Hard To Bear (6 page)

She was
talking to one of the bachelors who were up for auction, a human whose flowing black locks were slicked back with hair grease.  She laughed at something the human said, and he leaned in, staring straight down her cleavage.

Flint fought to suppress a growl.  He didn’t like her laughing at what the
man said.  Was she actually flirting back, or just being polite?  The thought of her being with the human sent a surprisingly strong surge of anger rippling through him, and he had to fight to keep his claws sheathed.

And suddenly, Flint’s plans took a complete 180.

He couldn’t stop thinking about her, which was clearly a problem.  The best way to get her out of his system was to have a quick fling with her.  Just a casual roll in the hay.  She wanted him too, didn’t she? He was sure he hadn’t read the signals wrong. He’d asked around, found out she’d only be here for the summer.  That was perfect. They couldn’t get emotionally attached. He was only here to fulfill his mission, and once that was done, he’d also be moving on, as he always did.

Resisting this woman would be dangerous, he re
asoned, because if she muddled his head like this, he couldn’t do his job properly.  Therefore, for the sake of national security, he needed to have sex with Coral Colby. Preferably a lot of sex. The more sex he had with her, the better chance he’d have to get her out of his system, right?

He ignored the nagging little voice in his head which told him that one taste of her would never be enough.

The man was still talking to Coral.  Before he could stop himself, he felt his face growing furry and his hands turned into huge paws, with long, deadly claws scything out.   Glancing around him, he took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and forced his bear back down, and his paws turned into hands again.

The human put his hand on Coral’s arm, and Flint bit back on the growl that rumbled up from deep inside him. 

As if Coral and he were connected by an invisible thread, as if she sensed the red hot rage emanating from his body in waves, a startled look flashed across her face and she glanced around the room and then her eyes met his.  Her eyes widened with surprise. 

Grinning, he began to push his way through the crowd, but then the
MC’s voice sounded over the loudspeaker. “Gentleman, please assemble backstage. Ladies, take your seats.”

It took every ounce of self-
control for him to turn and join the crowd of men streaming to the small side door by the side of the stage.  What he wanted to do was race across the room and tear the man who was flirting with her to pieces.

As he turned to walk backstage, he felt a hand on his arm. It was Melinda.
  She was frowning, looking downcast now.  She’d probably seen him looking at Coral.

“Flint, you know that you should be with a bear shifter, don’t you? If you were with a shifter
from some other species, you would have mixed litters. You might not even have a bear cub. You could be father to a dog or cat.”

Flint shrugged uncomfortably.  He hadn’t really thought that far
ahead, but having a wolf pup wouldn’t be so terrible.

“That’s what your mother would want,” Melinda added, playing what she clearly thought was her trump card. “She’d want you to be with a bear.”

“Actually, Melinda, I know my mother better than anyone, and she doesn’t have those prejudices.  She doesn’t  care whether I’m with a shifter or human, she just wants me married. If you’ll excuse me,” he said, and shook her hand off his arm, annoyed at her for trying to use his mother against him. He turned and walked towards the door that led to the back stage area.

Coral took her seat with a
martyred sigh.  What a surprise that Flint McCoy was here – not.  He’d probably been flirting up a storm with every woman in the place, she thought resentfully.

Suddenly she heard th
e sound of rustling fabric, and Blanche sat down next to her.

“What are you doing here?” Coral asked, surprised.

“There’s a hot veterinarian working at that wildlife rehabilitation center, and I’m going to buy me a date with him,” Blanche said cheerfully.

Coral remembered
seeing the man Blanche was talking about, Doctor De Rossi.  He was a handsome silver haired human in his seventies. 

“No, I am.”
Maybelle sat down in the seat to Coral’s right.

“If you two ladies get into a knock-down drag out fight, I swear to God I will make sure it’s on the front page of the paper tomorrow, complete with pictures. So behave,” Coral threatened.

“Really?” Blanche said eagerly.  “I haven’t been on the front page in ages.”

“There was that time that you drove into the fountain,”
Maybelle reminded her.  “That was only three months ago.”

“Stupid place to put a fountain.”

“Maybe if somebody wasn’t too vain to wear their glasses-”

“
Shhh!” Coral hissed. “It’s starting. Behave.”

She leaned back in her seat, scribbling notes on her reporter’s notepad as the men began parading down the runway.   The announcer described each man, and the women in the audience whooped and hollered appreciatively.  If Coral hadn’t been in such a ba
d mood, she would have laughed at the scene. It was like being at a male strip show – she’d been to several for her friends’ bachelor parties.

“And now, get ready to meet Derek
Polark. This handsome panther shifter owns his own jet ski rental business.  He’s 6’2”,  240 pounds of pure muscle, and his hobbies are working out, cooking gourmet French meals, and making the ladies purr.  He’s your dream date, ladies! Do I have an opening bid? $100? Come on, ladies, don’t let this one get away! $250? Now that’s more like it!”

Coral
kept her head down, scribbling frantically on the notepad.  Frederick was standing in the aisle snapping pictures.

Blanche and
Maybelle actually tied in their bid for Dr. De Rossi, each simultaneously bidding $500.  He bowed gallantly and offered to take them both out.

Coral would have given anything to be a fly on the wall at that dinner date.

Bachelor after bachelor paraded down the runway, both human and shifter, and ladies from Blue Moon County and all the surrounding counties enthusiastically raised their hands to bid, hollering their approval.

In the meantime,
the room got hotter and hotter with the throng of bodies crowded into it. Coral’s dress was too tight and her bun kept falling out of its safety pins. That was typical of her hair; it had a “I am a wild creature, and you can’t tame me!” attitude, usually when it was most inconvenient.

