Big Bear Trouble: BBW Werebear Shapeshifter Romance (Sweetwater Brides) (2 page)

W
ith a sigh
, Evan sank into his couch. He had just gotten back from dinner with his brother Ethan and his new wife, Jennifer.

Ethan had always been the more serious and responsible one, even back when they were kids. Maybe it was because he was the oldest and had to look after his brothers, or maybe it was because he always knew he would be Alpha one day. He commanded respect, was brave but never foolhardy. He only let his guard down when amongst those closest to him – that was when you could coax out a smile or a couple of laughs.

The Ethan Evan saw now was almost like a different man. Jennifer brought out the more easygoing side of him, made him less stern. The way he kept glancing at her during dinner, held her hand under the table, the way he laughed, no longer concerned about showing weakness... It made Evan wonder.

He was going to just grab a beer from the fridge but ended up pouring himself a glass of whiskey instead.

He thought he had found love too, once. Seeing his brother happy made him happy, but it also brought back memories of his own joy turning to ash.

Evan sat back down and opened his laptop. He had a new e-mail from Tom, confirming another match for next Friday. The bear inside him growled, remembering the last fight and itching for some release. Evan put on a playlist of his favorite tunes and refilled his already empty glass.

Then he filled it again.

And again.

He thought of Rita, his ex, and the way her hair smelled when she had just gotten out of the shower. The way her soft hands felt running down his arms. He thought about how Ethan looked at his wedding when Jennifer walked down the aisle. He thought about many things, and then none at all.

Evan woke up, still clothed and on his couch. The sun was barely up, but he knew that once awake, he would no longer fall back asleep. An empty whiskey bottle lay on its side next to the couch. Groggy and slightly nauseous, he dragged himself into the bathroom and took a shower. Het put on some clean clothes and made his way to the kitchen.

The fridge was empty.

Of course it is.

Evan’s head was beginning to pound so he downed an Advil, plopped back down on the couch and grabbed his computer from the coffee table. He had two unread messages – one congratulating him on successfully registering to SassyDates and another saying
“Someone messaged you!”

Evan groaned into his hands.

He should have known better than to mix whiskey and self-pity. He vaguely remembered setting up a profile before passing out. Evan briefly thought about deleting it, but decided to check out the message first.

Hello, Karen.
He read the message and chuckled.
Straightforward, I like it
.

They seemed to have similar tastes, so he scrolled to her picture.

Wow
.

Fiery curly hair framed a heart-shaped face with the cutest little button-nose and sensual full lips. She seemed to be at a park, leaning casually against a tree. A simple white t-shirt hugged her hourglass shape, black jeans accentuating her ample hips.

The bear inside Evan perked up. Drunken decisions were almost never good, but this one had potential. He decided to reply as honestly as she had.

After some messages and Karen saying she really should get some actual work done, Evan threw on his leather jacket and made his way to Maisy’s Diner – nothing like a greasy breakfast to cure a nasty hangover.

Evan’s house was pretty close to the diner in the center of town so he decided to walk. He arrived before the breakfast rush, if you could call it that in sleepy Sweetwater. Grabbing a booth, he checked his phone without even thinking.

That hooked already?
he thought to himself.
Guess so
, he concluded, seeing no new messages from Karen and setting it down with a slightly disappointed sigh.

Maisy appeared next to him with a smile on her face and a menu in her hand. She was in her early thirties, but the freckles made her seem younger.

“Rough night? Getcha some coffee?” she chirped.

“I’ve had rougher,” Evan said with a wink. “But coffee would be great.”

“Yeah, no visible bruises, I see,” Maisy replied cheekily. “Anything to eat?”

“A stack of bacon pancakes and some fried eggs would be heavenly.”

“Coming right up!”

Evan and Maisy liked to tease each other and got along great in general, which had at first prompted people – his brother Everett in particular – to hint at romantic possibilities. The truth was, they were more like brother and sister, neither of them entertaining thoughts of anything more.

He didn’t have to wait long for his food, and after having sufficiently clogged his arteries, he felt so much better that he went back to his house, grabbed his duffel bag and hit the gym.

By lunchtime, Evan had already finished his workout, gone to the grocery store and was now in his kitchen, drinking a protein shake. He was painfully aware that he was checking his phone about ten times more often than usual. His bear was also growing more anxious than normal.

What is it about this woman?

When his phone buzzed, he practically leapt at it. In her message, Karen was worried that they lived so far apart. He hadn’t even met her, but he felt like he knew all he needed to already.

His animal side was lashing out, impatient and angry, as if saying,
She is ours. Don’t let her get away
.

