Bearing the Midnight Sun (Ice Bear Shifters Book 3) (3 page)

Tyler insisted on driving Kat home on his snowmobile. She had insisted she was okay to walk, since she didn’t want to cause any more inconvenience than she already had. But they both knew she was lying. Her leg was okay, but it was stiff and in pain. Kenzie saw them off, telling Kat to check in with the town’s medical doctor as soon as possible, since he’d probably want to give her antibiotics and a rabies shot to be on the safe side. Wolf bites weren’t something to take lightly.

Kat directed Tyler to the front of her cabin in town, and he hopped off the snowmobile to help her dismount. She had given up trying to squelch the butterflies in her stomach every time he touched her, and decided to chalk it up to the fact that he had just saved her life. Hero syndrome, or something like that, right?

He helped her to the front door, and seemed unwilling to leave her there.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, hopping nervously from one foot to the other.

“I’m fine, really. Thank you, again. It seems like such a hollow thing to say when you just saved my life, but there’s really no other way to put it.”

“It was nothing. I’m just glad I was out there. Listen, I know you’re okay now, but I just don’t feel good about leaving you alone when you almost died in a wolf attack today. Can I stay for dinner? I’ll cook something for you. You can kick up your feet and relax.”

Kat hesitated. The idea of relaxing and letting someone make her dinner sounded fantastic. The idea of having Tyler around for a little while longer sounded even better. But she felt herself standing at the edge of a giant cliff. She knew she was falling for Tyler, and if she took one more step toward the edge, she was going to go completely head over heels for him. She tried to come up with a reason to decline his offer, but all she could think about when she looked into his big, violet eyes was that she wanted him around tonight, talking to her and laughing with her. Mesmerized by his sweet, concerned face, she gave in.

“Okay,” she said. “But we don’t have much to eat here. Just some soup and crackers. I haven’t done a good grocery shopping trip since I arrived.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll go get some stuff from the superstore. You sit on the couch and watch some TV or something until I get back.”

Kat nodded, and let herself into her cabin as Tyler headed back to his snowmobile. She stood in the doorway for a moment, watching him ride away, and feeling her heart tumble over the edge.

* * *

Tyler browsed through the shelves of the grocery superstore, the one spot in town where everyone went to stock up on food. He wanted to make something fancy and impress Kat, but his worries about trying too hard and accidentally burning dinner got the better of him. He settled on something simple, loading spaghetti, ground beef, an onion and pasta sauce into his basket. He grabbed a half gallon of Neapolitan ice-cream as well. He thought about splurging and grabbing a bottle of wine, but he wasn’t sure whether Kat would feel like drinking after the day she’d had. Tyler quickly checked out, then loaded the food into his snowmobile’s storage compartment and headed back toward Kat’s cabin. The sun shone brightly in the sky even though the day was winding down.

He took a deep breath as he pulled back into her driveway. He knew he was playing with fire. He wanted nothing more than to mate with her. His bear had not stopped clawing at him since the moment he had run to her rescue that morning. When he had heard her screaming, he had somehow known it was her. His heart had dropped into his chest as he grabbed his gun and ran in the direction of her screams. He had feared an attack by one of the Blizzard Clan’s bears, and had been relieved to see it was only a wolf. For a split second, he had considered shifting. As an angry polar bear, he could have easily taken out even that giant wolf. But Neal hated it when they shifted in front of humans, and Tyler didn’t want to freak Kat out any more than she already was. The wolf attack had clearly come as an unexpected shock to her. Luckily, he had been able to save her using just his gun, and she remained oblivious to his bear shifter status.

But for how long? Should he tell her? Should he try to see if there was any hope of a future with her? He knew she wasn’t blind to the chemistry between them. He knew she felt the sparks that flew every time they touched. He could see it in her eyes. But he wasn’t sure if she wanted to act on those feelings. She had seemed so caught up in her jerk of an ex-fiancé. And she had been through so much already, with her dad dying and her engagement going to pieces. As Tyler gently rapped on her cabin’s front door, he decided he wouldn’t make any moves unless Kat clearly signaled that she wanted him to do so. He didn’t want to cause any more trouble for her than she already had to deal with.

