Read Fast Bear: BBW Shapeshifter BWWM Werebear Paranormal Romance (Wild Alpha Shifters Book 2) Online

Authors: Zola Bird

Tags: #BWWM Paranormal BBW Bear Shifter Romance, #Romance

Fast Bear: BBW Shapeshifter BWWM Werebear Paranormal Romance (Wild Alpha Shifters Book 2) (2 page)

BOOK: Fast Bear: BBW Shapeshifter BWWM Werebear Paranormal Romance (Wild Alpha Shifters Book 2)
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Jeremy took a long drink of his smoothie.

“Thanks, bro. I think I will.”

************************

Bailey went about her work behind the counter of the deli with a fresh spring in her step. It looked like a light afternoon ahead of her. The Wild Alpha sandwich run usually marked the end of the lunch rush, so she enjoyed going there, especially if things had cooled down and she got a chance to catch up with Amanda and Jada. Things were far from cooled down today, though. They were sizzling hot and Bailey couldn’t erase the image of Jeremy from her mind. His rock-hard abs, his strong shoulders, his perfect smile. The man seemed built to make her go weak in the knees. Just the thought of him made her quiver on the inside.

“Bailey?” a voice said.

“Just a second.”

Bailey finished wiping the counter down. She had a lot of regulars. Many customers knew her by name, which was one of the things she liked about working at the deli. That community feel. It was very different from the city she had come from a few years earlier. But when Bailey looked up, she didn’t see one of her regulars. She saw that god of a man she had spilled smoothie on half an hour earlier. Jeremy. He stood there with a giant smile on his face, sunglasses perched on the top of his head. This time, however, instead of being bare chested, he was wearing a T-shirt. A faded one with a vintage logo for engine oil or something plastered over the front of it.

“I changed my mind.”

“Sorry?”

Bailey could feel herself going all weak in the knees again. Bailey knew that a lot of women her size wouldn’t normally think that a guy like Jeremy was even an option. Still, despite the fact that Bailey was comfortable in her own skin and at least outwardly confident, she felt just a tad shy at the attention. He could have eaten anywhere, but he had come here, to the deli where she worked.

Slow down, Bailey. He’s come for lunch, not to jump your bones.

“Just looking to grab a bite,” he said.

“Sure,” Bailey managed to squeak out. “What would you like to eat?”

Me?
Bailey thought wistfully.

Bailey pushed the thought from her mind. He’d come for a sandwich, not to bed her. Give the man a break. But he looked so fine.

“What do you recommend?” Jeremy said.

“Any of our sandwiches. We’re famous for our Reubens. But our cranberry Italian panini is also really good.”

“Lots of meat?” Jeremy said.

“Oh, yeah. Plenty.” Bailey found herself checking him out again but tried to keep her eyes above his waistline. What had gotten into her? Her mind drifted to thoughts of him. To thoughts of what he could do to her.

“OK, yeah. I’ll take one of those,” Jeremy said.

“Meat?” Bailey said.

“A cranberry Italian.”

“Great. I’ll get it started,” Bailey said, happy for the diversion. As Bailey prepared the sandwich, she noticed Jeremy checking out the place. Who was this half-brother of Brandon’s? What was he doing here? There was something about the way he moved, the way he spoke. Bailey could tell he was from the same city she was. Maybe even from
her
part of the city. But that part of her life was behind her. She didn’t want to think about it anymore.

“So, what part of the city are you from?” Bailey said, cursing herself as she spoke. Couldn’t she leave well enough alone?

“South Side,” Jeremy responded in his low sexy growl. “You?”

“Oh, I never go there,” she said. Which was technically true if you ignored all she time she had spent growing up there. Bailey hated to be deceptive, but she had good reason to. Very good reason. She watched Jeremy’s body language reflected in the window. She wasn’t sure he believed her, but what did it matter? He didn’t say he was staying in town. Probably just saying hi to Brandon. Passing through. He’d be gone soon enough. What was important was that she keep a low profile.
Chatting up the city people is not the way to do that,
Bailey admonished herself. Chatting up the city people could get her killed. She sliced the panini in half and put a pickle on top, wrapping the sandwich in foil.

“Drink?” Bailey asked.

“Sure,” Jeremy said with a grin. “What time do you get off?”

Wow. Bailey wasn’t expecting that. She had a rule, though. No dates without checking a guy out first. Especially no “drink” dates with a guy from the city. Even if he was Brandon’s half-brother, she’d have to talk to Jada first. Never mind how hot he was. Then, and only then, would she consider going out with him.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” she said.

