Bloodrunner Bear (Harper's Mountains Book 2) (4 page)

“What did you do with the paperclip?”

The slow smile that stretched across her face felt good. Alana dug in her pocket and lifted the rusty old paperclip in the air for him to see. “I kept it, of course. It’s my good luck charm.”

The smile lines on Aaron’s chiseled jaw deepened with his sexy grin. He crossed his arms over his chest, puffing up his bicep muscles, and rolled his eyes heavenward. He murmured, “I’m new to town…”

“Uh huh.” She waited, excited about where this was going.

“And I don’t know many people outside of my crew and the station…”

“Uh huuuh.”

He looked endearing as fuck as he bit the side of his lip and dragged it out. “So maybe I’ll stop by the coffee shop in the morning, and you can tell me how your date went with Doucheface.”

“Oh, you want to be friends.”

Aaron laughed and scanned the street, then leaned against the side of the garage and nodded. “Yeah, friends.”

“I will be the best friend you ever had on one condition.”

His eyes sparked like dancing blue flames as he lifted his gaze to hers. “Name it.”

Through a teasing grin, she murmured, “Don’t fall in love with me, Aaron Keller.”

His face went slack, and then he swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple dipping into his muscular neck. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

Her bravado would only get her so far, and she would squeak an excited sound if she opened her mouth, so she offered him a small grin, turned, and made her way back toward the coffee shop. She forced herself not to look back. She would embarrass herself if she did.

Aaron Keller had just offered her friendship.
The
Aaron Keller. He was so different than she’d imagined as a little girl, but in a good way. In the type of way that gave her butterflies and made her feel like she was floating with each step she took on the cracked sidewalk.

When she reached her coffee shop, she couldn’t help herself. She had to peek back. Craning her neck, she looked around the trash cans and parked cars, and he was there, leaning on the side of the fire station, arms crossed and eyes on her. With an excited yelp, she waved her fingertips quickly and escaped inside.

And as she pressed her back against the closed door, Alana was a hundred percent sure her heartrate would never settle down.

Hang her date tonight—tomorrow morning couldn’t come fast enough.

Alana had been tricked. Or catfished? Trey Langford was nothing like she’d expected. Online, he’d been polite, respectful, and wore a business suit in a professional looking picture. She wasn’t after a man’s money since she was perfectly capable of taking care of her own finances, but she was tired of dating boys instead of men. This was the trouble with dating at thirty. The good ones seemed to be taken, and the ones left in the dating pool were still single for a reason. And that reason, she’d found out over the last couple of years, was usually that they had the maturity of adolescent squids.

Trey belched and continued on about himself. “So then I decided I didn’t want to work for the man, you know? So I quit my job, bought my business, and now I don’t have to answer to anyone. I wake up when I want, work when I want, take days off when I want.”

Alana swallowed the bite of thin-crust pepperoni and mushroom pizza and feigned interest. “What do you do for your business?”

“I restock vending machines. Sodas, snacks, candy, you name it. There is a need out there, and I’m filling it. Hospitals, bowling alleys, professional buildings…are you going to finish that?” He pointed at a slice of bread on her appetizer plate she’d taken one bite of.

Alana tried to compose the disgust off her face but probably failed. Not that Trey noticed. He barely waited for her to nod her consent before he grabbed her bread and dunked it into the olive oil, herb, and vinegar mixture Dante’s Traditional Pizza Pies was known for.

From the cozy front patio of the restaurant, Alana sighed and looked down the street at the fire station for the tenth time since dinner had started. It was lit by street lights, and one of the hangers was open. She could see the fire engine but hadn’t caught a single glance of Aaron. She wished she was sitting with someone else at this cute little two-seater table under Dante’s pergola. Someone blond, mysterious, and covered in tattoos. She’d been so excited about this date with Trey a few days ago, but after meeting Aaron, she’d been dreading it.

Trey followed her gaze down the street, and Alana reminded herself there was just a little while left, and then she could go home and forget about this awkward night. She needed to at least give this guy a chance and anchor herself in the moment.

“So what do you do?” he asked.

She opened her mouth to answer, but he cut her off.

“Because I have to tell you, if this goes any further, I’m not really for supporting a woman who wants to stay at home with my kids. You’ll have to take care of them and work. And I mean you need to be bringing in a big income. I’m not into gold-diggers. I make good money, and I don’t want you thinking that’s all I’m about. I need a teammate. I have financial goals I want to reach and can’t do that on one income. I’m looking at early retirement, and if you think about it, settling down would put me even farther behind because we have to come up with retirement for both of us. Fifty-fifty sounds fair. Like tonight, I’m fine with paying for my meal, but you should have some pride and pay for your own.”

