Big Strong Bear (12 page)

Ryder wasn’t often physical with women. He was always working, and not in touch with his bear lately. But one look at the woman’s tall, curvy body had the animal in him begging to break out and claim her this instant.

But this would take time. He could tell by his mate’s wary face that she didn’t trust him, didn’t trust most people maybe, and wouldn’t be the type to get easily swept off her feet by someone like him.

He sat on the chair she pushed to him. Even though the alpha in him resisted the idea of letting her control the conversation, he decided that strategically, the best move was to let her think she was running things.

“Fine,” he said, “I’ll introduce myself, then. I’m Ryder Hart, and these are my brothers, Riley and Ryan.” He gestured to them as they sat. “And we’re here to run the lodge until my father’s will can be worked out.”

“Wait, was your father Royce?” the curly-haired woman asked. “Grumpy, huge Royce?”

“One and the same,” Riley said, flashing her a wink that had her blushing. If only the woman Ryder had his eye on seemed half as open to advances.

But maybe that’s part of what he liked about her, in addition to the stirrings inside him that said his bear wanted her. She didn’t look like she was desperate or dependent. She stood on her own two feet, waiting for the right partner. Now Ryder would just have to prove it was him.

“I’m Leslie,” the curly-haired one said. “And this is Kylie.” She motioned to the smaller blonde. “And Janna,” she said, gesturing to the woman Ryder had nearly kissed.

Janna. A beautiful name,
Ryder thought as he more carefully studied the woman he’d set his sights on. She had a heart-shaped face with smooth, warm-brown skin, beautiful red lips, and thick, unruly hair that a man could wrap his hands in. And a body made to be loved by a bear like him.

Soft, large, warm. His mouth watered at the thought of holding her against him. His whole body responded to the thought, and he scooted his chair back slightly in shock.

Riley sent him a knowing look, and Ryder resisted the urge to smack him. But alphas didn’t smack. Not in front of potential mates.

The others started to talk, but the woman, Janna, simply wouldn’t open up or join in. Ryder watched her as Riley flirted shamelessly with the other two. She seemed totally detached, in another world, as she studied her cup like there was something interesting at the bottom.

Was he really so undesirable as a mate that she couldn’t even look at him?

She stood suddenly, planting her hands on the table. “Excuse me, but I’ve got to head back,” she said quietly, looking at her friends with a silent message he couldn’t read.

Leslie looked regretful, and Kylie seemed to be reluctant to pull her eyes from Ryan’s face, but both Leslie and Kylie stood in solidarity. “Sorry, guys,” Leslie said. “Looks like we gotta head out.” She gestured out the window. “Snow is getting bad, and we need to get back to town.”

“When can we see you again?” the little blonde, Kylie, asked.

“Whenever you want,” Riley said, winking at her and making her blush from head to toe. “We’re going to be staying here for a while.”

“Maybe not that long,” Ryan grumped.

The blonde flinched.

Ryder felt bad for her. She was setting her eyes on the wrong male. Ryan might be a bear, but he was a bear more interested in staying in the wild than being domesticated.

And as for Riley, in whom Leslie seemed to be interested, well, Ryder doubted Riley would ever be happy with less than a full harem.

But for him, he’d always known just one would be perfect, if it were the right one. Someone to raise a family with, to run in bear form with, to play with cubs with. And he could see all that in Janna’s clear brown eyes. She stood and pushed past him, not even acknowledging him as he stood.

The three women left, only two of them promising to come back. He’d been thoroughly rejected.

But he wasn’t offended.

Ryder never shied away from a challenge.

Janna shuffled the papers in front of her absent-mindedly and then put them in a folder. She couldn’t get the man from the night before out of her mind.

Blue eyes, like a sapphire night, like a lake under the stars, twinkled in her mind, making it hard to keep her mind on her work or even focus on what she was supposed to be doing today. The end of the year was coming and tax season would hit soon, and she needed to get her other work up to date before all hell broke loose. As the only accountant and tax professional in a tiny tourist town, Janna was the main person people depended on to keep their businesses straight.

