Scottish Werebear: A Second Chance: A BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Scottish Werebears Book 6) (5 page)

"Yes," he responded, more out of reflex than anything else.

It was unmistakably her, though there was something different that didn't match up with his old memories. Something in the way she looked at him had changed. Her eyes were colder, more guarded now than they used to be.

Of course, you idiot. You shared a kiss and abandoned her. Of course she's going to be different now, so many years later.

"Your presence here has been leaked to the media. They're all waiting outside," Charlotte nodded towards the main entrance halfway across the hall they currently found themselves in.

Henry cleared his throat and shot James a concerned look. "Friend of yours?"

He turned to face Charlotte and continued. "Anyway, we're not opposed to speaking with the media, but we prefer to do it on our terms. Now is not the time."

"Well, I can show you another way out, then you can avoid them." Charlotte smiled at Henry briefly, then continued to stare at James.

It had occurred to James that going public himself could have unforeseen consequences. But he'd had no way to predict a reunion with the one person from his past who could have changed his entire life. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. But as soon as he found out that his own sister had taken a human mate... He'd often worried that he'd made a huge mistake.

"Fancy seeing you here," James mumbled.

Charlotte frowned, then turned on her heel and started walking. "This way if you want to avoid the craziness outside."

Henry, Gail and Eric didn't waste time and left James behind scratching the back of his head. Was this a coincidence? He wasn't sure he believed in coincidences when it came to relationships.

He forced himself into motion and caught up with the rest of his group just as they entered a small corridor that veered left from the main hall. There they passed by the cloakroom and bathroom facilities, before ending up at a doorway to the outside world flanked by two guards who barely took notice of their departure.

Outside, the wind had picked up, but there was no sign of much activity - press or otherwise.

"Which way to the car?" Gail asked.

Eric took a moment to look around, before seemingly finding his bearings.

"Thank you very much, miss ..." Henry offered Charlotte his hand, who shook it without hesitation or fear.

"McAllister. Charlie McAllister," Charlotte said.

Clearly she knew who they were. But if the events of last night had made any sort of impression on her, she wasn't showing it.

"Yes, thanks," Gail said with a smile.

Eric had already wandered off to find the car, leaving just James to say goodbye to her.

Only... he didn't really want to.

He never expected to see her again, not after what had happened between them when they were only teenagers. Back then he had felt forced to leave her behind, but for what? Those uncertainties and concerns were the exact thing the New Alliance aimed to destroy.

Now, as he found himself once again looking into those endless blue eyes of hers, he wondered how things might have turned out, had he made a different choice back then.

"How about you guys go ahead," James mumbled.

Gail cocked her head to the side as she looked at him.

Henry frowned. "Are you sure?"

"I'll catch up with you at the house later," James added.

Henry opened his mouth to say something else, but didn't. Instead he exchanged a look with Gail and his expression softened.

The New Alliance counted a number of mated couples among its ranks, still the whole non-verbal communication trick they all seemed to know never ceased to amaze James.

"Very well. I'll hear from you. We have a lot to prepare for." Henry nodded at James and offered Gail his arm. They didn't look back as they walked off in the same direction as Eric, who had long since turned a corner and passed out of view.

"You don't want to go with your friends?" Charlotte asked.

Her tone was matter-of-fact, business-like, though he thought he could catch a hint of the dry humor he'd loved about her in the past.

"They'll be fine. We have a lot to talk about, you and I," he responded.

They were alone. He'd often wondered about what he might say if he ever met her again. Though right now, he couldn't remember any of the words he'd chosen for just this occasion.

"Do we?" Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

"How about we find somewhere quiet? Have lunch?" he suggested.

She looked back at the figures of Henry and Gail who had become smaller and smaller. "Why not? I have to admit I'm curious."

Charlie had taken the first available flight to London City. It was a risk, especially if it didn't work out. Penderton would be furious if she stayed away too long without anything to show for it, and worse, she'd have that credit card bill to worry about come next month.

But Charlie was confident about Ella's tip. It all made perfect sense. Assuming James and his people had no idea about Adrian Blacke's plan to talk to someone in government until his TV appearance, they would be scrambling to do the same thing. And that's exactly where Charlie would go to try to intercept them; Westminster. Luckily, she knew her way around the place a bit from previous visits.

Can't become a serious journalist without ever having visited the seat of government,
as her Dad had said when they'd made the trip together a few years ago.

When she reached the public entrance to the House of Commons, she'd spotted her rival, Diane, waiting outside already. That's when her competitive juices had started to flow.

She wasn't about to watch her one chance at a big story fall to pieces because Diane-bloody-Goodwin got to these bear people first.

So she found another way inside the building and waited. It wasn't long before they appeared. A perfect coincidence? She could have so easily missed them, had she reached it only a few minutes later.

When she saw James enter the large hall with three others, her feet barely wanted to move. How would she face him? Then again, all that was in the past. They were kids back then. Surely she was over it?

So she forced herself into action and stopped them. And from the second she did, she couldn't take her eyes off James. The grainy images on TV hadn't done him justice. What she saw was far removed from the boy she'd known years ago; he had grown into so much more than that. And he kept looking at her too.

No matter how hard she tried to remain professional, her impulses were hellbent on trying to betray her.

