by Desiree Holt
“I actually would really appreciate that.” She smiled up at him, although she couldn’t really see his face with the sun sitting neatly behind his head. She turned to pull up the thermometer and made a note on her laptop with shaky fingers. “I have two more pools to check here.”
He lifted her backpack and threw it over his shoulder. The bag appeared child-sized on him. “Lead the way.”
She smiled and started toward the next place on her checklist. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s take a wide berth. The crust is thin here.”
She didn’t question him. He obviously knew the lay of the land better than she. She followed him without speaking, listening to the sounds of nature around her, wondering why her body hummed in close proximity to the large man. “I didn’t catch your name.”
“Grant.”
“Grant…” She waited for a last name, but he didn’t offer it. “What do you do at the park other than yell at idiot tourists?”
“I’m a fire scout.”
“I didn’t know there were such positions.” She paused at another pool and lowered her equipment for the next reading, set the timer on her watch, and turned to him.
He stared at the water. “Never gets old, the vibrant yellow, turquoise, and orange in the crystal-blue clear waters. Almost like a rainbow below the surface.”
“Huh? Oh, right, the land.” She had floated to la-la land focused on the full, curving lips nearly hidden behind a day’s growth of beard. She needed to get laid if all it took was one gorgeous man to throw her off her game. “It’s a geologist’s playground.” She cringed. Could you sound any more nerdy?
“So, Morgan Jenkins, I haven’t seen you around before. Are you new to the park?”
She checked her watch. Two more minutes until she could pull up the thermometer. “I’m only here because my old college professor broke his hip and needed these last readings for his research. Perhaps you know him. Dr. Owen Mitchell?”
“Nope, never met him. I don’t have much interaction with the scientists. Unless they are coming up with new ways to put out a fire.”
“So what made you think I was new?” Gawd. Did she have a neon sign reading NEWB across her forehead?
He stepped forward, and she could have sworn he was going to reach for her and pull her into his arms. Why did she sense that? Then he said, in a voice laced with heat, “If I had seen you before, I would have remembered, and so would you.”
The beeper on her watch broke her lusty haze. She pulled out the gauge and tapped more numbers into her laptop. “Okay, how about you lead the way. I need to head to…” She pulled out the map from her sack, calculated where she was, and located north then pointed to a place behind the tree.
“Might be a bust. That geyser erupted for the first time in thirteen years last week. It’s been spewing every couple of hours since.”
“Is it predictable?”
“I’m not out here enough to be sure, but I don’t think so. I can ask around if you want. There are some seismometers out here. I guess their data would let you know.”
“I would love to see it if you can direct me to the right person?”
He paused, running a hand over his scruffy chin. “How about this? Tell me where you’re staying, and I can get them to send over their facts tonight or early tomorrow morning.”
“I can go and see them.”
“The scientist in charge isn’t a big people person. Might be best for me to get it for myself. To be honest, it won’t even be me. My boss will make the contact.”
“I see…I guess. I was staying at the Bridge Bay campground until they closed last week. Now I’m over at Lake Lodge until I’m done here and can finish the season up in Mammoth.”
Shut up, Morgan. Good lord, he doesn’t need your freaking itinerary.
“Let me give you my cell phone number. Though I don’t always have coverage.” She dug in her bag and handed him her cheap, paper-thin business card.
Their fingers brushed when he took it from her. “What are you doing for dinner?”
“Excuse me?”
“Dinner, you know, the meal you eat at night? I presume you eat.”
She tried hard not to place her hand on her belly. Couldn’t he see she loved food? “Yes, I eat,” she finally muttered in a small voice.
“I might be able to get the papers for you by dinnertime. Would you meet me for a meal at Lake Yellowstone Hotel? My treat.”
Feeling foolish, she rustled through her bag, head ducked so he couldn’t see the blush forming on her cheeks. Of course he wasn’t asking her out. Because no one asked her out ever. But dinner would be nice and spending more time with him nicer. “Sure, what time? Don’t you have to make reservations?”
“Nah, I know the chef. He’s family. It’s late enough in the season, I doubt the dining room will be full.” Grant winked at her, and she thought her knees would actually buckle like a silly chit in a regency romance novel. Then he lifted his face to the sky as if gauging the sun’s position. “So how does eight sound? It’s five now. That gives us both time to get back and change. I’ll have the data you need delivered there.”
“That sounds great. Eight it is.” She paused. “I don’t have to dress nice, do I? I didn’t bring anything other than my work clothes.”
“You look perfect as you are.” He escorted her out of the basin, and even opened her car door for her. Gentlemen still did exist. Funny, she’d had to go all the way to Wyoming to find one. He closed the door behind her and took off toward a park building. Perhaps she could remember how to flirt and they could take their dinner a step further.
The thought brought her up short. When was the last time a dinner turned to something more? Five years or longer, maybe. She hadn’t gone to bed with a man in too many years to count. At least seven. Did that make her a born-again virgin? It didn’t matter, really, the likelihood that very tall, dark, and gorgeous man would be gracing her bed was slim to none.
