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  “Not yet,” he said, and coming across a tender spot where he’d nicked his finger on the undercarriage, he winced. “Ow.”

  “What’s the matter?” She walked right up to him and he breathed in her scent, attempting to be subtle about it. She only came up to his chin and when she looked up at him, his gaze dropped to her pink mouth that looked a little swollen.

  “Just hurt my finger,” he murmured.

  “Let me see.”

  He let her take his hand. She stood close enough that he could feel her breathing, the shortness of it. Her skin was soft where she held his hand in hers and it was probably unnecessary the way she stroked her thumb along his palm and turned his hand over until finally finding the small nick that had cut a little notch in the skin of his ring finger, though it was not bleeding. “Ouch…”

  “Doesn’t hurt,” he said. He ducked his head a little, just enough that his lips brushed her hair.

  “I...I can’t,” she breathed. He was so close. He tipped his head forward and let his eyes shut, content to let his lips brush along the crown of her head.

  “Can’t do what?” He whispered and squeezed her hands in his. Just that seemed to unravel her a little. She leaned into him and he lowered his head, brushing his lips along her cheek.

  “Whatever this is,” she whispered. “I…”

  “There is no glass,” he said and moved his hand to stroke her cheek. She closed her eyes and seemed to melt into his palm. “There’s only us.”

  “Nathan…”

  They were magnets pulled toward each other and their lips were about to meet when something large and loud clattered to the floor in the corner. One of the porters was there, unloading boxes from a truck. Alanna jumped away from him.

  Dammit.

  “Alanna,” Nathan said. “Please…”

  She didn’t say anything this time. She only shook her head and fled.

  5

  Nathan

  It was the next day before Nathan saw Alanna again.

  He was coming back from Connor’s office, following a long phone conversation with the gondola people when he saw her in the dining hall looking as sad as ever and poking at her arugula salad. She had John along with her this time. He was hunched over his plate, slurping up soup while he stared at his phone.

  I could definitely take him, Nathan thought.

  Nathan stood watching them, hovering near the entrance to the dining hall and nodding hellos to passing guests. He wanted to get a sense of the mysterious couple without them noticing. He had the distinct feeling that if the guy saw him staring in Alanna’s direction, he wouldn’t be happy.

  Don’t get involved, Cody had said. But he’d also said, go with your gut.

  Alanna didn’t look exactly submissive as she sat across from the heavy. But he couldn’t help feeling like she had to go along with whatever he said and that bothered him. It was subtle but it was in the body language and the way she raised her eyes and sneered at him when he wasn’t looking, only to look down again.

  “Damn,” Nathan muttered.

  He finally headed through the middle of the dining hall to the kitchen to get his lunch. But he couldn’t help glancing in Alanna’s direction again as he passed. Time seemed to slow when Alanna looked in his direction and their eyes met. Nathan breathed in a little, feeling transported. Every detail seemed important. He saw how the corner of her mouth turned up when she saw him. He also saw how she was trying not to make it noticeable; the guy wouldn’t like it. But her dark eyes widened slightly. She reached up and tossed her hair over her shoulder and it glinted in the sun. She gave him the slightest nod of acknowledgment and then bowed her head.

  The Strauss brothers were busy bears. They were seldom to be found all in the same room together unless they’d planned to be so beforehand. But every once in a while, it happened by some fluke and Nathan found his three brothers all back in the kitchen, talking and laughing as they ate lunch, although Connor as usual, was glued to his phone.

  Cody handed Nathan a chicken and parmesan sandwich slathered in pesto as soon as he walked in the door. Nathan sat down next to Eric at the kitchen island and clapped him on the back.

  “How’s it goin’?” He dug into his sandwich and grabbed a handful of homemade potato chips from the bowl in the middle of the counter.

  “Phone’s been ringing off the hook,” Connor said. He was growing a beard, as black and thick as his hair.

