Tempted by the Bear - Complete (17 page)

L
ucy

T
ori thinks
she’s hiding her major crush on Keith from me, but she’s so transparent. I heard he came to her presentation, and when I asked her if she was going to the ocean to wait tables with her sisters this summer, she avoided the question. I had hoped I could join her and get out of town for a while. But I bet she plans to work at the lumber mill to be near Keith.

A client of Sierra’s walks through the door of Ink It, and I paste on my receptionist smile. “Hi, Pete. She’ll be out for you in a few minutes.”

“Great.” The human sits and pulls out his phone just as Carly and her customer approach the desk. I take the girl’s credit card as Carly walks over to the drink station. The machine whirs, and I hide my smile as the customer checks out the guy on the couch. The scent of her arousal gives her away—to me. The clueless human male doesn’t even know she’s in the room as he texts madly on his phone.

When I’m done, I head over to Carly. “Hey, so Tori hasn’t given up on Keith. I thought you should know.”

Carly’s spoon clinks against her coffee cup. “I figured she wouldn’t. I’m not sure there’s much we can do. They’ll just have to work it out.”

“So the call is that strong, huh?” A ceramic mug is cool in my hand as I take it from the shelf.

Carly nods as she takes a sip of her drink.

I frown, trying to imagine it. “So you start having dreams about some guy and then a burning desire to get a tattoo. Then when you get it, things become worse.”

“Yes. That’s why Tori can’t shake her feelings. They’re supposed to be so strong that she’d want to come here to be with the guy.” She grins at me. “Some of us even came all the way from California.”

Steam rises from my cup as I pour myself coffee, too. More than a year ago, Carly and Sierra drove here and discovered they were both from werebear descent. I smile, recalling the story I was told about how Carly tried to shoot Keith the first time he shifted for them. I wonder how Tori will react when she finds out she’s part werebear, lives with one, and has even fallen for one.

I also wonder if her sisters are having the dreams, too. I say, “Tori is a triplet. Did you know that?”

Cerulean-blue eyes like mine widen on Carly’s face. “No. Where are they? Do they ever come to visit?” She chuckles at herself as soon as she says the words. “Sorry. I sound like my mother-in-law, ready to play matchmaker.”

I get it, though. The Le Roux are cursed with infertility, and they need the half-breed women to create the next generation. “Most of your men are kind of old now, aren’t they?”

Carly shrugs. “I suppose to an eighteen-year-old they are. But Brady and I are about five years apart. It doesn’t matter.”

“I guess.” An idea begins to blossom in my head. Maybe I should go work with Tori’s sisters even if she doesn’t go. I could be a half-breed liaison of sorts—and get the hell out of here for the summer.

One of the reasons I don’t want to stay here approaches us. Isabelle’s dressed in only a short pair of workout pants and a sports bra, showing off her immense but powerful body. Her sweaty scent turns my stomach, and I hold back my groan.

She says, “Hey, girls. What’s happening in the world of tattoos?”

She does that thing with her fingers fluttering over her neck so I’ll see the fresh scar of her mate bond with Luke. I roll my eyes and don’t care if she sees.

Because of Isabelle, my time with my brother is nonexistent. Whenever I was sick of dorm life, I’d go crash at his place for a few days. I haven’t been there since Isabelle moved in, and I miss it. I used to have a posh apartment, too, but my punishment for almost flunking out of school was to live on campus, where I would be closer to classes and the library.

Carly says, “Not much. How’s the world of rock-hard abs?”

Isabelle flexes her stomach and pats it. “Pretty good.”

Ian is walking toward us, and he winks at me when I catch his eye. He turns to Isabelle. “Not good enough. Break time’s over.”

He returns his gaze to me and scans my body quickly as he says, “I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

“You sure will.” I fight the flush that’s rising to my cheeks.

When he turns away, Carly hits my arm lightly. “Seems someone else has a thing for older men, after all.”

Now my blush heats my cheeks. “Yeah, but it won’t do much good. He’s not into me.”

“From what I know about Ian, he might be. Maybe you need to make the first move.”

