by Anya Nowlan
When he passed a few months later from cancer, he managed to surprise Pearl yet again. This time, by leaving her a small inheritance. It wasn’t much and he had shared most of his moderate wealth with his family, but he’d remembered the curvy woman who’d liked hearing his stories and kept him company when his family was scattered all over the world. She couldn’t have been more grateful to him for his kindness, pushing her to do better and reach higher even when he was gone.
So, here she was now, in Shifter Grove, about to open up the only grocery store within a hundred mile radius and follow the path she’d always dreamed of – being her own boss – and she was terrified.
Pearl wasn’t even entirely sure what it was that she was so afraid of. Failure? That couldn’t be it. She’d fallen and got back up plenty of times in her life to not be swayed by a few scrapes and bruises along the way to success. No, it wasn’t failure. Pearl scrunched her nose a little, glaring at the spot that just wouldn’t budge on the gleaming glass, the rest of it mirroring back her reflection. The look in her eyes told her exactly what she was afraid of, what she wouldn’t admit to herself in public or private.
She was afraid of disappointing herself, and Andrei. Pearl was sure he was keeping an eye on her from whatever version of shifter heaven he believed in, and she was absolutely horrified of the possibility of not living up to her own potential, or the faith he’d put in her.
Though that wasn’t the only thing that had been plaguing her mind lately.
As if it wasn’t enough to deal with opening her first ever business and moving to a strange (albeit super friendly) new town where she didn’t know anyone, she also had to deal with her heart being an asshole, and all that in a matter of a few weeks.
Her phone beeped next to her on the counter and she groaned inwardly. There it was again. The reason why her heart was threatening to commit suicide over a combined emotion of excitement and utter disgust in what she was doing.
Reluctantly, she pushed the power button and saw the familiar glow of a new message on SassyDate. She knew exactly who it was from and she was going to absolutely hate herself for replying, but of course she was going to reply.
GoldenBoy: So, Pearl. Do you miss me? Can’t be without me? I bet you can’t.
PearlPlease: I thought we talked about this. I’m not interested!
Pearl put the phone down with a snort and grabbed for the rag, eager to get back to work and ignore the oh-so-sexy shifter who was laying all his best material on her. He was a cocky bastard. Impossible, really. She’d met him at the cigar club, The Top Hat Bulldog, about a month ago, and he had made a complete and utter fool of himself. Not only that, he also hadn’t left her alone for a moment since then.
Somehow, between making the girl who was giving a concert at the club squeal with giddy joy and then complete horror when he put his hand up her skirt, and then crashing into a table via the courtesy of the bouncers, he’d noticed her at the bar and that was that. She still remembered the mischievous, almost predatory smirk and wink he sent her as he was carted off by the two burly bouncers, and the words Andrei had said when he saw him.
“He looks like trouble,” he’d said with a chuckle, sipping his drink despite looking so frail that he might crumble to dust right around the glass.
“He sure does.”
“I bet someone like that would be good for you.”
Pearl remembered she’d huffed and laughed at his words, cleaning a whiskey tumbler at the same time.
“Sure. Someone who shows up, makes a complete and utter mess of everything and then trundles off to go make someone else’s life hell. You think that’s the kind of guy I need?”
Pearl remembered Andrei’s deep chuckle and his casual smile, showing a row of perfectly white teeth – the chompers of a beast who could still hold his own if he needed to.
“Someone who shakes you out of your cocoon, makes you dizzy with excitement and yearn to live again? Yeah, I think that’s the kind of guy you need.”
“I’m not a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of girl,” she said, making a sour face.
“He wouldn’t leave,” Andrei had said seriously, surprising her.
“How do you figure that?”
“Look at him,” Andrei said, making Pearl glance after the strong, wild-eyed man who was arguing at the door with two bouncers twice his impressive size (it was only later that she found out that both of them were werebears).
“All I see is a troublemaker who’d break a girl’s heart,” she said, ignoring the flash of heat that went through her when he glanced her way again and licked his lips like she was an ice cream sundae and he was starving.
“And all I see is a man who needs a good woman to make him stay home.”
Pearl hadn’t known that that would be one of the last conversations she would ever have with Andrei. And she’d been even less prepared for the bad boy shifter to find her on SassyDate and do his damndest to get her to go out with him.
The phone beeped again, shaking her out of her reverie. While her mind screamed at her to ignore it and just keep working (He’s god knows where and you’re in Idaho, this would never work! And he’s a bastard! You don’t need that!), her treacherous heart was doing everything short of threatening to stop beating if she didn’t at least look at what he had to say (Remember what Andrei said? And remember what he looked like? Oh my god, that guy, naked in your bed, fucking you senseless! Does that not sound like the best freaking time you could imagine?)
Yeah, as usual, the heart won. Pearl was going to have to have a real serious sit-down with that ticker of hers and tell it to stop mucking about. She had work to do and a future to build, and that future most certainly didn’t include a dripping of sin shifter whose sole goal in life seemed to be to get into her pants.
GoldenBoy: Oh, we’re playing coy this time, huh? Okay. How about I buy you dinner, hmm? Just a pleasant meeting of the minds. I promise I’ll only fuck you if you beg me really nicely. I’ll open doors and everything. Doesn’t that sound like a good time, baby?
