. She loved the dress, and thought of it as
a pretty casual outfit. But everyone who was coming into the restaurant was wearing jeans and t-shirts, and Lexi suddenly felt conspicuous. Was Anderson going to think she had put too much effort into the way she looked, and think she was viewing this as some kind of date?
Lexi shook her head at herself in disgust. For fuck’s sake, Lexi, get it together, she told herself. You’re overthinking things way too much. He was just asking you to dinner because you said you were lonely and that made him feel guilty.
Lexi didn’t have much more time to drive herself crazy with her internal monologue, though. She heard a familiar squeal, and looked up to see Silver bounding toward her.
“Hi, Miss Lexi! I love your dress. That’s a pretty color,” Silver said, then threw her arms around Lexi in a big bear hug. Lexi smiled. Leave it to a six-year-old to make you instantly feel better about your outfit. Lexi looked up to greet Anderson, and was relieved to see that he was at least wearing a button-down shirt with his jeans. She didn’t feel totally out of place anymore.
He nodded at her in greeting, obviously feeling a bit awkward, and then gestured toward the door.
“Shall we, ladies?” he asked, as he held the door open for Silver and her.
Lexi followed Silver into the restaurant, and instantly fell in love with its adorable nautical décor. Wooden whales, anchors, and life-rings graced the ceiling, and strings of lights gave the room a festive, warm glow. The hostess led them to a booth next to one of the large windows that overlooked the water, giving the group a great view of the boats meandering by.
“This place is really nice,” Lexi said as she settled into her seat across from Anderson and Silver. Anderson didn’t respond, but his small smile told Lexi that he was pleased at her words of approval. For a few minutes, they all looked over the menus in silence. At one point, Silver started coloring on her kids menu, filling the air with the rhythmic sound of a crayon passing back and forth over the paper.
Lexi quickly decided on the grilled salmon with a side of wild rice pilaf. She also wanted to try one of the signature cocktails from the list, but she felt self-conscious ordering one in front of Anderson. He already thought she was a lush, and she didn’t know how he felt about her having a drink in front of Silver, either.
As if he read her mind, Anderson suddenly looked up and reached across the table to point to the drink list on Lexi’s menu.
“The Wheelhouse is a really good cocktail. I highly recommend it,” he said.
Lexi smiled. “I was just considering that one,” she said.
“Excellent! You won’t be disappointed,” Anderson said, just as their server arrived to take their drink orders. “Two Wheelhouses, please, and a chocolate milk for the little lady.”
The server nodded and left to get their drinks, and Lexi stole a shy glance in Anderson’s direction. He was looking out the window now, focused carefully on something out on the water. Lexi admired his profile, appreciating the sharp, strong line of his jawbone and the hint of stubble on his tanned skin. She liked the way he had taken charge and ordered the drinks. He had an air of gentle authority about him that was so different from the brash, asshole brand of authority Greg had always exuded.
Lexi realized with slight horror that she had just compared Anderson to Greg. What was she thinking? Anderson hadn’t given her any indication that he was romantically interested in her. Quite the opposite, in fact. He had kept his distance for the short time she’d known him, and she got the impression that he’d only asked her to dinner tonight because he felt sorry for her after she said she was lonely. Still, who could blame her for letting her mind wander back to romantic thoughts of Anderson? He was objectively the best looking man she had ever seen, and, now that she knew he was available, it was hard not to dream about having a man like that on her arm.
Anderson seemed to sense that Lexi was looking at him, and he turned to meet her gaze.
“What?” he asked. The expression in his eyes was softer now than Lexi had ever seen it, and she felt a warmth filling her as he gave her a questioning eyebrow raise.
“I was just wondering what you were looking at,” Lexi stammered out. There was no mistaking the heat that was growing between them. Silver, oblivious, continued to color.
“The boats,” Anderson said, locking his eyes with Lexi’s. “I’ve always loved the water. The air is my first love, but if I wasn’t a pilot I’d be a fisherman.”
Lexi nodded, unable to speak. She could see the heat in Anderson’s eyes growing into a full flame, and the warmth seemed to jump directly from his eyes to the very center of her core. She racked her brain for something clever to say, but all she could manage to get out was a simple, “That’s interesting.”
Luckily, or not so luckily, depending on how you looked at it, their server arrived with their drinks and broke the moment. Silver looked up from her coloring just long enough to thank the server for her chocolate milk, content to let her father order her food for her. After the server had left with their food orders, Lexi turned back to Anderson, intending to ask him whether he had grown up in Alaska. But he spoke before she could get the question out.
“Why’d you move to Alaska?” he asked.
Lexi shrugged. “I wanted to get away from New York. And I love nature, so I thought this would be a nice change.”