The hard part about werebear romances is that a true mate could come along and ruin everything. And now that the Northeast Kingdom clans have changed the laws about interclan relationships to allow them, that likelihood is much greater. It would be just my luck to get involved with Ian and have him drop me in an instant for the real thing.

The bell over the door of Ink It jingles, and I hurry over to my desk to greet the customer. A werebear I’ve never seen before is glancing around, and he smiles when he sees me. He inhales deeply. “Good. I’ve come to the right place.”

“How can I help you?” The man is on the slender side and sports tattered jeans and sneakers as if he’s working the skater-dude look. His long hair is super blond, like a surfer’s, and his short beard makes me think he might be my new type, because this guy’s hot.

“I’m looking for Carly Cutler.”

She’s come up behind me and answers, “Right here. Are you a De Rozier?”

He nods, and understanding washes over me. He’s from Isabelle’s clan.
Well, hello there.
Because if he’s a taste of the rest of them, I’ve got a new box of man chocolates to sample.

Carly’s chuckle sounds in my head, because I forgot to block my internal dialogue. She says, “You’re not supposed to be here for another two hours, but that’s not a problem.”

He rakes a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I caught an earlier bus.”

Carly turns to me. “This is Lucy, my sister.” I hold up my hand in a static wave as she continues. “I’ve got a client who’s about to arrive, but Lucy can take you to lunch while you wait for me to be done.”

The guy grins at me and sticks out his hand. “I’m Sven.” I blink as I gaze into eyes so pale they’re barely blue.

“Lucy.” Oh, god. I’m an idiot. “But you know that.”

I turn to Carly, and she hands me money as she says, “Go. I can check my appointment in.”

As I walk out from behind the counter, I gaze up at the impossibly tall Sven and ask, “Pizza or burgers? I’m buying.”

“Can I have both?” He pulls the door open for me.

Gorgeous, you can have anything you want.
“Sure. Follow me.”

A
nnie

I
wake to a
thwap
, thwap
sound punctuated by giggles. It’s coming from the kitchen, and I rub my eyes as I wonder what it could be. While I recognize the laughter is from the girls, I can’t figure out what the other noise is. It stops, and a squeal of joy sounds. I bolt up out of bed so I can go downstairs to investigate.

My feet tap lightly on the wooden stairs as I jog down. The staircase leads to the front-door entryway, and I have to turn and walk through the great room to get to the kitchen. The moment I round the corner, the sight before me makes my heart stop. “What the—” White smoke floats out of the doorway, and I scurry to figure out why.

When I get there, I discover it’s not smoke, because the sweet taste of confectioner’s sugar enters my mouth. It’s all over the counter and floor, along with other substances I don’t care to figure out. Egg yolk is making a slow path down the refrigerator door to meet the shells on the tile below. Three little girls are in big trouble.

Echo wallops Ellie over the head with the sugar bag, and white powder poofs out. Her face is pure joy until she discovers me. Her smile falls quickly as she freezes in place.

Eva pops the top of a can of cooking spray and is about to push the button when I yell, “Stop right there!” I growl loudly, and all three girls stare at me with eyes so wide that it would be comical if I weren’t so angry. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Ellie points at Eva. “She started it.”

“Really. And you think that’s an excuse?” I move toward them, and they scramble under the table. They huddle together, and now their faces are filled with fear. Echo whimpers and ducks her head into Ellie’s shoulder. I squat down to be eye level and reach toward them. They cower together.
What do they think I’m going to do to them?

I pull my hand back and speak softly. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Eva’s face is as white as snow, and I think she might vomit.

Tristan’s growl behind me makes even me jump, and I stand up quickly to block the table with my body. I speak telepathically to him.
“Please calm down. They think we’re going to hurt them.”

Tristan’s face falls, and his shoulders slump for a second. He speaks in a stern voice that is normal volume. “Girls, beatings don’t happen in this house. Please come out from under the table.”

Poor Echo is shaking, and I wrap my arms around the girls and pull them against my body as we all face Tristan. He asks, “What have you done to Annie’s kitchen?”

Eva is crying loudly as Echo’s tears fall silently down her face. Ellie must be the brave one, because she says, “Granny told us to make breakfast because she was busy.”

I speak silently to Tristan.
“They’re cooking breakfast? They’re five years old.”

