“Say,” Kurt began, a cheeky grin overcoming his lips. “Maybe this is a little bold, but if I pick up the tab, can we call this a date? I don’t meet a lot of heavenly brunettes out here.”
The remark made Stacey toy with her hair, just for a moment. She felt like a schoolgirl trapped in a woman’s body. Kurt’s grin was unwavering as he waited for her answer. If he was bluffing, then he was good at it, the sweetest poker face she’d ever seen. But Stacey had built up her repertoire too, and she was damned if she was going to let some hunky ranger break it down in one fell swoop. She took a breath, and fluttered her lashes as she cast her gaze to the floor.
“Well, since you called me heavenly,” she crooned.
That was how they came to be at the campsite entrance a little after ten o’clock. The moon was almost full, bathing a range of little triangular tents in its silver light. A few people were still up, cooking on campfires or telling stories on the lawn. Stacey stood at the path which wound among the tents, looking forlornly over her shoulder.
“I didn’t have you down as a camper,” Kurt mused, apparently delighted. “I figured you’d be a hotel lady. Luxury, you know?”
Stacey nodded. She would be, normally. It was Jack’s idea to rent a pair of separate tents, pitched on either side of his car. It would save them money, Jack had said. The thought of a night in the woods next to Jack gave Stacey a shiver, and Kurt reached out at once to hold her shoulders.
“You shoulda told me you were cold,” he said apologetically. “I shoulda offered you my jacket. What a jackass.”
“Hey, that’s for me to say,” Stacey replied with a grin. “I’m fine, really. Just tired. Looking forward to a rest, and maybe another date tomorrow?”
Her voice rose with a hitch at the end. But that was the first time that she saw Kurt’s unstoppable grin fade. His face was half in shadow from the angle of the moonlight, and he looked away for a moment, his golden eyes flashing. He rubbed at the back of his neck for a moment before the smile climbed back into place.
“Actually, I go into the city on Saturdays,” he explained, “it’s just something I have to do. But I’ll be back first thing Sunday. I’ll book the day off. We can go everywhere in Fairhaven. All the best sun spots and views. If you’d like that?”
Stacey tried not to show the suspicion that was brimming in her mind.
“I’d love that,” she replied.
“You sure?” Kurt asked.
One blonde brow had risen, and Stacey realized there must have been something showing in her nerves. She wanted to know exactly where he was going on Saturday, but there was no way to ask. Jack would need to know too. Kurt was studying her face closely, and there was only one thing Stacey could think of that would turn his mind off for a moment. Reaching gently for his cheek, she pulled him down into a kiss.
His lips were soft, though she felt his stubble scratch beneath her fingertips, and the strong muscles of his jaw shifted as the kiss deepened. Kurt’s warm hands were still on her shoulders, and he let them slide down her bare arms until they rested at her waist. She leaned into his body a little, shifting the angle of the kiss so that her lips parted just a touch. He didn’t take the hint, so she slipped her tongue out to tease his lips.
Kurt pulled back and broke the kiss. He touched his own lips for a moment, a little breathless.
“Save some of that for Sunday,” he said in almost a whisper. “Goodnight Stacey.”
As he walked away, it seemed to Stacey that she’d been split in half. One part of her was pleased to tell Jack that she’d reached the mark on day one, even got close to him already. But the other part wanted something else from the strong, broad ranger now walking into the darkness. There was a possibility about Kurt that she couldn’t deny, and it sparked something in her chest that she hadn’t felt for years.
* * *
“I want to come with you,” Stacey had insisted.
But Jack had shaken his head.
“You can’t risk being seen with me in LA.”
It was true, and he was right, but Stacey had still protested. They had argued about it all morning on Saturday, right up until Jack had taken the car and left. Stacey had wanted to follow Kurt, to find out what he was up to in the city, but instead she found herself alone in the woods. It was late on Saturday afternoon, and she felt as though she’d walked all the way around the earth. Her skin tingled from the warmth of the sun, but inside she was churning up cold water like a winter storm.
Despite the idyllic setting, these thoughts kept Stacey from enjoying her book. She was sitting on a bench a little ways up the hiker’s trail, which overlooked a gorgeous set of hills. The sun was bright in the azure sky, and if she’d been able to relax, Stacey would probably have been half way through the latest of her mystery books by now. She adored a good mystery, figuring out who the real good and bad guys were, being misled but secretly always knowing how things would turn out. It would have been a great read on any other day.
“Phew!” said a voice somewhere nearby. “These old gams ain’t what they used to be!”