“Getting off work?”

“Going for a drink with you.”

“And why’s that?”

“I don’t know you,” Bailey said, handing over the sandwich.

“No problem,” Jeremy said, handing her a twenty-dollar bill. “Get to know me over the next few days and maybe you’ll change your mind. And FYI…” He pointed at her chin.

“What?” Bailey asked.

“Just a little bit.”

She turned to look in the mirrored door of the cooler. Damn squirt bottles. She had a dollop of yellow mustard on her chin. She looked like a complete fool. Bailey quickly wiped it off with her apron and turned back to Jeremy. He was already on his way to the door.

“Wait! Your change,” Bailey said.

“Keep it.”

“I can’t keep that. That’s more than a ten-dollar tip.”

“You’re worth it,” Jeremy said with a smile. And he walked out the door.

************************

Jeremy walked back to his car.
Stupid bear. Stupid, stupid bear.
The first woman that he had felt something for, the first woman he was attracted to in ages, and he had gone too fast, too soon. Of course, that was always Jeremy’s problem. Going too fast. It led to some bad decisions. Not that it had hurt his professional life. But in his personal life, it could be tricky.

Jeremy didn’t regularly look before he leaped. He saw a pretty girl, he asked her out, that was just how he rolled. Sometimes it worked out, mostly it didn’t. But with Bailey, just thirty seconds into meeting her, he could already tell that she was the one. She was the woman who would tame him.
The notion,
Jeremy thought,
isn’t without precedent.
After all, Brandon had come to Wild Summit to help their father, and within a month he was mated, with cubs on the way. They said it was like that when you were a bear. All growl and roar and running around with anything that moved, and then you saw your mate for the first time and nothing else mattered. You simply knew she was the one.

Jeremy could barely believe it, but that was the way he felt with Bailey. Not that he had run around with just anybody before her, but seeing Bailey today, the way she worked so earnestly in that shop, the way she didn’t even know she had mustard on her chin, it sounded crazy, but something about her, something powerful and unspoken had told him that she and she alone, was his mate.

Of course, knowing something and doing something about it were two different things. Jeremy opened the door of his Corvette and slid inside.
Might as well eat here,
he thought. The panini smelled delicious, and he liked the idea of just being near her. He was parked in the rear of the lot, far enough away that Bailey wouldn’t think he was stalking her but close enough that he could still see what was going on in the shop. Jeremy already knew he was going to be in Wild Summit for a while, and in his head he extended his stay indefinitely. He was going to be in Wild Summit for as long as it took to claim his mate.

Chapter Two

Bailey noticed that Jeremy was eating in his car. No crime against that. He was probably hungry and she had scared him away with her “I don’t know you” line. Of course, it was true. She didn’t know him. But it didn’t mean he couldn’t sit down at one of the tables inside so that he could get to know her. After all, there was something between them. She felt it. She felt it all the way down to the space between her thighs. No matter. Maybe all he was interested in was sex, anyhow.

But look at Jada and Brandon. One day Jada was her sassy soul sister and the next she had Brandon on her arm. Of course, she had heard the story. Those two had known each other since high school. There was nothing like that with her and this Jeremy guy. She didn’t know him from Adam. He did, however, seem to sense that she was from the South Side, too. Or maybe he had recognized her tattoo. She reminded herself that the danger of being recognized was the reason she had come to Wild Summit in the first place. She had come here to get away from all that.

Bailey stepped out from behind the counter to wipe down the tables. Looked like it would be slow until closing, but you never could tell. Russ, the owner of the deli, was out sick so she had put up the “Gone Fishing” sign when she had made the deliveries. No harm, no foul. The regulars knew Koll’s was a local kind of place. Plus it was the best place to get a Reuben in town. If they wanted one, they’d wait.
 

At first Bailey didn’t notice the sedan that pulled into the lot. It parked on the other side of the lot from Jeremy’s Corvette. About the only thing that stuck out about the plain car was the tint to the windows. Two men got out of the car. And Bailey felt her heart stop.

She knew the men in that car. She knew them, and she had hoped and prayed that she would never see them again. But they were here. Now. And that meant trouble. What should she do? Keep cleaning the tables? Pretend like she didn’t recognize them? No, that wouldn’t work, because even with her longer hair and apron, they would know exactly who she was. She could lock the door. Yes. That was a start. But they would see her face if she walked out into the open. And then it would all be over. What were they doing here, anyhow?