Tristan asks, “Do you always make breakfast?”

“No,” says Ellie. “Breakfast is too ’spensive.”

My heart hurts, and I turn Ellie around to ask, “Do you know what expensive means?”

She shakes her head.

I speak softly, “Girls?”

The other two turn around to look at me.

“I think you know what you did was wrong, don’t you?”

They nod, and a hiccup comes out of Eva.

I say, “This is a big mess. Are you ready to clean it up?”

They nod again, and Tristan says, “I can’t hear you.”

Three voices reply, “Yes.”

“Come with me,” I say.

I give them each a job to do, and Tristan communicates with me telepathically.
“Don’t help them. Hopefully, the time it takes to clean this up will teach them a lesson.”

“I think they need a punishment, too.”

Pain flickers over my mate’s face.
“I guess.”

“You’re a softy.”

Now Tristan’s face clouds over with sadness, and he says,
“I think they’ve suffered enough.”

I glance over at Ellie sweeping with a broom that’s too big for her, and I imagine he’s talking about more than hunger. The terror on the girls’ faces when I yelled makes me wonder what their upbringing has been like.

My mate has been elusive about their past, but I’m not going to let it go this time. He has some explaining to do so I understand just what I’m dealing with. When I glance over at Eva wiping the table, color outside catches my eye.

I walk over to the window in amazement. My yard has been transformed. All the gardens have been planted. “Oh my God. Tristan, look.” I frown. I planned on at least eight hours to put the flowers in. He comes to stand next to me as I ask, “
How did it get done?”

Tristan’s body tenses next to me, and Helga pops out from behind a trellis. She removes her gloves and waves at us as she heads toward the house. I say, “She must have been up all night.”

Tristan ignores me and watches for her to enter. He growls when my future mother-in-law strolls into the kitchen and doesn’t even notice the mess. Dirt is streaked on her forehead and caked on the knees of her pants. Her eyes are lit up in excitement as if nothing’s wrong. “Gardening is fun. I think I’m going to love it here.”

My mate’s voice scares me when he says, “Mother.” He glances at the girls, who are watching the exchange. They quickly get back to work.

“Come with me.” He grabs her arm and tugs her back out through the mudroom.

I’m dying to listen to their exchange, but he must be talking to her in their heads, because I can’t hear anything. I notice Echo trying to get to the egg that’s above her reach, and I say, “I’ll get you a stepstool, honey.”

Even though the girls are giving it a good effort, I know I’ll be spending hours cleaning up when they finish. I can only imagine what I’ll find when I pull the fridge out from the wall. I return to the pantry to make a grocery list for replacing the supplies they depleted.

The vision of the three little girls having a food fight makes me smile. I recall doing something similar with Brady, only it involved condiments. I’m not sure how old we were, but I do remember that was the fall I learned how to chop and stack wood. I glance down at my palms as if the blisters I got then have magically reappeared.

When Tristan and his mother finally return, Helga’s head is down, and she lifts it slightly to speak to me as if she’s a dog that’s been scolded. “Annie, please forgive me. I know your gardens bring you great pleasure, and I stole it from you.”

Her submissive stance makes me uncomfortable. I say, “Apology accepted. Next time, let’s do it together.”

She offers me a small smile and leaves the kitchen. I assume she’s going to her room. The exchange was odd for me, and I wonder if the De Roziers are more old-fashioned about hierarchy.

Tristan places his hand on my shoulder as he comes to stand behind me while I monitor the cleaning. “We need to talk.”

“Yes. I think it’s time you told me what I’ve signed up for.”

He sighs. “Until today, I wasn’t quite sure.” Tristan turns me to face him and holds my face in his hands. His gaze moves back and forth slightly, as if he’s searching for something in my eyes. “Remember I told you we’re headed for a bumpy road?”

I hold on to his wrists. “Yes.”

“We’re on it. And it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

“Remember I told you I’d hold on tight?” I squeeze his arms hard. “This is me never letting go.”

Tristan kisses me as his hands move from my face to thread through my hair. Soft cotton wads up in my palms as I grip his shirt and kiss him back.
“We can handle anything as long as we’re together, Tristan.”

“I hope that’s true. Because I don’t plan to let go, either.”