She was funny, smart and made his bear lose its mind.

Love via first text? Maybe.

He wanted to hear her voice, smell her scent and taste her lips. He tried to word his reply in a way that would be an invitation, but wouldn’t put too much pressure on her. After typing in the text and hitting send, Evan attempted to go about his day, but as the hours passed with no response, he started to fear he’d come on too strong and scared her away.

The thought terrified him and his bear – something that had never happened to Evan Grimpaw.

Around seven, as Evan was trying really hard to concentrate on watching TV, his phone finally buzzed with a message from Karen.

Got any good hotel suggestions?

Evan’s heart began pounding. She had better not have been joking, or he might just have to go get another bottle of whiskey, or five. Just a minute later, his phone lit up again.

P.S. I used to be an exotic dancer and if that bothers you, you can kindly fuck off.

Evan burst out laughing.

This girl just might be the end of me. I can’t wait.

T
urbulence almost made
Karen spill her vodka soda all over her dress. She wasn’t usually a day drinker, but she had never been a fan of flying and this was one of the bumpiest rides she had ever had. And she hadn’t uprooted her life to go visit a sexy lumberjack in the middle of nowhere before either.

The alcohol helped... a little.

She started scrolling through her messages with Evan to get her mind off the fact that she was probably going to plummet to her fiery death very soon.

And they say I’m not an optimist.

After Evan had responded to what she thought could be a deal breaker with a playful
“I’m actually a horrible dancer. If you can live with that, I think we’re good,”
they had been messaging each other quite regularly. They also Skyped once, just so Karen could be sure she wasn’t being catfished.

I mean, what are the chances a guy who looks like that is still single?

He was definitely who he said he was, even holding his ID up to the screen so Karen could check. But that didn’t mean he still couldn’t be a crazy killer waiting to stab her through a shower curtain. Karen certainly hadn’t pegged Kyle as the absolute jerk he had turned out to be. So when Evan said she was welcome to stay at his place, she politely declined, saying she wouldn’t dream of such an imposition. Evan didn’t press the matter.

“There aren’t exactly many hotels in Sweetwater, but a buddy of mine runs a little bed and breakfast near the town center. He’ll probably give you a discount.”

Karen jumped at the chance. She had finished up her week at work with no prospects in sight. Luckily, she had some money put aside, but with no stable source of income, she had to stay frugal. To her surprise, Karen was okay with how things had turned out. That job wasn’t going to be forever, anyway. Plus, she hadn’t had a vacation in… pretty much ever.

If Kyle was still lurking around her apartment, he was in for some majorly disappointing stalking. Of course, her mother was thrilled a nice country boy was interested in her daughter. If she’s believed in such nonsense, Karen might even have called it fate.

The pilot came on through the intercom and announced they would be landing in 15 minutes. Karen downed what was left of her drink and started fussing with her dress, trying to smooth out any wrinkles. It had been a while since she had foregone the comfort of jeans or slacks and she was feeling a bit self-conscious.

Am I trying too hard?
she thought.

It was just a simple yellow cotton dress paired with black tights and lace-up boots. Her leather jacket was tucked away in the overhead compartment. She grabbed a compact from her purse to see if she needed to powder her nose or touch up her mascara. As the plane started its descent, Karen’s stomach filled with butterflies, and for once, it had nothing to do with the flight.

Karen disembarked and made it to baggage claim in a flurry of nervous energy. She picked up her weathered little suitcase and headed to arrivals, where Evan had said he would be waiting for her. She scanned the endless mess of hugging spouses and family members with increasing anxiousness. Had Evan chickened out? He was the one who had invited her... or had she assumed too much and he’d just been too polite to correct her?

“Karen! Over here!”

A mountain of a man cut through the sea of people with ease and enveloped her in a warm hug. It was both comfortable and electrifying, and she found herself leaning into him maybe more than would have been entirely appropriate for a first meeting. Evan released her and grabbed her suitcase with such ease that she started worrying she had packed nothing but air in her anxiousness to get on the plane.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said with a wink as he grabbed her hand and led her to the exit.

Karen was stunned. She hadn’t had time to properly react. Did she even get a “hi” out? Looking down at his hand, she figured that it didn’t really matter. Obviously they were acquainted enough.

Finally, they made it outside, stopping by a shiny red truck. Evan threw her suitcase in the back and turned to face her.

“How was your flight? You’ll probably want to get to the bed and breakfast, freshen up.”

Karen knew she was supposed to say something, but the only thing going through her mind was
holy shit!
Evan’s hazel eyes practically glimmered in the sunlight, his full lips baring a dazzling, dangerous smile. His white t-shirt clung to his muscles in a way that could have been considered obscene. Karen reminded herself that it’s not polite to drool and tried to pull herself together.