Kat called out that the door was open and he should come in, so he pushed his way into the cabin, his arms loaded down with the grocery bags. Kat looked relatively chipper as she sat Indian-style on the middle of the couch and took in an old episode of Wheel of Fortune. She had changed into an oversized sweatshirt and a pair of cropped yoga pants.

“Hey,” she said, picking up the remote and hitting the mute button. “What’s for dinner?”

“Hey you,” Tyler said. “Spaghetti and meat sauce. It’s not fancy, but it beats soup.”

“Oh, that reminds me. I bought some premade garlic toast slices the other day. They’re in my freezer. We can make them, too.”

“Perfect. You’re looking a lot better. Did you take another nap?”

“No but the doctor came. The human doctor. I called him to see if I could set up an appointment for tomorrow, and it turns out he lives just down the street from me. So he came by and gave me a prescription for some pain meds and antibiotics. He also gave me a rabies shot, which was not fun. Too bad Kenzie couldn’t have done that since she’s a vet.” Kat laughed at her little joke, and Tyler grinned.

“Did you already fill your prescription?”

“No, the pharmacy was closed for the day, so I’ll get it in the morning. But the doctor gave me a few sample pain pills, and I’m feeling much better.”

“Good,” Tyler said. “You just relax while I make dinner.” He found a pot and put some water on to boil, shaking a little bit of salt into it. Kat wasn’t content to sit still for long, however. She seemed to be hyped up on the pain medication, and she was full of questions. She came over to the kitchen and leaned against the counter to watch him as he diced up the onion.

“How do you know Kenzie?” she asked.

“She’s my buddy Ryker’s life mate,” Tyler said, his eyes watering a bit from the onion.

“Life mate?”

Tyler mentally kicked himself. He always forgot to use the human term. “Uh, sorry. I mean his wife. It’s, um, a term we use for marriage up here sometimes.”

“Gotcha,” Kat said, seeming satisfied with the answer. She watched Tyler dicing for a few more moments, and then kept talking.

“It’s really lucky that you happened to be out there today.”

“Yeah. Actually, me and a few of my, um, buddies are all building cabins out by Ryker’s cabin. We all kind of wanted to live together out on the edge of town there. We can’t start building the cabins until the snow melts, which won’t be until the end of this month or early in June. But I need to clear a few trees from the middle of the lot where my cabin will be. I decided to do that this morning, since I didn’t have any clients scheduled for today besides you. You were actually really close to Ryker’s cabin when the wolf attacked you. That trail you were on runs through the forest right behind his place.” Tyler didn’t add that the reason he had decided to work on the cabin this morning was that he couldn’t stop thinking about her and had wanted to burn off some steam.

“Sorry about having to cancel the personal training session,” Kat said, glancing down at her bandaged leg. “I guess it will probably be a few weeks before I can reschedule.”

“Yeah, about that—why exactly did you feel the need to go for a run before the training session?” Tyler asked. He rummaged around in a cupboard until he found some olive oil, and he started heating some in a pan to sauté the onions and brown the ground beef. He checked the water and it was boiling nicely now, so he grabbed a big handful of spaghetti and cracked it over the pot, giving it a vigorous stir before replacing the pan’s lid.

Kat looked down at her feet and seemed embarrassed.

“I was feeling self-conscious about how out of shape I am. I thought maybe if I ran in the morning I’d be more pumped up and ready for a workout with you. I dunno.”

Tyler frowned as he scraped the onions off of the cutting board and into the sizzling olive oil. “Let me ask you something, Kat. Do you really want to go work out at the gym all the time? Or is that literally just something you’re doing because you think it will help you win your ex back?”

It was Kat’s turn to frown. “I mean, winning my ex back has a lot to do with it. But I need to get in shape for me, too. Look at me,” she said, finally looking up to meet Tyler’s gaze. “I’m so fat and disgusting.”