Alana clenched her hands on her lap and barely resisted kicking his shin under the table. What a disgusting little troll. “I’d actually prefer to pay for the entire meal, Trey.” She lifted her finger toward the waitress for the check.

“Really? In that case, I’m getting two desserts.”

Alana unexpectedly giggled. She composed her face, but it fell apart again when she laughed louder. She started laughing so hard she covered her face. When she finally settled, she peeked through her spread fingers.

Trey was all mussed brown hair, dopey eyes, and a slight grin like he thought she was laughing at something funny he had said. “What?”

Alana gestured to Trey and shook her head. “It’s just…you! Trey, you can pay for your own desserts. Fifty-fifty and all. Is this really what you talk about on first dates? Finances? You called me a gold digger! Sir, I own my own business and don’t need your money. I accepted your offer of a date because you seemed nice when we talked online and on the phone. But it’s clear as crystal we aren’t compatible. I wish you huge luck finding a woman to put up with”—she circled her finger at him—“all of that.” She thanked Belinda for the check the waitress slipped onto the table, tipped her twenty-five percent, then slid into her cardigan and shouldered her purse. “It was nice to meet you, Trey.”

“Well it wasn’t nice to meet you. Your loss!” Trey yelled as she made her way down the sidewalk. “Good luck finding someone to accept all of
you
. Your scar looks hideous!”

What an asshole. The humor fell from her face as all her old securities came flooding back. She wrapped her arms around her middle to keep from falling apart.
Don’t let him get to you like that.
She was stronger now. She loved herself. It had been a long road getting here, and Trey the Troll was not going to make her backpedal. Someone was out there who would accept all of her. He had to be. She believed there was a person out there for her, just like Lissa had found Todd and her dad had found her stepmom. It just hadn’t happened for her yet, but it would. Someday.

Stupid Trey for bringing up her scar. It was a low blow meant to hurt her. And it had. Her eyes burned with tears, but she blinked hard and kept them at bay because he wasn’t worth the emotional effort. Determined to avoid the fire station, she stayed on the opposite side of the street as she headed back to the coffee shop, or more specifically to her small one-bedroom apartment at the back of the building where she could regroup and again convince herself the scar didn’t matter.

“Hey!” Aaron’s voice echoed down the street, and Alana jumped.

Quick as a flash of lightning, she dashed her fingertips under her eyes just to make sure she hadn’t shed any of the moisture. “H-hey,” she greeted him.

He stood inside the garage with a heavy-looking box balanced on the palm of his hand. His blond brows were furrowed with a frown. Aaron set down the box with a massive thud, then strode out of the station until only the two-lane street separated them. He dragged his gaze down her deep pink dress, fitted to her boobs and fuller from waist to hem. “You look pretty.”

And then she lost it, eyes burning, lip trembling. Mortification swept over her. Her face fell, and she couldn’t meet his gaze. Trey had been awful, and Aaron had just picked up all the pieces that were breaking apart and put them back together with those three words. You. Look. Pretty. Damn straight, and screw Trey for making her forget that for a moment.

She could hear Aaron’s boots pounding on the pavement, and then he was there, hugging her shoulders. And holy mushrooms, he smelled divine. Masculine soap and body spray. Even his deodorant smelled good and, hell yeah, she was sniffing his armpit and crying and she would remember to be embarrassed in the morning when he wasn’t hugging her and making her feel all warm and safe inside.

“The date?”

She nodded. “You called it. He was a total doucheface.”

“Was he rude?”

Another nod.

A low, feral sound vibrated through Aaron’s chest, and when she looked up, his eyes were on the man scarfing dessert at Dante’s. “You want me to kill him?”

“Are you serious?”

Aaron’s eyes locked with hers, and a tremor of terror zinged up her spine. They were so light, glowing almost, reflecting oddly like an animal in headlights.

“Yes or no?”

“No,” she whispered through an accidental huff of laughter. “No, I don’t want you to become a murderer because my date was an idiot.” Her entire body was pressed against his, but she arched her neck all the way back to meet his eyes better. “You’re really tall.”

“Maybe you’re just short,” he said, the hint of a smile at the corners of his lips.

She giggled and sighed, thankful that Aaron had the ability to erase Trey with a little teasing.

Aaron rubbed her shoulders gently and cocked an eyebrow. “You’re a very aggressive hugger, woman. I think you wrinkled my shirt.”

“Passionate, not aggressive, and your shirt is weak if it is going to wrinkle so easily.”

