by Thorne, Elle
Astra’s head snapped in his direction. “To save my life?”
“That’s why the shifter hunted her down. Her gift made it impossible for shifters to hide their nature around her. It’s a powerful and dangerous gift to have.”
“I don’t want it.” Astra was firm on that. All she wanted was to be an animal doctor. She didn’t want to be involved with the supernatural beings, even if she was bonded to one.
“You don’t have to use it.” Kane tucked a lock of her hair away from her face. “You don’t have to tell anyone you have it.”
She bit her lip, worried it, chewing until she tasted blood. “Will anyone—does anyone know about it?”
Grant looked at Doc.
Doc turned to Mae.
Mae shook her head slowly. “I don’t know. I’m thinking not. It’s been more than a decade since your mom was taken from us. We haven’t seen any signs of anyone suspecting.”
Astra had another question. “What about Anya?”
Mae’s eyes widened. “You remember?”
“She tried to help me and Mom. She didn’t die...”
“No.” A tender smile drifted across Mae’s face. “Anya didn’t die. But the incident affected her. She withdrew from everyone for the most part, stayed hidden. She hasn’t returned to the valley. I heard she went to Europe. The last time she was seen, she was with Vax’s brother. Not with him—not like that. But they are cousins.”
“I’d like to see her again, one day. She was my best friend. I remember playing with her, getting rides on her back.”
“I’ll ask around. I’ve missed her too.”
* * *
The pie was delicious, especially with a large scoop of French vanilla bean ice cream on it. Astra’s tummy felt like it was going to burst. Her heart was equally brimming with satisfaction as she and Kane headed back to the cabin.
“I forgot to tell Doc that we’d be buying some land.” She frowned. “I planned to tell him.”
“He knows. I mentioned to Grant that I wanted to buy some land, and Doc asked if you were involved in the equation.”
Kane patted the bench seat’s empty center.
Astra scooched over, getting close to him, enjoying the feel of his muscular thighs against her curvy leg.
“Happy?” Kane’s voice was a satisfied rumble, starting deep in his chest.
It reverberated in Astra’s body. “Never been happier.”
* * *
Kane knew exactly how she felt. He felt the same way. His nomadic ways were done. His heart and his bear had found a home.
Epilogue
Astra looked at her hair in the mirror. She turned to Chelsea. “You’re amazing. And the fact that you can concentrate on my hair, when you’ve got so much going on to get ready for a wedding, that’s just incredible.”
“Thanks.” Chelsea spun Astra’s chair back to facing her. “It does look pretty stunning. You’ll look beautiful at the wedding.”
“Getting the jitters?” Kelsey sat in the chair next to her, at the empty station. “Chelsea is good, isn’t she? Though I’m surprised her hands aren’t shaking from the stress of the wedding preparations. The fridge in the back is full of ice cream, the perfect stress reliever. And Mae’s busy with the new Bed & Breakfast.”
Astra nodded. She’d never met Mae’s distant cousin Kelsey before.
Kelsey’s two-tone blonde and brunette hairstyle looked cute on her. Astra was sure she couldn’t pull it off herself.
Kelsey kept talking. “Yeah. Am I crazy for agreeing to run it?”
Chelsea gave them an indulgent smile and headed to the back. Astra wondered if she was getting some ice cream and almost asked her to bring back a couple of scoops.
Oh, what the hell. “Hey, bring me some too.”
In the back, Chelsea let out a guilty laugh. Busted!
Kelsey leaned closer to Astra. “You know, I heard that the sheriff found a record on that guy Jeff. That he’d changed his name a decade ago. He had a criminal record.” She leaned even closer, and the chair protested with a tiny squeak.
Astra hoped it wouldn’t give. The salon’s chairs weren’t meant to be leaned in this much.
Kelsey’s whisper was low and conspiratorial. “Murder. And some kind of stalker violations. Ohmigod. We’re lucky that he left town before anything really bad could happen.”
