The Bigger They Are… (Lovers on the Fringe, Book Two)

by Stephanie Julian

  The Bigger They Are…

  Stephanie Julian

  Book two in the Lovers on the Fringe series.

  Andy Lohani is in a serious funk. The Yeti shifter is looking for love, or at least some loving, and when he meets Jenna Durham one dark night, sparks fly. She’s beautiful, sexy and hot for him. Getting her in his bed is job one. Unfortunately, she’s Normal and he’s really…not.

  Accountant Jenna Durham doesn’t believe her brother’s crazy theories about Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. But she agrees to check out a bar in northern Pennsylvania where her brother says Bigfoot hangs out. At least she’s getting an expenses-paid weekend away.

  When Jenna meets seven-foot blond and blue-eyed hunk Andy, she realizes she owes her brother one hell of an apology. Because she has a huge crush on the Abominable Snowman. And what he can do between the sheets is not something a girl could soon forget. But if she wants to keep him, she might have to give up her Normal life for one on the Fringe…

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing

  www.ellorascave.com

  The Bigger They Are…

  ISBN 9781419939549

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  The Bigger They Are… Copyright 2012 Stephanie Julian

  Edited by Grace Bradley

  Cover art by Fiona Jayde

  Photography by InnervisionArt and tankist276/Shutterstock.com

  Electronic book publication March 2012

  The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

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  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

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  The Bigger They Are...

  Stephanie Julian

  Chapter One

  “Are you seriously telling me that network is going to give you hundreds of thousands of dollars to chase after the Abominable Snowman and dinosaurs in Africa? And you signed an actual contract?”

  “Yeah, can you believe it? This is my big break, Sis.”

  Jenna Durham took a moment to consider that maybe the only break had been between her brother’s reality and the one everyone else lived in.

  Sucking in a deep breath, Jenna made sure she hit the mute button on her cell phone before she blew out a ragged sigh.

  She loved her twin dearly. Truly, she did. She’d gone to bat for him every time someone had called him crazy. If she played in the majors, she’d have a .350 batting average.

  But Joss had never been what anyone besides his merry band of idiots in the Society of Paranormal Abnormalities would consider normal.

  And if Jenna was just the teeniest bit jealous that Joss had the courage—or the foolishly blind determination—to jet all over the world in search of his dream, well, she’d just keep that to herself.

  “Jenna?”

  She clicked off the mute and forced enthusiasm into her voice. “Joss, that’s great. Really wonderful. Where are you going and when do you leave?”

  “I’ve got a flight out in the morning to Scotland. But that’s not all I wanted to talk to you about.”

  Shit. She knew it. He needed money. Joss always needed money.

  Hey, Sis, I’m in New Jersey tracking El Chupacabra. Can I borrow a hundred bucks for raw meat?

  I’m ghost-hunting in Montana. Can you wire me some money for batteries for my EVP?

  Hey, Jenna, did you know you can accidentally electrocute yourself by falling into a river with your digital camera strapped to your head with duct tape?

  “Joss, I don’t—”

  “It’s not money,” he broke in immediately. “Actually this time, I’ve got a job for you. Just don’t say no until you’ve heard me out, okay?”

  Since she’d only just started her fifteen-minute drive from the city of Reading, Pennsylvania, to her adorable little house in the suburbs of Spring Township, she figured what the hell.

  Which immediately made her think of that song by Avril Lavigne.

  She and ole Avril happened to be the same age, a ripe old twenty-seven. They both had brown hair and a previous predilection for bad boys who liked to skateboard. But that was where the similarities ended these days.

  Avril was making a shitload of money while Jenna continued to work as a freelance accountant for small businesses, like Macy Williams, who made cakes in the shape of penises for bridal showers and Doug Millstock, who printed tabloids for such world-renowned groups as the Alternative Christians, People for the Kind Treatment of Llamas and the Association for the Growth of Brilliance.

  Last week, Doug had dropped off a stack of “reading material” for her office.

  Joss probably already had a subscription to the one on top. The Weekly News Journal had a double-issue expose about Bigfoot, complete with pictures.

  She had to admit the story had put a smile on her face the entire day. The article had been witty and the pictures just blurry enough to be tantalizing.

  She wondered how they’d—

  “Wait one freaking minute, Joss.” While she’d been thinking, Joss had been talking and her brain had finally caught up. “You want me to do what?”

  “I want you to go to Tioga County and check out a bar for me. I think Bigfoot hangs out there.”

  * * * * *

  “I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with me, Fry. It’s like I’m sick of sex with hot chicks. I don’t even want to pull out my fur coat and terrorize a few backwoods housewives. Dude, I must be dying.”

  Anadi Lohani, known to everyone but his mother as Andy, knocked back his first shot of Jack and nodded to the bartender for another.