Oh, great
, now it was Flint McCoy’s turn.  I hope no one bids on him, she thought; he needs his ego taken down a peg or three. 

Unfortunately, given the crowd reaction, a bidding frenzy was probably in the making.  The women shrieked and catcalled, and Flint looked extremely uncomfortable, which made Coral smile for the first time that evening. 

“Ladies, this is Flint McCoy, 6’4” and 260 pounds of bear shifter, and believe me, he loves the honeys! Flint owns an international import-export business, and he’s recently come back to Blue Moon Junction to expand his family’s honey and jam business.  Who doesn’t love a little sweet stuff, ladies? What do you bid?”

Flint strode down the runway, looking not particularly thrilled to be there.

Even so, the sheer animal magnetism radiating from him was mesmerizing.  He moved with incredible grace for a man of his size, walking down to the end of the runway as if he owned the room. When he reached the end of the runway, it looked as if he was trying to catch her eye, which was impossible.  This was the man who had done everything in his power to avoid her so far.

Flustered, she ducked her head and looked down at her pad, s
cribbling without thinking. Then she looked at what she’d written.
Bear bear bear bear bear bare bare bare bare.
She quickly scratched it out.

The women in the audience went crazy for Flint, and
as they shrieked his name, Coral had to stuff down a sudden homicidal urge to shift into wolf form and start rending some flesh.  It felt like…jealousy.   Women were bidding left and right.  It seemed to go on forever, and a mysterious anger was swelling up inside Coral, and her hair kept falling over her eyes.

One
tall, pretty brunette seemed especially determined to win the auction, and she had what appeared to be the final bid.

“$2500! I’ve got a bid of $2500 for this handsome specimen of a bear shifter! Come on, ladies,
this bear is a prize! Going once…going twice…”

Coral’s hair flopped right over her eyes
again, and she reached up to push it back out of her face.

“Three thousand dollars! We have
a bid of three thousand dollars!” the M.C. howled, and the crowd went wild, whooping and hollering.  Coral looked around to see who had made the bid, and realized to her horror that the announcer was pointing right at her.  The pretty dark haired woman was glaring daggers at her.

No! Oh, lord, this couldn’t be happening! Coral’s face turned bright red as the announcer yelled “$3000, to the lovely redhead in the second row!”

A look of shock flashed across Flint’s face, and then he actually smiled, winked at her, and strolled off down the runway.

Oh, no.  As if that bear’s ego needed to be any more inflated.  Could she run up there and plead that she’d made a mistake?
Probably not.  That would be even more humiliating.

Three thousand dollars. Damn.  That was a hefty chunk of her graduation present from her parents.
  Curse her luck, just curse it.

“Nice!” Blanche said.  “I knew you were sweet on the bear.”

Coral slumped down in her seat, smacking herself in the face with her notepad.  Kill me now, she thought. This could not possibly get any worse.

“If you need any sex tips, you should ask Blanche,”
Maybelle said. “Lord knows she’s been around the block more times than the Earth’s rotated around the sun.”  

Oh, nope, Coral thought.  Just got worse. Yes, it did.

Then the two women tried to slap each other, with Coral swatting at them both to intercede, until security threatened to throw them all out. 

After the auction,
Coral stood up, frantically looking for the exit.  Before she could make her escape, Frederick rushed over to her gleefully, blocking her attempt to rush down the aisle.

“So, my little red wolf,” he gloated.
“You’ve just purchased the man of your dreams.  What are you going to do with your new toy? I want all the graphic details.”

“Don’t. Just don’t. My hair fell in my face and I was reaching up to push it back. It was a total mistake.  Oh, my God, I’m going to jump out the freaking window.”
Coral buried her face in her hands.

“That is so classic! And we’re on the first floor, so go ahead. Ha.” Frederick dodged her punch, and scampered off to take more pictures.

“Well, well.  I give you kudos for dedication to chasing down a story.” Flint’s voice rumbled from behind her.

She spun around and glared up at him.  A big smile quirked those full, sensual lips, and there was a glint of amusement in his caramel brown eyes.

He loomed over her, and she tried not to breathe in his musky, masculine scent.  There was that scent of honey again, too; he must have eaten some right before he came over here.  She could literally feel herself salivating, and she swallowed hard so she wouldn’t drool.

“
For your information, I didn’t mean to bid on you.  My hair was falling in my face, and I was reaching up to push it out.”

“Of course you were
,” Flint said, looking skeptical. Oh, the egotistical jerk.

“Anyway,” he continued, “I meant to apologize for this morning.  I really did get called away on a work related emergency.  Maybe after I take you out on our date, I can personally take you on a tour of the new Sweet Stuff factory site.”

Before she could answer, the pretty brunette who’d tried to bid on him walked up, and tried to link her arm through his. He frowned and stepped back, folding his arms across his broad chest.  The woman didn’t take the hint; she sidled right up next to him, and Coral felt an irrational surge of jealousy flare up inside her again. 

“I’m sorry, Flint, I tried to help you out and bid on you, but I guess she
really, really
wanted a date,” the woman said, shooting Coral a scornful look.

A sharp sting of
humiliation jabbed at Coral.  Her cheeks colored, and she stepped back away from the two of them. Yes, she had felt pretty lame bidding on a date with Flint McCoy, and spending a month’s salary on the date, at that.

Flint scowled at the brunette.  “Melinda,” he said coldly, “I don’t need any help, and I am
greatly looking forward to a date with Coral. I already told you to save your money,”  and the woman grimaced.

Ha, Coral thought. Now who looks desperate?

“Excuse me, what did you just say to my friend?” Maybelle snapped, from behind Melinda, and when Melinda turned to see who was talking, she lashed out with a swift kick in the shins.  Melinda yelped and staggered back a step.