“I was just thinking the same thing,” Pam agreed.
“One of the families in town makes it up on their farm,” Wendy continued. “They brew it all themselves and it goes down really well with the tourists. Are you here for the last of the ski?” Wendy’s eyes were deep blue and kind, and Pamela instantly felt at ease around here.
“Actually, no,” she admitted, gliding into conversation with Wendy without fear and glad that she finally had someone to chat to instead of Sean. “I’m here for work.”
Wendy raised her eyebrow.
“Oh really?” she asked with interest. “What kind of work?”
“Environmental,” Pamela nodded. “The company I work for has sent my colleague and me here to investigate the strange weather and animal activity.”
Wendy smiled a wry smile and nodded slowly.
“It’s been a strange couple of months,” she seemed to agree. “A lot of people around here would love to know what is going on. Especially, regarding the two hunters that went missing up on the mountain.”
“I heard about that,” Pam continued. “Seems like a lot has been going on here.”
“Oh, when doesn’t it!” Wendy laughed.
A man down the other end of the bar leaned over and began to call her, tapping on the countertop and motioning with his wallet that he wanted to buy some drinks.
“I better serve him,” she smiled, “if you want anything else, just give me a shout.”
Pamela nodded and watched as Wendy moved down to serve the other customers, then she relaxed against the back of the stool and took another sip of her beer.
She liked it in Shifter’s Bliss. It was raw and edgy, full of a wild mix of people, but welcoming and warm. She could hear the logs snapping in the little fires that were lit in the firepits, and she looked around, trying to figure out where the kitchen or smell of hog roast was coming from. She pulled a menu to her and started to flick through it. The pages were wrapped in plastic, no doubt to protect the paper from spills from the drunks as they drooled over the pictures when they were looking for snacks to go with their booze. As she flicked through, she noticed that in corner of each page was the image of a bear, and it didn’t take her long to recognize that it was the same snarling face from the statue in the center of town.
She closed the menu and slid it slowly away from here and took another swallow. This was such a strange little place, full of quirks and in its own little world.
She heard a roar of laughter coming from behind her and she turned to look over her shoulder to see the group of men who had been standing in the doorway when she arrived to wave off the bikers. They were all gathered in one of the booths that lined the back wall, and it looked like they had been there for a while, with huge empty glasses scattered around the table, empty bottles of beer and a half-full bottle of whiskey. They were clearly all very merry, some of them roughhousing with each other. Two of them got up and went to sit at a clear table next to the booth and started to have an arm wrestle.
She laughed to herself a little and kept watching, until she felt the eyes of someone from the group on her and she let hers meet with them.
When she saw who was watching her, her heart almost stopped in her chest and her skin began to prickle.
His eyes were deep and dark but fixed intently on her from across the room, with a look of trouble on his face, as if he were half angry, and half unsure of what he wanted to feel.
It was the man from the hotel.
Ryder.
Instinctively and out of shyness, Pamela quickly broke eye contact and looked away. She turned back to face the bar and took a deep breath.
Oh my god, she thought. It’s him…
She sipped her beer and tapped her cellphone to bring it to life, suddenly feeling as if she were very much on display. It didn’t matter that the bar was crowded, and that most of the people in there were either drunk or too involved in their own conversations to notice her. Now that she knew Ryder had spotter her, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to rest.
She opened her emails and started to flick through them, trying to take her mind off the fact that one of the most handsome and sexiest men she had ever seen, and had subsequently been given a seriously nasty look from a few moments later, was right behind her.
She loaded one of the PDFs from an email and scanned through it, not taking any of it in. She saw words like soil, minerals, ph levels… and as her eyes flickered down the page, she felt them start to water and her vision started to blur.
She looked up and away from it, ready to try and catch Wendy’s attention, when, to her complete shock and surprise, Ryder came out of nowhere and stepped behind the bar himself.
His eyes were still fixed on Pamela, but his expression had softened slightly. She smiled weakly at him and then looked nervously away, hoping that he wasn’t about to lay into her for what had happened back at the hotel.
“Hey… again…,” he said as he reached down to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of beer. He snapped off the cap with his teeth and blew the bottle top into the trash. He made it look so effortless and easy, it took Pamela by surprise and she was lost for words.
“Hi,” she finally managed to whisper, hoping that a ferocious blush wasn’t spreading out across her cheeks and entire face.
“So, did you and your boyfriend get checked in?” he asked her, a cloud turning his face to stone.
“He isn’t my boyfriend,” Pamela found herself snapping back. “But yes, thank you, we did.”
He smirked and raised the bottle to his lips and took another drink.
“Listen,” Pamela interjected before he had chance to speak again. “I’m sorry for the way Sean was back at the hotel, I want you to know that I don’t condone him or his behavior.”
“Well, why would you?” Ryder raised his eyebrows. “He’s a total jackass. And like you said, he’s not your boyfriend, so you don’t need to apologize.”
He grinned at her, as if he was trying to get her to bite.
