Bear Shifters: Hunt Collection #2 (5 page)

CHAPTER 8

What is happening? Why is he kissing me? I’m kissing my boss! This can’t be a good idea. I should stop him. I really should. Okay, I’ll stop him… Now. No, now. Why can’t I make him stop? Probably because I really
really
don’t want him to.

Justin was doing his very best to maintain composure and pretend like he couldn’t hear her thoughts, but finally, it was too much. He burst into laughter, breaking up their kiss.

Oh no. Why is he laughing? Is this a prank? Is he messing with me? He’s my friend! He’s my boss! Why won’t he stop laughing?

Justin noticed the hurt look on Kimber’s face and forced himself to stop. “I’m so sorry, Kimber.” He scrambled for an excuse. “I was just picturing the look Elle would give me if she knew I was kissing you. She would be appalled.”

He had thought she looked hurt before, but now her expression was even worse. “Why were you thinking of Elle while you were kissing me? Is this some kind of a game to you?”

“No, no, it’s just…” He couldn’t see a way out of this one. In his mind, the disgusted look he imagined on Elle’s face was a rewarding form of retaliation. But he couldn’t explain to Kimber that one of Elle’s favorite pastimes was saying mean things about his assistant. It would break her heart. Though as he listened in to her thoughts, he wondered if he already had.

I shouldn’t have let him kiss me. He didn’t mean it the way I want him to. He was still thinking of Elle. I’m nothing more than his rebound fling. I don’t know why I thought he might care about me. I’m not the kind of girl someone like him would actually like. He’s just making out with the fat girl just so he can go tell his buddies about how I was so into it and how hilarious it was.

“Kimber,” Justin said in a disappointed tone. He was not doing well at ignoring the thoughts he wasn’t supposed to be hearing, but he hated to hear her thinking such horrible things about herself. In a gentler tone, he continued, “Listen. Remember at lunch when we were talking about all those dumb crushes I had in high school? Elle was just like one of those girls. She was attractive and I thought she was what I wanted, but I realized last night that she doesn’t care about me. I’m done chasing girls who don’t care about me. But you do. You always have. Right?”

Kimber wouldn’t look at him, but she nodded. She didn’t feel like there was any point in denying it now. If their friendship was going to be ruined, the kiss had already done that.

“You make me feel like I need to be a better man, Kimber. I’ll admit, I don’t always love feeling like that. But I decided last night that I need to change. All those people at my party? None of them even like me. You are literally the only one.”

“You don’t know that,” Kimber said softly, still unwilling to meet his gaze.

“I do, actually. And I want to become someone that people can like. I want to be more like you, thinking about other people and how they feel. It seems as if you never think about yourself. I love that about you.”

She still refused to look up, but he could feel that her mood was lifting. In fact, it felt like she was struggling to keep from smiling.

“Hey,” Justin said, hooking a finger under her chin and turning her head to look at him. “You have always been there for me. Can you give me a chance to do the same for you?” She hesitated, so he tried a little harder. “I promise I won’t laugh while we’re kissing anymore. I’ll pinch myself if I have to. Really hard. Hard enough to leave a mark.”

Kimber couldn’t hold back her laughter any longer.

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes,” she said, her smile spreading so wide she thought it might break her face.

Justin’s smile matched hers, but only for a moment, until he couldn’t stand not kissing her any longer.

Two hours later, Kimber and Justin had been rescued and had said goodbye for the night. Traffic was insane on his commute home, which was long even on a good day, because none of the stoplights or streetlamps were working. It was dark and slow, yet Justin didn’t mind. He felt better than he had in years. He couldn’t say how long this attraction to Kimber had been developing, just beneath the surface of his consciousness, but he had always admired and trusted her. When he had finally realized that she had feelings for him, that she believed in him, even when no one else did, he had become thoroughly aware of his feelings for her. He was so busy thinking about past experiences with Kimber and seeing them through a new perspective that he didn’t mind the drive at all.

When he finally pulled into his long driveway, he noticed there were lights in the windows of his living room. Normally, he would wonder if he had left them on when he left this morning, but today, the power grid was down. He parked his car just outside the garage that wouldn’t open, and cautiously headed inside, ready to shift if there was any threat inside.