PearlPlease: I’m not your baby. And I’m not in Delaware anymore.
GoldenBoy: So what you’re saying is that if I were where you are, you’d come out with me?
Pearl rolled her eyes. On the one hand, she wanted to tell him to just screw off. She’d been talking to him on and off for a month and though there’d been moments when she’d genuinely felt like there was something there – those rare moments he stopped fronting and behaved like a human being, sharing his thoughts and feelings with her – most of the time he was just being an egregious asshat with too much personality for her to tolerate. For that kind of bullshit to go down, a woman would have to be showered with candy and flowers on a daily basis and even then she’d tell him to cut that shit.
On the other hand, she liked that edge of danger and excitement he brought. She shuddered all over every time he sent her a text or a pic, which he sometimes did when she’d been ignoring him for too long. Pearl wasn’t ashamed to admit that she did it on purpose more often than not, if only to see his absolutely killer abs and bad boy smirk.
You’re in Idaho and he’s… well, wherever he is. Colorado? Why not let the fantasy continue. Just a little bit longer? It’s not like you can start dating someone here right now – you don’t have the time!
PearlPlease: Sure, I would come out with you if we were in the same place.
Right then and there, the little bell on the door rang and Pearl looked up. She gasped, dropping the phone on the counter with a loud clattering noise.
There he was – the bane of her existence, the sexiest and most infuriating man she had ever met – grinning at her like he was just seconds from eating her up. Ares casually walked over to the counter and leant on it, making the muscles on his arms flex. Pearl’s mouth went dry and her words got stuck in her throat.
A million thoughts and questions rushed through her head, but the most prevalent of them all were how he could look so damn cocky and why she w
anted him so badly.
“So, what time do I pick you up?” he asked, flashing a brilliant smile.
Shit.
Pearl Landon wasn’t feeling very eloquent at that moment.
CHAPTER THREE
Ares
Fuck, she looks good.
And she did. Pearl looked just as mouthwatering as she had the first time they met. He’d been in Delaware for a show, playing guitar for a friend’s band and generally having a good time, when he came across the most gorgeous creature he’d ever seen while crawling through the local bars.
When he saw her, it was like time and space stood still for a moment. She had stormy gray eyes that made him think of autumn winds and a plush, scrumptious smile that made him want to catch those plump lips between his teeth until she yelped for him to let go. And then he’d move down that absolutely divine body of hers until he reached her bountiful breasts and…
Fuck.
He wasn’t feeling very eloquent either.
Ares smirked. It was hard to settle down when he was faced with the object of his desires. She still hadn’t said a word and he was starting to wonder whether that was a good or a bad thing. No heavy objects were flying in the general direction of his head, so that was good. And, shamefully, he hadn’t got a kiss yet either, so that wasn’t so good. A day of ups and downs, most certainly.
“W-what the hell are you doing here!?” Pearl finally screeched, making Ares grimace.
Sheesh. She could be loud when she wanted to. He couldn’t wait to test out just how loud he could make her. Looking at her, she seemed to be the kind of woman who would enjoy a bit of hair-pulling and dirty talk.
Plenty of time to figure that out…
“What do you mean, princess? I’m here to whisk you off on a romantic date, filled with tequila shots and beer nuts. And if you’re particularly nice to me, maybe I’ll even let you say thank you.”
He winked at her and she didn’t look very amused. Inwardly, he shrugged – couldn’t win them all. That material would have slayed in New York, for instance. Those Upper East Side types really liked to be told to get on their knees and suck some cock. He’d always figured it was some sort of power thing – amped up women who like to be told what to do by men much stronger than they. But, apparently, his little Pearl wasn’t that type of woman… Oh well.
“Oh no, I’m not going anywhere with you. Now, I’ll ask you again and you’ll pretend to have the processing power of a snail or a small houseplant and actually give me a real answer. What. The hell. Are you doing here?”
Now he sighed in earnest. He’d always liked a challenge but this particular one had been eluding him for a month and he was getting sort of tired of the bait and switch. He’d almost managed to get her to come out with him in Delaware, having flown all the way back there just for her, only to find out that she’d suddenly decided to pack up and move without warning.
Then, as she was being adorably and infuriatingly cryptic with him, it had taken another week or so to figure out where the hell she’d gone. At times, Ares had even considered dropping the whole thing, but as long as she was keeping him around in texts, he wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Especially not when his dragon had promised in no uncertain terms to make his life a living hell if he didn’t get this woman to go out with them. While Ares had become adept at merging his human and dragon, he’d also become equally as good at being entirely brainfucked by his dragon half. He assumed it came with the rampant drinking and general aimlessness of his life, and older, wiser dragons had confirmed as much.
If a dragon shifter wasn’t focused on his inner self, on who he wanted to be and how he wanted to contribute to the world, then the world would just roll over him like he was so much flotsam in its way. In his case, it meant that his dragon could really do a number on him if it wanted to. Damn those ancient spirits and their boundless power.
“I maintain that I at least have the reasoning capabilities of a cactus, thanks.”