She narrowed her eyes and smirked back.
“I just wanted you to know, we’re not all like him.”
“What, tourists?” he half snorted. “Well, I know that.”
“No,” she laughed. “Scientists.”
Ryder’s eyebrows raised much like Wendy’s had done and she watched as he set the bottle of beer down and crossed his arms over his chest defensively.
“And what is a scientist doing in this town?” he said with an underlying challenge.
“For work,” she said matter-of-factly.
Ryder ran his tongue under his lip and across his teeth while he kept his eyes fixed firmly on her. The way he was looking at her was unnerving, it was almost like he was hungry, and she was his next meal. But there was something so standoffish about him too, as if she were annoying him by just existing. She knew she was babbling and not acting herself, so she looked away and took another sip of her drink.
Ryder reached down and opened the refrigerator before he pulled out another bottle and set it in front of her. She looked up into his eyes again, and she felt something move inside her heart. He was closer to her than he had been back at the hotel, and she felt a pull toward him. Her spine tingled and she felt hot all over, right under her skin and creeping up her neck. Her heart beat faster and she was sure that something gold glistened in the middle of his eyes.
“Here,” he said. “Have this on me. Welcome to Bridge Hollow.”
He smiled and snapped the cap off with an opener, slid the bottle right in front of her and stepped away. She watched him move behind the bar and off into the throng of waiting customers. He began to serve them, pouring drinks quickly and smashing open the register with his big, heavy hands.
Pamela couldn’t take her eyes off him, she was completely entranced. Who was this guy? Did he work there, doing odd jobs and moonlighting at the hotel to help his aunt, or was he something else?
She watched him out of the corner of her eye and trie
d not to let him see, but on a few occasions, he looked up at her and she had to turn away.
Finally, after what seemed like a decade, Ryder strolled back to her end and leaned back against the far counter, drying clean glasses with a cloth and stacking them up in neat piles.
She looked up and watched him and he smiled at her again.
“So, I take it you work here then?” Pamela asked when she worked up the courage.
He was barely even three feet away from her, but she could still feel a heat between them, as if there was a chord tugging them together.
He nodded slowly and then his eyes met hers again.
She felt a jolt, as if she were becoming addicted to looking into his eyes and she had just gotten a fix. They were so dark and enchanting, and the gold shimmer deep inside of them, just around the pupil, was mesmerizing her and making it impossible for her to look away.
“Yes,” he said, “I own the bar.”
His voice was deep and gruff, and he had a confidence about him that was completely arousing. She cleared her throat and looked down at her knees, hoping she still wasn’t blushing.
“Cool,” was all she could manage to say.
He owned the bar she was sitting in… what were the chances? Only a few hours in town and she had already invaded this guy’s peaceful evening twice.
He smiled and picked up another glass and kept drying it.
“Who were the bikers?” she asked suddenly, to try and change the subject.
Ryder’s eyes widened a bit as if he were impressed.
“Are you sure you’re a scientist and not an investigator?” he asked with amusement.
“I guess there’s not a whole lot in-between,” she said.
He smiled and his demeanor softened slightly.
“Just some guys we know,” he said. “Don’t worry, they’re harmless. I’m sure they have nothing to do with whatever you’re here to look at.”
“The strange weather and the die offs?” she blurted out.
She knew she had already tested the water with Wendy, but she had not stopped working since, and it was clear that if Ryder owned the bar, he would be more inclined to sit and chat with her.
He smiled again and then turned his back on her and reached down for another beer.
“Here,” he said as he passed it to her and set it down on top of the counter. “Enjoy, again, on me.”
He didn’t say another word, but he stepped out from behind the bar and disappeared back toward the crowd of men who were drinking in the back booth. She looked casually over her shoulder and saw him sit among them and get back into conversation, and she wondered why people seemed to be shutting down whenever she mentioned why she was there.
She raised the bottle to her lips and took another sip before she yawned and looked at her watch. It was only 9:30pm, but she knew she had a busy day ahead of her, and she didn’t want to risk any kind of hangover by sitting in Shifter’s Bliss for too long, drinking the night away with the locals.
She thought back to the way Ryder had spoken to her. How she felt something when she looked into his eyes, and even now, as she sat there, she could feel him watching her. It was as if she could sense him when he was near, and they couldn’t help but be drawn to each other, but she also knew she had drank three beers and hoped that it was just a mild buzz washing over her and making her feel more carefree.
She opened her purse and pulled out twenty dollars and set it under one of the empty bottles. She picked up her things and gave Wendy a little wave as she turned and headed toward the door.
I don’t need anyone’s charity or a man to buy me drinks, she thought to herself as she walked past the table of rowdy men and felt Ryder’s eyes still on her. Pulling her in and watching her every move.
When she reached the door, she finally looked up, and their eyes instantly met. Around her, the noise seemed to fall away, and for a split second, it was as if they were the only two people in the room.
Her heart raged in her chest and all she could hear was it beating, the pulse rushing through her veins getting faster as she looked into his eyes, wishing she could move closer.