A little old lady was trudging her way up the hill. She was hunched over a tad and her wrinkled face was glowing crimson from the effort. Even as she took the next step, she hung her head to sigh and her glasses fell off, tumbling into the dirt. Stacey got up at once and set about retrieving them. The old lady watched her, squinting with interest.
“Well, aren’t you a well-mannered young lady?” the woman asked in a bright voice. “Don’t get many of those in their twenties nowadays.”
“Thank you, Ma’am,” Stacey said politely.
She handed the glasses over, and the old woman met her gaze with a wide smile. She had milky, amber colored eyes that had a peculiar glow, and when Stacey went back to the bench, the woman followed. She settled herself beside Stacey and gave a long, wistful sort of sigh.
“Thank you so much for that, dear,” the old lady said. “You really are kind and sweet. Not single, are you? Only I have a couple of grandsons that could use a lesson or two in manners.”
Stacey chuckled, but the words struck something true inside her.
“Um, well things are complicated,” she said.
“Hmm,” said the woman. “That sounds like what we used to call an unenviable position.”
The old lady gave a chuckle. She reached out and took hold of Stacey’s hand, holding it between hers for a moment.
“Courage, dear,” she professed. “You only have one life. Why lead a complicated one?”
It made sense. It even made her feel a little better.
“Thank you,” Stacey replied, “Mrs.…?”
“Call me Anina,” the old lady answered.
Stacey gave her own name, and a comfortable, contemplative silence fell between them. They both looked out into the mountains, and Stacey was about to make one of those stock-comments about the weather, but Anina cut in with a whole new conversation. All credit to her, she was not shy.
“I keep telling my boy about courage,” she revealed. “One of my grandsons has a… well…” She dropped her voice to a hoarse whisper for a moment. “A gambling problem.”
“Oh?” Stacey remarked.
“He thinks we don’t know, but we do,” Anina added. “It’s a terrible shame. All he needs to do is stop.”
“Sometimes, it isn’t that simple,” Stacey replied. “From what I know, gamblers get into this cycle where they have to win. The house takes their money away and it makes them feel small. They have to keep going back, keep trying to beat the system, and they can’t see that it doesn’t work that way. The greater victory would be to get out and never go back.”
“You sound like you know what you’re talking about, honey,” Anina said, her expression one of fascination.
Stacey gave a little nod, but no explanation. In her work with Jack, a great deal of the marks she’d led on before were gamblers. It was a dangerously easy way to get into huge debt real quick. She’d seen the hard-nosed type
s who assured her that they’d win big next time, and the nervous wrecks that had burst into tears once they realized who she was, and what she knew about them.
“I guess I have a little experience,” Stacey offered.
“Couldn’t talk to my grandson for me, could you?” Anina said.
Stacey grinned a little. She couldn’t be sure if the old lady was joking or not. When Anina hung her head, her glasses slipping again, Stacey realized that the question was genuine.
“It’s just that Kurt’s got a lot to lose,” Anina continued, “what with being a park ranger and all…”
* * *
Despite his best efforts, Jack had not discovered what Kurt was in LA for on Saturday, but Stacey was now pretty sure that she knew. She’d not divulged to Anina that she and Kurt had already gone on an accidental date together, and she hadn’t told Jack that she’d found out how Kurt had managed to rack up seven grand’s worth of debt. Keeping secrets from Jack didn’t make Stacey feel as guilty as it ought to have, and she put that down to being very well-practiced at it. The thing that did bother her was Kurt. She wanted to tell him something at least. Keeping so much from the guy didn’t feel right.
He’d messaged her with details of their date on Sunday morning, just as he’d promised. Stacey found herself walking up a fairly steep mountain trail, which promised a spectacular view of Fairhaven on the other side. She was regretting her shoe choice by the time she reached the top, but the view was certainly worth it. On the other side of the path, there was a deep bowl of scrub land about twenty feet in diameter. It looked like if you dropped down into that bowl, you’d never make it back out. Stacey scanned the shrubbery and the few trees down there, her body tensing as she made out a shape in the distance.
There was a grizzly bear among the bushes. He was about half-way up the slope of the dirt bowl, his long claws dug into the earth firmly. The bear had massive shoulders covered with tawny brown fur, and strong paws that thumped the ground whenever he moved. Stacey let loose a small gasp in her wonder, and the bear turned its head. To her surprise, it had those golden eyes that she recognized. What Jack had warned her about came racing back into her head. Amid everything else, she’d forgotten that Kurt was also a shifter.
