The Bear’s Blind Date
A Howl’s Romance
Chasity Bowlin
Contents
Also by Chasity Bowlin
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Also by Chasity Bowlin
Also by Chasity Bowlin
SHIFTER ROMANCE
Purrfect Santa (A Howl’s Romance) co-written with Jessie Lane
Two Tickets to Bearadise
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Making Merry (A Holiday Romance)
PARANORMAL HISTORICAL ROMANCE:
THE VICTORIAN GOTHIC COLLECTION
House of Shadows
Veil of Shadows
Passage of Shadows
DARK REGENCY
The Haunting of a Duke
The Redemption of a Rogue
The Enticement of an Earl
A Love So Dark
A Passion So Strong
A Heart So Wicked
COMING SOON:
An Affair So Destined (preorder)
REGENCY ROMANCE:
STANDALONE
The Beast of Bath
The Last Offer
Worth the Wait
From Dragonblade Publishing:
The bestselling LOST LORDS SERIES:
The Lost Lord of Castle Black
The Vanishing of Lord Vale
The Missing Marquess of Althorn
The Resurrection of Lady Ramsleigh
The Mystery of Miss Mason
The Awakening of Lord Ambrose
A Midnight Clear: A Lost Lords Holiday Novella
The Pirate’s Bluestocking (A Pirates of Britannia World Novella)
And Introducing THE HELLION CLUB SERIES:
A Rogue to Remember
Barefoot In Hyde Park (preorder)
And the collections:
The Midnight Hour: All Hallows' Brides: A Gothic Regency Historical Romance collection
Dastardly Dukes and Randy Rogues
1
Wednesday
Being stood up wasn’t an unusual occurrence for Lacey Burton. She’d been trying the online dating thing for about two months, after only three months of being single. But that was more than enough for her to have learned that it was a miserable experience. Of course, being stood up was better than having the guy show up and tell you that you looked much thinner in your photos and that he just wasn’t into fat chicks. She wasn’t there to meet a guy from the website or even a real date at all. She was there to meet a fake date, a friend of Zoe’s who’d been conned or guilted into agreeing to their crazy scheme. He was going to escort her to the annual Valentine’s Ball that weekend so she wouldn’t ’t have to face the humiliation of walking in solo while Brittany crowed about it and Brandon looked at her piteously. He was supposed to meet her that night to get their stories straight and figure out what their fabricated meet/cute was supposed to be. But it appeared that even her fake date had stood her up. Was she really that hopeless?
Discouraged, Lacey looked at her phone once more. She’d received a text from Zoe’s friend, Jack, earlier in the day to confirm the time they were to meet and then nothing. They hadn’t spoken on the phone or communicated at all beyond that, but then it wasn’t a real date, so why would they? She didn’t even know what he looked like. Zoe had said she wanted it to be a surprise. If it had been anyone other than Zoe, she would have said a hard no to that, but she trusted Zoe. And the truth was the no one hated Brandon more than Zoe did. From the first time Lacey had one out with him, Zoe hadn’t been on board with it. And when Brandon had dumped her in a truly epic fashion, Zoe hadn’t said “I told you so.” She’d just driven the hour from Pigeon Forge to Cupid’s Point, North Carolina bearing a whole bag of fudge from Aunt Mahalia’s Candies and several bottles of booze.
But that was just who Zoe was. They’d been friends for years and the other woman could be counted on to always have her back. That was the whole reason she’d asked Zoe for help, after all. So there she sat, sipping the dregs of a glass of wine she’d chugged to ease her nerves. The mystery date was nowhere to be seen, and she was getting ready to give it all up and go home to console herself with some ice cream. But then she heard the sound of the door opening and a feeling of relief swept through her.
Hope flared, and Lacey glanced up. Immediately, that hope was dashed. It wasn’t some super hot mystery man who’d let himself in to the small bar. It was Brittany. Persona non grata. Archnemesis. AKA super-bitch. Homewrecker.
Okay, so she and Brandon hadn’t been married. And it hadn’t been a home so much as a crappy condo. But it had been her condo and her bed and her fiancee that Brittany had been riding like an electric bull in a honky-tonk. Now she was single, living in the apartment over her grandparents' garage and was a laughing stock for the whole town.
Okay, so the garage apartment was nicer than the condo had been, and she had access to the in-ground heated pool and hot tub while her grandparents wintered in Florida. It wasn’t the accommodations that made it problematic. It was the loss of independence. And given that her job as a receptionist in Brandon’s law practice had sort of ended along with their relationship, she certainly couldn’t afford to live anywhere else. And now Brittany was there to rub it her face. She'd remind her of all the ways she had failed as a woman, as a person, as a cheerleader way back in the ninth grade. Brittany's sole purpose was pretty much to remind her of any humiliation she had suffered throughout her life that the other woman had managed to bear witness.
“Great,” Lacey muttered under her breath. “Just flipping great. As if this night wasn’t bad enough already!”
She felt the other woman’s approach. They were like two gunslingers in an old western. Everybody around them drew in a deep, expectant breath and just waited for the catfight to start.
