Big Bear Problems: BBW Werebear Shapeshifter Romance (5 page)

S
weetwater was small
.

Now, this wasn’t anything that Jen didn’t know before, she’d seen it on the maps, read it in the town’s reviews, heard her realtor lament about it more times than she cared to admit, but after all that, it still hadn’t sunk in entirely.

Sweetwater was
small
.

There wasn’t a place to just casually grab a big caramel macchiato if you felt so inclined. Best you could do was beg Maisy to find a paper cup and pour some of her black as tar coffee to go and hope it didn’t keep you up all night. All the locals lugged around thermoses and Jen sort of felt like she’d been transported into an alternate dimension where Starbucks had never happened and the whole world was still teetering on the edge of madness, having never known the sweet taste of a triple whip mint chocolate chai.

Not only that, but Sweetwater seemed to exist in a world where time stood still. No one was in a rush, until there was fear of a wildfire somewhere or something, and no one was stressed out. Everything just sort of… happened. Always on time, always perfectly correctly, but in a sort of leisurely way that made Jen stop every now and then and just take a big ol’ breath of air and sigh with relief.

Sweetwater wasn’t Phoenix, and thank god for that.

But was moving from Phoenix to the middle of nowhere really the right choice,
Jen contemplated.
Maybe I’m just trading in one extreme for the other. It’s really nice here, but maybe taking that big of a plunge was too much.

Jen shook her head.
Stop that. You remember Phoenix. And really, you can live with the fact that this town only has one dry cleaner and it’s forty-five minutes out of your way. Not to mention the men, in Phoenix you’d never find someone like Ethan.

Jen’s mind often wandered back to him. His broad shoulders, his stern but calming eyes. His muscular arms. His whole appearance that exudes the calm and confidence of a man who has his life together and knows what he wants.

Literally nothing like the men in Phoenix.

She mischievously smiled to herself at her last thought. None of her exes could hold up anything to the likes of Ethan and she was enthralled by the fact. The last guy she’d dated, Chad, had been an asshole of epic proportions. Not only had he spent most of their relationship ignoring the fact that she existed at all, unless he needed to get his rocks off, but he’d also been screwing Jen’s best friend behind her back. When she found out, the thing that stung the worst was the fact that she hadn’t even really been surprised.

It all sort of made sense.
Of course
Chad was a douche.
Of course
her best friend had been sucking his dick like it was going out of town. And
of course
she hadn’t noticed it for months on end. It just seemed so poetically cliché to her that Jen could barely even think about the whole thing without descending into some sort of mild depression that made her feel like she’d been thrown into a meat grinder.

But with Ethan, all of that disappeared.

Time had been flying by with Ethan working on the construction and Jen helping out where she could, doing the occasional easier tasks. It was unfamiliar territory to her – as an executive assistant she never really had much experience with doing anything physical. Like renovating a house, for example. But now she relished the physical activity and working on something that was her own.

Watching Ethan work was no small boon either. The burly man’s movements were calm and powerful. He lifted stacks of planks like they were twigs and moved heavy furniture like they were mere matchboxes. She had to constantly remind herself to shut her mouth so she wouldn’t openly drool when she watched him do his thing.

Everything he said and did came off as sensible and logical to her. It all made sense and she caught herself agreeing with him on most things, only deepening that feeling of mutual connection she’d gotten the first day they’d spent together.

What she didn’t see as sensible and logical were her feelings. She was falling for the plaid-clad, hard-working man, head over heels. And mere days after meeting him, too. Even more unexpectedly, she could feel it being mutual, their lunches going on for longer and longer and their conversations getting deeper. He didn’t even hide the way he stared at her sometimes, not anymore.

She’d started cooking for them and Ethan would devour a portion that could feed three grown men every time. Jen didn’t mind one bit. She liked to cook, liked to eat and if anything, she always tended to cook a bit too much. That, however, turned into an advantage when it came to Ethan – his appetite was not easy to satisfy. Although Ethan was not a man of many words, their conversations always left her fulfilled but curious for more. It was a welcome change from the big city men who talked far too much even when they had nothing to say. And they never had a god damn thing to say.