Pulling the sat phone from her bag, she called the ranger station to let them know she was on the road and safe and sound. She looked up to see a giant grizzly in the distance, his focus on her. She turned the key in the ignition and breathed a sigh of relief. She wouldn’t have wanted to be out on the basin with a large adult grizzly searching for his next meal.
Pulling the small eco car back onto the road, she watched anxiously to see what the bear did. To her surprise, he sat on his haunches and, as she drove past, raised a paw and waved. Before she knew what she was doing, she waved back. What the hell am I doing?
Chapter 2
With a loud thump, Grant dropped six large reusable Yellowstone bags full of sodas purchased at the Old Faithful general store onto the cave floor. He had been determined to bring all the ginger ale to the cave in one trip. The weight was no trouble, but the bulkiness… Negotiating the hills and woods kept his mind occupied and off the images of his mate. A human mate, and the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. When he’d spied her out on the basin, something had made him stop. Something more than a human being out where they shouldn’t be. But when he had touched her, his bear growled—mine.
The door between the alpha’s chamber and the beta’s opened, and a two-liter rolled toward the opening, stopping only when Brutus placed his foot upon it.
“Sorry, boss. Didn’t mean to disturb you. I got Quinn a case of ginger ale.”
Brutus blinked once then twice before throwing his head back with laughter. “It appears you did.”
Quinn, cheeks rosier than in the morning, peeked around her hulk of a mate, finally poking him in the side to get him to move. She bent to pick up a bottle by her feet. A single serving to him took her two hands to hold. “Thank you.” She offered him a smile, clutching the plastic container to her chest. As she turned to leave, Brutus placed an arm across her path.
“Don’t go too soon. There’s more.” He indicated the bags across the room.
“More?” She glanced at the bags then up at Grant. “Are the
se all ginger ale?”
“And some saltines.” He pulled the last bag off his back. “They didn’t have a case of the soda, so I asked how many usually came in a case. There was some argument between twelve and twenty-four so I erred on the safe side and got you twenty-four.”
“Oh.” Quinn looked from Brutus to Grant then returned her attention to her mate, her lips forming an O like a salmon out of water.
“Did I get the wrong thing?” Grant asked because something was definitely up.
“No.” Quinn reached for him “You got the exact right thing. This is very sweet. But…”
“But?”
“When I said to get her a case, I was thinking cans not two-liter bottles.” Brutus chuckled.
Grant threw his head back and stared at the wood beam ceiling. He should have realized that. “Kind of overdid it, then, huh?”
“Actually”—Quinn started unpacking the bags—“it was rather forward thinking of you. I mean, how many more shipments are the general stores likely to get? Roosevelt is already down for the season and, with most of the campgrounds closed or shutting down in the next week, the remaining general stores are clearing out their inventory, not purchasing more. In a month, really, only Mammoth will be open.”
“Honey, there are always places outside the park.”
“Yes, but you said yourself getting out in the winter is going to be tough. How are a bunch of bears going to carry back some ginger ale for me?” A hint of panic edged her words. “I think I had better make a list of things I might need during the coming months.” She headed for the edge of the cave.
“Where are you going?” Brutus asked, following her.
“The hotel. I need to get online and make a list. I have tomorrow off, and I’ll head into Cody. There are some big stores there where I can get all the things I might need. Oh, I should find out if Shauna needs anything.” She passed them, mumbling to herself.
When she was well past able to hear them, Grant asked, “Are you really going to let her go to Cody?”
“You want to try and stop her? But she’s not going by herself.” He shook his head and went into their room, returning with a light-beige leather coat for his wife. “It appears I am heading to the hotel tonight and then Cody in the morning to do some serious shopping. I hate shopping. But perhaps I can grab some dinner tonight while she is online.”
Damn, he didn’t want his alpha at the hotel while he was there for dinner with the scientist. The last thing he needed was for them to meet his mate before he explained she was his mate. “Before you head up, can you call Chintok? I need to get the seismic readings of the geyser that erupted last week.”
“Why in hell do you need that?”
“A geologist who was out there today needs the info.”
“A human geologist?”
“Are there shifter geologists?”
“I suppose there might be.”
“Will you call?” Chintok would only speak to Brutus and Lars outside his herd. “I was really rather rude to this scientist when I found them out on the basin. I need to make up for my rudeness.”
“You have to give humans the benefit of the doubt. You know the bison alpha loves to talk. Hopefully Shauna’s list is longer than Band-Aids and socks.”
Going back into his office, Brutus picked up the landline. He glared at Grant before waving him away. “Chintok, how goes it old friend? I was hoping you could help me out…”
Grant didn’t hear the rest as he walked down to his den to shower and change. Stepping into the hot water, he allowed the gravity of the day to wash away like the water spray. Placing both hands on the wall he lowered his head. His mate. After years of waiting, his mate had come. And she was a human. He had sensed something as he approached, finding her leaning over her work. But he’d mistaken his sense of foreboding for danger. As he’d gazed down at her and their eyes met for the first time, he knew. His future stood before him, and he would do anything to get her to a safer spot.