“We experienced some turbulence, but I managed. Let’s go see the accommodations, then.”

Karen’s inner voice was all but screaming at her.

What the hell was that? Why are you talking like a robot? And for god’s sake, close your mouth!

Evan just smiled and held the passenger door open for her.

“Hop in!” he said with a hint of playfulness.

Evan had no problem filling the silence as they drove into town. He had a story or a useful tidbit about most streets and buildings, while Karen mostly nodded, smiled and enjoyed the warm spring breeze coming in through the open windows.

It felt like a dream, being there, with him, leaving all her worries behind. But it was very real, and by the time they arrived at the bed and breakfast, that realization had started to sink in. Karen began feeling more like herself – less flustered, more in control and more used to the man beside her. Evan pulled up to a cozy-looking two-story building, painted pastel blue and wearing the sign Bluejay’s Bed & Breakfast.

“Here we are,” Evan said, getting out of the truck.

He made his way to her side of the car with astonishing speed and opened the door for her.

“I’ll show you inside and introduce you to the owner,” he said.

“That would be great,” Karen answered, still apparently stuck on the vacant pleasantries level of conversation.

Evan carried her suitcase inside to the check-in desk. Behind it, a man in his late fifties was typing away on his computer with mountains of paperwork stacked beside him. He nearly jumped when Evan greeted him.

“Oh, you’re here already,” the man said.

“Excuse the mess, Patty was always better at the business side of things,” he continued, fumbling with the papers and turning his attention to Karen with a sad smile.

Karen looked around the lobby. If she’d had to describe the place, she would have called it romantic with a rustic flair. It gave off a homey vibe, while also looking completely meticulous – the countertops polished and shiny, the pillows on the lounge sofas fluffed, not a thing out of place or a speck of dirt anywhere.

“Quite a place you have here, Mister...” Karen trailed off.

“I’m sorry, this is Joe. Joe, this is my friend Karen, the one I told you about,” Evan interjected.

“Yes, yes, couldn’t shut up about her,” Joe said teasingly. Karen couldn’t help but smile.

“Come on, let’s get the lady settled in.”

Joe led the way to the second floor, stopping at a large wooden door with intricate carvings.

“This is you. You have your own bathroom, there are towels and a robe in the closet, breakfast is at 8,” Joe rattled off.

“Anything you need, don’t hesitate to come find me,” he concluded, walking away and leaving Karen and Evan standing awkwardly in the hallway.

“You probably want to get some rest,” Evan offered, dropping her suitcase. “But I would love to take you to dinner later.”

“Sounds great,” Karen said. “Just give me a couple of hours. How about we meet at seven?”

“I’ll see you then,” Evan responded before making his way back downstairs, throwing glances at her over his shoulder as he went.

She touched her cheek, feeling it flushed.

Of course you’re blushing like a teenager because the hot cowboy showed you in.

Karen opened the door to her room and almost gasped. She grabbed her suitcase and started to explore. It looked more like a suite than a regular room. By the wall on the left was a king size bed, drowning in fluffy pillows. In the right corner, a sitting area set up around an oak coffee table, with a small couch and some very comfortable looking armchairs.

On the wall to her right, above a
goddamn
fireplace, was a huge painting of a vase of roses, the blooms so real she could almost smell them. The wall facing the door was mostly made up of high windows, looking out into a small courtyard and filling the whole room with soft natural light. Next to the fireplace was a door, which Karen discovered led to a spacious bathroom. There, she was greeted by her own reflection, as almost the whole wall in front of her was a mirror. Under it, a large marble sink with old-timey copper spigots and white wooden cabinets. The lavish bathroom also sported a glass shower stall and a claw foot bathtub.

What kind of bed and breakfast is this and can I stay here forever?
she thought.

Karen unpacked and settled into the sitting area, phone in hand. She switched it off airplane mode to call her mom, who was probably on pins and needles, waiting to hear if there would be wedding bells in the future. Karen’s phone started buzzing instantly, one text message popping up after another. They were all the same.

This isn’t over.

Karen’s stomach dropped. The sender’s number was unknown, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out who they were from. Her e-mail was full of the same message.

Even hundreds of miles away, I can’t escape this jerk
, Karen thought bitterly.

But I bet a nice dinner with a sexy mountain man will take my mind right off that twerp.

Karen grinned, remembering how Evan’s muscles rippled under his t-shirt. He had definitely left a great first impression. Karen rifled through her selection of dresses.

Time to bring out the big guns,
she thought slyly.