“He lived here two years.”
“He was in love.”
Gavin rolled his eyes and made a gagging noise.
Paige swatted his arm. “I can’t wait until you meet the one. I’m so gonna laugh.”
He grabbed her arm to stop her, his face sobering. “I’ll be the first one laughing.”
She tugged her arm free. “Don’t count on it.”
Suddenly, a knock at the door had her jumping to attention. “Damn, I’m out of practice.” She rounded the couch and headed for the door.
“Out of practice about what?”
She turned to face him, hand on the knob, inhaling slowly. “Scenting other shifters. I should have noticed someone approaching.” Without explaining further, she opened the door to the unknown scent.
The woman at the door surprised Paige, mostly because she was about an inch shorter than Paige, rare for a grizzly female. Paige pegged her at a few years younger too. Her long, thick brown hair and deep brown eyes were mesmerizing. “Hi. I’m Adriana Tarben. Alton’s my brother. I just thought I’d come by and welcome you to Silvertip and see if you need anything.”
Paige pulled the door open wider and stepped back. “Come in.” She was taken aback. For most of her life, she hadn’t been around many shifters. Not many lived in Calgary, and when she scented one in the city, she usually ignored them.
Adriana smiled at Paige, staring with wide eyes.
“What?” Paige glanced down at herself, thinking she had spilled something on her shirt.
Adriana shook her head. “Nothing. Sorry. My brother told me you were…gorgeous. He wasn’t wrong.”
Paige blushed, unable to speak as she shut the door. Her face heated. She wasn’t used to such blatant compliments in recent years. She did her best to hide her looks, and by this age, people usually didn’t say much.
“God, I’m sorry. That just slipped out.” She turned toward the couch. “You must be Gavin.”
Gavin was already standing, and he rounded the couch, hand lifted. “I am. Nice to meet you.”
Adriana shook his hand and then turned back toward Paige. “I didn’t mean to bother you. I just thought you might like to have a friendly face in town.”
“That’s so kind of you. Please. Sit.” Paige pointed at the only other chair in the room that sat at an angle from the couch.
“Wow. This place is awful.”
Paige cocked her head. “It’s your brother’s apartment. Haven’t you ever been here?”
“Not often. And not for a long time. It’s so small. He mostly came to our parents’ home to visit. I didn’t remember it being so…” Her voice trailed off.
“Boring?” Gavin provided.
Adriana giggled. “Yep. That’s it. I hope he gave you free rein to fix it up.”
“He did.” Gavin jumped up from the couch as Paige sat. “You want a beer? We went to the store and got a selection from both breweries.”
Adriana shook her head. “No. Thanks. I’m good.”
“Do you work at your family’s brewery?” Paige asked. “I heard nearly everyone does.”
“Yeah. I graduated last month with a computer science degree from Athabasca University. I’ve been working and studying from home since high school, though. My responsibilities are about to kick up a notch.” She sighed. “Not sure that’s a good thing.” She smiled. Her smiles were infectious.
Paige liked her. She had the same shade of thick brown hair as Alton and the same dark eyes. She wondered if everyone in the family resembled the two she’d met.
“So, what is there to do in Silvertip?” Gavin asked, settling on the couch and setting his arm behind Paige on the back of the sofa. It was a practiced stance they always took. After years of perfecting it, they were masters at pretending to be an established couple.
“Not much, I’m sorry to say. It’s not that big. There’s one local bar—Tipsy’s. It’s not exciting, but it’s the only place to dance in town. One theater. Several restaurants that are good, though.” She turned her gaze toward Paige. “I heard you’re doing research for your masters?”
“Yes.” Paige smirked. “Such as it is. I imagine most people in town are going to lift an eyebrow at my studies. But it can’t be helped. I needed an internship for the summer, and the university assigned me to Silvertip.”
“To do what?”
Paige sat up straighter and mocked herself. “Figure out what makes the citizens of this small, quiet town tucked away in the mountains so healthy and large.”
Adriana laughed. “For real?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, Lord. I’m so glad I’m not you.”
“Surprised you haven’t heard about it.”
“Nope. I just heard you were doing research. Alton didn’t say anything else.”
Paige wondered if Alton had also kept his thoughts about Wyatt Arthur to himself or if Adriana was humoring Paige the same as her brother and his mate. “Twelve weeks. I start tomorrow.”
“So, you’re gonna interview people and stuff like that?”
“Yep.”
Adriana giggled again. “This will be so much fun. At least you’ll meet everyone in town. By the end of the summer, you’ll be like an honorary citizen.”
That’s what I’m afraid of.
Chapter Six
“Why are you in such a rush this morning?” Gavin asked as he padded into the kitchen, his hair a mess and his eyes barely open to a squint.
Paige turned toward him, blowing on the top of her coffee as if the act would cause it to instantly cool enough to avoid burning her lips. “Got an email from the local city council saying someone’s meeting me at the courthouse to give me a tour this morning.”
“A tour of Silvertip?” Gavin lifted a brow. “That oughta take about fifteen minutes.”
Paige laughed. “You’re probably right. But I don’t want to be impolite since I’m here for the summer. I need everyone in town to like me.” She stuffed her iPad into her small backpack and reached for her jacket.