“You know, Lacey, you are so brave!” Brittany commenting, sidling up next to her. “I would never feel confident enough to come out to a place like this all by myself. I would feel so self-conscious… and the idea of strange men hitting on me… but I guess you don’t have to worry about that, do you? I suppose that’s one of the benefits of being a bigger girl. You know that any man who expresses interest in you isn’t just after you for your body.”
Lacey didn’t bother to answer, she just ignored the other woman and pulled her debit card out of her wallet and laid it on the bar. She might be stood up, but that didn’t mean she had to sit there and make a target of herself. There was a whole bottle of wine in her fridge and a pint of ice cream in her freezer. She’d console herself with one or possibly both.
Brittany clucked her tongue in mock sympathy. “You’re still mad at me! And I understand, I do. Brandon never set out to hurt you, Lacey. Neither of us did. But the heart wants what the heart wants… you understand, don’t you? He and I were meant to be.”
And that Lacey couldn’t ignore. “He’s a liar and a cheat, and you’ve never managed to stay in a relationship with any man for over six months. And as far as I know, you’ve never started a relationship with a man who wasn’t already involved with someone else… so on that, Brittany, we are in agreement. The two of you were clearly made for each other. I also don’t think your heart was what led you to sleeping with my fiancee… in my apartment… in my bed. That was your complete and utter lack of morals!”
One of Brittany’s perfect eyebrows arched upward. “No wo
nder he cheated… you really are a frigid prude. Boring, I think, is the word Brandon used. Well, he’s not bored with me.”
Lacey laughed. “He probably isn’t since climbing into your bed is like playing Russian roulette with STD’s.”
The other woman gasped and several patrons at the bar began backing away, waiting for the throwdown. That was part of the problem with living in Cupid’s Point. Everyone knew everyone’s business. There wasn’t a person in the bar who wasn’t aware of the history between her and Brittany. And while Lacey had never been in a physical altercation with another person in her entire life, she almost welcomed it. It wasn’t ’t even Brandon and their failed relationship. It was the constant digging and harassment. She just wanted it to stop.
Brittany leaned in, her eyes gleaming with a viciousness that displayed to Lacey how much the other woman savored the constant discord, and whispered, “He never loved you. He was only with you because of your loaded grandfather and what it could do for his political career. I mean, who could love a fat ass like you?”
It stung. It shouldn’t have, but it did. But she wasn’t going to be bullied by her. “Brittany, what the hell do you want? You’ve got Brandon. You’ve got the condo, though why the heck you’d want it or him, I don’t know!”
“He’s going to be mayor,” Brittany stated. “And that’s just the first step. After that, he’ll be state representative and then governor.”
Lacey rolled her eyes. “That’s a stretch, don’t you think?
Brittany smiled, but it wasn’t a warm expression. She looked cold, calculating and menacing. “No. And if you don’t stop telling everyone you meet that he’s a liar and a cheat, you’re going to regret it!”
“That sounds a lot like a threat, Brittany.”
“It’s a promise, Lacey. I’m not going to let you ruin Brandon’s chances and mine!”
* * *
Jack was on his phone. He’d been on that call for far longer than he wanted to be. Being a partner in a small PI firm, as in just him and his business partner, kept them pretty busy. But they’d taken on a couple of high profile law firms as clients and their workload had doubled. Whether they liked it or not, they were going to have to hire someone or take on a new partner. The last thing he had time for was an extended trip out of a town and a fake date with some woman he didn’t even know. Of course, she’d walked in and the whole fake date thing had gone out the window. There wouldn’t be anything fake about it on his end.
“Dammit, Grey, I’m not off my game. I can take the case.”
On the other end of the line, his partner sighed heavily. “I’m all healed up and I’m perfectly capable of handling this one on my own. You’ve not had a vacation in three years, Jack. And you are off your game. You’re overworked and you need a break. It’s about damn time you took some time off.”
Jack growled low in his throat. “You were shot. And let’s face it, Grey, I’ve got an unfair advantage on you in the healing department.”
Grey laughed. “Yeah, yeah. I know. I’m not a shifter — just a puny little human. Look, human or not, I’m still a highly trained professional. I got this. Take your week off, enjoy a little fling with this hopefully hotter than hell blind date the Hawkins chick set you up with.”
The Hawkins chick. Zoe would murder him for referring to her that way. Even then, Jack’s gaze lifted and settled on the gorgeous redhead at the end of the bar. He’d watched her walk in. Seeing her had hit him like a ton of bricks. He’d hesitated. And because he was seated in the back of the bar, he had a perfect view of her in the mirrored bar back, while she couldn’t really see him. Not because he wasn’t interested in her, but because the moment she walked in, he knew this was more than just a date. Somehow Zoe Hawkins had managed to set him up on a fake blind date with the one woman in all the world who was meant solely for him. Yes, she was beautiful. But the truth was that he hadn’t even seen her when he’d known. It was her scent. Cinnamon and vanilla. It had evoked an intense and immediate response in him. His bear had roared inside him. Mine. And then his first glimpse of her had sealed the deal. If he approached her, if he talked to her, it was a done deal. There was only one reason he, or any other shifter, would react to a woman that way.
