I’d been to most of the bars on the island a few times each, but not for a while. As I settled onto a stool at Mimi’s Cabana, I wondered why I wasn’t doing this kind of thing more. If I wanted to meet someone, I needed to get out and mingle. The dark cloud that was my reality crept over me reminding me that there were very few rabbits hanging out on the island, so it wasn’t likely I’d run into one at Mimi’s anyway. Damn polar bears.
I’d gone home and changed after work, though, because one never knew. I might just get lucky and the perfect marriageable rabbit shifter might just happen to be passing through our small island and might just happen to come waltzing into the bar, lost, thirsty, and looking for love. I’d put my hair up in space buns and thrown on a curve-hugging short, black dress. I’d even added a little glitter around my eyes to spice things up. I maintained a strict goal of finding a rabbit and mating to help further our species, but a girl could still have some fun without it affecting her social activism.
Laila had on a slinky little light blue dress and it looked amazing with her pale skin and thick, white-blonde hair that curled out around her head in every direction. Her human self was every bit as stunning as her wolf form probably was.
If I was a lesser woman, I would’ve been jealous of her. She was a badass wolf shifter and looked the part. I was an endangered rabbit and, unfortunately, I looked the part, too—round and fluffy.
Sighing, I nudged her and smiled. “You look stunning.”
She grinned back at me. “You look amazing, yourself. I love the space buns. Fun.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What kind of fun?”
Her eyes lit with mischief. “The kind you need handlebars for.”
I slapped her arm but couldn’t help laughing. “Should I take them down? No. No, forget I asked. I like them. Even if they look like BJ accessories.”
“Yeah, fuck it.” She paused in lifting her hand to signal the bartender. “Um… Fuck feeling self-conscious about them. Not fuck it like…you. Or your mouth.”
“God, Laila!” I rolled my eyes and turned to the bartender coming our way. “Hi! Can I get a whiskey?”
“For me, too.”
The woman quickly and efficiently poured our drinks, her pretty green eyes on my hair all the while. “I like it.”
I groaned. “You heard?”
She nodded. “But I do like it. You look spunky.”
I twisted my mouth. “Do I want to come off as spunky, though? I’m trying to find a mate. I mean boyfriend! I’m trying to find a boyfriend.”
She suddenly leaned forward, “Did you say mate?”
I narrowed my eyes and inhaled her scent, searching for any hint of shifter to explain why she’d know about mates. She was human, but she had the scent of bear all over her. “Yeah.”
“Are you…?” She suddenly pushed back from the bar and held up her hands. “I’m sorry. That’s rude. It’s none of my business. I hate when people invade my privacy, so I should know better.”
I studied her a second longer and extended my hand. “Parker. I’m a…what you’re thinking. Rabbit.”
Laila pointed to herself. “Wolf. New at it, though.”
“Heidi. I’m just…uh, normal, but my mate is a bear.”
“One of those hunky polar bears walking around the island?” Laila threw back her shot and gave me a big, shit eating grin. “Isn’t that a funny coincidence, Parker?”
I tossed my own shot back and kicked Laila. “I saw a couple of them yesterday, working. Small world.”
“Small island.” She smiled. “Well, you ladies enjoy yourselves tonight. I have to work the bar.” She gestured with her head to the opposite end of the bar where a young couple was trying to get her attention. “Another shot before I go?”
We both nodded gratefully as she poured us new shots. When she walked away, I wrinkled my nose at Laila. “She seems so nice. What’s she doing with one of those cocky jerks?”
“Maybe they’re not the jerks you think they are.”
“Maybe they are.”
“Maybe you need to stop being size-ist.”
I scoffed. “That is not why I don’t like them!”
She scoffed right back at me. “Well, whatever the reason, could it be that you’re, oh, I dunno…wrong?”
I glanced down at Heidi and watched as she smiled sweetly at an older man in a Florida Marlins baseball cap. She said something that made him laugh. She honestly did seem nice, yet I couldn’t help feeling the way I felt. It was in my nature to be cautious. My kind had a sense of self-preservation built in, particularly against large, predatory, carnivorous animals. Plus, look what they’d done to Jamie’s face.
