Alli. Now he knew her name. “I think the young lady needs time to think, or perhaps she doesn’t want to give you an answer in front of so many people.”
“Nonsense. Every woman likes an audience.”
Kian looked at Alli; her face was becoming a wonderful shade of pink. It spread down over the top of her luscious breasts, which were exposed by the open button of her shirt. It gave him a hint of the soft treasure hidden below. He longed to reach out and strip her clothes from her body to see if that pink flush travelled all the way down to her heated sex.
He took in a good breath of air; he could smell her arousal and knew it was for him. She had shown him her desire before her boyfriend had come in. He knew she wanted him, not this little man.
But that was the mating bond talking. In reality, he had nothing to offer her, other than his undying love. He certainly could never afford the big diamond ring she was being offered. He closed his eyes in defeat.
Chapter Three – Alli
“Yes,” she blurted out suddenly, wanting this whole episode to end. Graham was wrong. She hated people watching her. The longer this had gone on, the more uncomfortable she had felt. It wasn’t just that Drew and Marjorie were watching. It was the man. The man who made her feel hot and excited. He was the kind of man who would never be interested in her. Too good looking and self-assured for his, or her, own good. Whereas Graham wanted to make her happy.
Graham got up, grasped her finger, and thrust the ring onto it triumphantly, not caring that it was a size too small. He just jammed it on as far as he could. Alli looked down at it. A huge rock, not the kind she would have chosen, but then Graham rarely considered her tastes.
Oh, goodness, what have I done? she thought, her emotions conflicted. She had thought Graham was right for her and he was offering her the marriage she desperately wanted. Why had she picked today to decide that he was not the one?
Alli watched as Graham practically preened himself, king of the cocks. Beside him, the man looked as if he was going to rip her new fiancé’s head off. But why? It was none of his business. He had no right to look at Graham like that. Yet at this moment, she stood wearing the ring of one man whilst her traitorous body longed for the other.
Loyalty. That was what the husbands and wives of Bear Creek had in common. They were loyal to their spouses. And if Alli had any hope of being one of those couples that never got divorced, then she had to be loyal to the man who had dated her for the last three months.
Three months! What was she thinking, becoming engaged to a man after such a short time? Because that was how things worked in Bear Creek. Couples met, fell in love, and became engaged within weeks. Married within three months, or less.
So why did it feel so wrong?
Alli just wanted everyone out of her shop. She picked up the wrapped silver comb and handed it to the stranger. “Thank you, I hope Melanie loves it.” Something about saying the word love to him felt so right. She tightened her grip on reality. All romantic notions of this man sweeping her off her feet had to be quashed. She was engaged now. Yet, the rock on her finger felt heavy and false as he took the packet from her.
“Thank you,” he said, accepting the gift and brushing her finger with his. On purpose? Oh, yes. The now-familiar heat he drew from her body flooded her veins. He caught and held her eyes before she found the strength to drag herself away from him.
“Now, Graham. I have to finish up here.”
Graham came towards her and kissed her on the neck in his most sexy way, throwing a cold bucket of water on her arousal. Then to her horror, he whispered in her ear, “Tonight I am finally going to fuck you senseless.”
His whisper was loud enough for the stranger to hear. When her startled eyes met his, the look in his eyes declared that Graham fucking her senseless would be over his dead body. Or rather, Graham’s dead body.
“I’ll talk to you later, Graham,” she said, pushing him towards the door, for his own protection.
“I’ll make sure I have fresh sheets on the bed,” he said, grinning broadly.
Alli walked back to the counter, the stranger still staring at her. She couldn’t meet his eyes, but there was nothing for her to be ashamed of; why shouldn’t she sleep with the man she had just accepted a ring from? Because it was wrong. He was wrong. They both knew it. In that second, she dared lift her eyes to his, meaning to be defiant, and yet the hurt she saw there was deeper than the pools of passion from before.
Confused, she turned away, trying to ignore him. Thankfully, Drew and Marjorie approached the counter. The stranger turned to move, and then cast a “congratulations” over his shoulder and left.
“Well. You don’t do things by halves, do you?” Marjorie exclaimed.
“I am so sorry about that. Graham does get a little carried away.”
“Oh, I wasn’t talking about Graham. I was talking about the hunky guy who nearly ripped Graham’s head off.”
“I know. Very peculiar. I mean, what was his problem?” Alli cast a look out of the shop window, watching the guy as he crossed the street, got into a truck, and drove off. Why was it that she felt her heart went with him?
“So, can I have a look at the ring?” Drew asked.
“Sure,” said Alli, taking a proper look at it for the first time. Vulgar was how she would describe it. Her tastes were more subtle, as the many brides who had come through her door and tried on their dream dresses would attest to. If nothing else, Alli had good taste. In all but men. She sighed, long and drawn out.
“Wow. He’s out to impress,” Drew said, lifting Alli’s hand and turning it to the light. “That is one big rock.”
“Isn’t it.” Alli agreed, non-too happily.
Marjorie lifted Alli’s chin up, searching her face. “So why is it that you have just been proposed to, and accepted, I might add, and yet you look sad?”
“Shock,” she said, hoping that would explain her downturned mouth.