Astra had met Jeff twice in the time she’d been back in town. She’d never cared for him, had found him creepy, but now she knew he was a hell of a lot more than creepy. “Yeah, I heard he was bothering Chelsea quite a bit,” she said, unsure how much she should share with Kelsey, unsure if Mae had told her anything.
The phone rang, disturbing the serenity of the salon.
Astra jumped.
Mae came out from the back to answer it. She spoke softly into the receiver, then hung up the phone and turned to Kelsey. “That’s the contractor I hired to redo the B&B. I want it to be phenomenal for the wedding.” She turned to Astra. “Maybe a double wedding? What are you and Kane waiting for?”
“You’re kind of rushing it a bit,” Astra laughed. “We’re enjoying each other. Let Chelsea and Grant have theirs, okay?”
“Sure, okay, fine. There he is.” She pointed. “My new contractor, Teague.”
Kelsey gasped and paled.
A hunk of a gorgeous man, dark-haired, dark-eyed, tall, and muscular, stepped out of a pickup. He ran his fingers through his hair and pulled his jacket off, then strode toward the hair salon.
“Teague.” Kelsey’s words were a whisper.
“Yes, that’s his name.” Mae smiled.
Astra studied the handsome man and the glow that emanated from him. Something vibrated deep in Astra.
Another shifter in Bear Canyon Valley.
Persuasion
Kelsey Torrent is a curvy, delicious hottie who has only loved one man Guilt pushed her away. Secrets kept her away.
She agreed to work for Mae, getting the new B & B ready for a big wedding. She did NOT agree to work with the man who broke her heart.
Bear shifter Teague Navarro has always been a one-woman kind of man. Why the hell did Mae call him work with the one woman he can’t exchange a civil word with?
Chapter One
Kelsey flinched when the phone rang, disturbing the serenity of the salon, Forester Cuts.
Chelsea, a stylist and one of Kelsey’s friends, ran the brush over Kelsey’s locks, pushing the unruliness into submission, merging the highlights with the dark lowlights. She sprayed a light mist over her creation.
The scented spray filled Kelsey’s nostrils.
Astra, another friend, sat in the empty chair next to Chelsea’s station, waiting for Kelsey.
Chelsea, Mae, Astra, and Kelsey were going to lunch after Forester Cuts. Chelsea wanted to talk more wedding talk. Yes, she was getting married to her recently acquired beau, Grant Waters.
Kelsey didn’t mind, even though weddings reminded her of what she didn’t have anymore. She had to admit, it was exciting to have a wedding at the grand reopening of the Bed & Breakfast Mae had recently acquired.
The Bed & Breakfast was the reason Kelsey was in Bear Canyon Valley. Her mother and Mae were distant cousins, so when Mae needed someone to run the B & B, Kelsey’s unused degree in Hotel and Hospitality provided an answer.
It wasn’t as though Kelsey didn’t know what her mother was up to. She’d been plotting to get her to start a job, move away, get a life, anything to keep her from being the shut-in she’d pretty much become over the last two years.
“I’ll get my purse from the back,” Chelsea said, and headed away.
The phone rang again, this time not as alarming as the first time. Mae came out from the back and answered it. She spoke softly into the receiver, then hung up the phone and turned to Kelsey.
“That’s the contractor I hired to redo the Bed & Breakfast.” Mae clapped her hands together in glee, her pretty face lighting up. “I want it to be phenomenal for the wedding.” She
turned to Astra. “Maybe a double wedding? What are you and Kane waiting for?”
“You’re kind of rushing it a bit,” Astra laughed. “We’re enjoying each other. Let Chelsea and Grant have theirs, okay?”
“Sure, okay, fine. There he is.” She pointed. “My new contractor.”
A hunk of a gorgeous man, dark-haired, dark-eyed, tall and muscular, stepped out of a pickup and ran his fingers through his hair, pulled a jacket off, and surveyed the street.
Teague.
Kelsey gasped, paled.
No way. No. It couldn’t be.
She reached for the chair’s arm to brace herself. What the hell was Teague doing here?