“Have you ever met anyone who didn’t like you?”
“Ha-ha. There’s always a first. You never know. I just hope I’m not stuck getting a two-hundred-year history of every building in town from a ninety-year-old man.” It was possible.
“What are you doing about that reporter, Kelly? Did you talk to her?”
Paige cringed. “Not yet. I’m hoping to avoid her this morning. She makes me nervous. I don’t need the added stress of entertaining her while I get this tour.”
“Admit it. You’re afraid she’ll embarrass you.” Gavin chuckled.
Paige groaned. “There is that.”
“Did you get ahold of your professor to find out what the deal is?”
“Sent him an email.”
“Good. Well, have fun. I’ll just be here working on my thesis.”
“Good luck.” She scrunched up her face. “I think I’d prefer the lengthy tour from an old guy.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Love you.”
“If I’m not here when you get back, you’ll find me at the library. It’s going to get claustrophobic in here in a hurry.”
She turned back to him as she hit the door. “Okay, but I’ve gotta warn you. The library in this small town probably doesn’t have many books. Calling it a library is most likely a stretch considering what you’re used to on campus.”
“I don’t need books. I just need a place to sit.”
“Right.” She smiled at him and left.
Ten minutes later, she took the steps to the entrance to the courthouse two at a time and then turned around and waited. The email had indicated someone would meet her out front. And since the weather was warming up this time of year, it was pleasant enough outside to wait.
She tipped her head back and took a deep breath of the clean air, letting the morning sun hit her face. Moments later, realizing she was no longer alone, she lowered her face and stopped breathing.
Wyatt Arthur stood two steps down in fro
nt of her, putting his face almost at eye level. He was smiling, and he spoke first. “You absolutely do not look like you belong here.”
She frowned, trying to find enough brain cells to speak. “Here? At the courthouse? I’m meeting someone.” What are you doing here?
Shit. She hadn’t been in town one full day yet, and already she had the bad luck of running into Wyatt.
“Here in Silvertip at all, I guess. You look like you stepped off a magazine to get here. And, the person you’re meeting is me.” He grinned wider.
Her heart stopped. Please tell me this is an illusion.
He powered forward, not waiting for a response. “The town was looking for a volunteer to show you around today. I accepted the challenge. Figured you might like seeing a familiar face.”
She licked her suddenly dry lips. Damn, he was hot. His body was so big it blocked the sun, casting a shadow over her face. His hair was a bit longer on top, hanging over his forehead. His skin was darker too. And his eyes. He had surely melted thousands of women with those eyes.
But she couldn’t spend the day with him, or even an hour. No way. “Don’t you have to work? It’s a Monday.”
He reached out with a hand, tucked hers in the crook of his elbow, and guided her down the steps before speaking again. “Took the day off.”
“To give me a tour?”
“Yes.” The dazzling smile he shot her almost caused her to trip on the steps. But he steadied her and didn’t comment on her clumsiness.
When they reached the street, he opened the passenger door of a bright red truck and grasped her fingers for the second time to help her climb inside.
She was pretty sure she didn’t breathe or have even one coherent thought while he rounded the hood and climbed in next to her. “How’ve you been?” he asked as he buckled his seat belt and pointed at hers.
She scrambled to reach for the buckle.
“Did your semester end okay?”
“Yes. I just need to do this internship, and then I’ll be free to adult.”
He chuckled.
God, she loved that sound. She wanted to kick herself for loving that sound.
“Free to adult.” He started the engine and turned to face her, his gaze roaming up and down her body before he took a deep breath and faced the road. “How did you end up with this internship?”
“It wasn’t intentional if that’s what you’re thinking. I tried to switch with someone, but my professor insisted.”
“Why did you want to switch with someone? Silvertip is a wonderful town.”
She bit her lower lip and glanced out the side window.
He kept speaking. “Look, I know this is awkward, and we have a weird thing between us, but the reason I volunteered to show you around today was so we could get past this and eliminate it. You’re going to be in town for three months, and there’s no way to avoid each other. The town isn’t that big. So, we need to do whatever it takes to push past our awkwardness.”
He thought that was possible?
He hadn’t pulled away from the curb yet. In fact, he hadn’t put the truck in drive. And now he twisted his body to face her more fully. When she turned to look at him, he reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear in an incredibly intimate gesture. “I heard your boyfriend is with you for the summer.”
“He is.”
Wyatt narrowed his eyes slightly as if he were concerned.
“He’s working on his thesis. He’ll be buried in books while I do my research,” she added as if Wyatt cared what Gavin was doing with his summer.
“I see.” His gaze was intense to the point she had to fight not to squirm under the scrutiny. “And what does this research of yours entail exactly?”
“Well, my degree is in urban anthropology, which means I’m supposed to gather data on the people living in Silvertip to help determine what factors exist in your lifestyle and environment to promote such longevity and overall healthiness.”
One side of his mouth quirked up a moment before he laughed hard.
She rolled her eyes, full-on squirming now at the sound of his deep voice. There was no denying what he did to her body. And in the confines of his truck, his pheromones were killing her. “I know. I know. It’s ludicrous. But my professors don’t know that.”