She broke their connection and stepped out the door and into the night, and she had to take a moment to find her breath.
She had no idea who Ryder was, or what hold he had over her, but just being near him was sending her lust and mind into overdrive, and it was unnerving.
She composed herself before she rushed away from the door of the bar and as far away from him as she could. She glanced back over her shoulder and the door to Shifter’s Bliss was empty, but she could still feel him, as if he were watching her from the shadows.
Back in the hotel room, she locked the door behind her and sighed, sitting on the bed. The curtains were still open to the doors to the balcony, and she could see the twinkling lights scattering up the mountain, and the sound of singing and laughter coming from one of the taverns down below. She breathed in and out deeply and stared up at the ceiling. It had been a crazy day, and now she was overthinking even more about Bridge Hollow and what this place meant.
She thought of Ryder, her mind swimming with possibilities. It had been the first time ever that a guy had even caught her attention, let alone made her heart race and her head spin the way it was doing now. She had always managed to avoid being drawn to someone, but this felt different.
She remembered the intensity of his eyes, the way they had glistened with gold and seemed out of this world. She could have kept looking into them all night and gotten lost. She could have dived right into their depths and stayed forever, but there was something about him that was cool and aloof, and she didn’t know what it meant.
She rolled onto her side and rubbed her forehead. She didn’t even know what she was thinking getting herself all worked up like that.
“You’re here to work,” she whispered to herself, as if she was scolding a child. “You don’t need a complication, or anything to make you look bad at the agency…”
She clamped her mouth shut as if she couldn’t even believe she was saying the words out loud.
This is ridiculous, she thought. You don’t want a man, and you certainly don’t want someone taking advantage of you and throwing you off you’re A-game while you’re here starting out your career.
She could only imagine what her mother would be saying to her if she were there at that very moment. She would be furious with her, and she would be telling her, Pamela hadn’t come this far just to give it all up at the last moment for a quick fling with a hot mountain man.
But god, was he hot…
He was nothing like the guys she had been warned about in her city back home. The kind of well-groomed city boys that she had known to avoid like the plague. She had only focused on her career, and she had always managed to stay well out of the dating game.
But Ryder, he seemed different.
Rugged and raw, and there was more to him, she could tell.
She shook the thoughts away and got to her feet, wandering over to the bathroom.
She ran the faucet and splashed water on her face, taking off the small amount of make-up still left from that morning and then moisturizing her face. She peeled off her clothes and got into her PJ’s, before she climbed into bed and snuggled down for the night.
It had been one hell of a first night in town, but she was looking forward to shutting off the exterior distractions and getting thrown into her work.
Her first day on the job was going to be a good one, and she closed her eyes to drift off into a peaceful sleep.
5.
Sean was waiting outside the front of the hotel not long after 8am, his jeans were tight on his hips and he had a rucksack slung over his shoulder. He reminded Pamela of something straight out of an 80’s high school movie, his hair was tall with a bouffant and a streak of gel, and his sunglasses were big and shiny.
“Morning,” she said, trying not to smirk.
“Finally,” Sean said, tapping his wris
t, and it made Pamela want to roll her eyes. She wasn’t anywhere near late, and she could tell that he was going to be busting her ass from this moment on.
“Okay, so I’m going to drop you up on the mountain close to where the hunters went missing,” he said as he slipped his cellphone into his back pocket and hitched the bag up onto his shoulder. I’m going to hike up further and see what I can find closer to the summit. I’ll have a radio on me, and this one is for you…” He passed her a walkie-talkie and it crackled with static in her hand.
“No problem,” she said.
She hadn’t thought much about being up on the mountain alone, but now that it was coming to the point where they were going to head out, she was getting kind of nervous that she would be left in a place where two grown men had just vanished without a trace and animals had been dying in vast quantities.
“Have you spoken to the rangers?” she asked as she clipped the radio to her belt. “This is a national park; we probably need permission.”
Sean rolled his eyes and sighed. Clearly, he hadn’t thought of everything.
“Seriously?” he said with irritation.
“Of course,” she nodded. “I thought you would have known that.”
“You’re the environmental expert,” he said flatly. “I’m the investigative brain.”
Pamela shrugged and tried not to laugh. It was fun seeing him so ruffled.
“Fine,” he sighed. “Hang on.”
He marched back through the glass doors at the front of The Hollow Hotel and they closed slowly behind him.
When Pamela turned and looked around, she was greeted by the most perfect morning out on Main Street. The flowers in the hanging baskets were bright red and lush, the trees were thick and full, and the sun was shining brightly. The air was clear and crisp, and the breeze was still cool, but it was welcomed, as people of the town wandered up and down, doing their morning routines, buying coffee and newspapers, dashing out to get a carton of milk, and walking their dogs. Pamela found herself caught up in the people watching and almost forgot that she was going to have to tear herself away and start working.
Bridge Hollow Shifters: The Complete Collection Page 14