Mae had an innocent look on her face, like she had no idea what could be going on. Was it possible Mae had no clue? Was Kelsey’s mother behind this? How...?
Ugh.
Kelsey couldn’t tear her eyes off of him. In two years, he hadn’t changed. Well, maybe he had. If it was possible, he was even sexier.
His shoulders were even broader, his chest wider. His face was just as sexy, a predator in repose, always intent, always ready. He closed the door to the truck—the same truck he’d had back then, when they were dating. The same truck they’d first been intimate in.
A slow heat started just below her navel and radiated throughout her body. She hoped her face wasn’t giving away the emotions she still had for him.
Damn it. Shouldn’t I be over him already? Shouldn’t he not matter?
Seeing him was like a mortal wound to her soul, stabbing, piercing, searing. She hadn’t imagined that seeing him again would hurt so much.
Kelsey tried to breathe, but air didn’t want to travel all the way to her lungs. It felt like it was stuck in her throat, blocked by the largest, driest lump ever.
Mae was talking, her lips were moving, but Kelsey couldn’t concentrate on what Mae was saying.
Kelsey felt like she’d been sucked into a whirlpool of emotions. Her heart was on a spin-dry cycle, and the damn machine it was in was stuck on high.
That’s when Kelsey saw the look on Astra’s face. It was a look of recognition. Did Astra know Teague?
“You know him?” she asked Astra.
Astra glanced at her. “No,” she said, then her expression turned guarded. “Do you?”
“I think...” Kelsey’s words were a whisper. She didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t want to tell the truth, either. So she settled somewhere in the middle, and turned to Mae. “And that is...?”
“Teague. He’s the contractor who’s going to be renovating the Bed & Breakfast.”
The B & B that Kelsey was supposed to run. The B & B that Kelsey was at daily, redecorating. She took a deep breath.
Great.
As if feeling her eyes on him, or maybe overhearing their conversation, Teague’s head snapped toward the salon. His eyes narrowed, like he was trying to look inside the tinted windows. Or maybe he could see through them.
Kelsey knew that as a shifter he had that supernatural vision. Maybe he could see her and was angry about her being here.
Damn him, and his shifter ways, and his heartbreaking love.
Mae stepped out from behind the counter. “I’ll bring him here and introduce him.”
“Ah... um...” Kelsey wanted to come up with a reason to back out, but had no idea what to say.
It didn’t matter, anyway; Mae was out the door and halfway across the street, waving for Teague, before Kelsey could put a thought or an objection together.
“Are you okay?” Astra put her hand on Kelsey’s arm. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I’m fine.” Kelsey gulped some air down.
Chapter Two
A sensation pricked at Teague’s nerve endings. His sensors were working overtime.
“Teague.” Mae headed across the street, waving for him. She reached him and wrapped her arms around his waist, looking up at him. “Glad you could make it. Thank you.”
Teague gave her a hug in return. “I’m hoping now you can tell me why it was me who had to come up here—thousands of miles to do a job. Is Bear Canyon Valley short on contractors?” He wished his sensors would relax and quit sounding warnings.
“It’s short on contractors like you.” Mae’s smile was innocent.
“Like me?” He raised a brow. What did that mean, exactly?
She pulled away from the hug, but wrapped her fingers around his wrist and tugged gently. “Let’s go meet some of my friends. You’ll be working with one of them. We’re going to lunch. Want to join us?”
They crossed the street, the sun brilliant above them, not a cloud in the sky, the mountains a panoramic display around them.
“I forgot how beautiful the valley is this time of year.” Though he did enjoy his home in New Mexico, he relished the beauty of the valley.
“How long has it been since you were here?”
“A while. I couldn’t come up for the cleanup you needed a while back. I’m sure it wasn’t quite that pretty when Tanner came up.”
Mae had called and asked Tanner to come remove some issues. Tanner had asked Teague to join him, but Teague had been working on another project.
A look passed over Mae’s face. “Tanner was kind enough to help with that...” She paused. “There was...”