He kept laughing. “This is going to be fun.” And then he put the truck in drive and pulled away from the curb. He glanced at her as he drove, no longer chuckling. “I didn’t mean to laugh at you. That was rude.”
She shrugged. “I’m going to get that a lot, I suppose.”
“I don’t think your work is as preposterous as it initially sounds. I mean, there is merit to the fact that generations of people have been drinking glacial water, living without the smog of cities, getting better exercise. Hell, I’d even say the locals get better nutrition. The people here are kind of granola. Even the humans. I bet your study will end up showing longevity among the human population too.”
She was taken aback. This was the first moment she’d even considered her work as valuable. She’d spent the last few weeks groaning about it, feeling like it was completely bogus. But he had good points. “You’re right. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He shot her a grin.
Thirty minutes later, after pointing out all the local hotspots in town and the surrounding areas of the center of Silvertip, Wyatt pulled onto a road heading west. Paige fidgeted. “Where are we going now?”
“Gonna show you where the brewery’s located and then my family’s property.”
“Ah, the Arthur brewery.”
“Yes. Glacial Brewing Company. I think you met Adriana last night from the Tarben pack, right?”
“Yes. She stopped by.”
“Either she or someone else in their family will show you around their brewery and land another day. We’re the two largest packs in town. I know you can’t refer to us as such in your research. Families. Whatever. But you get my drift.”
“How many packs are there in Silvertip?” She tucked her hands under her thighs to keep from squirming so much, but Wyatt’s proximity was wearing on her. It was hard to focus. His scent was intoxicating. And every time she glanced at his profile, she drooled a bit. Her panties were wet, and that wasn’t something she was used to experiencing with anyone. She needed out of this truck and fast just so she could take a deep breath.
“About two dozen, or parts of two dozen. None with as many local members as the Tarbens and the Arthurs, though. We each have about fifty relatives and members who we’ve taken in over the years. The other local packs are spread wider and don’t have as many family members in the Silvertip area.” He pulled off the road onto a narrower side street, pointing out the windshield. “And there you have it. Glacial Brewing Company.”
“Wow. That’s larger than I expected for a microbrewery.”
“Yeah. It’s not tiny. Both Glacial and Mountain Peak are about the same size. We do a similar volume too. It’s pretty competitive.”
“Is that a good thing? I heard the two families have been locked in a century-long feud.”
He nodded as he rounded to the side of the brewery and put the truck into park. “It’s good and bad. It’s healthy for competition. But the feud is getting old. Most shifters my age won’t tolerate it anymore. A few months ago when Alton and Joselyn bound together, shit really hit the fan. They were the first couple in many generations to bind, uniting the two families.”
“That’s why they moved to Calgary, right?”
“Yes. They wanted to get away for a while. Some of my family and some of Alton’s are intolerant.”
“That must suck.”
“It does. What Jos and Alton went through was unimaginable. The pain of knowing someone’s your mate and not being able to have them is intense.” His stare bore into her, halting her breath.
Was he talking about his sister and Alton? Or was he talking about himself and her? Because she couldn’t handle that at all. Not now. Not ever. S
he twisted to look out the window.
“I’ll take you on a full tour someday, but not today.”
Why not today?
She really didn’t want the answer to that question. It felt loaded.
The brewery was pretty large. The siding was white, and she noticed above the front doors and on the side of the building was the company logo—the face of a glacier next to a lake. Apropos. Behind the front, which appeared to be office space, extended what she assumed was the plant itself. Several pieces of machinery she couldn’t identify were scattered behind the entire structure, undoubtedly because they wouldn’t fit inside.
“We’ll come back another day when it won’t be so overwhelming to meet my family,” Wyatt stated as he pulled slowly away. “But at least you know where it is and have an idea of the size.”
She nodded. His cryptic statements were making her nervous.
As they continued to drive, he pointed out mountain peaks and entrances to hiking paths in the area. Several minutes later, he pulled off the road again onto a gravel drive.
At first, she didn’t see anything in the distance, and then a home came into view. Hidden among the trees with dark brown siding, she almost didn’t see it before they came to a stop. She knew instinctively this was Wyatt’s house.
Without a word, he jumped down from the cab and rounded the truck. She couldn’t move. This was not a good idea. Why had he brought her here? “Wyatt…” she said when he opened the door.
“Come on. I’ll show you around. The view is amazing.” He reached for her hand, and she let him take it as if she were pulled from the truck by a force out of her control. Was Wyatt himself the force? Or was it something bigger?
Either way, she wanted no part in it. “Wyatt…” she repeated as she slid to the ground, shrugging her backpack onto one shoulder. She instinctively knew it would change the nature of their relationship for her to enter his private world—a world she wanted no part of.
He knew that too. That’s why he was forcing the issue.
She was nervous. She could count on one hand the number of times she’d been alone with a man—human or shifter. It happened occasionally at school or an event, but it made her sweat. She was also smart enough to realize her reaction to all men was irrational. No way in hell was Wyatt a threat to her safety. Nevertheless, she wiped her hands on her jeans and swallowed her fear.
Grizzly Promise Page 6