Think, Bailey. Think.

OK. Lock the door. Put up the “Gone Fishing” sign.

Maybe she could get it up before they noticed. She hurried over to the double glass doors, careful to keep her head down.

Door locked. Check.

Sign up. Check.

Now get away from the window, Bailey. Move to the back of the shop.

Damn.

She’d forgotten the key in the lock. Smooth. She turned back to grab it. Not a big deal. She still had time. Just keep her head down. The men weren’t even looking ahead. She grabbed the key from the lock and looked up straight into the angry face of the man she had hoped and prayed never to see again.

************************

Jeremy couldn’t believe what he had just seen. Why were they here? Luckily the men had parked several spaces away, or they may have recognized him. Not that he particularly cared. He had done his job. His last job. So why had they shown up? And why had Bailey reacted the way she had? He had seen the look in her eyes when she looked into the guy’s face. There was no mistaking that look. It was fear. Total terror. She had tried to mask it, but he knew what he had seen. And it made him angry. Who had the right to put fear like that into her eyes? Who did they think they were spiking her blood pressure and making her hair stand on end?

And where was Bailey going to go? If she thought a glass door and a “Gone Fishing” sign were enough to stop these guys, she was sorely mistaken. But maybe she had a plan. Maybe she knew what she was doing. Jeremy waited for another vehicle to pass and mask the sound of his own engine. Then he started up the car. It purred to life with a low rumble.
Curse that 427 V8,
he thought. He needed a Prius right about now. Something silent that wouldn’t attract attention. Jeremy took note of the dumpster behind the deli and drove around the building.

************************

As soon as she saw the man, Bailey retreated to the counter as if nothing had happened. No sense looking like she recognized him. No sense admitting to the eye contact. She just casually ignored him. Once behind the counter, she walked two more steps until she was out of view of the front door. And then she ran. Down the narrow hall toward the back door. She paid no attention to the banging on the glass or the pounding of her heart. She simply bolted outside, letting the heavy back door click shut behind her. Oh, no. Was that a mistake? What if she needed to get back in? What if she needed to hide?

At least she still had the keys. That was good. She looked forward, then backward. What was she going to do? She could walk out the rear driveway to the street, but they’d see her. She could go to the health-food store next door.
Yeah, like that’s an option,
she thought. Those new-age hippies might be OK for gluten-free bread, but they wouldn’t do much of a job protecting her from a hail of bullets. She heard a low rumble.

“Hey, beautiful,” a gravelly voice said.

Jeremy. She looked up to see him idling in his blue Corvette.

“Get in.”

Bailey definitely wouldn’t go for a drink with a stranger. But under the circumstances, she’d absolutely get into his car. Bailey climbed onto the blue leather seat. “Go,” she said.

Jeremy didn’t even bother looking behind him. He just hammered the gas.

************************

Jeremy didn’t look behind him, because he already knew what he was going to see. The two hired guns from the Petroni Organization wouldn’t kick down a glass door and shoot up the place indiscriminately. But they might step out to the street to watch the rumbling Corvette take off. And then they would see him. Which Jeremy didn’t care about. He owed them nothing. But as far as Bailey went, he wasn’t sure. They seemed to have business with her. And business with the Petronis meant trouble. So Jeremy did what he did best. He drove.

When Jeremy had seen Brandon at the golf club a week ago, he had expected the hostility he saw in his half-brother’s eyes. He had deserved it. The truth was that Brandon was right in not trusting him. Because not only was Jeremy trouble, he often brought trouble with him. There was a simple reason for that. Jeremy had a checkered past. He had made his living doing some things he wasn’t proud of. Never violent things. But things that could get him thrown in jail nonetheless. Things that helped other people commit crimes.

Jeremy was a driver, a getaway car driver, specifically, a wheelman. And he drove like the wind. He had fallen into the life, for the most part, because he liked to drive fast. Because he was good at it, and short of NASCAR or the Indy 500, there wasn’t a lot of work in what he did. Not legitimate work at least, and after that first fateful job, others had followed easily and without consequence. His half-brother Brandon knew what Jeremy was doing and he had never condoned it. But Jeremy was out of the life now and he had told the Petronis as much. Which is why he couldn’t fathom why they would be up here looking for him. Had they followed him? For what? Another job? And why the interest in Bailey? It was like they weren’t there for him at all.

BOOK: Fast Bear: BBW Shapeshifter BWWM Werebear Paranormal Romance (Wild Alpha Shifters Book 2)
11.94Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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