Stealthily, he unlocked the front door and entered the house. He took off his shoes so he could creep towards the rustling sound. Poking his head around the corner, he peered into the living room.

“Elle!” he exclaimed, dropping his guard.

Elle jumped, her hand flying to her chest. “Justin! You scared me to death! Why are you so late?”

“I got stuck in the elevator when the power went out.” He definitely wasn’t going to give her any details beyond that. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought I would surprise you. I got a new dress.” She stood up to show it off, though the cut of the dress made it seem like she was more interested in showing off her skin.

Justin wasn’t swayed by the alluring dress. “Did you buy that with my money?”

“Of course. You said I could use your credit card for anything I wanted.”

“Elle. We broke up last night. Remember? You shouldn’t be using my credit card anymore. You shouldn’t be using my key anymore. I don’t understand why you’re here.”

“I thought we agreed that we would talk today,” Elle pouted.

“No. I told you not to come see me at work today, remember?”

“And I didn’t! I thought you just wanted to talk in a more comfortable setting.”

“Elle, stop it. I’m not going to let you manipulate me anymore. We are through. Do you understand?”

“No. I don’t understand. Why don’t you love me anymore?”

“We’ve been through this. You and I have never loved each other. We’ve been using each other. I want to be with someone who cares more about me than herself, so that I can care about her more than myself. This selfish, extravagant lifestyle is empty and lonely. I don’t want it anymore.”

Elle’s mood changed as fast as a light switch. “Fine. I didn’t want to do this to you, but you leave me no choice. I know what you are.”

Inside, Justin felt panic building, but he rolled his eyes and folded his arms, saying, “Alright. What am I?”

“You aren’t human.”

Justin uncrossed his arms, gesturing to his body. “I’m pretty sure I am, Elle.”

“Well, you’re not human all the time.”

“Do you have any idea how crazy you sound?”

Elle laughed. “You are quite the talented liar, aren’t you? I guess you would have to be. But you can’t fool me anymore, Justin.”

She held up her phone and tapped play on a video. It was undeniably Justin, strolling into the woods, stripping out of his party clothes, and transforming into a bear.

CHAPTER 9

Justin’s eyes grew wide. “How did you get this?”

“I followed you, you idiot. I came back last night after we said goodbye because I forgot my handbag, and that’s when I saw you sneaking into the forest. For the longest time, I wasn’t sure if there was anything to your habit of disappearing, but I was quite convinced that you were lying about where you were going all the time. Turns out, I was right.”

Justin’s mind was racing. How could he have let this happen? How had he not noticed that someone was following him? He really must have been preoccupied. If only he hadn’t decided to shift again after the party ended.

But now was not the time to panic. He looked at Elle and quickly read her thoughts.
Look at him squirming, trying to find a way out of this. This will be the easiest ten million dollars anyone has ever made.
So it was blackmail, just as he would have expected. Maybe with a bit of deception, he could buy himself some time before she gave him an ultimatum.

“Elle, I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you found out,” he said intensely. “The pressure of being what I am, not being able to confide in anyone, it’s been killing me. That’s really why I wanted to break up. It was too hard to be so close to someone when I had such a big secret.”

Elle studied his face, trying to decide if she believed him or not. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” she asked, digging for the truth.

“I couldn’t just tell you that I can turn into a bear. You wouldn’t have believed me. And I didn’t want to freak you out by showing you. Besides, even if you did believe me and you didn’t freak out, I was afraid you wouldn’t love me anymore if you knew what I was. Please, Elle, tell me that’s not true. Tell me we can still be together.”

She said, “I don’t know,” and he could feel her qualms.
I don’t want to date a bear! I just want to be as rich and as powerful as he is. I could still blackmail him, but then I only get money once. I suppose I could blackmail him again down the road, but it’s such a hassle. But if I can deal with the whole bear freak thing, I could eventually marry him. Then everything he has will be mine.

Justin shuddered at the thought. He wasn’t sure he could stand dating her for another day, let alone allowing it to progress towards marriage. But if he wanted her to drop the blackmail idea, he had to go along with it.