Though she felt his attraction toward her, Jen couldn’t help but wonder why he wasn’t doing anything about it. Maybe Wyoming men were just too damn gentlemanly for their own good? When topics veered onto the intimate, she often felt him pulling back. It was almost as if he wanted to continue the subject but forced himself to stop.

He doesn’t seem to be toying around or just flirting for the sake of it. So what’s his deal?
she found herself wondering for the umpteenth time.
I wish he’d just make a move already so I wouldn’t feel like a lovesick puppy.

Jen had just gone to Sweetwater for groceries and was driving back to her house along a road that was becoming more and more familiar with each trip. Something at the roadside caught her attention.

Oh it had not better be that again,
she thought to herself, a slight chill of fear moving down her spine.

A big brown wolf was sitting by the road, just staring at her. Third time that week! Jen discounted the first two encounters as pure chance. After all, she was surrounded by forests and wilderness and wild animals weren’t something surprising around those parts. But it was the same wolf, she was sure of it. And it wasn’t just seeing a wolf – it was how he stared at her, as if glaring right through her.

She’d occasionally had the same feeling in her home when Ethan wasn’t around, but had just attributed it to being alone in a big house in the forest. Jen slowed the car down as she approached the wolf, and the animal didn’t move a muscle. Out of annoyance, she hit the horn on her car, but the big beast didn’t react even to that. Jen checked the rearview mirror, and finding that there were no other cars on the road with her, she sped up again.

Screw that,
she thought, feeling a cold lump at the bottom of her stomach.

That wolf was giving her the creeps and she couldn’t wait to get some distance between her and it. Those cold, golden eyes were etched in her mind and, lately, she’d been getting the feeling that they were watching her all the time. She would often feel a chill run down her spine that matched the one she got when she met the large wolf on her drive home. She could swear that the thing was just toying with her, but that thought sounded far too ridiculous even to her.

Reaching the house and seeing Ethan milling about the house put Jen’s mind at ease. Maybe she was just overreacting and that wolf’s presence there was no more than a coincidence. Maybe it was on its way to a regular watering hole or hunting grounds.

That glare though. How can a wild animal be so... creepy
.

Shaking off the unpleasant thoughts, Jen turned off the engine and looked at Ethan. He had obviously noticed her return, yet continued on his tasks. She was glad he spent that much time around her and her house, keeping an eye on everything. He was a hard worker and Jen was almost afraid that the house would get done too soon. She’d been thinking up new things for him to do and occasionally it crossed her mind that he’d been dragging his heels a little to stay around her for longer.

Or maybe I’m just imagining that?
Who cares, at least he’s around.

Still sitting in her car, watching Ethan do his thing, Jen allowed her mind and eyes to wander. It had been a warm day and Ethan was shirtless. Jen couldn’t help but slip into a little daydream, thinking of his dreamy, tasty abs glistening in the sun, and how the sweat would taste if she licked over them with her tongue…

Right, best get moving, before this gets weird,
she chuckled to herself.

Ethan was beginning to pack it up for the day. As the gentleman that he was, he came up to the car and helped her bring the bags of groceries into the house.

“Had a good trip?” he asked casually, hoisting the bags out of the boot of her tiny car.

He had pulled a shirt on before coming to help her, and it saddened her more than she cared to admit.

“It was okay,” she said noncommittally, smiling mildly.

About time I’d work up to having that nightcap,
Jen mused to herself. The wolf’s appearance still lingered in her mind. Night was falling and she’d rather have Ethan around for as long as she could.

“I have a proposition for you and I’m going to bet you that you won’t be able to say no to it!”

“
I
t’s been a long day
, feel like a nightcap before heading out? You promised you would take me up on the offer next time I asked,” she said, waggling her finger at him when he looked like he was about to object. “Who knows, maybe if you’re especially good, I’ll even cook,” Jen added with a wink.