“I know.” Teague nodded.
Tanner had briefed him on the local dickhead—some nut job named Jeff—who had gone stalker on Grant’s mate, and had then been killed by her psycho ex-boyfriend, a cop. Tanner had brought his crew in and erased all signs of the incident.
“I still don’t see why you couldn’t have a local contractor take care of the B & B. Or at the very least, one from the city.”
“I’ll go into that later, when we’re alone.” Mae stopped in front of the door to her hair salon.
The hairs on the back of Teague’s neck rose, sensitive to change.
Something... something was going on...
He reached for the door handle to hold the door open for Mae.
Chapter Three
Kelsey watched Mae hug Teague, saw her indicate the hair salon.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
She couldn’t run out the back door. There wasn’t one. And if there was? What were you gonna do? Run out without an explanation? That was true. She’d have to face Teague sooner or later.
She steeled herself, unable to keep her eyes from his muscular frame, unable to keep herself from reminiscing about his lips, those hands that had once touched her, bringing her to heights she hadn’t even thought possible. How would he feel about her? How would he react?
She wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans and glanced at the mirror. She looked ashen, scared. She tried to make her muscles relax, but it was wasted effort.
Mae led the way up the steps to the salon. Teague’s muscular thighs flexed in his jeans as he followed. He reached for the door, a smile on his face as he chatted casually with Mae.
Mae stepped over the threshold. Teague followed, a step behind, his eyes on Mae as he laughed about something they’d shared.
The laugh died mid-sound.
He froze.
The door was released from his grip, closing on its own. His smile vanished. A frost passed over his face; his dark eyes were like black ice chips. His lids narrowed, his nostrils flared. A muscle ticked in his jaw.
“These are my friends,” Mae was saying.
A terse, forced smile made its way onto his face, stretching his full lips into a thin line, lips that had delivered so much pleasure two years ago.
Teague nodded, his eyes staying away from Kelsey. “Ladies.” He nodded an acknowledgment. “Nice to meet you.”
Chelsea held out her hand, taking Teague’s with enthusiasm. “I’m Chelsea. I can’t wait to see what you’re going to be doing to the Bed & Breakfast.” She glowed with that soon-to-be-married look.
He shook Chelsea’s hand, glanced at Mae, then said, “I can’t wait to see what Mae has in mind.”
A
small frown crossed Astra’s face, vanishing quickly. “Astra Evans. Nice to meet you.” She held out her hand, and he shook it.
Kelsey gulped down the lump. She guessed it was her turn now. “Hi.” She gave a nod and kept her fingers tight on the chair’s arm.
Finally, Teague’s eyes met hers. The intensity of his gaze was like a blast of hot air.
She blinked and looked down at her shoes, studying them as if she had to memorize them for an exam.
Work boots appeared on the floor in front of her, jeans almost touching her toes.
She looked up.
He was in front of her. He extended his hand. Calloused, tan, sexy, a dusting of fine hair covering the bare forearm exposed by pushed-up sleeves.
“Nice to see you.” His voice was a low rumble that vibrated to her core, still touching every girly part of her with a need to be with him.
“Yes.” Her voice was a low whisper, and, feeling as if she’d been hypnotized, she put her hand in his.
The shock of his touch almost made her gasp.
His hand was hot, holding hers firmly. He released it abruptly, and turned toward Mae, as if the moment hadn’t just happened.
She looked down, eyes glued to the floor to keep her emotions from being read. Maybe it didn’t feel like anything to him. Maybe he didn’t care about her that way anymore.
What do you expect, you fool? You moved away, never said a word, never bothered to return his calls.
“Mae, I’ll have to pass on the lunch. I’d like to get situated. Might even catch up with Grant. It’s been a long time.”
Chapter Four
Son of a bitch.
Teague strode out of the hair salon on legs that wanted to do anything but walk away. He shoved his hand through his hair. His heart was beating a fierce tempo in his chest. His bear was roaring, in pain, and in confusion.