  His best friend Fry rolled bright-green eyes and gave his blue-tinged wings a fluttery shake as he laughed. “The only thing you’re dying of, my friend, is boredom.”

  Andy tipped the next shot of Jack down his throat, appreciating the burn and wishing he could actually get drunk. To do that, he’d need another two bottles because his metabolism was so high, it worked alcohol out of his system faster than moo shoo pork through a dog.

  “Yeah, so what’s the cure, you smartass fae?”

  Fry didn’t answer right away. Instead, he gave a little wave over his shoulder at the twin sylphs sitting in the booth across from the bar.

  Andy followed Fry’s gaze and checked out the Irish water nymphs giving him and Fry matching smiles from beautiful mouths as they raised pale, thin hands to return Fry’s
wave.

  The women were gorgeous. Beautiful in the way only Fringe dwellers could be. They had that little something else that made them stand out in a crowd.

  Even in the crowd here at the Mystyk Bar in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, where everyone was a Fringe dweller.

  Hidden in a forgotten valley of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon and known only to the Fringe, the Mystyk was a safe haven for people like Fry to be able to flap their wings in peace. For the Appalachian Mountain dwarves to cheat the Irish leprechaun out of his gold at their card game in the corner. And for the three Japanese tengu at the table by the door to giggle like schoolgirls as they stroked the scales of the Chinese dragon sitting on the floor next to them.

  “The cure is sitting right over there at that table.” Fry gave the sylphs a devastating smile. “Or would you rather take a shot at the pretty lady in the corner?”

  Yeah, the brown-skinned pixie was a beauty but he was afraid he might crush her.

  Andy sighed and turned back to his drink. “You know what, Fry? I’m sick of meaningless one-night stands.”

  Fry froze for a second before he blinked and his dark brows arched in crescents over his eyes. “Whoa, big guy. Now you’re starting to worry me. Maybe you better see the doctor. When the hell did you decide to become an adult?”

  Andy gave Fry the finger though he didn’t bother to deny his friend’s accusation. Hell, just yesterday, he’d actually considered having a salad instead of fries with his burger because heart disease would really suck.

  Of course, he had the fries because he wasn’t that far gone. Yet.

  He couldn’t say the same for his cousin, Tim. Poor guy had probably bought life insurance and made an appointment to get his balls made into a purse for his girlfriend, Carrie.

  “Oh, wait. I know what’s going on.” Fry’s smirk showed off his finely pointed incisors. “This is about Carrie.”

  Shit, had he said that aloud? Or had Fry just read his mind?

  No, Fry couldn’t know what he was thinking. He hadn’t told anyone about his foolish crush.

  Not on Carrie. Well, not completely on Carrie. Sure, she was great, a redheaded Amazon built for loving. But Tim had seen her first and Andy didn’t poach.

  Andy gave Fry his best “you’re an idiot” look.

  “Oh, don’t even.” Fry snorted. “You’ve been moping since we saw them last week.”

  Fucking Fry. Andy would give his wings a coat of pink glitter if he didn’t think Fry would rock the look like every teenage girl’s wet dream. Combined with the Scottish accent, the guy had women falling at his feet.

  “I haven’t been moping, you fucked-up Tinkleberry. I’ve been thinking.”

  About how miserably lonely he was and how Tim seemed to have beaten the blahs with the one woman he should’ve never fallen for.

  At least she wasn’t a SPAz. The members of the Society of Paranormal Abnormalities were a bunch of idiots who thought they knew all about the Fringe. Turned out they knew only enough to be truly annoying.

  No, smartass Carrie Benton worked for a tabloid that liked to print fuzzy pictures of Bigfoot. Just so happened Tim was Bigfoot. Cupid definitely had a sense of humor sometimes, the little bastard.

  Fry’s undignified snort made Andy give his friend a warning glare. Not that Fry ever heeded Andy’s warnings. Fry usually brushed Andy off like a fly, which was a damn weird analogy considering Fry had wings and only stood about five-ten, while Andy topped out at seven feet and looked like the Viking offspring of the NBA and the WWE.

  The fact that Andy could crush Fry like a bug—pun definitely intended—never entered Fry’s mind because he knew Andy would never hurt him.

  Hell, violence of any kind was abhorrent to Andy. Why tire yourself out and risk bodily injury beating on someone when you could cut them down to size with a few sarcastic remarks?

  Or just terrorize the shit out of them by shifting into his fur coat.

  “What?” Andy demanded when Fry just continued to look at him.

  Fry rolled his eyes again and lifted his drink for a long swallow. “Dude, do I really have to spell it out for you?”

  Well, maybe he did, because Andy wasn’t getting Fry’s meaning. Which probably had more to do with Fry’s attitude than Andy’s comprehension skills.