  Nathan nudged him, pointing to his own chin. “You’ve got pesto-”

  “Oh.” Connor wiped his chin. He was the biggest of them and that was saying something. Nathan was no slouch and neither were his brothers. But Connor was a hulk in his tidy shirts and suspenders hunched over his laptop full of lodge bookings or stressing out over their spreadsheets. He never seemed to be what Nathan might call “cheerful,” but they all knew how much Connor liked the work. “Yeah, anyway. We’re booked solid for another month. I think we got written up somewhere but I don’t know where…”

  “Did room 27 book way ahead or no?” Nathan said, before taking another giant chomp of his sandwich. He caught Cody glaring at him, pointing with his spatula and he shrugged.

  “Room 27?” Connor said. He tapped away on his phone and said, “I think they were short notice. But they got lucky because somebody canceled.”

  “Hmm.” Nathan nodded and Cody gave him the stink eye, shaking his head.

  Of course, Connor didn’t miss that. “What’s happening? Why are you doing that? Cut it out. What’s going on?”

  Like a damn terrier, Nathan thought.

  Cody cleared his throat and said, “Nathan’s all worried about room 27. Because she’s got legs.”

  “That’s not why,” Nathan countered.

  “And boobs.”

  “That’s definitely not why.”

  “And she’s a bear,” Cody said, shrugging. “Trust me, I noticed. She’s very appealing, but—”

  “Nathan Strauss,” Connor said, turning to glare at him. “I swear to God. What is the rule?”

  “Jesus.”

  “Nathan!”

  “Don’t get involved with the guests.”

  “Do not get involved with the guests!” Connor wagged his finger and scowled at him. Nathan thought he looked just a little bit like an angry schoolmarm and huffed, annoyed. “You especially!”

  “Gah!” Nathan reared back in indignation. “What do you mean, me especially?”

  “You still like trouble too much and you like fixing things,” Connor muttered, sighing as he went back to his phone and scrolled through emails. “I think you’ve been edgy too. You miss your bad boy days.”

  Nathan frowned at that. “I don’t miss my bad boy days.” He polished off his sandwich and sipped the raspberry iced tea Cody had given him.

  “Yeah you do,” Eric said. “You get restless. I mean we all get restless. You most of all. You miss roving about.”

  “Roving about.” Nathan rolled his eyes. The conversation died there and Connor hurried back to his office as soon as he got the chance. When Cody was busy across the kitchen at his stove, Nathan nodded at Eric. “Will you just do something for me?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Make an excuse to get up to 27,” Nathan said. “Maybe just to check in, ask if plumbing’s fine or whatever. Tell me what you think. Get the lay of the land. You have good instincts for that shit.”

  “Nathan.” Eric already sounded tired and Nathan rolled his eyes. “Is Connor going to be pissed if I do this?”

  “Not if you don’t tell him,” Nathan said brightly.

  “I hate you.”

  “Thanks, bro.” Nathan patted his head and rose to take his dishes to the sink. He checked his phone and groaned.

  The plumbing in room 101 was down.

  “There’s a weird vibe,” Eric reported later.

  Nathan had fixed the plumbing in room 101 and now he lay on his creeper again, wincing as oil leaked onto his face from the van’s undercarriage
. Nathan rolled out and Eric tossed him a rag. He was pretty sure he couldn’t fix the van himself and that was annoying, but he had nothing better to do at the moment.

  “A vibe?” Nathan said, wiping his face. He sat up and grabbed his bottle of water, taking a long swallow. A gust of chill air blew into the lodge’s garage from outside and Nathan sighed, wondering if there was time to go on a run later. “In 27, you mean?”

  “Yeah, it’s like they’re definitely not a couple and they’re definitely not friends,” Eric said. “It’s like a business transaction or something? That’s how I read it.”

  “I don’t think she’s a working girl,” Nathan said doubtfully.

  “No…”

  “Then what?” Nathan said, getting to his feet. He leaned on the car.

  “I don’t know,” Eric said. “But it’s none of your business.”