“Or is it because you said yes to the wrong man?”
“Marjorie!” Drew exclaimed.
“I’m sorry. The poor girl is one of us. She has no parents around to advise her, as far as I know.” She looked at Alli for confirmation. “As I thought. So I feel that we should be the voices of reason here.”
“I appreciate your concern,” Alli said, trying to find the words to tell Marjorie to mind her own business. But she couldn’t, because she knew what Marjorie had to say, and she already knew it was the truth. “But you don’t have to tell me I made a mistake.”
“Right. Now what are you going to do about it? Because one thing is for sure. You cannot sleep with a man just because he has put a ring on your finger. Even if he is going to put clean sheets on the bed.”
“You heard?” Alli gasped.
“We were meant to hear. Now, you have saved yourself for the right man, if I’m not mistaken, so don’t do anything reckless until you know which man is definitely right.”
Alli nodded. “Please keep this to yourselves until I can find a way of telling Graham.”
“I think the sooner the better. Go and tell him you made a mistake.” Marjorie’s face was set. How could someone looking in see it so clearly, when she hadn’t been able to until it was too late?
“But you have our word; we won’t tell anyone.” Drew pursed her lips before adding, “But once you do, you need to go and find Kian. He’s just moved into one of the farms that have been in need of renovation for years.”
“Kian?” Alli asked, her mind still fixated on how she was going to break off her engagement with Graham.
“You know, tall guy, big muscles,” Drew said.
“The one who fell in love with you at first sight,” Marjorie added.
Drew gave Marjorie a stern look and then said to Alli, “Go and see him, he’s perfect for you.”
“I can’t. What would Graham think?”
“Who cares? That man is only interested in what he wants. Has been as long as I’ve known him.”
“But he loves
me. I can’t dump him and go out with another man straightaway; he’ll think I was cheating on him.”
“Listen, Alli. You have seen enough women come in here to know what they look like when they have found the right man.”
Alli nodded. “Yes, I have.”
Marjorie took a compact mirror out of her purse and opened it up, putting it in front of Alli’s face. “Does that face look like a woman who has found the love of her life?”
“No.”
“Then do yourself a favour and go after Kian. Because I can tell you that when he proposes to you, then you will see a different woman. A happy woman.”
Alli looked at Drew, wondering if a fantasy bug or something had bitten everyone. This was real life. “Drew, do you know how long I’ve waited for one man to propose to me? I think the chances of a second one, especially one like Kian, proposing to me in this lifetime are pretty slim.”
She twirled the ring on her finger, beginning to get used to the weight and feel of it. Right now, it seemed scary to rush into calling it off with Graham. If for no other reason than thinking a man like Kian would be interested in her frightened the life out of her. He wouldn’t have waited patiently for her, being content with chaste kisses, instead of pushing for sex.
OK. Content was not the right word. Graham had been pushing more and more for them to consummate their relationship. And tonight, now they were official, that was what he expected. Her mouth went dry. She needed time alone to think. She had some alterations to do, and she always found that helped her to clear her head and put things into perspective.
“Thank you for your concern, ladies. But don’t worry about me. You both have enough to do, with the wedding so close.”
Drew paled once more. “Yes. Good luck, Alli.”
“See you on Friday night when I deliver the dress, all pressed and ready for the big day,” Alli said.
She watched the two women leave, seeing how they stopped just outside and whispered to each other. Then they turned and looked at Alli once more. Drew gave her a quick wave, which she returned, and then they walked away.
As she picked up her sewing, Alli pondered what had happened with a heavy heart. Why had she said yes to Graham? The path to the truth was not one she wanted to go down. That way led to the inner turmoil she felt every time she watched another woman get married. A mixture of intense happiness and—well, not exactly jealousy, more of a fascination.
Alli often wondered if her parents would have stayed together if they had been married. Or whether it would have made any difference at all. Alli had been born out of wedlock and had never met her own father. Her mother had died some years ago, having refused to talk about him. Out of hurt or anger, Alli never knew.
It explained her intense urge to get married, to know how a normal family worked. Which was why she had said yes to Graham. Yet she was a fool, because she knew she had said yes to the wrong man. Or had she?
Graham had dated her, made her feel special, when he could have had his pick of many of the other women in town. He was an eligible bachelor, solvent with good prospects. With her round face and voluptuous curves, she had often wondered why he had asked her out. But it was not the kind of thing you asked a man. She liked to think it was because he found her attractive and funny. That her outgoing personality drew him to her.
Yet deep down, she knew it needed to be more than that. There had to be passion, too, surely. Some spark. If she had felt it with a complete stranger, then surely she should feel it with the man she intended to spend the rest of her life with. Or else there was no way they would stay married like all the other couples in Bear Creek. Tonight she would ask him what exactly he wanted from their marriage, what exactly he saw in her.
Chapter Four – Kian
He steered his truck up the rough track to the farmhouse he was putting back together. It seemed fitting he should repair a building that was so much in need of love and attention. Pulling around the next bend in the track, he caught a glimpse of the house, now with its new roof. For the first time in decades, the house was nearly water tight, nearly protected from the elements.