Tyler stared her straight in the eye. “No,” he said firmly. “You’re not fat and disgusting. You’re beautiful. Stunning, actually. Whatever man let you go was an idiot. He doesn’t deserve you.”

Tyler held Kat’s gaze as the tears filled her eyes again and threatened to spill over. The only sound in the room was the popping of the onions as they jumped around in the hot oil. Tyler needed to stir them or they might burn, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to be the first one to look away. Kat needed to know that she was beautiful and perfect, just the way she was. After a few more moments, she glanced down at the floor and shrugged. Tyler turned to stir the onions and put the ground beef in the pan, using a spatula to break it down and stir it around.

“I’m surprised to hear you questioning my decision to do personal training,” Kat said. “Shouldn’t you be totally gung-ho about it no matter what? I mean, if nothing else, you’re losing out on money if I decide not to do it.”

“I don’t need the money,” Tyler said. “I train because I enjoy it. And I’m all for my clients getting healthy and in shape. But you seem to have this idea that personal training will magically get you in perfect shape, which will magically help you win your ex back, and that’s not the case, Kat.”

Kat frowned. Tyler couldn’t tell if she was angry or annoyed, or both. He decided to just press forward with his unsolicited advice anyways.

“Look, you’ve been through a lot. Life has handed you a really crappy hand. You shouldn’t be worried about looking perfect or fitting into your skinny jeans right now. You should be worried about your mental well-being and happiness. You should be finding things that bring you peace, and joy. And I’m not so sure that working out in a gym is what you want.”

Tyler checked the meat and the pasta. Both were done. He turned the burners down to low and dumped the pasta sauce into the pot of spaghetti to warm it. Kat looked up at him like she might cry. He didn’t want to make her cry, but he did want to encourage her to think about what would make her feel happy and fulfilled. Seeing the pain in her eyes broke his heart in two. He reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair back behind her ear, letting his finger graze across her face just a little longer than necessary. Her skin was smooth and a light, peachy-cream color. It offset her blonde hair and blue eyes beautifully. She could not possibly have been any lovelier in his eyes, no matter how many reps she did on the weight machine.

Finally, she sighed, and managed to swallow back her tears. “I don’t want to do a bunch of stuff in the gym. I want to run, out in the fresh air. Today’s run was so cleansing, for my body and my mind. I felt like I was sweating away my worries and cares. Well, until the wolf showed up. I guess I’m not going to be going on any more runs through the forest. And running on the treadmill sounds dreadful.”

Tyler started pouring the ground beef and onion mixture into the pot with the spaghetti and sauce. “I tell you what. If running in the fresh air is what you want, then I’ll run with you. Just tell me when you’re feeling up to it, and I’ll go with you. Every day, if you want. You’ll be safe running with me. No wolf will attack, trust me.”

“Will it be at the same charge as your personal training rate?” Kat asked.

“No, Kat. This wouldn’t be personal training. I would just be your running buddy. I won’t charge you. I’m just offering to do this for you as a friend. You came here to find yourself. If running will help you clear your head and do that, then I want to help with that.”

Kat hesitated for a few moments, but then a smile broke out across her face. “Are you sure? You really don’t mind?”

“I don’t mind at all.”

“How can you be sure we won’t be attacked by wolves?”

Tyler shifted his eyes away uncomfortably at this question. He knew wolves would smell his bear and be smart enough to stay away from him. But he couldn’t explain this to Kat. “I’m sure,” he said. “There’s safety in numbers.”

Thankfully, Kat seemed satisfied enough by this explanation. He grabbed two plates and scooped a generous helping of food onto each one.

“Do you want to eat on the couch?” Kat asked. “We could see what else is on TV?”

Tyler agreed, and they took their plates to the couch. Tyler set his down on the coffee table and then grabbed them each a glass of water while Kat flipped through the channels. She finally settled on the channel playing a marathon of
Friends
reruns. They ate in silence, but Tyler was painfully aware of how close Kat was sitting next to him on the small couch. When she finished her food, Tyler took their plates to the sink and then returned to sit next to her again.