A small bell jingling over the door alerted her to someone entering, and she looked up to see Scott.

She noticed with some small satisfaction that his fine, blond hair was thinning and the lines on his forehead were deepening. She didn’t think it was fair for such an awful person to be so handsome, and she thought it was about right that he was losing his looks now.

He didn’t seem to think he was, however. She could tell from the cocky glow in his gray eyes that in his mind, he was still the hottest thing in town and any woman should simply feel blessed to be in his presence. Someone should tell him that as of last night, that was no longer true.

As of last night, he was at least three ranks lower on the hotness totem pole.

Her mouth watered as she shoved the papers haphazardly into a file. Each of the men from last night was an amazing specimen of the best mankind had to offer. The fact that they were all together was startling. The fact that they were also brothers was mind-blowing.

The fact that she could think about them now, with Scott’s presence both threatening and obnoxious in the distance, was something she’d rather
not
think about.

“Seems like you’re doing all right for yourself here,” Scott said sardonically, walking forward into the store in a relaxed posture, hands in his too-tight Chino pockets, wearing a leather jacket over his worn, pink designer polo. Scott was the picture of average success and above-average looks, with his smooth skin and boyish good looks that were only slightly marred by his wrinkles.

But Janna knew beneath the good looks was a personality that was less than ideal. Less than normal. Less than desirable. But that didn’t stop her heart from aching just slightly at what she’d thought she wanted. Security and a home with him. Even now, as he eyed her with what he must feel was a charming look, a part of her wanted nothing to have happened between them. For her to never have found out what he was doing behind her back. So they could go back to what they were. When she was happy.

At least she’d thought she was happy.

Maybe, in all reality, all she’d been was comfortable.

Certainly, looking into Ryder Hart’s sapphire eyes, she had seen the promise of everything except comfortable. Life with him, even at its best, would never be anything like it was with Scott.

Not that she knew him enough to know much about him. But something about his intimidating presence, the sense that he took no crap from anyone and he took care of his business, made her think life with him would never be easy, but it also would never be full of the cowardly crap Scott had dished out.

“You okay?” Scott asked, taking another unwelcome step into the room toward the front counter. “You seem a little out of it.”

Her heart skipped a beat and she kept her eyes on the folder she’d just closed. She never knew what to say to Scott. A part of her felt that if she talked to him at all, it’d be letting him win in his game of trying to pretend nothing had happened. That he could just start over pursuing her and she’d fall at his feet once again.

Maybe that would have been true before. When she was new to this town and alone and younger and not sure she could stand on her own two feet. But now she was certain. She had friends in Leslie and Kylie and a life here with a successful and busy business, and she didn’t need stupid Scott interfering.

But how to tell him that without actually talking to him? She really felt if she spoke to him, she’d start yelling and never stop.

“You’re going to have to talk to me at some point, Janna,” Scott said. “You can’t just keep ignoring me. Not in a town this small.”

She sighed. He should have thought of that before he cheated on her. Yes, they’d be trapped alone in this small town. He probably thought since she didn’t have many options, she’d come back to him eventually, regardless of how he’d treated her. But that simply wasn’t how things had worked out, thank heavens.

Sapphire-blue eyes winked in her mind again. Maybe she should be a little less standoffish. Maybe just so she didn’t have to look at Scott.

But then, when she first met Scott, hadn’t things been so much more exciting and promising? Maybe she was forgetting how it all went down. Maybe she was just trying to distract herself or hoping for rescue from an awkward situation. Whatever it was that had made her think Ryder Hart was an option, it also seemed to have called him out of thin air, because the bell over the door rang a second time as his large presence filled the room.

Maybe it was just the cold air that blew in at his bold entrance, maybe it was just the way his broad shoulders filled the room and the way his simple elegance bespoke wealth and power in a style Scott couldn’t achieve with ten times the effort.

Janna told herself it was just the cold winter air causing her breath to catch in her chest, but an uncomfortable tightening in her legs as she met Ryder’s eyes told her otherwise.