I shrugged off Laila’s words and threw back my shot. “It’s not like it matters. It just is what it is. I don’t have anything to worry about unless you plan on bringing one of them home.”
“I think four of them are already mated. That only leaves two. Hey, maybe you and I should each take one.”
When I looked over at her, about to give her a piece of my mind, she barked a laugh and slapped my leg, clearly thrilling in her little game of ‘mess with Parker’. I just scowled. “You’re not as funny as you think you are.”
“Yes, I am.”
Heidi came back a while later and poured us another drink, her smile warm and genuine. “I haven’t met any other people like you two. Besides my mate and, you know, the other guys in his unit.”
I shrugged. “We’re around.”
“Even here? Like in this place, now?”
I looked around the bar and inhaled deeply. “Yeah. Two other wolves, a snake, a flamingo, and a couple of—”
Laila touched my arm. “You okay?”
I motioned to Heidi for another shot as the scent of pine forests and spiced oranges washed over me. Warm and sultry, it stirred my rabbit into a heated frenzy. “More whiskey,” I croaked out.
“Oh, hey. And three polar bears.” Heidi grinned. “Really, though? A snake?”
I pointed to my empty shot glass and repeated myself. “Whiskey, please.”
Laila looked over and suddenly laughed, drawing more attention to us. I was tempted to knock her ass off the barstool to get her to shut up. The last thing I wanted was for the source of that seductive scent to come any closer to me. My rabbit was up wiggling her stupid nose and thumping her stupid little feet in excitement. Bitch was all but sticking her cotton-tailed ass in the air.
“Really small island, indeed.” Laila wrapped her arm around the back of my stool and leaned closer. “Should I call them over?”
“I’m leaving. I’ve had some whiskey, a little chit-chat. I think it’s time we take off.” I lifted the flap of my purse and rifled through its contents in search of my wallet. Petition, fliers, pens, pencils, ketchup packets from a take-out joint, the other half of the sandwich that Laila had brought me for lunch. Where was my damned wallet?
“Oh, look! Here they come.”
7
Maxim
As if I’d conjured her with my very thoughts, the angry little rabbit was sitting at the bar talking to Heidi. I could only see the back of her, but the light purple hair and the delicious aroma of carrot cake was a dead giveaway.
Her ass was a beautiful sight on that worn leather barstool. I suddenly wished I was familiar enough with her that I could walk up and greet her with a kiss and nuzzle her neck while I slid my hands over her luscious curves. The dress she wore looked soft to the touch. Soft and clingy. My eyes traced the path of her spine all the way down to her lower back, where the dress ended. She had a tattoo, an intricate design of flowers. I inadvertently leaned closer, desperate to get a peek at the end of that tattoo that was hidden beneath the dress.
“Dude, why are you growling?” Alexei punched me in the shoulder and shook his head. “You’re being weird today.”
I ran a hand through my hair and followed Konstantin to the booth where we usually sat while Alexei went to the bar to talk to his mate. Damn, he stood next to the sexy li
ttle rabbit—he stood right next to her! I didn’t like how close he was to her. That was where I wanted to be, slipping my arm around her waist and letting my other hand curl over her thigh possessively. Her skin looked as though it would feel incredibly soft under my touch.
“Still growling, fucker.” Konstantin slid across the booth and sank into the dark corner with his back against the wall.
I sat across from him and angled myself so I could keep an eye on my angry little rabbit.
She leaned into the woman next to her and said something that made Alexei, on her other side, laugh. Her head snapped around to him and I felt the sting of the glare she shot him all the way to where I sat. I couldn’t make out what Heidi said through the dull roar of the crowded bar, but she was smiling as she said it.
I suddenly needed to be there. I wanted to shove my way between Alexei and the little bunny and hear what she was saying. I could only imagine it came with a hefty dose of firecracker.