Upon seeing her, the bear ran up one side of the dirt bowl with tremendous power, off to the left away from her. It disappeared into the trees at the top of this part of the path, and Stacey watched them with interest. It was totally possible that this particular bear wasn’t Kurt at all, for he’d said he had brothers and cousins. Yet, some five minutes later, when Kurt emerged on the path from that same direction, Stacey knew it had to be him. His clothes were disheveled for one thing, like he’d only just put them on to rush over and meet her.
“You’re early,” he panted as he jogged up to meet her. “Sorry. I was out for a walk.”
“In your bear suit?” Stacey challenged, folding her arms.
Kurt cocked his head, grinning at her quizzically. There were too many secrets between them already, and Stacey couldn’t stand to add to the pile.
“I saw your eyes, Kurt,” she revealed. “I know you can transform. That was you down there, right?”
“Geez,” Kurt said, rubbing the back of his neck, “you ladies are really up on your shifter knowledge nowadays.”
“Oh, I’m not,” Stacey added, palms up in her admission, “I don’t pretend to actually know any.”
Kurt stepped forward, putting his palms against her own. He let his fingers gently interlock with hers.
“Well, now you do,” he crooned.
She leaned forward and planted a very gentle kiss on his lips. When they broke from the moment, she watched the very tip of Kurt’s tongue sneak out and lick his lips. It was a sight that filled her with a tingly feeling, and she kept hold of one of his hands as they began to walk further around the rim of the dirt bowl.
“That’s deep,” she observed, gazing down into the scrub again. “You must be wicked strong to get up that slope.”
“In bear form,” Kurt agreed with a nod. “Humans have no chance, it’s just too high. We do a lot of rescues out here when the hikers come along.”
“You like your work?” Stacey asked. It was a genuine question, and it felt good not to be interrogating for a change.
“I guess,” Kurt replied, looking out to the path ahead. “It’s better than any other job. But, I… No, it’s stupid.”
“Tell me,” she pressed, gently holding his strong, thick arm. “Is there something else you’d rather be doing?”
“Not really,” he said, “I just feel empty sometimes. Like, I have a job and nothing else. I want some excitement, I suppose.”
“You ought to be careful,” she began thoughtfully, “that kind of thinking leads to trouble.”
She’d hit a nerve. It seemed that she couldn’t help her skills from coming through even when she wasn’t trying to draw intel out of a mark. She saw a range of emotions pass Kurt’s face, each threatening to strip him of what was left of his grin. Eventually he let out a sigh, and stopped walking. He stood facing her, as he had on Friday night, and at once she wanted to kiss him again, as deep as before. But there was no thought of kissing on Kurt’s face. He looked pained, and she already knew why.
“Stacey, you’re a nice girl,” he began. “You wouldn’t ever want to go out with a gambler, would you?”
She had to play this one carefully. She took a moment to plan my sentence before she spoke.
“Well it wouldn’t be my first choice,” she began, “but-”
He never let her finish. Kurt nodded and made a little scoffing sound, and he finally let go of her hand.
“That’s what I thought,” he said, even as she tried to speak again. “You know what? We ought to call this off now. I’m… I’m just not good enough for you.”
He was turning and leaving, and Stacey couldn’t bear it. To her own surprise, a huge rush of emotion hit her chest, like he had her heart on a tow-rope and was ripping it out of her ribs with every step. She knew that she had never felt something so powerful before. He was it. He was the thing she’d been looking for all her life.
“I met your grandmother, Anina,” Stacey called after him. “She told me everything yesterday.”
Kurt didn’t stop walking, and Stacey was determined not to let the conversation slide. She raced up after him, just within earshot of his reply.
“She has no business telling people about my problems,” Kurt grumbled, his voice almost a growl.
“But I’m still here,” Stacey urged. “She told me yesterday and I still wanted to see you. It doesn’t matter.”
Kurt stopped, and he spun on the spot. Stacey knew at once that she’d made another mistake.
“Oh, it matters,” he said, the pain evident in every level of his voice. “I’m in too deep to get out, Stacey. I owe a lot of money, and every time I go to try and win it back, I get even deeper in the hole. They’ve got me. It’s only a matter of time before Big Al sends the nasties to come and collect.”
“The nasties,” Stacey repeated. Kurt mistook it for a question.
“Low-life goons who’ve got nothing better to do than ruin other people’s lives,” he explained.
Was that really how he saw her? Stacey tried not to feel the hurt that sank into her heart at his words. He didn’t understand that collectors were people too. We all had a job to do in this world, and as much as she felt sorry for his struggle, it was his debt, his fault really.
KIKO (MC Bear Mates Book 3) Page 26
