Cole: Black Bear Outlaws #3 (Mating Fever) (3 page)

With shaking hands, I scrolled through Cole’s contacts. It took two tries to hit Cyrus’s number, and when it started to ring, I leaned back against the couch and closed my eyes.

“It’s about time I heard from you,” Cyrus said. “Any updates or have you and the starlet been too busy rolling around in the sheets to get any work done?”

His words left me momentarily speechless.

Cyrus chuckled over the line. “I see I hit a nerve.”

The combined fear and stress of the day hit me hard. “Mr. Doucet,” I said, my tone full of ice. “I don’t know what makes you think my sex life is any of your business, but I can assure you, it isn’t.”

“Uh, Miss Matthews?”

I could practically hear his grimace. “Yes. Cole is busy putting out a small fire caused by a bomb—”

“A bomb?” His volume rose and his swift footsteps echoed over the phone.

“Yes—”

“I’ll be right there. Have you called the police?” He was all business now, steady and concerned, all traces of humor and embarrassment gone.

“No, I—”

“I’ll take care of it.” The line went dead.

I stared at the phone and wondered if I should’ve called the police. Or the fire department. Christ the fire department. Of course I should’ve called them.

I bit my bottom lip. If I called 911, my conversation would be recorded and most likely sold to a tabloid by some hungry dispatcher.

It would be better if the call came from Cole. I gripped the phone tightly and made my way out back.

“Your brother is on his way,” I said from the doorway, watching as Cole doused the offending package with a bucket of water. “Is it out of commission?”

He nodded and ran a hand over the back of his neck. “It’s definitely homemade, and thankfully, not well done. Looks like they used a firecracker and a homemade electric timer for the detonator.”

“A firecracker?”

He lifted his head and nodded. “It’s rudimentary. Not much to worry about.”

I stared at him, my eyes wide. “You’re joking, right? Someone sent me a firecracker bomb, someone who isn’t supposed to know I’m here by the way, and you’re telling me not to worry about it?” For fuck’s sake. Maybe I’d made a serious error in judgment when I’d hired him.

He dropped the bucket and joined me on the deck. His shoulders were stiff and his eyes blazing with anger, but when he turned his gaze to me, everything softened. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and gently nudged me into the house.

I went only because after being the subject of a bombing, standing outside, even outside in my own backyard, felt too exposed. But as soon as we were safely tucked away in my kitchen, I shrugged him off, ready to come right out of my skin.

He backed up and leaned against the counter, watching me.

“We can’t stay here,” I said, stating the obvious.

“No, we can’t.”

“And we can’t go to L.A.” The words hit me like a sucker punch to the gut. I knew all along it was a bad idea. Hell, when I’d finally gotten my producer on the phone, he’d laid down the law—they couldn’t have me on set until the matter was resolved. I was a liability to everyone. Getting on a plane was worse than a waste of time. It was downright reckless.

He nodded his agreement. “It’s better if you keep a low profile for now.”

I gritted my teeth. There was nothing worse for my career than a low profile. I glanced around at the old house. A vision of me and my grandmama dancing in the living room overwhelmed me. She’d been so happy that day. A rare occurrence and a memory I’d tried hard to bury. It made me too sad.

Tears filled my eyes and my chest tightened.

“Amberly?” Cole said softly, already reaching for me.

I raised my hand in a stop motion and took a step back. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” He inched toward me, but didn’t make a move to touch me. “It’s been a hard day. That package would shake up anyone.”

I nodded, letting him think that was the reason for my meltdown.

There was a sharp rap on the door, followed by Cyrus’s greeting. “It’s just me.”

I folded my arms around my chest, grateful for the distraction.

Cole crossed the kitchen, holding his hand out to his brother.

The expression on Cyrus’s face was one of pure relief as he bypassed the handshake and engulfed his brother in a quick hug. “Good to see you didn’t lose a limb.”

Cole let out a humorless laugh. “If the jackass who sent the package had half a brain, little pieces of me would’ve been scattered all over Amberly’s backyard.”

His words made my knees go weak as I sank into a nearby chair. The reality of what was happening slammed into me in a rare moment of clarity.