“Who’s the bunny?” Konstantin leaned out of the shadows to smirk at me. “She got a target on her ass or are you just that horny?”
I growled and stood. “Enjoy your solitude, asshole.”
He just chuckled as I walked away leaving him alone in the booth. He wouldn’t have to be alone for long—not if he didn’t want to be. Although, he probably preferred seclusion.
I skirted around the crowd and came up to the little group on Alexei’s other side. He nodded in acknowledgement and then looked back at his mate.
“Hey, Max, tell Heidi that we didn’t purposely rough up a helpless little bunny rabbit yesterday.” He nodded over his shoulder and grinned. “Seems that we have an ‘excessive use of force’ complaint, brother.”
Heidi leaned over the bar and patted Alexei on the cheek. “It’s all fun and games until someone gets a bottle of whiskey cracked over his head. C’mon babe, leave her alone. It’s time for my break. Come help me in the back with…a thing. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.”
Alexei’s lascivious grin spread from one ear to the other and, quick as a flash, he vanished and I was face to face with the petite rabbit shifter who’d been on my mind since we dealt with that lunatic druggie the day before. When I met her gaze, I sucked in a sharp breath, taken aback by the intensity of the flames in her eyes as she stared at me.
Fuck, she was sexy. Rounded cheeks and pouty lips, oddly colored hair styled into two little knobby things on either side of her head. She should’ve looked like a sweet little cherub or something, not a sex kitten. Sex bunny? Whatever, damn, she was all appealingly sexy to me. She had a piercing under her bottom lip, one at the side of her nose and another through her left brow. Her lovely golden eyes were enhanced by glitter and I suddenly had a fantasy of waking up in the morning with glitter sticking to my chest…and stomach…and everything.
I stared, mesmerized, as her pouty lips turned down at the corners and her eyes narrowed. “Go away.”
I coughed out a shocked laugh and, just like that, she turned to her friend and gave me her back. If sexy bunny knew how intent I was on running my tongue all over her floral tattoos, she wouldn’t have been so comfortable showing me her back.
“Excuse me?” I felt my adrenaline kick up and my half-hard dick grew to full mast.
She downed a shot of whiskey, her throat working as the liquid slid down, and ignored me. “Time to go. I’ve got work in the morning.”
Her friend was nearly suffocating in an attempt to disguise a fit of giggles. “No, you don’t. Oh, my god, Parker. What are you doing?”
A man stepped into the space between us and leaned up against the bar. His ignorance of his own actions was the only reason I didn’t knock his ass to the ground with a single punch. He motioned for Mimi, and kept his eyes to himself.
“Parker, is it? Cute name.”
I wasn’t too far that I couldn’t see goosebumps spread over her back and shoulders. So, I was having an effect on her after all.
The guy between us looked over at me. “Um, it’s Dave, actually.”
I heard her snicker and growled out, “Not you, Dave.”
He looked behind him and nodded. “Oh, uh, sorry. Switch places with me?”
Parker’s head snapped around and she pinned Dave with a look of sheer savagery. “Stay.”
Dave stayed.
I grinned at her. “Parker, this is no way to get to know each other.”
“I’m not interested in getting to know you. You’re a ruffian and a bully. I saw what you did to poor Jamie yesterday.” She narrowed her pretty, glittery eyes and shook her head at me. “I’m not even speaking to you. You’re about three times his size and five times his strength. I’m so not speaking to you. You could’ve easily restrained him without hurting him. But did you? No. I’m definitely not speaking to you.”
“Yet you’re still talking, Bunny.”
The little knobs on top of her head rocked when she snapped her head back around to me. “Bunny? Really?”
“So, you’re pissed because I defended myself against an out of control, raging drug addict who was using his mate as a punching bag and tried to shoot me in the face?” I raised my eyebrows. “Does crazy run in your kind?”
I was half sure I saw smoke shoot out of her ears. She leaned across a wide-eyed Dave and jabbed her finger at me. Her fingernail was painted neon green. “By your kind, do you mean what I think you mean?”
