When she opened the door to the bar, she felt the full stupidity of the moment wash over her.
What had she been thinking?
A dozen or so men looked over at her. They were varying degrees of rugged, and she could see in their hungry eyes that it wasn’t often they saw a woman like her. The bar went silent, and she could sense a heavy tension in the air that made her skin crawl and urged her to run.
A man at the bar, seated at the counter, looked up at her with golden eyes. Golden eyes. He had dark-blond hair and a face shaded by stubble. He had several lackeys with him, and as he stood, they walked forward. But before they could reach her, a man pushed out of a booth to the side and walked directly in front of her.
She looked up into striking dark-brown eyes and a face she almost mistook for Shane's before realizing it was all wrong.
This man was the epitome of a mountain man, covered in a shaggy, thick beard with dark, unruly hair, intense eyes, and wearing thick flannel. She almost expected him to pull a log out of his pocket and split it right in front of her.
His dark eyes stared at her as he took her by the arm and led her to his booth, sending a dark glare at the men around them, who grumbled but slowly went back to her seats.
The bartender visibly relaxed, as if he were aware some sort of altercation had been avoided. She could still feel the cold, appraising gaze of the blond man at the bar, but she tried to ignore it as the large man helped her into the booth and sat across from her.
“Shane McAllister,” he said gruffly, sticking out a hand for her to shake. It was covered in callouses, and when he shook her hand, it shook her whole body, making her squeak in surprise.
“You can’t be Shane,” she said, looking him over. The face was somewhat familiar, but the eyes, they were different. And the overall feel.
The man in front of her had an earthy masculinity that most women would probably find attractive. And she was sure he was probably handsome under all that fur. But she didn’t feel the draw to him she’d felt when she saw Shane’s profile.
She sighed. She should have known it was too good to be true. Clearly, this mountain man had stolen a picture of some male model who looked something like him in order to get a woman to come out to a town like this where she wouldn’t usually go.
She started to stand. “I think there’s been a mistake,” she said, hoping to get out without too much awkwardness.
She found her hand caught by the man across from her as she was unceremoniously tugged back into the booth.
“Tell me about yourself,” he said, eyeing her up and down as he flagged down a waiter. He ordered two draft beers without asking what she wanted, and she bit her lip, wondering how to deal with this difficult person who wasn’t anything like she’d expected.
He clasped his huge hands in front of him and leaned over the table, observing her in a way that made her nervous. “You aren’t big enough. I said I wanted big.”
She flushed, squirming nervously. “I thought this was what you meant.”
He gave her an approving stare and nodded. “Well, it’ll do. It’s attractive; that’s for damn sure. But is it sturdy?”
She smoothed her blouse. “I’m not sure about that.”
He waved a hand like it didn’t matter. “Well, Shane—I mean me… I’m a good protector. It’ll be fine. And you won’t have to do much except be a female, so that’s okay.”
She gulped. The man she was talking to sounded nothing like the man on the phone. He sounded like the more ludicrous parts of the profile, not the parts she’d been attracted to.
When the beers arrived, he finished his in one long go and then looked at hers. Not a big fan of beer, she pushed it over to him, and he finished that too, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
She wondered what Harmony would make of a man like this. But as for her, she knew it wasn’t going to work. Even if he was a mountain man, she needed someone more refined.
“I don’t think this is going to work,” she said, edging her way out of the booth again. But as she was about to exit, she looked up with a chill over her spine to see the large blond man from the bar looking down at her.
A growl came from the man across from her. “Get lost, Wyatt.”
“Shut up, McAllister,” the man retorted smoothly.
She quickly got back in the booth, disliking the predatory look of the blond even more than she disliked the rough look of the man across from her.
But Wyatt, the blond, had called her "date" McAllister. So he really must be Shane after all.
Damn. A part of her had been hoping maybe there were two profiles, and her Shane was still out there. And that was why he’d answered the phone and known about the profile.
A tanned hand came in front of her and she looked up at the blond leaning down toward her. “Why don’t you come spend some time with a real man?” he asked as the man across from her, Shane, she supposed, stood with a growl and lunged at the other man, yanking him away from the booth and slamming him up against a nearby wall while the men yelled raucously.
“You don’t own any woman in the territory,” Wyatt drawled, looking unconcerned by Shane’s hands on his jacket.
“I own this one,” Shane snarled, letting the other man go with a shove before adjusting his collar. “So back off.”
Ruby had to admit there was something just slightly hot about being fought over. And Shane did have an animalistic strength that seemed attractive in a rough, primal way.
“You want to settle this outside?” Wyatt asked, straightening up and giving Ruby a look that made her shiver with anticipation. Damn, the men around here had a way of making a woman feel really looked at. She didn’t know what to make of it.
Shane shrugged out of his flannel into just a white tee. He handed her his shirt. “You stay here. After I deal with them, we can do the rest of our date.”
She put her forehead on her hands as he and Wyatt and his crew strode out of the restaurant's front door, the bartender shaking his head at them.
She’d been intending to simply leave, but now that seemed impossible.
