The women’s mouths all dropped open upon seeing the shifter’s bare chest.
“You have to text him,” Charlotte said.
“Wait a minute,” Juliet said. “Didn’t we order a keg of local craft beer for the party? Is it possible it’s Duke’s beer?”
“Oh shit,” Quinn said with a gasp. “I think you’re right.”
“Just send him a text,” Charlotte said.
“Okay, fine.”
Quinn’s fingers moved over the screen then she clicked off her phone and put it away.
“What did you say?” Juliet asked.
“I just said hi. What else was I supposed to say? I’m your soul mate, want to get nasty?”
“That sounds appropriate,” Charlotte said.
Juliet could see the expression on Quinn’s face turn from excited to anxious. Signing up for Mate.com had just been a way to pass the time, but now she was faced with a dilemma. It was quite possible she’d meet the man who was her perfect match, according to the shifter dating website anyway. From what Juliet knew about Quinn, her family had been involved in some serious shifter hate back in the day. Juliet knew that Quinn wasn’t that way. But she had been raised around it, and the idea of dating a shifter would probably bother her for a number of reasons. No matter how hot and sexy Duke happened to be without a shirt on.
“Now we’re in the same boat,” Juliet said softly to Quinn.
“Well, you’ve been talking to yours for two weeks. I just sent mine a stupid text and now I’m going to show up where he lives. I don’t think I’ll be able to live through the embarrassment.”
“It’s not like you planned any of this,” Juliet said, trying to help her friend out of her anxiety through rationalization.
“Of course I didn’t plan any of this, but he doesn’t know that,” she said.
“What do you care?” Charlotte said, patting Quinn’s knee. “He’s just a stranger. He probably won’t even recognize you if you do even see him. Just forget about it. We’re going up there to party. There’s plenty to keep us occupied. Am I right, ladies?”
6
Levi had been anticipating and dreading this day for two weeks. It was the day that Juliet Hernandez would arrive at his lodge. They had gotten to know each other pretty well through text messages. It seemed to Levi that both of them were reluctant to take the relationship to the next level. When Levi suggested that they speak on the phone, it was Juliet who hesitated and changed the subject.
Maybe she really wasn’t as interested in him as it appeared. Maybe she was one of those women who just wanted to ogle at a shifter male’s attractive physique. Levi didn’t resent anyone their own personal pastimes, but he didn’t want to be a tool for anyone’s shifter fetish. From what he had learned about Juliet, he really didn’t believe she was that kind of person. That didn’t keep his old fears from coming to the surface every time he thought about meeting her.
There was enough drama at the lodge to keep him distracted from his anxiety.
One word: Shane.
Levi heard a crash and shouting from the kitchen as he was inspecting the dining room. Levi wanted everything to be perfect for the wedding so the bride would send back all of her friends for their own destination weddings. With Shane shouting in the kitchen, there was a distinct possibility that his entire business would be destroyed.
Levi pushed the kitchen door open to a scene out of a horror movie. There were live lobsters skittering across the floor. Levi was so dumbstruck he stood silent for a moment before he lifted his gaze to glare at his old friend.
“What the hell is going on in here?” Levi demanded.
“This is what happens when I trust someone else to do the ordering,” Shane said through clenched teeth.
“What’s the problem?” Levi said.
“These are the wrong lobsters.”
“There’s more than one kind?” Levi said with astonishment as the crustaceans clawed their way across the floor.
“These are Maine lobsters. I wanted rock lobsters,” Shane bellowed.
“So what? You just threw them across the floor?” Levi demanded.
“I can’t use these in my recipe,” Shane said, crossing his arms over his black chef coat, showing the many tattoos that lined his forearms.
“Use a different damn recipe then. You are not wasting these lobsters. All of you, pick up these creatures and put them back in the water. Then get back to work.”
“Levi!” Shane barked.
Levi spun around and pointed his finger at his friend. “That’s Chief Bear to you,” Levi said. “Don’t forget, Wild Bear, this is my lodge, and I am your boss.”
Shane glared at Levi then gave him a sarcastic salute. “Yes, sir,” Shane said mockingly. “Anything else, sir?”
“The wedding guests will be arriving soon. Try to hold it together.”
“So am I Wild Bear now?” Shane asked in mock disbelief.
“Haven’t you always been Wild Bear?”
“You haven’t invited me onto the rescue crew yet,” Shane said.
The kitchen staff were chasing lobsters around the room and scooping them up into buckets with bewildered expressions on their faces.
“Now is not the time for this discussion,” Levi said. “You want to be on the rescue crew? You’re going to have to prove to me that you can handle yourself.”
Levi turned away with disgust. Shane’s temper had always been a problem. Even back in their military days as Navy SEALs, he’d had habit of coming unhinged. Levi had had to talk him down more than once. And there had been situations where Shane’s lack of emotional control could have gotten them all killed. Shane had been enraged about the humans who’d beaten up Levi. He’d even tried to discover who it was so he could take them all out.