Dave had had enough. He sidestepped her neon green pointer finger and hurried off to the other side of the bar. I slid closer to the little demon bunny and had to ball my fists up tightly to keep from brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “If you think I mean rabbit shifters who have clearly lost all sense of reason and rationality, then, yeah, I mean what you think I mean.”
“You don’t know me. You can’t say I have no sense of reason. You just think you’re so high and mighty, top of the food chain, no natural predators and all that. Well, whoopty-fucking-do! Aren’t you Mr. Big-bad?!” She made contact with that finger, one solid poke to the middle of my chest and I felt it all the way down to my toes.
“You realize you’re literally poking a bear right now. I’d say that amounts to a clear lack of sense. And you’re arguing in defense of a wife beater.”
“Girlfriend beater, technically, and I’m not defending him, I’m criticizing you.” She poked me again. “And I’m not afraid of you. I will poke you until I’m blue in the face if I feel like it.”
I grabbed her hand and yanked her into my chest. “Is that so? Go out with me, then. You can poke me all you want.”
The statement just about shocked us both equally, but I recovered faster. I’d meant it. I wanted to fight with her more. I wanted to fuck her and fight with her. I wanted to fuck, fight, and then fuck some more. I wanted everything I could get with her.
Parker’s eyes flew open. Her apparent shock seemed to cool off some of her anger. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she reined her emotions in and went right back to glaring. “You have got to be kidding me.”
I was still holding her against my chest and I was pretty sure she could feel how much I wasn’t kidding. “Go out with me, Bunny.”
She suddenly jerked away from me, slid off the barstool, and straightened. Standing in front of me, she barely reached my chin. She was a tiny, curvy little thing, but when she glared up at me, size was no issue. “No. Fucking. Way.”
She turned on her heel and marched off, her hips swaying as she went. I watched her go, every part of me longing to chase her down. She was prey and she was running away. Like she knew what I was thinking, she looked back at me over her shoulder and flipped me the bird before stomping out of the bar.
I stared after her, not even sure what had just happened. I knew only that, whatever it was, I wanted a whole lot more of it.
8
Parker
“Hello. We have a reservation for Alan and Mary Jo Hill.”
I forced a smile and nodded. I went through the motions of checking in the h
appy couple and then watched as Penny picked up where I left off. She did her whole welcome spiel and offered cinnamon rolls and tea or coffee, then came back to me with a frown on her face.
“That was subpar, at best.”
I frowned right on back at her. “Well, I’m in a crap mood.”
“You didn’t even pester them to sign your petition.”
Shit! “You think I can still catch them before they lock themselves in their room?”
“No!” She snorted out a laugh. “Finish telling me about last night before someone else comes in.”
“I’m so pissed off, Pen.” I shoved my hair out of my face but it immediately flopped back. “That bully guy, the one who made all the nasty comments about rabbits? He was there at Mimi’s last night, hitting on me.”
“Which one is he?”
The one who smells like heaven. “The one with the big ego that’s probably a mask for a small dick.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Really?”
It wasn’t true. I’d felt too much at the bar to be able to say that he had a small dick with a straight face. I’d felt way too much. “Whatever. He’s the one with the perfectly styled hair—not a strand out of place.”
Her eyes went wide. “Oh, that one! Maxim, I think. He’s the bad boy of the group, I hear. Lots of broken hearts left in his wake.”
I made a face. “Really? If by bad boy, you mean loud-mouthed conceited jerk, then that’s him.”
“Okay, just get on with the rest of the story.”
“He was there, hitting on me. Still talking crap about rabbits and being a general, all around dick, but yeah. He asked me to go out with him. No, actually, he told me to go out with him.”
“And that’s a problem, because…”
I grunted. “He’s the problem. He and his Rambo buddies are running around the island scaring off all my potential future baby daddies.”
Tactical Bear (P.O.L.A.R. Series Book 4) Page 3