“Dwayne, you watch her,” the man named Wyatt shouted, pointing in her direction. “Make sure she stays there so whoever wins can come back and claim her.”
Her eyes widened as a scruffy blond man sidled over to her and sat on the other side of the booth, eyeing her with a mean smile. She squirmed uncomfortably.
He was quiet, but she looked over at the exit, wondering if there was still anyway she could make a break for it. As if he sensed her intent, he got out of his side of the booth and came over to hers, sliding in next to her.
The booth was long, so despite his huge size, he didn’t touch her, but she felt intimidated all the same.
“Um, I think there’s been a mistake,” she said, looking into Dwayne’s face and hoping there was a way to convince him to just let her go. “I’m not… I mean… maybe I should go.”
“Naw,” Dwayne said. “Boss is gonna win you and then you’re coming back with us.”
“I beg your pardon,” she said, pushing against his chest. He had a rough face with features that seemed like a blunted version of the more handsome Wyatt, who was presumably out front, engaged in fisticuffs, if the shouts were any indication.
“Nah,” Dwayne drawled, leaning in closer. “You don’t gotta worry about fancy words with me, darling.” His eyes strayed to her blouse. “Damn, you look good enough to eat.”
“I, um… The men outside, I don’t think they’d appreciate you… taking liberties.” She looked over to the bar but saw even the bartender had gone outside.
The man next to her did something very odd next. He sniffed her, taking in a long, slow breath. “Damn, you smell good. What is that?”
“Perfume?” she squeaked, reaching in her purse for her Taser with as much subtlety as she could.
Dwayne didn’t notice, looking over in the direction of the men outside and then back at her with a hungry gaze. “I don’t know if I can resist
taking a taste for myself…”
She pulled back in the booth, hand grabbing for the Taser. She hated to hurt anyone, but she’d be damned if she let anyone paw her.
Not after the night she’d just had.
She couldn’t believe she was thinking it, but she almost wished the mountain man would come back. But since he was currently otherwise engaged, she’d have to take care of things herself. She sighed and pulled the weapon out of its pouch, hoping it had enough voltage to take care of enormous, horny rednecks.
4
By the time Shane pulled onto the road that led to the Skyline bar, all hell had already broken loose.
He groaned as he pulled up and parked, seeing that a crowd had already gathered out front, and in the middle, two men were fighting.
Given that he recognized some of the workers from the wildcat gang, who worked a ranch nearby, Shane wouldn’t be surprised if one of figures fighting was his brother. Maverick hated the leader, Wyatt, with everything he had. They’d been friends growing up, but then issues with their ranches and the land had come between them.
Wyatt’s ranch was just on the other side of Shane’s, and Shane knew if their land went up for auction, Wyatt and his wildcats would be the first trying to claim it.
And with the money Wyatt had inherited, they’d have no trouble winning it.
Unlike Shane, who’d always invested everything he had back into the ranch.
He shut his door and strode into the clearing, hoping the woman from the phone hadn’t come to meet them yet. If she had, he strongly worried the fight had something to do with her.
But he scented something odd the second he stepped out into the evening air.
The men in the clearing paused for a second as he approached. He recognized a couple of his men cheering on Maverick, who was down to a tee shirt and definitely squaring off with Wyatt. Both men looked like they’d taken a few hits, and given that they were both shifters with superior healing powers, he wasn’t really worried that either of them would hurt each other.
The scent in the air, sweet, feminine, delicate, like roses, was stronger as he strode toward the restaurant.
“Hey, bro,” Mav said, ducking a swing from Wyatt. “Whatcha doing here?”
“Where is she?” Shane asked as Mav swung forward, knocking Wyatt back.
“Inside, of course, with Dwayne,” Mav mumbled. “We’ll get back to her in a minute. After I win.”
Shane growled as he tuned his hearing toward the bar and heard a feminine squeak of alarm. Every protective instinct in his body lit on fire as he left his idiot brother and ran for the front door.
The men around him ignored him, but maybe they weren’t as affected as he was by the scent. He’d never smelled anything so erotic or troubling. He could almost feel her, imagine her, even before he swung open the front door and charged in.
Just as he walked into the main room, he saw them. Dwayne, caging a smaller person with soft blond hair in a booth. Rage flared up in him. He hadn’t been around a lot of women in his life, but he’d be damned if he saw even one of them mistreated and didn’t do something about it.
Dwayne was going to be seeing double or missing some of his anatomy, depending on how far he’d gone with the little female.
Then he heard a loud buzzing and clicking sound, unlike anything he’d ever heard, and Dwayne groaned and flopped around before hitting the ground, still convulsing.
Shane raised an eyebrow as he skidded to a stop in front of their booth and looked down at the sight in front of him. Dwayne was incapacitated for the moment, so Shane kicked him aside with one foot and looked down at the woman who’d tased him.
In her hands was a heavy-duty Taser in the color pink, and Shane shook his head, impressed and aghast at the same time. Impressed that she’d handled herself against someone like Dwayne, aghast that she was here alone in the middle of nowhere where something much worse could have happened.