Someone didn’t just want to scare me—they wanted to hurt me
.

And they wanted that badly enough they’d gone through the trouble of tracking me to Nowheresville in Bayou Basin, Louisiana.

“Hey, are you all right?” Cole asked with so much concern in his tone that I longed to curl into a ball and disappear.

I quickly slammed the door on my self-pity and turned to meet his dark eyes. “I’ve been careless.”

He flicked his gaze at Cyrus and then back to me. “What do you mean?”

“I never thought my stalker would follow me all the way here. Even though I hired you, I didn’t really believe there was anything to worry about.” Emotion welled up in my chest, making it hard to breathe. “And because of that, I put you in danger.” I turned to Cyrus. “All of you.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Cyrus said. “No you didn’t. We signed up for this.”

I stared at him, my heart racing and panic setting in. “You...” The words got caught in my throat, but I swallowed and forced them out. “You have a family, a cub.”

“Cyrus, go away,” Cole ordered, and slipped his hand into mine, gently pulling me from the chair.

I gazed up at him, feeling more alone than ever.

“Come here.” He pulled me into his arms and gently pressed my head against his shoulder. “Today was a shitty day. Totally fucked.”

I nodded, tightening my hold on him. How had I ended up in this place? Twenty-six years old, no family, and no real friends except this one man who I’d met only four days ago. Oh sure, I had people who I called “friends,” but they weren’t ones I could count on or trust with my secrets.

“Cyrus doesn’t always say the right things, but he was right, you know,” Cole continued. “It’s not your fault we’re a part of this. Even if you hadn’t hired us, there is no way we’d let you deal with this on your own.”

I tilted my head to look up at him. “Why?”

He brushed his fingers over my brow and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. His gentle touch warmed the cold places in my heart. “Because, Amberly, you and I? We have a connection.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off.

“It’s there. We both know it. I’d no sooner leave you to deal with this on your own than I would one of my brothers.”

Everything inside me melted. Just turned to complete mush.

“We’ve got to go,” Cyrus demanded as he strode back into the room. “Now.”

Cole released me, instantly on alert. “Why? Is there another package?”

He shook his head as he peered out the glass door into the backyard. “We have a visitor.”

“Shit!” Cole disappeared into the living room.

I stood frozen in the kitchen like a complete idiot. “Visitor?”

“Some jackass with a long-range camera lens. He’s on the roof of a building across the street.” Cyrus locked the back door and closed the drape. “Time to close the inn and get out of here.”

When Cyrus and I joined Cole, he already had hold of two of my suitcases.

Cyrus tapped out a message on his phone. A second later, it buzzed with an answer. He read it then nodded to us. “Time to go.”

“I feel like I just missed something,” I said to Cole.

He nodded toward the red truck barreling down the street. “It’s Chase. He’s going to make sure those pictures never see the light of day.”

Whoa. These bears didn’t mess around.

“Let’s go.” Cole ushered me out the door with him in the lead, while Cyrus locked up my old house. And although I knew I shouldn’t, I couldn’t help it. I turned and stared right at the photographer.

He stood the moment our eyes met. He grinned, flashing his white teeth briefly as he pointed the camera at me and no doubt hit the rapid button. He’d probably have over a hundred photos of me by the time I was tucked away in Cole’s truck. I just prayed Chase was successful in obtaining the film, otherwise the Doucet brothers were going to be on the cover of ever gossip rag from L.A. to the U.K. by the next morning. And they’d claim I was involved with one or both of them, likely starting some secret sex scandal.

And while none of that would hurt me—I was used to the bullshit—they certainly didn’t need the trouble. I’d been stupid to think this was a good place to lay low. Nowhere was safe, not anymore. Not after being in three hit movies. Fame would follow me everywhere.

Maybe I should’ve headed out of the country for a while. Australia or New Zealand sounded nice right about now.

“Up you go,” Cole said, holding the door open for me.

“Where are we headed?” I asked after he jumped into the driver’s side.

He slammed the truck into gear just as Chase sped down the street toward the photographer. “Where we should’ve gone in the first place.”