The military was more than willing to conscript shifters into their war to send them on dangerous missions. However, it was still run primarily by humans. Poking around, stirring things up, accusing superior officers of foul play could have jeopardized everyone’s safety. When Shane went off at their communications liaison while the crew was deep behind enemy lines, it could have gotten them all killed. The liaison had threatened not to send out the chopper intended to extract them from their location. The entire crew had waited at the exit spot for hours, waiting for the chopper to arrive.
Everyone knew it was because of Shane and his temper, and most of the crew was not shy about voicing that opinion. Finally, after several communication attempts on his own part, Levi was able to convince the chopper to fly in to extract them. He received some kind of bullshit excuse about enemy fire, but he knew that it wasn’t the reason he almost hadn’t sent the exit chopper. It was because Shane had pissed off the wrong person.
If Shane was going to work for Levi now, he was going to have to get his shit together. Maybe a bucket of lobsters wasn’t quite the same as a round of machine-gun shells, but it brought up the same anger and frustration Levi had felt back then. That wasn’t the only time that Shane’s temper had been a problem. Levi didn’t trust him.
Putting Shane in charge of his kitchen was one thing, but putting him out on a rescue mission when lives were at stake was another. Shane would have to prove that he was levelheaded enough to deal with emergency situations. After they had all come home from the war and Shane had told everyone he was taking to the woods, Levi had hoped that the time alone would help the wild bear calm down. Clearly, it had not. It seemed to have only made the chip that Shane carried around on his shoulder that much bigger.
If Shane didn’t straighten up, Levi was going to be forced to fire him. And since Shane was one of his oldest friends and part of the original crew, it would be the most difficult thing Levi had ever had to do.
As he was walking away from the kitchen in disgust, he rounded the corner from the dining room and entered the lobby where a group of women stood smiling and giggling in front of the reception desk. Levi stopped short. He would have recognized Juliet anywhere. She looked exactly
like her picture. She was wearing a pair of warm printed leggings, a snuggly pink fleece jacket, and fur lined boots. She looked so cute and so feminine it made Levi’s heart ascend like a helium inflated balloon. Instead of walking towards her and introducing himself, he ducked behind the wall and hid like an idiot.
He stood there wondering why he had become such a wussy. His palms sweated and his heart pounded. He hadn’t dated a woman since the girl from the military. All of his fears and misgivings suddenly seemed to fly in his face, becoming dark and brooding and overwhelmingly tangled. How was he supposed to get through this weekend? They had already agreed to go on a date. Maybe he could just let Kelly run the lodge and leave the property.
Levi considered that option for several minutes before one of his staff members passed by him and gave him a strange look. Levi realized that he was standing against the wall of the dining room looking like a scared rabbit. He instantly pulled himself together and skirted around the dining room to his office.
Feeling like an absolute coward, he sat at his desk and cradled his forehead in his hand. He really had reached a new low. Why in the world was he so afraid of the human woman? She was tiny and adorable and completely terrifying. Just the sight of her in person made his entire body flush with arousal and excitement. Thinking about her round, curvy ass in those tight fitting leggings made his cock stiffen. Now he was done for.
Since he was on this coward bent anyway, he might as well see it through. Levi clicked on his mouse and opened up the security cameras that were hung in the public rooms of the lodge. He clicked through all the feeds and settled on the feed from the pool. The groom’s party and the bride’s party both filed into the pool room together and jumped into the water.
Levi recognized many of them from the lobby, but he didn’t see Juliet among them. He was going to turn off the security cameras and force himself to think about something else when he saw her luscious little form pad across the deck. She gingerly lowered herself in the shallow end with a pink duck floaty around her waist, smiling and kicking her legs out behind her.
Could this girl be any more adorable? He watched her play with her friends for several moments until he finally turned off the feed. He had work to do and he had to keep himself occupied until he was ready to face the woman he’d been texting for the last two weeks. He wasn’t going to bother her immediately. He knew that much. He would wait until later this evening when the party had settled in to the lodge.
Careful to avoid Juliet for the rest of the day, Levi went through the many tasks involved with running his business. He was so absorbed in his work that he forgot to have dinner. His faithful receptionist Kelly brought him a plate from the kitchen.
“Shane made porterhouse steak for dinner,” Kelly said, sliding the plate in front of Levi.
“Thank you, Kelly,” Levi said.
“He may have a temper, but your friend really is an excellent chef,” Kelly said.
“I know. That’s what worries me.”
“You two go back a long way, don’t you?”
“We do. We served in the military together with the rest of the rescue crew.”
“I remember Shane from when he was a little boy. He’s had a rough life.” Kelly said.
“I know, but that isn’t an excuse.”
“I saw someone recently who Shane might know. In fact, I know he knows her.”
Levi wasn’t from Fate Mountain. He’d grown up in Southern California, which was a struggle in and of itself as a grizzly bear shifter. His father had been a record producer and had left the majority of his wealth to Levi when he’d passed away. From what he understood, Shane’s childhood was distinctly different. While Levi had grown up with wealth and luxury and shifter parents who loved him, Shane had grown up on Fate Mountain in the old days, with poverty and abuse. Levi didn’t even know all the details. Shane had suggested once that it had been quite bad.
“Who did you see?” Levi asked.