He couldn’t help but clarify when she arched one of her beautiful brows at him, looking like an expectant mother hen readying to chide one of her enraging young. “You know, spiky on the outside, soft and squishy on the inside?”
He batted his lashes at her, putting on his best puppy dog face, and there it was, a little smile at the very corner of her mouth. Success!
Ares relaxed, his smugness flowing back into him like a tide. Yup, he still had it… As long as he ignored the fact that every muscle and nerve in his body was drawn as tight as a guitar string from having to keep himself at bay, lest he throw her over the counter and fuck her senseless right then and there.
It might be a bit much before their first date, though he certainly wouldn’t mind giving her that kind of ride. Nope. Not one bit.
“You still didn’t tell me what you’re doing here,” Pearl said, looking resigned to her fate and his presence.
Victory through attrition – he’d take it.
“Are you stalking me?” she added, glowering at him.
“Maybe,” he said, shrugging. “I mean, if by stalking you mean figuring out where you were moving to from those plentiful location updates you accidentally turned on on SassyDate like a week ago, then yes, I am a big old stalker. Grr. Alert the sheriff.”
“I’m pretty sure he’s been alerted already,” Pearl said wryly, pointing her thumb at the main window.
Diesel, the big werepanther shifter, was standing on the sidewalk, glaring into the store through the window. He gave Ares the international sign of ‘I’m watching you and if you do anything I don’t like, I’ll send you back to your family in three different body bags’, before nodding to Pearl in a pleasant manner and heading down the street.
Ares smirked. He was getting on like gangbusters with the locals.
“Nice guy. I’d love to go bowling with him sometime. Now, back to more pressing matters. Date – when?”
Oh, how he loved that look of struggle in her eyes. He knew she wanted him. He could smell it on her. He had to count his blessings that his dragon had decided to desire a human woman and not another shifter, because he was pretty sure he was stanching of pheromones as well. Ares would have to have a cold shower before he came across another shifter in town or they’d be able to smell his lust on him immediately.
And yet, she would say no. He could predict that just as clearly as the fact that eventually he’d wear her down and get a yes out of her. Maybe it was better that way. If he had to chase her, he’d get to enjoy the thrill and all that other good stuff romance novels were always talking about. Maybe if he had to work hard for her, it would be all the more sweet when he got his first bite.
Ares fought the urge to sneer – dragons hated work.
Finally, Pearl shook her head and crossed her arms. It pushed up her tits a little bit and made Ares have to muster up all his self-control to keep from sporting a raging hard-on.
“No, Ares. I don’t have time. I need to set up the store and we’re opening in a few days. Most of the furniture still needs to be arranged, I have trucks arriving tomorrow that need to be unloaded and it’s just me and loverbear back there, who I bet is TEXTING MISSY RIGHT NOW AND TRYING TO GET FIRED!”
“Sorry, Miss Mae,” Dalton yelled, followed by the sounds of scrambling and a phone being shoved into a pocket somewhere deeper in the vacant store.
Ares grinned. He sure did love a woman with an attitude, and Pearl had plenty of that.
“Oh, come on. You practically begged me to come and find you. I saw your message from last night. ‘Lonely in the mountains’? I can keep you company all you need, princess. And what’s with this Mae business?”
“I’m trying to start fresh, Ares. And that doesn’t include some playboy bad boy from out of town, okay?”
She could argue with him all she wanted but he saw the smile she was hiding. And he could smell the need on her. She was fighting herself and he was determined to make her give in.
“Okay. Alright. You’re a busy
woman, I respect that. Gotta make your own way in life. But,” and he couldn’t resist, ever the gambler as he was, “What you’re telling me is that if this place is ready ahead of time, you could come out with me?”
Her eyes laughed, even if her lips were turned downwards in an annoyed pout that he wanted to kiss away. Those damn pink lips that called to him… Delicious.
She shrugged noncommittally, a strand of hair falling on her forehead. Every little detail about her drove him to the edge of sanity, and he liked that feeling. Teetering on the very precipice of madness had always been to his liking.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Be seeing you soon, princess. Don’t miss me too much.”
He winked at her and twirled around, heading out of the store with long, purposeful strides. On the door, he yelled back over his shoulder, “Be seeing you around, loverbear!” and the grumbly harumpf he got in return made him snicker to himself.
Ah, young love.
But he had more important things to deal with – like figuring out how to get Pearl naked and screaming under him in as little time as possible, or he would really be playing with fire soon.
Luckily, he knew just the bear to see about that.
CHAPTER FOUR
Pearl
“What in the name of all that is… ARES!”
Pearl could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks so fast that it was making her dizzy. She ran across the road, almost getting hit by one of the big lumbering trucks that was preparing to park in front of her store.
Her store. Her store! Mae’s General Goods. But it certainly didn’t look like the store she had left just last night.
Countless people were bustling around, loading and unloading boxes from several trucks she hadn’t been expecting for another hour or so. She barely recognized most of the people there, and when she saw a familiar face, she clung to him. Pearl grabbed onto Dalton, who was walking into the store with a big box of whole chicken in his arms, and stopped him mid-step.