T
he loud buzz of a small swarm of black flies filled the air. I sat on the front porch in the rustic old rocking chair, eyeballing the property. The cameras needed to be inspected, the cable lines checked, and the bulbs in the flood lights changed. But otherwise, the old camp was perfect.

“Cole!” Amberly screeched from inside. “Get in here. Now.”

I stood, gazing at the calm water, and sucked in a deep breath. The ripe scent of decay and mud from the bayou filled me with a sense of
home
. A sense of belonging as if I was right where I was supposed to be.

“Cole!” Amberly called again, this time followed by heavy footsteps across the old warped wooden floors. The screen slammed open and she stood in the doorway, scowling. “There’s a decaying rodent under the futon.”

A bubble of laughter got caught in my throat, and I coughed, trying my best to cover it.

“It’s not funny. Jesus. I can’t believe you thought this was the best place to take me. I’m not staying here.” She placed her hands on her hips and stared at me defiantly.

“Sure. I can understand your hesitation. It’s a no-frills cabin out in the middle of the bayou. No roads. No neighbors. No escape other than the boat we came in on. It’s no Ritz, that’s for certain. But it has other features.” I smiled at her, enjoying her fussiness. She was reacting almost exactly the way my mother had the first time my father had brought us out here—before everything had fallen apart.

“Like what? A spider colony in the shower?” She crossed her arms around her waist and shuddered.

I laughed. “Possibly. But if there is, I’ll take care of it.”

“Oh, God.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I hear the south of France is nice this time of year.”

I reached out and slipped my hand into hers. She flinched at first, but relaxed when she realized it was only me. That tiny little change in her demeanor did something to me. It filled me with a sense of accomplishment that she trusted me, felt comfortable letting me touch her when she was clearly distraught. And that my touch actually calmed her. It made me long to wrap her in my arms and test those boundaries. I wanted to see if my fingers and lips could make her hum with contentment.

My body tensed with desire as I gazed at her long neck, bronzed skin, and pouty lips. Just one kiss, one hot, passionate, mind-blowing kiss was all I needed... for now.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she said softly.

“Like what?” I whispered back, fully aware of the gruffness in my voice.

“Like you’re going to eat me for lunch.” She turned and pressed her small hand to my cheek. “I’m not Goldilocks.”

“And I’m not the big bad wolf,” I said, placing my hand on her lush hip.

She shook her head. “No, but you are a predator.”

I chuckled, amused. I had a hard time picturing this self confident, strong-willed, capable woman of being anyone’s prey. “Only if you want to be caught,” I said, flashing my half-smile that had gotten me laid more times than I could count. “Just say the word, gorgeous, and the hunt will be on.”

Her eyes blazed with a heat so fierce, my entire body responded by swaying closer to her. She cast her gaze up and down my body, taking her time to study me. And just when our eyes met and I was certain she was going to make the first move, she straightened and took a step back. Then she cleared her throat. “I believe you were going to tell me about the features of this...camp? Is that what you call it?”

I gazed at her, letting my eyes linger on her mouth, making sure she knew whatever was happening between us wasn’t over.

She responded by darting her tongue out, wetting her lips as if anticipating what could’ve been.

Damn she was sexy. Someday soon I was going to make it my business to find out what she tasted like. Leaning against the wooden porch railing, I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded. “Yep. A camp. And no one who doesn’t belong comes out here. It’s too dangerous.”

She cast her gaze over to the dock where the boat bobbed in the bayou. “Because of the gators?”

I laughed.

“What? They’re out there. I saw a few small ones lounging on fallen logs while we were headed out here.”

Still chuckling to myself I nodded my agreement. “Sure. They’re lots of gators. But they aren’t the reason these parts are dangerous. Not unless you go bother a mama guarding her eggs.”

She pursed her gorgeous lips and glared at me. “It’s not very polite to keep laughing. I just asked a question.”

I sobered immediately. The last thing I wanted to do was embarrass her. “Sorry. It’s just that for a Louisiana native, and one who happens to be a bear shifter, you seem a little skittish when it comes to the bayou.”

She gave me an odd look then shook her head. “You realize I was seven when my mom carted me off to L.A., right?”