An hour later, assured a fax with the information he needed would be waiting at the hotel office, he headed out of the cave. He ignored the strange look from his alpha as to why he was wearing what Nevia, one of the sleuth’s female omegas, labeled as his dressy flannel. He headed up to the hotel. If he got there early enough, he hoped he could retrieve the fax, find Morgan, and request an out-of-the-way table far from the alpha’s.
His plans never went as he hoped. The fax was waiting, but his date was not. And, to top it off, the dining room was surprisingly full. Only two tables remained empty, the alpha’s usual one and another right next to it. Damn.
“Sorry I’m late.” Morgan’s voice drifted over him like a warm breeze. “Wow, it’s crazy busy in here.”
Closing his eyes, he let the warmth flow through him. He turned and a need to touch her overwhelmed him. Moving his body so he could face her, he used all his willpower to prevent his arms from wrapping around her and pulling her close. “What would you say to me getting a picnic basket put together and then we can eat near the lake?”
“Really? It’s so beautiful out tonight…” She bit her lip. “Don’t we need to worry about bears?”
“Nope. I can guarantee not a single bear will disrupt us tonight.”
She didn’t believe him; he could tell from her arched brow.
“I asked if there had been any sightings in the area today. Not a single one. And we will stay under the lights.”
“Okay. I would love it.”
He tried hard not to release a sigh of relief. “Why don’t you wait in the lobby while I head to the kitchen and get us some food. What would you like?”
“Um, anything really. The only thing I am not a big fan of is crab, but I don’t think it’s on the menu.”
“So fish is fine?”
“Perfect.”
“Great.” He turned but stopped to pull the folded paper out of his back jean pocket. “Before I forget, here is the data you were asking for. I couldn’t make heads or tails of the information but figured you could read it.”
She took the twelve thin pages he held out with a sense of surprise. “I didn’t think you could really get it.”
“I could never lie to you.” He sensed his alpha close by so he hastened her to the lobby before disappearing into the kitchen.
Twenty minutes later, he returned with a brown bag full of food and everything they needed to enjoy their meal. “Ready.”
“Huh?” She dragged her attention from the papers, so lost in what she read, she seemed oblivious to where she was. “Oh right, dinner.”
“If you would prefer to go back to your room with your fax?”
“No!” The forcefulness of her words brought a smile to his face because he didn’t want her to leave. He had nothing to make her meet him again.
“We can eat out on the rocks by the lake,” he suggested, helping her to her feet. When she didn’t pull away from his grip, he took a chance and entwined his fingers in hers. He smelled the air, taking in the crisp cool freshness of the night. Most important, there were no bison, bear, or wolf in the immediate vicinity, either shifter or animal. Risky, taking her outside to eat. But eating inside presented a greater risk. She wasn’t ready to meet his people, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to share quite yet.
When they reached the series of large boulders lining the road between the hotel and the lake, he indicated the flattest of them, pulled out two brown boxes, and handed one over to her. “I went with the salmon. It was the kitchen’s unanimous recommendation.”
“It’s been forever since I had salmon.”
“Really?” He sat next to her on the ground with his back against the rock. “Where were you before your professor had his unfortunate accident?”
“I was working for an engineering firm in Utah, helping them with environmental cleanup and construction. To be honest, I hate that. I love being here out in the field. I mean, who wouldn’t love being in Yellowstone? I wish…”
“What do you wi
sh?”
“This is going to sound awful. I wish, if he had to break his hip, and please know I would never wish that, but if he had to, I wish it had happened in the spring so I could have been out here all summer long. The month I will be here isn’t enough.”
“Why not stay the winter?”
She laughed. “I don’t think I’m tough enough to rough it at the Mammoth campground in the winter months. Camping in the summer is one thing. When the snow falls, it’s something entirely different.”
So the clock was ticking. She had but a couple weeks maximum before she picked up stakes and left. “Will you come back in the spring?”
“I guess it depends on the job I get in the meantime. To come out here, I had to give notice at my previous job. So, come spring, I could be nearly anywhere. It all depends.” She shrugged, taking another bite. “Mmmm, this is really good.”
He hadn’t even touched his box. Not like him at all. “Will the good professor return in the spring when the park reopens to finish his research?”
“Not sure. He’s retired and doing this for himself. So he couldn’t afford to pay me when he wasn’t being paid himself. I’m not sure his health or his checkbook will allow him to research anymore, at least out in the field. Geologists aren’t known as money-grubbers, but we still need to pay the bills and eat.”
“What if I could find you a job here at the park?”
“Yeah, right. It’s impossible to get a job here. People spend years just getting on a waiting list. And I promise you, I’m not a good choice to work in the kitchens. I can burn water.” She returned her focus to her food.
He had to think, figure out a way to keep her there. Suddenly, the one shifter in the park who most wanted all humans gone found he wanted one human to stay forever. Time wasn’t on his side at all. He swept a glance over the lake area that had been his home his entire life. How could he leave it? At the same time, how could he stay here while his mate lived elsewhere?