She motioned towards the bottles she’d taken out of the grocery bags, thanking her foresight for having picked up a bottle of single malt whiskey as well as a few bottles of white wine. Ethan nodded after a momentary pause and her heart leapt in relief and anticipation. There was a glint in his eyes that told her that he was catching her drift better than she was.

This was definitely not just some simple down home country guy who couldn’t take a hint. Oh no, Ethan knew her game better than she did and it was up to Jen to figure out whether that was a plus or a minus.

“Sure, wouldn’t mind one,” he said, grabbing the whiskey bottle and giving it a good hard look. “Especially if you spoil me with the good stuff,” he added with a chuckle.

He nodded appreciatively and she sighed with relief. Her father was a big whisky connoisseur, though she’d always thought the smell better than the taste. Still, she’d picked up a thing or two about the drink and knew what bottle to get when presented with the opportunity.

The two made their way to the living room, where Jen snuggled up on the couch and Ethan took a seat in a big armchair. He took a sip of his whiskey and Jen twirled the wine around in the long-stemmed glass before taking a mouthful. It went down easy, giving her a tiny bit of needed courage and flushing the images of the wolf further and further from her active thoughts.

“So, what brings a city girl like you to a backwater place like this?” he asked, indulging in another taste of his drink.

Somehow, they’d managed to talk about every manner of obscure things by now, but the one thing they hadn’t covered yet was what the hell Jen was actually doing in Sweetwater. The memories of her last day at the office and the way she left still played uncomfortably in her mind and she would rather have skipped the topic. But there was something to be said about meeting the unfortunate sides of life head on.

“The company I was working at got dissolved, but I managed to walk away with a settlement that, in the end, got me this house. And the heat – sometimes it’s really too much. Don’t get me wrong, I like the sun as much as the next woman, but being scorched by it day in day out wasn’t my thing.”

Jen took a large swill of her wine, clearly enjoying herself.

“And the people! Everyone’s so on edge in a big city. Nothing at all like Sweetwater. Figured I’d get away somewhere where people aren’t on each other’s backs all the time.” She scrunched her nose, adding, “But I guess that can happen anywhere.”

Ethan nodded sagely.

“I reckon so.”

“For a place in the desert, you’d think there’d be plenty of space for everyone, but it can get so cramped in Phoenix. Here I have this house, which cost me a fraction of what I’d pay for it and the land it stands on in Arizona. And there are actual tall trees here, and shade. And nature! I can’t tell you how much I missed grass! It’s lovely. I’m from Georgia originally, so it was tough getting used to the fact that all we had for nature in Arizona was tumbleweeds and faux greenery.”

Ethan’s face brightened. She got the feeling she definitely said something right and it made her beam like a proud school kid coming home with her first A.

You’re ridiculous, Jen. Reel it in!

“I know what you mean. But don’t you think you’d miss it?” He paused for a moment and she held her breath as he got around to the next question. “Wouldn’t you miss… someone?”

She smiled, catching the drift of his question. That familiar warmth she’d been battling with the whole time he’d been around the house was flooding her again mercilessly, making her head buzz and her body hum for him. She could pretend it was just the wine, but she knew better.

“I have a mother and a sister back in Georgia, they’re family and I love them, but we’ve all got… too much character for our own good. I guess we get along better the more time we spend apart. And I can always visit. So that’s why I didn’t go back there. But in Arizona? The people I thought I cared about didn’t care about me. I figured if that’s the way it has to be, I don’t have anything in that state for me,” Jen responded.

“Aside from that, there really isn’t anyone else.” Jen gave him a playful smirk, “And I guess I’d prefer that someone to be from around here anyway.”

She thought she heard him growl a little, though that could have just been the wine getting in her head. He managed a mischievous smile and it damn near made her heart melt.

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see, now won’t we?”

He stood up and took his glass to the kitchen for a refill. She hated to see him go but that ass of his made for pleasant viewing, even if she did say so herself. She half-expected the big, broad-shouldered man to just walk straight over to her and take a drink out of her instead of the whiskey, the thought bringing a happy blush to her cheeks.