  “I think she’s in trouble.” Nathan crossed his arms. “I’m not just restless. We’re bears. We have instincts. I talked to her in the lounge for a bit last night. I think she’s in trouble. You gonna tell me not to get involved in—”

  “No,” Eric said. “I’m gonna say…go with your gut.”

  “Thanks.” Nathan tossed him a wink and stretched before the two of them made their way out of the garage. Nathan clapped his brother on the back and headed toward the exit closest to the backwoods, far from the slopes where people never ventured unless they were shifters going on a run.

  He needed to stretch his legs.

  There was a covered promenade of shops and boutiques that extended out from the west wing of the lodge. The vendors there paid rent to the Strauss brothers and since they often found themselves too busy to go all the way into town to shop, the vendors got a good chunk of that rent right back in their tills.

  Nathan was hard on his winter gloves. He’d worn right through the finger pads again and he tossed his third pair of the year into a bin before making his way to the promenade, having gone on a run. His belly was full so he hadn’t gone fishing, but he’d had a good time feeling the snowy air in his lungs, shaking the snow from his thick fur, clawing up trees, scratching his back on branches, and playing around with deer who always eventually got spooked. He’d even noticed a few guests out there in the woods and they’d sniffed around each other, recognizing each other’s scents before going their separate ways. Nathan loved a good run.

  Now he needed gloves.

  The promenade was bustling as Nathan made his way to Fenile, a leather goods store that did sell some gloves just a little nicer than work gloves but not too fancy and they were lined with nice insulation so they weren’t overly padded. Nathan felt underdressed as usual in the promenade.

  “Lisa!” The leather goods store was empty when Nathan got there and that wouldn’t be true for long. Lisa, the owner’s assistant came out and lit up when Nathan entered. Like most of the other boutiques on the promenade, it was fairly small and it had more of a ‘shopping in Vegas’ feel than the lodge did with faux marble tile and windows everywhere to open up the space.

  Nathan picked up a wallet and examined it as Lisa came over to greet him. “Nate! Did you wear your gloves out again?”

  “Guilty.”

  “What are you doing with those things?”

  “I just don’t know.”

  Lisa set him up with a new pair of gloves, but not before she flirted with him. It felt different than it had before Alanna. The two of them had always flirted for fun, but Nathan had never felt driven to push things beyond that. Partly because he didn’t want to endanger his source of new gloves. But the interest just hadn’t been there even though she was quite attractive. Not like it was already there for Alanna even after only a few days.

  He was obsessing about Alanna yet again as he made his way back through the promenade when he happened to see the woman herself in one of the shops.

  The Black Bear Lake Lodge promenade had a number of rather spectacular clothing shops and this one, in particular, was high end. That was notable to Nathan’s mind. Alanna certainly hadn’t looked like a rich girl when she’d checked in, although her sweater the night before had looked like real cashmere if he thought about it.

  Nathan ducked behind a pillar nearby and told himself that he wasn’t a stalker as he observed her. A clerk was showing Alanna cocktail dresses. She didn’t look very excited about them, but she just kept nodding and smiling slightly in response to everything the clerk said. Nathan looked around and sniffed the air.

  John was not close by.

  Nathan decided to take a chance.

  He didn’t creep up on her or come from behind. Nathan shoved his hands in his pockets and tried to look as non-threatening as possible as he entered the shop and nodded hello at Dorine, the older woman who ran the store.

  He raised a hand in Alanna’s direction when she saw him and he definitely noticed the way she smiled and then tried to pull it back immediately. Her first instinct was to be happy he’d showed up, but she was trying to quell that instinct. Interesting.

  Nathan shoved his hands back in his pockets. “Alanna, hey.” He nodded at Dorine. “Hey there, Dorine.”

  “Hellooo,” Dorine cooed. She was always fluttering around, her hands waving a little in the air as if always searching for some business. She grabbed the three black cocktail dresses on hangers back from Alanna. “You know Alanna? We’re trying on some dresses. What do you think of these, dear? Money is no object from what I understand.”

  “Yes,” Alanna said, her gaze darted around, avoiding Nathan. “That’s right. Just um...charge it to the room.”

