Return to Bear Bluff Complete Series Read online

  That made her happy. In a completely unexplainable way, she was happy this bear was a big, goofy fur ball. Right now, he was rubbing his back into the ground, tongue lolling out, looking halfway to crazy.

  She smiled and then lay down by the side of him, her head buried in his neck, breathing in the scent of leaves and damp earth. And bear. It was the most amazing thing in her life.

  “Thank you,” she said, into his warm fur-covered neck. “Thank you for showing me. Thank you for trusting me.”

  There was a buzz of electricity and the fur disappeared, to be replaced by the man who was Jed. “Thank you for not running.”

  “You’d have chased me down. I can’t outrun you, can I?” she asked, a hidden meaning in her words.

  “I can outrun you. And I can chase you down. But I never will. If you ever want to leave me, I would let you go.” The hunger and longing in his eyes made her heart twist in pain. This man wanted her, wanted to offer himself to her. Yet she felt so unworthy. Maybe it wasn’t so much that she worried Jed might cause trouble in their lives together, there was also her own past to consider.

  However, she was not ready for that kind of unburdening. Not yet.

  “We should get back to work,” Amanda said. “We’re both new employees and the last thing we need is to be fired.”

  “True,” Jed said, getting up. “I sure do need the money.”

  “Then we’d better make Dylan think you are the best employee a man can have.” Amanda slipped her hand into his; it felt so natural, his warm hand curled around hers. “Where do we start?”

  “Get your notepad and the tape measure. We need to measure out all the walls, and begin to make up a plan.”

  “A plan sounds good,” she said. And she didn’t just mean for the house.

  “It does. But, baby steps.”

  “Baby steps,” she agreed, happy he didn’t want to rush into anything. Of course, she had missed the fact that today—and meeting his mate—had come as much out of the blue for him as it had for her.

  ***

  “Here are the details of everything we need to begin with. That should get the house watertight and then we can measure out for the inside.” Amanda placed the notes she had neatly made on Dylan’s desk.

  “Great, thank you.” Dylan looked up from the computer. “How did you two get on?”

  He looked from Amanda to Jed, and she couldn’t help but blush. “We got on OK. I think we have a better understanding of each other now.”

  “I showed her my bear,” Jed said, and she found it strange that these two men were talking so openly about something that still shocked her. What magic must be involved for them to be able to shift!

  “Ah, always an icebreaker,” Dylan said grinning.

  “What do you want me to do now?” Jed asked.

  Dylan looked at his watch. “It’s four thirty. There’s not too much time left. But I would appreciate it if you could go and clear out the back building. There’s some old scrap metal in there. If we load up the truck, I can drop it over at the scrap yard on my way home.”

  “Sure.” Jed left the office, his eyes lingering on her body just enough to make her face flush red.

  “So, he showed you his bear?” Dylan said, with a smile, but he left the innuendo in his voice. “Is that a first for you?”

  “Yes.” She picked up Dylan’s coffee cup, not wanting to discuss bear tummy-tickling with her boss. “Coffee?”

  “Yes. Then I wondered if maybe you would update the company website. It’s just bare bones right now. I thought it would be great to make it more personal. You know, pictures of the people who work here. Putting names to a face, particularly when we talk to people so much over the phone is a good idea. Don’t you think?”

  Amanda clasped both her hands around the cup she was holding. No, that did not sound like a good idea. Not at all. Not for her.

  “Sure. Although I never look good in a photo.”

  “OK, stand there, and I’ll take one of you.” Dylan pulled his phone out and pointed it at her. She stood still, a forced smile on her lips, trying not to blink when the light flashed in her face. “There.”

  A satisfied look came over Dylan, and when she looked, she had to admit, it was one of the best photos anyone had ever taken of her. Which was not saying much. She avoided them at all costs, the camera always adding so much weight to her already round face. However, Dylan had gotten the light just right, and she looked radiant. When she thought about it, she wondered how much of that radiance was due to the camera, or to having Jed in her life.

  “Now I’ll go and take one of Jed, and then we can put them online. We don’t need bios, just a name, photo and role in the company.”

  Dylan went out of the office, and she put the cup down on the desk, leaning on it heavily. She had kept all images of herself off the Internet, had taken on her grandma’s name and come here to live in relative isolation, all for nothing.

  Overreacting, she told herself. What were the chances anyone was going to see her picture on the website? It wasn’t as if she were plastered all over Facebook or anything.

  Grabbing a coffee, she sat down and did as Dylan asked, uploading the images he gave her of all the staff, and then adding job descriptions. It took her the rest of the afternoon, and when she left at five thirty, she groaned as she looked at her inbox, which was now fuller than when she had arrived this morning.

  Going outside, she soon forgot about work, because there, waiting for her, was Jed.

  “Hi there. I wanted to say goodbye and thank you for today. It has to be one of the best first days at a new job I’ve ever had.” He smiled, his face lighting up, and she longed to stand on tiptoe and kiss him. Especially when she saw the hint of a dimple on his left cheek. It reminded her of the adorable bear lying on his back, full of joy.

  “You are welcome. And thank you for making my first encounter with a bear equally enjoyable.” She walked to her car and he followed.

  “Yeah, sorry about that. He gets a little carried away.”

  “I like that.” She unlocked her car and then turned to face him. “How are you getting home?”