When he sent the others away and asked to have lunch with her, she knew she shouldn't say yes. She'd lose herself if she spent too much time with him alone. But saying no wasn't an option either. Her heart hadn't permitted it.

And so she found herself sitting opposite him in a quaint little bistro, pretending to study the menu, without being able to focus on any of it.

She had to get herself under control somehow. This wasn't how a serious journalist was meant to behave!

"Are you ready to order?" The waitress looked disinterested, tapping her foot impatiently while making a show of holding up her notepad and pen in front of her.

"Roast beef on whole wheat and a latte," James said.

"All right. And for you?" the girl asked.

Charlie's mind was completely blank. She wasn't even hungry. "Uhh... Same thing please."

The waitress vanished immediately, leaving Charlie alone with James.

"Having second thoughts?" he asked. His voice sounded like he was grinning.

Yes, definitely,
Charlie thought. Then she realized she was still staring at the menu and forced herself to put it down. She took a deep breath, but her heart refused to calm itself.

"I imagine you have questions," James remarked.

She stared at him again. Those brown eyes. She had missed them. She had missed him.

"You hurt me," Charlie blurted out, then immediately covered her mouth with her hand.

James averted his gaze. His expression had gone from cheerful to dead serious in an instant.

"I'm sorry, Charlotte."

The hairs on her arm stood up when he said her name.

"It's Charlie."

He looked up again. She knew it would be difficult to see him again, but this was excruciating.

She wanted to be angry with him, blame him for breaking her heart at the tender age of sixteen. But the moment he made eye contact with her, she just couldn't muster any anger.

"Charlie... I really am sorry. At the time I felt that I didn't have a choice," James whispered.

"Because of... the bear thing," Charlie said.

He nodded. "We have rules -
had
rules. Our kind has been keeping our existence a secret for centuries, perhaps even millennia."

"Until yesterday."

"That's right."

This was it. These were the sort of insights Penderton would salivate over. This conversation could put her name on the front page.

Charlie pressed her lips together. No matter what had happened between them, could she live with herself if she wrote all this up behind his back?

"Things have been difficult lately. There's this guy, who thinks of himself as the leader of our kind-"

"Adrian Blacke," Charlie said. This was wrong. She shouldn't push him for information without disclosing who she was first.

James sat back in his chair. "That's right. He's power hungry and dangerous. A lot of lives hung in the balance, and coming out publicly was the only way we saw to keep people safe."

This was major. If this Blacke fellow was as dangerous as James said he was, the world had a right to know. Especially if he was trying to make some kind of deal with the government! People needed to know who they were dealing with.

"Frankly, I never thought I'd see you again," James said.

Charlie felt the sting of tears in her eyes.

"But I'm glad that I have." He reached across the table for her hand.

When his index finger touched hers, it was like an electric current passed through the two of them. It took her breath away, and she flinched, pulling away her hand immediately.

This was too much. How was it even possible that after all these years he still had such a profound effect on her? How could she be so stupid, so juvenile Perhaps Penderton was right not to let her work on anything serious yet. She clearly wasn't professional enough.

"Charlie," James said.

His low voice sent shivers from the nape of her neck all the way down her spine. "Yes?"

"Have you ever wondered
what if
?"

That question, perhaps innocently posed, finally set off her anger. "Are you kidding me? The day after we kissed, I went looking for you. You were gone; your whole family was gone, leaving behind an empty house! I was sick over it. Don't even know how I managed to survive the next year on my own and graduate. I thought of nothing
but
what-ifs. If only I'd kept my feelings to myself. Perhaps we still would have been friends. I wouldn't have lost the one person in my life who meant the most to me!"

Charlie's eyes were filled with tears now. Tears of anger.

"I had no other choice. The moment I figured out you felt the same, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop myself if I stayed in touch. It would have put both of us, and my family, in an impossible situation."

Charlie shook her head.

Meanwhile, the waitress arrived with their order, causing a painful silence between them. Charlie turned away to disguise the fact that she was crying. She definitely wasn't hungry now. And the thought of coffee turned her stomach.

"Tell me, if you'd seen back then what you saw on TV last night, how would you have taken it?" James asked. His tone was flat, like he wasn't arguing, but had already admitted defeat.

Charlie picked up a stray piece of rucola off her plate and put it in her mouth. Its sharp, peppery taste seemed to ground her a little.

Wait, what was his question?

She stared at him again even though her vision had become blurry.

"I don't know. I don't even know what to think now." She really didn't. Seeing James again had shocked her to her core, so much so that the whole bear situation seemed comically surreal and far-fetched.

James nodded and looked down at his own sandwich.

"It's a lot to process. I thought leaving was my only option at the time. Now I'm not so sure." He pushed his plate away and rested his elbows on the table.

Charlie tried to process everything he'd said. If only she'd had the presence of mind to record it, like a real reporter. In all her confusion, she must have missed most of his words.
Dammit,
she'd forgotten all about that list of questions she'd carefully prepared in the plane earlier today as well!

"Charlie," he said, but she didn't react. "Charlie," he spoke louder this time, causing her to flinch and focus on his eyes again. The tenderness and emotion she saw in them almost made her cry again.

"What if this is fate? What if we were meant to meet again after all this?"

Charlie frowned. She had never known him to be the sort of guy to believe in
fate.
And she wasn't sure she did either.