  “Lucky girl,” Nathan said. “Shopping spree.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Alanna said, rolling her eyes. “Lucky. What have you got there?” She poked his little shopping bag that hung from his wrist. “Silk underwear?”

  “Ha!” Nathan blurted and shook his head. “Hardly. Just new gloves. I’m always wearing mine out. It’s my zest for life. It’s hard on my hands.”

  “Aw, I want that.”

  “What?” He tilted his head, a bit baffled.

  “A zest for life,” she said, sighing. “I used to have one. Can’t think of where I put it.”

  “Well, they’re easily lost.” Somehow they’d inched a little closer, the only obstacle between them the three dresses on hangers. Dorine had left them alone but Nathan didn’t miss her raised eyebrows as she watched them from behind the register while she spoke to another customer. “One minute you have a zest and then something just happens and poof.”

  “Something happens, alright,” Alanna muttered.

  Nathan took a deep breath and then he took a plunge. “Are you alright? Seriously.”

  She tensed up immediately and nodded. “Yes. Yeah.” She reached out and clutched his arm. It was meant to be a gesture of reassurance but the simple touch heated Nathan’s blood. Her skin was soft, her hand cool. He dropped his gaze and watched her delicate pale fingers that moved to absently stroke his arm. “Don’t worry about me.”

  Fat chance.

  “Are you going to try on those dresses, dear?” Dorine’s voice rang out and Alanna yanked her hand back, whirling away from him.

  “Yes!” she said quickly. She turned back to him and he saw her trying to decide what to do, her neat brown brows knitted together. “Do you want to help me pick out a dress?”

  He smiled at that and rubbed his stubbled chin. “Okay, sure. Happy to help.”

  Alanna seemed pleased by that and she went off to the dressing rooms down a short hallway and he followed to wait by the full-length mirrors, knowing she’d want to look at herself.

  “What did you do today?” She talked to him through the door and he swallowed, seeing her jeans drop to the carpet when he looked down and a glimpse of bare shoulder when he looked up. He turned away and caught himself in the mirror. He looked ruggedly handsome as usual but his expression was dour as he leaned on the wall.

  What are you doing? he thought to himself.

  “Oh, ya know,
” he said. “Handyman stuff. I’m trying to spruce up our gondola. It’s up to code, it’s perfectly fine. Just looking a little worn out. I think…”

  She opened the door and walked out in bare feet wearing a spaghetti-strap dress that was sleek and classical. He looked her up and down and his bear roared in his chest. “I think we need new...units. Jesus, you’re gorgeous. Like breathtaking.”

  She beamed at that and looked down at the floor. “You gotta hold back a little bit, buddy,” she said softly. “It’s only the first dress.”

  “Are you okay?” he asked again. “Really. If something’s up, I could help you. Just gotta let me know.” He chuckled but it sounded off as he tried to pretend it was all very casual. “Look, it’s not a big deal. It’s just a service we provide here at Black Bear Lake. Want to make sure all our guests get what they need. What do you need?”

  “I know you like to fix things,” she said. “But you can’t fix this.”

  Her smile fell and he mourned it, but she stepped closer and that was something. She had been wearing boots before and now in bare feet, she seemed so much smaller. “No one’s asked me that in a really long time.” She shook her head. “Scratch that. Nobody has ever asked me that.”

  “Well, somebody should,” Nathan murmured.

  Kiss her.

  She was right there. They were inches away.

  “Um…” He watched her throat bob as she swallowed. She was nervous, even blushing. It was sweet. “You like the dress?”

  “Do you like it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then yeah.”

  He breathed in her scent and started to lean in before stopping himself. His bear was all riled up. He’d have to go jerk off after this. He’d tried to fix things before in a state like this. Horny bears could be a real pain in the ass around delicate machinery. Nathan always ended up breaking things when he had that kind of energy in him with nowhere to go.

  “Will you unzip me?” Alanna whispered.

  “Sure thing.”