“I know it’s not ideal. You probably think I’m a monster. But honestly, shapeshifting is the secret to my success. I have the instincts of a bear in the human world. It’s the only way I’ve been able to acquire so much money and power.”

“But I would be dating a bear!” she exclaimed, unable to get past the idea.

“We were fine before, Elle. Nothing has to change. In fact, I was disappearing during the night to shift into a bear to deal with all the pressure from keeping it a secret. Now that you know, I won’t need to do it nearly so often. I could even limit my shifting to when you’re out of town, and you can just forget that I’m anything beyond human.”

“I don’t think that’s something I could ever forget,” she said, her nose wrinkled in disgust.

Justin sighed, moving towards her, playing his part well. “Elle, I’m just a man who loves you who happens to turn into a bear on occasion. I don’t know what I’ll do if you won’t take me back. I need you.”

Elle folded her arms, considering her options. Soon enough, she said, “Okay. Let’s give it a shot.”
I can always blackmail him later on if it gets too weird.

Although everything inside him resisted, he had to make it believable, so he held his arms out to her. As they embraced, sealing the deal with a kiss, all Justin could think about was Kimber. If this cost him his chance with Kimber, he would never forgive himself.

“Good morning, Kimber.” Justin walked out of the elevator that was back in working order after the power had been restored in the dark hours of the morning. He didn’t pause as he walked past her desk, but he asked, “Can I see you in my office for a minute?”

Kimber looked around self-consciously as she got up and followed Justin. A morning meeting in his office wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, but she felt as if all the other employees must somehow know that something was going on between them. Trying her best to act normal, she stepped into his office. Justin was waiting by the door, and he pushed it closed behind her. Then, moving towards her, he took her face in his hands and kissed her. Kimber’s face kept wanting to break into a grin, but that didn’t help with the kissing, so she refrained.

When they finally broke apart, Kimber breathlessly said, “Good morning to you too. Sir.”

“This probably isn’t the best idea, huh?” Justin said quietly, although he didn’t take his hands off of her.

“Which part? Making out with your assistant in your office? Or making out with your friend Kimber?” she asked, wondering if she should be ready for some serious disappointment.

“Mostly the assistant thing. But I never said that was going to stop me.” With that, he leaned in and kissed her again, hungrily, almost as if it would erase every miserable, insincere moment he had spent with Elle last night. He had kept as busy as possible to minimize any physical contact, but he couldn’t eliminate it entirely or else she would get suspicious. Every touch had been torture, and he was anxious to find a way out of the sticky situation.

“This doesn’t even feel like real life,” Kimber said. He could feel how completely happy she was, and it warmed his heart.

“Get used to it. I’m not letting you go any time soon.”

“Well, I have a ton of work to do, but you’re the boss,” she teased.

“You know what I mean,” he said, giving her one last kiss before releasing her and moving towards his desk. “Would you mind calling Gretchen and Ken and setting up an appointment for me to go visit them in their lab?”

“Sure. When do you want to go?”

“As soon as possible.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Kimber was torn between wanting to spend as much time with him and feeling obligated to get her work done, and Justin could feel it.

“No, not this time. I know you have a lot to do.” In reality, he had decided to have a conversation with them that he wasn’t ready for Kimber to hear.

“I would love to come with you next time though. I’m interested to see their setup. Besides, I wouldn’t mind spending a little extra time with you.” She said it timidly, as if she wasn’t sure whether he would take it well.

“I feel exactly the same way,” Justin said, trying to reassure her.

“How long do you think you’ll be gone?” Kimber asked. She told herself she needed the information as his assistant, but really, she just wanted to know how long she would have to go without him.

“I expect to be back sometime soon after lunch. If I can go that long without seeing you,” he flirted.

“Good luck with that.” Justin could tell by her restored sense of humor that she was feeling less insecure now. He wished he could go back in time and act differently so she wouldn’t feel so uneasy about his sudden interest in her. He didn’t blame her for acting a little guarded, but it would be his top priority from now on to convince her that it was unnecessary.