  “You’re jealous,” Fry answered as if Andy had told Fry to go ahead and insult the hell out of him.

  Andy drew himself up to his full seven feet, towering over Fry and making the sylphs sigh in unison.

  “I am not.”

  Fry’s wings gave a dismissive shake. “Of course you are. Your mom’s right, man. We need to find you a woman.”

  * * * * *

  “I cannot believe I allowed him to talk me into this.”

  Jenna checked the GPS unit again and shook her head when the annoyingly smooth female voice said, “You have arrived at your destination.”

  “And you’re sure this is the place?”

  “You have arrived at your destination.”

  Had her GPS unit just given her attitude? Hell, if a television network—one that had paid real money upfront—had given her brother enough funds to go to Scotland, she figured pigs could fly and GPS units could be snotty bitches.

  Considering she’d been bitching the entire drive, she wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d heard a disgusted sigh issue from the stereo speakers of her new Honda Civic.

  But really, what kind of idiot believed in fairies and dragons?

  Apparently the kind who got paid actual money to go find them.

  Didn’t that damn network have better things to do with their money, like make another Saturday night movie as epic as Mega-python vs. Gatoroid?

  Debbie Gibson and Tiffany catfight. A Monkee being eaten by a giant snake.

  She’d nearly laughed herself sick.

  Or it could have been the fact that she was watching that movie alone on a Saturday night after turning down a friend’s request to barhop.

  With a sigh, she looked out the front window of the car again.

  The next time her brother asked her to investigate some weird bar that catered to monsters in the middle of the freaking Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, she was saying no.

  Which would seal her fate as the most boring person in the world.

  But really…

  Jenna eyed the run-down shack in the middle of nowhere, trying to see beyond the peeling paint and the shuttered windows for any redeeming qualities.

  So far, all she saw was a lawsuit waiting to happen when someone put their foot through the rotting floorboards on the porch.

  Had someone sent Joss this address as a way to play with his mind?

  For the past couple of months, as Joss had gotten more and more convinced that he was close to proving the existence of some of the most incredible creatures in the world, Jenna had considered the fact that maybe someone was leading Joss on. Was there someone out there who had it in for her brother? Who might actually try to lure him out to this remote area and harm him?

  Or maybe she’d simply traded Joss’ delusions for her own conspiracy theories.

  Jenna stared out at the unrelenting forest, the sight of all that forbidding darkness reminding her of the horror that had been sleep-away camp as a kid.

  All those trees. Bugs the size of her hand. And animals that belonged in a nice, safe zoo wandering around without a leash.

  What had her parents been thinking when they’d forced her to spend two weeks there?

  Hell, she’d always given a wide berth to the neighbor’s overly friendly handbag-sized Chihuahua.

  Today, camping to Jenna meant a hotel without room service. And she refused to stay in one of those.

  This… This was hell.

  “I can’t believe I let him talk me into this. Jesus, I’m an idiot.”

  She should just turn around and head back to the lovely bed-and-breakfast about fifteen miles down the road where she’d booked a room for the weekend. It boasted gourmet food, a
world-renowned spa and free WiFi.

  Civilized.

  This place didn’t look civilized. It looked almost…prehistoric.

  Except for the parking lot beside the shed where six cars sat. Mocking her.

  Shit.

  Come on, Jenna, you know I wouldn’t ask you to do this unless it was important, right?

  She and her brother had extremely dissimilar views of the meaning of important.

  Joss thought it meant proving there really were prehistoric monsters cruising the Great Lakes. Jenna believed important meant solving childhood hunger and the crisis in the Middle East.

  But Joss had pleaded with her, begged and bribed and finally guilted her into promising to check out this place.

  Come on, Jenna. If there’s nothing there, at least you’ll get a weekend away out of the deal and make a couple thousand bucks.

  It had been the money that had sealed the deal. She had her eye on a new refrigerator.

  “Jeez, maybe you really are the most boring person in the world.”

  She half expected the GPS to agree. Luckily for its health, it stayed silent. But she knew it was mocking her. She just knew it.

  With a sigh, she forced herself to put her car in drive and inch down the lane, which was more like a path, rutted and muddy and suited more for the SUVs and Jeeps she saw in that makeshift lot next to the building her brother thought might hold the Holy Grail of his career.

  Career. She snorted. What kind of career could a grown man have chasing myths and legends around the world?

  He’s getting paid more than double what you made last year, though, isn’t he?

  Yep. She’d definitely rather fight with the GPS. It was much less snarky than her own brain.

  She was happy for her brother. Really, she was. Usually she just nodded and smiled when he talked about the pitiful grants he received from groups like UFOlogists United and The Center for Cryptids and Unexplained Phenomena to “investigate” Bigfoot attacks and poltergeist damage. The UUs and CCUPs of the world were plentiful but they didn’t pay very well.