Hearing his truck approaching, from out of the house Melanie appeared. She smiled and he felt happier; she always made everything seem brighter and less serious. Although things were serious, there was no getting away from that. But he didn’t want to unburden himself on her. This was supposed to be her special day, after all.
“Hello, where have you been?” she asked.
“Into town,” he said, getting out of his truck with the package in his large hand.
“More nails?” she asked, coming to give him a hug.
“Not this time.” He held the box out to her “Happy birthday.”
“Kian, you shouldn’t have. I know how tight money is.”
“It’s not that bad, and anyway, you deserve it.”
She opened the box, gasping in delight. “It’s too much.”
“No, it’s not.” He kissed her on the cheek. “And tonight we are going into town to celebrate.”
“Town!” she gasped, her young face filling with happiness, which she quickly let go. “No. I’ll cook us a meal.”
“You are having a day off from cooking.”
“I enjoy it. Kian, I’ll feel bad if we go into town and eat. I know how stretched we are financially. The comb is enough.”
“Listen, I’ve made up my mind. Let me treat you. Anyway, with the roof on, I will be able to ease up on working on the house. I have been asking around for paid work. A few businesses need a handyman on a regular basis. Plus, when it’s harvest time, I can help with that, too. So let’s have a celebration.”
“If you’re sure.” She couldn’t hide the happiness on her face.
“I am,” he insisted. He didn’t tell her that he had a small ulterior motive, such as needing to save his true mate from sleeping with another man.
“Thank you, Kian. It means a lot to me.”
“I think it will do you good to meet people from town, too. You can’t hide here forever.”
“I know, but I kind of like the solitude.”
“You are so young, Melanie. There is so much of the world for you to see.”
“Says the person who would rather be on a roof or planting crops than on a date. You know, you should be out looking for your mate, not babysitting me.”
“You’re not a baby.”
“I am compared to you!”
It was true; Melanie had been born a number of years after Kian. At the time, he had been off finding himself, or finding how to control his bear. When the news finally got to him, his parents had both passed on and Melanie had been fostered out to a normal family. He had fought hard, using every spare bit of money he had, to pay the legal fees to finally get her back.
They had lived in the city for a while, Kian working full time, in construction, to scrape enough money together to buy this old wreck of a farm. As soon as Melanie left school, they moved to Bear Creek so that she could learn what it was to be a bear without the worry of being seen. So far, they had both agreed this was the right move. But Kian was now worried how well another woman, his mate, would fit into all of this. He desperately didn’t want Melanie’s life to be turned upside down again.
Enough of that for now; this was his sister’s eighteenth birthday. From today, her aging would slow and the bear side of her would become more a part of her, her own hunt for a mate would begin. He only hoped she found her special mate in less time than it had taken him, and with more luck. However, today was not for dwelling on those thoughts, it was for looking forward to a bright future, so he said, “I’m starving, let’s eat.” He went back to the truck and produced a birthday cake. “I even bought candles.”
Melanie clapped her hands together excitedly. This was going to be a great day!
Chapter Five – Alli
Alli was thinking the opposite. Even though she loved her job, she was starting to feel stressed. It was getting to the stage where she needed
more than Mrs. Bury to help her. With all the alterations to be done, managing new clients was a stretch. Yet she wanted to expand, to draw in more people from the surrounding area. Alli knew that most of her business came from recommendations, her personal touch, and she was finding it difficult to find someone to lavish the same care and patience on her clients. Or who had nimble enough fingers to cope with the detailed work the alterations needed.
It didn’t help that the ring on her finger kept getting in the way and was uncomfortable. It was just too tight, so eventually she had to take it off and put it in the cash register for safekeeping. If Graham returned, and she doubted he would, since she had already received a text message from him telling her to meet him in the bar at seven, she would simply push it back on her finger before he noticed.
When she met him tonight, she would ask him about getting it altered. Or give it him back.
That was what she should do; she knew it. But she was beginning to fall in love with being in love. When Graham wasn’t here, she could allow herself to dream of her big day, and to dream that Graham was a better man for her than he actually was.
The day wound on; she kept herself busy and tried to ignore the ticking clock. But eventually it reached six o’clock, and she knew it was time to close up. First, she had to tidy up; she went around the shop, brush in hand, cleaning the bits of fabric up and making sure everything was ready for the morning.
Her thoughts drifted from Graham to the stranger, Kian, picturing him as he had stood at the counter. He had only entered her life that morning, yet it seemed as if they had connected on a deep level. Now she was sounding like a hare-brained romantic: he was just a man. However, mesmerised by the sweeping brush as it slid across the floor, her thoughts jumbled up and before she knew it, she was imagining herself marrying Kian instead. And wow, did he look a gorgeous sight in his morning suit.
“Hi,” a young sweet voice said from the doorway. “I wasn’t sure if you were closed.”
“No,” Alli said guiltily, glad no one could read her thoughts; they had just reached the honeymoon stage! Feeling hot, which she blamed on the exertion of sweeping the floor, not on making love to dreamy Kian, she put the brush to one side. Looking at the young woman, who stood rather nervously in the shop doorway, she said, “Come in. What can I do for you?”
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