He stuck out a hand, and she shyly looked up and met his eyes. As she did, a shock as strong as lightning went through him. When her hand reached for his, her touch lit him up, making him stumble a step back, letting go.
As his eyes zoomed in on her, the rest of the world seemed to fade away. All he saw was clear blue eyes with dark lashes. Pale peaches-and-cream skin and soft, light-blond hair. A beautiful body, curvy and rounded, just how bears liked their mates. Gorgeous breasts rising as she breathed just above a beautiful silky blouse he’d certainly never seen any woman around these parts wear.
No wonder she’d started a fight.
But that was all over now. There was only one male she belonged to, and that was him.
So despite usually being a very civilized bear shifter, one who adhered to society’s rules, the animal inside him took over. Without so much as a hello, he reached down, scooped her up, threw her over his shoulder and carried her out of the bar.
The men fighting looked up in stupefaction as he walked by, but before they could do anything about it, he’d settled her in his front seat, much to her shock, locked the doors, and started the car. He ignored Wyatt’s men chasing him as he pulled out onto the road that led up to their ranch.
The woman was silent, watching wide-eyed as the men chasing them slowly fell back in defeat.
He didn’t know what she was going to say about this when she got her voice back, but he didn’t care.
He wasn’t going to give anyone else a chance to claim his mate.
* * *
She was quiet for a moment as they drove, and then she turned to him, cheeks flushed, lips tight, and simply stared at him for a long second.
He swallowed. Merely her gaze on him made him feel tight. Coiled. Ready to spring.
“So who are you?” she asked, folding her arms. “And where are you taking me?”
He glanced over at her just before taking a quick turn on the winding mountain roads. “I’m Shane McAllister,” he said quietly. “Obviously.”
“Well, not obviously to me, because I just met a man claiming to be Shane McAllister, and he didn’t look anything like you. Well, a little like you,” she amended. “But not much.”
His lips quirked at one side. “And were you disappointed?”
“Maybe,” she said. She sighed and slumped in the seat. Then she sat bolt upright, looking around them. “Actually, I have to get back to my friends. They’ll be wondering where I am.”
“Your friends?” he asked.
“Yes. You didn’t think I would just come out here all alone?”
He raised a brow. “So where are they now?”
“They got sick,” she said. “Well, one of them did. I did have a Taser though.”
He couldn’t resist smiling at that. “That you did.”
“I took care of him well enough, I think,” she said.
“Oh, certainly,” he agreed amiably.
“So there was really no need to go all caveman on me and drag me out of there.”
“I was rescuing you,” he corrected, palming the wheel on another turn, making the SUV lurch slightly.
“Well, maybe I didn’t need to be rescued,” she retorted.
There was a tension in the air, rising between them. He was attracted to her. More than that. And she was attracted to him. He knew this was a dangerous thing. Him being alone with her. Him taking her back to his home.
But he couldn’t help it. It was as natural as breathing. And he wasn’t leaving her in town, undefended, with a bunch of hungry shifters fighting over her.
He guessed this had been Maverick’s goal all along. Get her out here to hook her up with Shane by using his profile. But he’d have to find out later, when he punched Maverick for getting her into this mess.
“Maybe not,” he said. “But I wanted to rescue you.”
She opened her mouth to say something but then shut it abruptly. “Well. I need to go back to my friends.”
“You can call them,” he said.
“Then where are you taking me?”
<
br /> “To my ranch. That’s what you came out here for, right? To get to know me? To see my ranch?”
She bristled but said nothing. Ah-ha. He’d caught her.
“I mean, I hate to see a lady come all the way to Montana and not get what she was looking for.”
“Well, so far it definitely hasn’t been what I’m looking for. Why did that man show up instead of you?”
Shane scratched his head. Depending on how much she hated Mav for what he did, he wasn’t sure he wanted to admit the man was his brother. But honesty seemed like the best policy in this situation.
“That’s my brother. He sort of… thought he could ‘help’ with my profile.”
“Oh,” she said, her pink-glossed lips making an adorable little O shape that he desperately wanted to kiss. His whole body was responding to her. All he wanted to do was get her into his lodge, shut the door, and show her exactly why she should agree to be his mate.
But he had to be careful. A lot was resting on his ability to win her over. Not just his own happiness, but the land and his brothers’ well-being.
“Anyway, he meant well. Though he shouldn’t have left you unattended.”
“Who was that man he was fighting?” she asked.
Shane wrestled back a growl. He didn’t want to talk about other men. Not with her. Not when he’d just found his mate and all he really wanted to talk about was them and their future.
But she wasn’t a bear. She was human. He’d have to approach this carefully.
“Just a neighbor.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Look, things are a little different up here. What’s important is you’re with me now, and things are fine.”
“Are they?” she asked, throwing her hands up. “I’m in the middle of nowhere with a man I barely know, surrounded by men who will fight at the drop of a hat, and my friends don’t even know where I am.”
“First, your friends are going to know soon. Second, you aren’t surrounded by men anymore, and third, yes, you don’t know me, but you knew that when you flew out. So something prompted you to do it. And I’m guessing what it was is the same thing I’m feeling.”
Mountain Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Bear Haven Book 1) Page 3