Gosh, she got turned on just by looking at him. Had she even fallen for Scott this instantly? She berated herself for being a silly woman and planted her hands on the counter to stay steady. She noted with some pleasure that Scott wasn’t pleased at all by the disturbance the newer, larger man caused.

Ryder, for his part, cocked an eyebrow at Scott and pulled his lips into a frown that suggested the other man should just disappear. Scott quickly complied, flashing Janna a look that said this was far from over. She sighed and rested back on the standing stool behind the counter.

“Did you need help with something?” she asked Ryder, who was still just standing there, hands in the pockets of his expensive black ski jacket, dark hair tousled by the wind and snow. When she spoke, his eyes flashed and locked on hers. She bit her lip in response and then flushed when his eyes moved down to her mouth.

“If I did, would you help me?” he asked, a bit of a tease in his words—and something darker. Something that made her press her legs together in anticipation. “You weren’t very friendly the other night.”

She pressed her lips together and tried to look relaxed on her chair. She didn’t often have billionaire tech investors in her shop, and when she did, they didn’t have movie-star good looks. “Well, I guess it depends on the type of help you need.” She nodded behind her. “But if you need accounting help, I’m probably your only option in this town.”

He exhaled as if disappointed that their banter was gone and there was actual business talk in its place. “Fine. Business it is. I need your help with the books up at the lodge.”

“Really? I thought the lodge had Barry?”

Barry had been the other accountant in town, but he worked exclusively for Ryder’s father. She was sure he was paid well enough that it hadn’t been an issue.

Ryder’s handsome face tightened and an angry flush heightened the color on his high cheekbones. “We discovered some… issues. He was let go.”

She swallowed. Had Barry been embezzling? She’d never liked the man, with his cranky, pinched look and the little smirk he gave her when they crossed each other on the road. But she’d just put it down to him not liking that they were competitors. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Ryder waved her concern away with one hand. Probably the amount of money that Barry had taken was a tiny amount compared to the fortune this billionaire possessed. She wondered why he was even back here at all. She couldn’t remember ever seeing him around here before.

Gosh, she just wanted to hole up with him in a cabin for the winter and let him tell her everything about his life. By the hot, appraising look he gave her as she sized him up, she had the feeling the sentiment was somewhat mutual.

But why did she get the feeling that Ryder Hart had deeper secrets than anyone could fathom?

A chill went through her as the door opened and closed, and a little old lady named Ada came in to schedule a later time to work on some tax issues. She concluded the business quickly, trying not to feel Ryder’s eyes on her with each breath, but by the time Ada had given her a quick hug and left, she was all too aware of the presence of the large man in front of her.

“So what can I help with?” she asked. She pushed a signup sheet toward him. “Want to work out a time to come in and go over your books with me?”

He slowly removed leather gloves, revealing smooth hands and long fingers. This was a man who had made his fortune with his mind, not his brawn, though from the muscles bulging through his winter clothing, it was clear there was plenty of that as well.

“I was actually hoping you could come up to the lodge with me. I think it’ll take a good amount of time to go through what we need to go through. And I’d hoped to get to know you better while we were at it.”

She blushed at the words “at it,” thinking just what she would like them to imply. Oh no, she was doing it again. Getting romantic and dreamy-eyed and getting way too many ideas about where things could go. For the past year, she’d been the cool, cold accountant, and that had suited her fine. Everything by the numbers.

Nothing about Ryder Hart would be by the numbers.

She bit her lip as she tried to decide whether she’d give him his way.

“You know you’d be buying only my accounting services, right?” she said nervously. “Nothing more. I don’t know if you’re the type who thinks you can walk in and buy the local women, but I assure you, women here have their choice of partners same as anyone, and we don’t need men coming in and assuming we’re waiting here for someone to rescue us.”

His lips pressed into a hard line and his expression grew colder as she finished. “Are you done?” he asked sharply. “I can assure you I have the highest of ethical expectations of myself as well as others. All I’d really ask of you is that you put whatever baggage is obviously bothering you behind you while we work together.” A small grin tipped up the corners of his lips. “And if we should decide to take our relationship beyond the professional, it should only be because you find me as irresistible as I find you, Janna.”