Ethan returned with his refill and eased back into the big armchair with confident grace that was remarkable for his large body. Jen couldn’t help but marvel at the man’s every movement, her gaze firmly locked on the hot hunk of a cowboy whenever she got the chance.

“So what about you? Anyone special?”

Ethan shook his head, chuckling. “Naw, Jen. I work and I sleep and I eat and that’s my life. I’ve been looking for the right woman, but at one point I figured I better just stop. If she’s going to come into my life, I can’t go around scraping up doors and hoping to stumble upon her. Gotta trust fate that it has my back and will lead me to her, you know? But I have faith. I’ve definitely seen some positive signs lately,” he said, grinning.

Jen licked across her lips, shaking her head a little and grinning. This big lug of a man could be real smooth when he put his mind to it and she had to remember to keep her head on her shoulders when she was around him. But it definitely took her mind off the wolf real fast.

“And your family? You said something about Grimpaw lands when we first met…”

“Yes, there’s a number of us here. I have three brothers, for one. They all work with their hands. We have our own homes and our own businesses, but we stick together when we need to. And my extended family is rather large. We’ve been in this area for too many generations to count, so you can find a lot of Grimpaw history here.”

“That sounds nice,” Jen said, curling up tighter on the couch.

Having a support system like that sounded divine. She’d started feeling more than a little bit alone in her big house now that she’d settled in. But every new piece of furniture she bought or improvement she made to the house just made her remember that there was really no one to share it with. No friends to invite over or parties to throw. All she really had was Ethan and even he was sort of a temporary fixture. Though she hoped dearly that she could change that or at least explore the option before the house was
too
ready.

In any case, having lots of family around her sounded damn nice and she felt a little twinge of jealousy.

“I’d be happy to introduce you to them, Jen. They’re good people and there’s not a lot of folks around these parts to begin with. They’d love to meet you, I’m sure,” Ethan said gently, his blue eyes considering her softly.

“Would you? That’s really sweet of you!” Jen exclaimed, feeling silly again for her enthusiasm. “I think it’s hard meeting people around here unless you work as someone that communicated a lot with the locals or you already know people going in. And seeing as I have neither of those situations going for me, I’d be grateful if I at least knew a couple more names than I do now.”

She smiled broadly and he met her grin with equal warmth.

I think he just offered to introduce me to his family… And I grabbed for the opportunity like I was desperate. God, Jen, you’re being ridiculous,
she thought, but put the negativity out of her mind.

The wine tasted good, the company was even better and she was in no mood to ruin one or the other.

As the evening went on, she felt her attraction towards him intensify. She could barely keep herself from straddling him there and then when he started talking about how he sometimes helped out with the local humane society. Hot, intelligent and good with animals? She could just die.

Yet, as much as they were enjoying each other’s company, she could also see a worry grow behind his handsome appearance.

“Anything wrong?” she asked him quizzically.

“No... Well, depends. I need to talk to you about something,” he looked at her with deep thought in his even deeper blue eyes. “It may be a bit surprising, but I want you to have an open mind.”

“Sure, I can see something is gnawing at you, out with it,” she said, sipping her wine.

But for the love of God, don’t tell me I’ve been misreading you all along and you’re gay or something.

Ethan nodded and took a big sip from his glass.

“It’s about Ryan. That mangy mutt and his kind are up to no good, plain and simple,” Ethan said, eyeing his glass in grim thought. “I can’t tell you much more. But I’m fairly certain he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you. And I can’t let that happen.”

He looked up from his glass, right at Jen.

Well, that’s not exactly what I wanted to hear
, she thought to herself.

She was clearly taken aback by Ethan’s words. He was still looking at her with steely resolve and that calmed her somewhat, but the words just sort of jumbled together in her head. Danger? What kind? Why? And why was Ethan so involved!? There were far too many questions to ask and she couldn’t even get a single one of them out of her mouth, which frustrated her more than she cared to admit.