Mate. She was his mate.
And that wasn’t something he was prepared to deal with. It was a complication he hadn’t anticipated when he’d agreed to a fake date as a favor to Zoe. Help out one of her friends after a bad break up, take her to some ridiculous black-tie affair, so she doesn’t have to show up solo and be embarrassed in front of her high profile ex and his new girlfriend. He’d agreed. He loved Zoe, but it was more that he owed her. She and Logan had gone out on a limb for him, providing a place for one of his clients to hide out from a vindictive ex-husband. He didn’t like being indebted to someone.
So he’d sat at his table, watching her, drinking in the sight of her and arguing with his bear about whether or not she was the one, and even if she was the one, was he ready for that. Then Grey had called to update him on the fact that they were taking on a new case, one that had the potential to be very dangerous. It had given him a reprieve, but even then, his eyes had been on her the whole time. He’d watched the other woman approach her and it didn’t take a genius or a mind reader to figure out that there was a lot of animosity between the two. He could see it in her posture, in the way that her shoulders slumped a little and the fact that she seemed to draw in on herself a little. This was more than simply not liking one another. And that was his deciding factor. He couldn’t stand to see her looking so beaten down by the interaction.
Jack sighed. “Alright, Grey. You’re getting your wish. I’m out of your severely limited amount of hair for the next week.”
“Dickhead,” Grey said good-naturedly.
“Takes one to know one, asshole,” Jack replied. “If it goes south, call me. I can be back in Asheville in half an hour.”
“It won’t! But if it does, I’ll call.”
Jack ended the call, stuffed his phone in his pocket and crossed the bar to where the two women looked like they were about to come to blows.
When he reached them, he stepped close to Lacey, placed his hand gently on her shoulder and murmured, “Lacey, I’m so sorry… I was dealing with a work issue and couldn’t come over right after you arrived.”
2
Lacey had opened her mouth to respond to Brittany’s last taunt, but no sound emerged. She was aware of the hand on her shoulder, of the heat that had raced through her at that first contact. She turned her head, catching sight of a man who truly did deserve the description that Zoe had given her. Hotter than a struck match. With dark brown hair, green eyes and the perfect amount of stubble to highlight strong bone structure and sculpted lips. He could have been a model or a Hollywood sex symbol. There was also a hint of danger about him, something in the way he carried himself that said this was a man not to be trifled with. Just looking at him took her breath. She could feel her heart pounding and the blood racing in her veins. But it wasn’t just his looks. She could feel his presence. All she wanted to do was get as close to him as possible, to press herself against him and hold on. The desire was so strong that she was gripping the railing of the bar so hard her knuckles were white and her nails were digging into the wood so that she didn’t give in to that urge.
“And just who the hell are you?” Brittany demanded.
That snarky response penetrated the haze of lust that had settled over Lacey and she turned back to the interactions between the other two people present. Brittany looked furious.
“I’m Jack Carter.”
Jack Carter. Even his name was intensely masculine, Lacey thought. Zoe had only given her his first name. He was, without a doubt, the best looking man she’d ever seen in her life.
Lacey watched as his gaze raked over Brittany. Here it comes, she thought. He’s going to take one look at the walking, talking Barbie and be as enamored of her as every other man who encountered Brittany.
Then Jack answered her, his tone cold and sharp. “I’m Lacey’s date. That’s all you need to know.”
Brittany gaped at him. “Excuse me?”
“That’s what you should be saying to Lacey… I watched you walk in here and you made a beeline for her just to cause trouble. Don’t you have anything better to do?”
Lacey couldn’t quite fathom what was happening. This impossibly hot man, who made her breathless and rendered her utterly senseless, was completely unmoved by Brittany and was actually standing up for her. No one in town had done that. Oh, sure, a lot of people had called her and expressed support quietly. While Brittany and Brandon had badmouthed her all over town, telling everyone that she was boring, that she was a prude, that she’d been unable to satisfy Brandon sexually, that she’d gained so much weight during their relationship that he was disgusted by her, no one would dare say anything negative about them. Maybe it was because Brandon was the only competent attorney in town and was well on his way to becoming mayor. Maybe it was because they were all terrified of Brittany’s vicious temper and vindictive ways. Regardless, she couldn’t even get a job in town.
Brittany was sputtering in protest. “You don’t know the things she’s said about me!”
Jack grinned. “I don’t need to. Whatever it was, you probably deserved it. Lacey, I have a table in the back… but if you’d rather, we can go somewhere else.”
It took Lacey a second to actually process what he was saying to her. When it managed to penetrate the fog, she nodded. “I — yes. I’d prefer to go elsewhere.”
The bartender returned with Lacey’s card then. She signed the receipt and tucked the card back into her purse. When she stood up, Jack placed one hand at the small of her back. That contact rocketed through her. The heat of his hand seemed to spread through her. She could feel it everywhere and her whole body tingled with it.
The Bear’s Blind Date: A Howl’s Romance Page 1