“A girl Shane might remember from his past,” Kelly said meaningfully.
“Do me a favor, Kelly, don’t tell him about it yet.”
“Whatever you say, Levi. But you know how a woman can always soothe the savage beast,” Kelly said with a smile.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Speaking of girls,” Kelly started, “I believe a certain bridesmaid is here with the rest of the wedding party.”
Levi had offhandedly mentioned that he had been texting one of the girls from the wedding party to Kelly and now he regretted it.
“Thanks for bringing me dinner,” Levi said. He didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
Kelly just smiled at him knowingly and turned away and out the door. Levi ate his dinner in silence, his mind churning. He would have to show himself to Juliet eventually. She must think he was avoiding her. After he cleared his plate, he heaved a heavy sigh. He was being ridiculous. She was just a girl. He stood from his desk and left the office, determined to finally meet Juliet in person.
7
Juliet thought the porterhouse steak the chef had made for dinner was delicious. Several people from the wedding party had suggested that the infamous Shane Keenan was working in the kitchen. If the dinner was any indication, Juliet was almost ready to believe it was true. Ever since the famous chef was outed as a shifter six years ago, he had dropped out of the spotlight completely. Some had said he had joined the military. Others had said he’d gone into hiding.
But for a celebrity who had been almost everywhere such a short time ago, it was exciting to think that maybe he had prepared her meal. After her second glass of red wine, Juliet was feeling a little warm and decided to walk out onto the balcony that overlooked the glassy lake below. The snow had all melted in the spring weather, but the water was surely still devastatingly cold.
Juliet shivered, even under her fleece jacket, as she approached the railing and looked down at the magnificent view. There was a full moon above in the clear mountain sky and it cast its silvery light over the water. Sparks of moonlight rippled on the water and created an image out of the fairytale. As an artist, Juliet was often captivated by the sight of beautiful things. The moonlight over the lake was definitely one of them.
She was so enraptured by the moment that she didn’t hear the balcony door open and close behind her until it was too late. She sensed someone beside her and looked up with a start. She met the most devastatingly gorgeous green eyes on the planet and her heart nearly stopped. It was him. Levi Blackthorn. Bear shifter. Lodge owner. Hottie.
She backed up a pace to take him in all at once. He was tall, at least a foot taller than her. His broad shoulders and muscled arms filled out the snug-fitting fleece he wore over a pair of dark jeans. Juliet licked her bottom lip and tried to make her heart stop pounding like it wanted to beat her to death.
“Levi,” she said breathlessly. Why was she breathless? She’d just been standing here, not jogging.
“Juliet,” he said in a low growl.
The moonlight sparked in his green eyes, making them glow with otherworldly passions. Juliet’s breath caught and she didn’t know what to think or say or do. Her instinct took over and she stepped forward, reaching out to him.
“I’m so happy to finally meet you,” she said, shaking his hand.
“So am I,” he said, his voice husky. “But I think that a handshake is too formal a greeting after everything we’ve shared.”
“I agree,” she said in that same breathless voice.
She was starting to annoy herself, but she couldn’t think about it for long because Levi was leaning forward. His long, muscled arms reached out around her and enveloped her curvy little body in his embrace. He pulled her against his hard chest, her head only coming up to his pecs. He held her to him, his warmth radiating from his body. He was so warm. And he smelled so good. Juliet could feel his heart beating under her cheek. He was just as excited as she was. She stayed in his embrace for a long moment, not wanting to break it, not wanting to break
the spell. Finally, he stepped back, but she felt like she didn’t want to stand alone anymore.
“That was a better greeting,” he said.
He smiled and it lit up in his eyes, making him even more handsome than before.
“I agree,” she said, giggling at herself.
Her whole body felt as if it were vibrating. The smell of his skin and the feeling of his embrace had done something to her. It had cracked something open inside of her, something she wasn’t even aware existed. It was it was as if a wild, wanton creature had been released from behind a prison wall and was spiraling upwards from within the depths of Juliet’s soul. She felt damp and flushed. She bit her lip, resisting the urge to lean up on her tip-toes and kiss his full, luscious lips with wild abandon.
“Can I confess something?” he said.
“Confess away,” Juliet said.
She wanted to hear all of his confessions. She wanted to know his deepest, darkest thoughts. She wanted to know every little detail of his life, his loves, his world. What made him tick? What excited him? What made him scream out for more?
“I was nervous to see you,” he said, with a chuckle.
“That makes two of us,” she said, relieved that she wasn’t the only one.
“As a shifter, it hasn’t always been safe to date a human woman,” he said.
“I completely understand. I have my own past. Not with shifters, but with men,” she said, feeling that maybe she had revealed too much.
She didn’t want to tell him about Ernest and what he had said and done to her, or the fact that the asshole was now her boss. That kind of information could be pretty damning. Would he think that she was weak and stupid for staying in such a bad situation? She decided that for now she would definitely keep it to herself.
“Well, it’s just the two of us now. I think we both know that we enjoy each other’s company. I want to know you, Juliet Hernandez,” he said in that husky voice that told her he meant business. “I want to focus my full attention on you.”