“You say you can’t tell me more, but can I have a hint? You can’t just drop a bomb like that on a woman and expect her to swallow it, no questions asked.”

Ethan’s brow furrowed and she saw a splash of darkness behind his eyes she’d only noticed once before – when Ryan came over that first day. There was something primal there, something that should have made her want to back away from him slowly, but just made her more curious instead.

“It’s about the land. And it is entirely my fault, as well as my family’s. Long story short, Ryan thinks this plot is rightfully his and we don’t agree, like I told you the first day. But he’s decided that now is the time to blow this stuff out of proportion and with his twisted mind, I’m sure he could take a step further than just scaring you.”

“Shouldn’t we call the police then?” Jen asked. “Let the law handle it.”

“Ryan is not dumb enough to get caught by the cops. He wouldn’t do anything obvious until it was too late to ask for the law to help out. He’ll come in the night, like all cowards.” Frustrated, Ethan pulled a hand through his hair and sighed. “Look, I know this sounds like a load of bullshit, but I’m serious about it. I think you could be in danger and I don’t know a better way to make sure that you’ll be fine than to be here myself.”

Now that caught Jen’s attention immediately. The atmosphere in the room had changed. Instead of the easy, calm familiarity they usually had between them, there was tension now. Jen was hanging on the edge of her seat for every word, her brain working double-time to figure out what the hell was
really
going on and what Ethan wasn’t telling her. But at the same time, she could see the way he was talking to her. The look he got in his eyes when he said he wanted to be there with and for her. It made her breath hitch a little.

“If that’s alright with you, I’d like to stay around for a few nights.
Would it
be alright with you? I’ll stay in the guest bedroom. It’s downstairs so I can easily keep an eye out for whatever trouble rears its ugly head.”

He smirked slightly, the gaze of his blue eyes softening, seeing the reaction she had to the notion. Reinvigorated by the option of having him around, Jen smiled.

“Okay. I won’t pry, but only because I’ve been feeling a little bit creeped out by sleeping here alone anyway. So I can pretend to go along with this evil local villain thing and you can pretend to not notice that I suck at being alone in odd houses in the middle of nowhere. Deal? Though if you asked me, you just want to stay around me for the high-quality liquor,” Jen said, raising her glass and winking at Ethan.

Ethan snorted, downing the last of the drink in his glass. “Yeah? You think there’s nothing I’d like better than whiskey here right now?” he asked, a playful glint in his eyes. She was about to answer, but he rushed on and didn’t give her the opportunity.

“I’m sorry if I scared you. But I meant what I said about not wanting to let anything bad happen to you. I couldn’t live with myself. I know we haven’t known each other for too long, but I’ve learned enough about you to know that I really like you. And I want to know even more. I couldn’t exactly do that if a pack of w… assholes tore up your place and drove you out of town, now could I?”

Ethan leaned back in his chair, looking more at ease with himself, as if saying all that lifted a load off his shoulders.

Jen blushed and smiled bashfully. “I’m glad you do. Truth is, I feel the same way. I really like having you around.” Feeling a little tipsy and braver, she continued, “And I wouldn’t mind learning a thing or two about you either.”

Ethan smiled broadly in reply. “I’m happy to hear that. Really am.”

She set her glass on the side table. The good girl in her was telling her to get over the sudden wave of desire that threatened to engulf her. At the same time, the bad girl who hadn’t gotten a chance to come out and play for a really long time kept yelling at her to just go and climb that man like a pole. Luckily, the bad girl side of her was winning out.

“Why don’t you come sit next to me? You don’t have to sit in that big chair all by yourself and, like I said, I’d like to get to know you better,” Jen said, patting the couch cushion next to her.

She was feeling braver than she had in a long while and as far as she was concerned, taking life by the horns was exactly what she needed to be doing right about then – or grabbing men by their scruff, or whatever. Long story short, this man had been driving her wild for far too long already and she was going to take her chance. Win or lose, at least she would be safe in the knowledge that she had taken her chance when it was presented to her.