“You wanted to get away because you were tired of the party scene?” Anderson asked. Lexi tensed up a bit at the question, but there was no animosity in his voice. Only genuine curiosity. She decided to take a chance on answering him.
“I didn’t party. Really. I was too busy with practices and performances. When Greg and I broke up, he fed tons of lies to the paparazzi to get them to harass me. They would take pictures of me holding a bottle of wine in a grocery store and Photoshop it into a nightclub scene. Sounds crazy, I know, but those people will go to any lengths to stir up drama.”
Anderson nodded, slowly. “I’m sorry I went off on you at the reception yesterday. I read too much into the situation. I should know better than to believe what the media says about people. Trust me. I understand all too well that people are often judged for things that aren’t exactly what they seem.”
Lexi took a sip of her cocktail and waited for Anderson to explain further, but he merely shook his head suddenly and looked up at her.
“Cheers,” he said, holding up his drink to hers. “Can we start this friendship over?”
Lexi smiled. “Sure,” she said. “Cheers.”
Silver looked up and noticed they were toasting, so she added her chocolate milk glass to the toast. The rest of the evening was filled with friendly, lighthearted conversation. Lexi learned that Anderson had indeed grown up in Alaska, and that he came from a family that had been in Alaska for generations. He told her he worked as a pilot for a tour company, and that he was very involved in the local government in his city. He briefly mentioned that Silver’s mother had died in childbirth, but he seemed unwilling to say anything more about that, or about whether he would ever date again. Lexi let it go, and didn’t push him. She loved the idea of a romance with a hardy Alaskan man, but she realized the logistics weren’t likely to work out, since Anderson lived so far away. Not to mention the fact that the brief moment where he seemed to be looking at her with desire had passed. Everything about his tone and manner now was purely friendly.
And Lexi felt okay about that. She had been so busy escaping New York and then setting up her dance studio that she hadn’t realized how much she missed just having a night out with a friend. If nothing else, at least after tonight she had one person in Alaska whom she could call friend.
Chapter Eight
“But, daddy, you said you were going to let me take more ballet classes here,” Silver’s sad voice wailed out. Frustrated, Anderson ran his fingers through his hair and tried to find the best words to appease his inconsolable six-year-old.
“I know, baby, but we haven’t been able to find a place that’s quite right. I promise I haven’t given up on the id
ea. But right now we have to go.”
Silver threw herself on the ground in an all-out tantrum, the likes of which Anderson hadn’t seen since his daughter had been a three-year-old. “You promised,” she wailed. “And Miss Lexi would teach me, but you’re too busy trying to pretend like you don’t have a crush on her to let me study with her.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Anderson saw Sawyer’s eyebrow shoot up. Great, just great. Now, not only was Sawyer going to be giving parenting advice, he was probably going to start doling out dating advice, too.
“I do not have a crush on her, Silver,” Anderson said, sounding defensive and hating himself for it.
“Then what’s the problem? Why don’t you let me take more classes with her?”
Anderson normally prided himself on being a patient parent. Even when his daughter had been in the throes of the tantrum-prone toddler years, it had been rare for him to lose his cool. But, right now, Anderson was getting close to losing it. Silver was getting under his skin, but he knew it was only because she was right. He had no idea how she knew that he had romantic feelings for Lexi, but she did. Was he that obvious? He’d tried to keep things very friendly.
After all, even after he admitted to himself that he had probably been wrong about Lexi’s partying ways, he still had to face the reality of how different they were. He was a shifter, and Lexi was human. Sure, shifter-human love matches could work. Sawyer and Amanda were proof of that. But the odds were always against it, and, somehow, Anderson didn’t think the odds were in favor of things working out between Lexi and him.
“Silver, get up off the ground,” Anderson said, his voice rising in frustration. Sawyer had arrived just a few minutes earlier to pick them up and take them back to Frost Peak, and Silver had been acting normally until it was time to board the airplane. Anderson felt embarrassed and frustrated over his daughter’s antics. Sure, Sawyer had seen Silver tantruming before—after all, Sawyer had known Silver since the day she was born, so he had lived through her toddler years. But it had been a long time since Sawyer had seen Silver acting this way, and Anderson was already imagining the well-meant but misguided parenting advice that Sawyer was going to give. Sawyer’s know-it-all attitude had been getting on Anderson’s nerves lately. Apparently, having a newborn made him an expert on all things parenting. Anderson didn’t want to begrudge Sawyer his excitement over his newfound role as a father, but Sawyer had a lot to learn about raising a little girl. To Anderson’s surprise, however, Sawyer didn’t make any comments on Silver’s behavior. Rather, Sawyer brought up something that Anderson had never seen coming.
Grizzly Flying Free (Air Bear Shifters Book 2) Page 5