“I think you scratched me with your claws.” Now she could see the white of his straight teeth as he drew her hand up and studied her nails. She wouldn’t admit it, but she’d told the woman who did her manicure today she wanted sparkly gold. It was the same shade as his eyes when he got riled up. She’d imagined those pretty gold-green eyes in a big brown bear, and secretly hoped she would get to see his inner animal someday.

“You’ll heal.” Alana wiggled her fingers at him. “Do you like them?”

Aaron smirked and dropped her hand. “Fishing for compliments so early in our friendship.” He tsked and shook his head.

Alana pushed off him and laughed. “Don’t make me fish then!”

“I like your nails, your hair, your make-up, your dress, and you smell like vanilla. You look sexy as hell, and if Doucheface let you go, it’s on him.”

And just like that, Aaron had her remembering her tough skin. “Yeah, fuck him.”

“That’s right.” Aaron’s smile stretched wider. He grabbed her hand as they took a few steps down the sidewalk, bumped her shoulder, and muttered, “Fuck him.”

Alana stared down in shock at their intertwined fingers, his fair skin against her dark. There was something so beautiful about that connection. Aaron stopped walking and drew up in front of her. When she glanced up, he was staring at their hands, too, with such an intense look in his blazing gold eyes. His chest rose as he breathed in deeply, and when he lifted his attention to her face, he stopped on her lips.

Drawing closer to her, taking his time, Aaron cupped her neck with his giant hand and brushed his thumb gently over the scar on her lip, then across her cheek. A tender smile lifted and fell in an instant on his face.

Alana stood frozen, so hopeful that he would kiss her, but so scared because this thing growing between them felt huge now. It was one of those moments that had the potential to change her from the inside out. To make her look at the world differently.

How terrifying and exhilarating all at once.

Aaron leaned down slowly, and this was it. His lips were inches from hers, and Alana closed her eyes and leaned into him. And right as she could feel his body warmth seeping into her, a jarring alarm sounded.

Aaron tensed and jerked his attention to the firehouse as a woman’s voice came over the intercom. “Truck forty-eight, ambulance forty-eight, automobile accident, possible fire, highway nineteen and eleven-sixty-eight.”

Aaron pulled away and bolted for the flurry of chaos in the fire station. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he called over his shoulder.

Alana stood there stunned as she watched him disappear into the turnout room and then emerge with his crew, talking low and serious as they loaded up. The ambulance left the station just seconds before the fire engine blasted onto Main Street. Aaron was speaking into a radio from the front seat, but he locked eyes with her for a moment before he was gone.

A tsunami of worry washed through her middle. She’d never given a single thought to his job. Sure, she and her friends had joked about how hot firefighters were, but she’d never considered that someday she would have a stake in a firefighter’s safety.

Up the road, the fire engine’s blaring lights disappeared, and Alana wrapped her thick wool cardigan more tightly around her shoulders to ward off the chill that had suddenly taken her body.

He would be fine. This was what he did, and he was a Keller. A bear shifter. He was good at his job and could survive a lot more than a normal human. So why couldn’t she shake this sudden fear that had her paralyzed on the sidewalk of dark Main Street?

Caw!

Alana startled hard at the jarring cry of a bird and looked up at one of the trees along the street. A giant raven was bending a young branch under its weight and seemed to be looking right at her. Farther up the tree sat a snow-white owl, even more massive than the raven. Gooseflesh rose across her arms. Oh, hell no. She’d seen this movie before and was not about to get pecked to death.

Alana speed-walked down the street, daring a single look back at the strange birds in the tree before she escaped around her coffee shop and into her apartment.

Tonight had turned out weird. Disappointment over what a bulbous anal gland Trey had turned out to be, relief at Aaron’s sweet compliments, safety in his embrace, the almost-kiss, and then the jarring alarm that had flattened her world in an instant. She was crushing hard on a man with a dangerous job. Alana was falling so hard, so fast, it left her unsteady. And now, as she stood in her living room thinking of the ominous birds in the tree, a trill of fear expanded in her chest. She got this strange sensation of being a rock, tumbling down a mountainside, faster and faster, and soon nothing would be able to stop her from hitting the bottom.

What was she doing?

She’d planned to move away from here and start over. To get out from under the shadow of her twin sister and find her own sense of self. But with every second she spent with Aaron, he put all of her plans in jeopardy and tempted her to grow her roots deeper into this little town.

He made her feel differently, but she couldn’t figure out if that was a good thing or a very bad thing. In just three brief meetings with him, Aaron already wielded the power to make her reconsider her future.