  Amanda didn’t even know where his home was, but she wanted to make sure he got there safely all the same. She had to admit, she was already starting to care for this big man, although making sure he got home safely was not one of the things she should be worried about with him. If either of them could take care of themselves, it was Jed.

  “I’ll walk. It’s not too far.” He took a step back from her.

  “Get in, I’ll drive you,” she said.

  “No. Honestly, I can walk.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, and took another three steps back.

  “Do you think I’m going to be put off if I know where you live?” she asked.

  “No… OK. It seems weird that I’m going to ask you out when I still live with my parents.” His brain registered what he’d just said, and she watched the color of his skin change as he blushed.

  “So you are going to ask me out?” she teased, liking that this tough man had a vulnerable side.

  “I was. But I have to wait until after payday.”

  “Ahh. Well, I could pay,” she said.

  “No.” He put his hand up adamantly. “No. I couldn’t.”

  She took a couple of steps towards him. “So you would rather put off going out with me, than accept me paying for a date? Maybe I got this mate thing all wrong.”

  That did it, something in him snapped, and he closed the space between them, wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her to him, their bodies crushing together. He bent his head and claimed her mouth, his kiss awakening her body, and leaving her in no doubt she had not made a mistake about the whole mate thing.

  Chapter Six – Jed

  Jed wasn’t ashamed of his family. He never had been, no matter what anyone said about them. Luck just hadn’t gone their way. Resorting to stealing when he needed to hadn’t made him proud; he was not that kind of person.
But he had done what he thought necessary, and when he was old enough to work, he had worked hard.

  And that led him back to the real reason he couldn’t accept Amanda’s offer of a date. His pride wouldn’t let him. It wasn’t just the date; he didn’t mind her paying. However, it was everything else that having a mate involved. He was the provider, and he couldn’t provide for everyone, not on a laborer’s wage. At some time in the future, he might have to make a choice between Amanda and his family. Where would his loyalties lie, or would that question haunt him forever?

  Every penny he could spare, ever since he had begun working, had gone back to his mom so she could put food on the table, and shoes on his brother’s and sisters’ feet.

  “Hey, Jed. How did it go?” his mom asked as he walked into the small house he called home.

  “Good. Thanks to Tilly.” Jed washed his hands and then kissed his mom on the cheek. “How are you?”

  “I’m OK. I’ve made dinner.” His mom looked at him and then said, “Is everything OK? No trouble with Dylan?”

  “No.” Jed said. “Do you need a hand with anything?”

  “Jed,” his mom said, in that voice she used when she was about to pry information from one of her children. She had become an expert over the years, and Jed knew there was no way to fight it. “Please.”

  “I met my mate.” His words weren’t meant to shock his mom, but they did. She took a step back, and went so pale he thought she was going to pass out. “Mom, it’s OK. I can still help you out, both around the house and with money.”

  “No,” she shook her head. “You are going to have your own life and your own family to take care of. You need to think of yourself.”

  “No.” He shook his head. “I am not going to just abandon you all.”

  “Listen, you have done more for us than any son, or any brother, ever should have to. I appreciate that, and your dad appreciates it too. And I know for sure Ginny does.”

  “Exactly, what happens to Ginny if I stop giving you money? It’s the only reason I swallowed my pride to go and work for Dylan. So she could go to college. I am not taking that away from her now.”

  “We’ll find a way.” But he could see in her face she had no idea what that way was.

  “It’s my decision,” Jed said.

  “Not anymore, it’s a decision you have to talk over with your mate.” His mom came up to him and hugged him. “Let’s not let money spoil this moment. I am so pleased for you. First Tilly, now you, maybe this is a sign things are changing for us.”

  “That’s why I still aim to put Ginny through college.” He hugged his mom. “Let me make sure at least one of us has a shot at making a real difference.”

  “Oh, Jed,” his mom said, her voice breaking. “Do you have any idea how much of a difference you’ve already made to this family?”

  He buried his face in his mom’s shoulder, just as he had when he was a kid. Her hair might be grayer, her face wearing wrinkles etched deeper through the stress of the hand life had dealt her. But she was still one of the strongest women he had ever met. “I love you, Mom.”

  “And I love you, Jed. Now, Liam is working for the Tullivers for a couple of hours and Darla and Kes are probably out in the meadow, so sit down and tell me all about this woman of yours. And when can I meet her?”

  ***

  Dinner had been the usual loud affair; it was the one thing he had missed about his family while he was working away. His brother and sisters always shared their day with their mom and dad, it was family time.

  “So, Jed. Mom says you have found your mate?” his dad asked slowly.

  “You haven’t?” Darla asked excitedly. “Who is it? Do we know her?”

  “Her name is Amanda, she’s old Mrs. Orson’s granddaughter. From over Pinehill way.”

  “I remember her. We used to think she was a witch,” Kes said. “Do you remember, that time she made us gingerbread and we thought she was the witch from Hansel and Gretel?”

  The two girls collapsed with laughter. “We were sure she was going to open her big oven and shove us in.”

  “Oh my, did all of my children drive that poor woman mad?”

  “She liked seeing us,” Kes insisted. “She always seemed lonely.”

  “Her husband died and Amanda visited rarely, must get lonely on the mountain when you’re old,” Jed said.

  “So you never met Amanda when she visited?” his mom asked.

  “Oh, how romantic if you had.” Kes sighed, along with Darla, caught up in teenage fantasies of love. “All those years you were fated to be together, and you never knew.”

  “Come on, eat up, you two.” His mom winked at Jed. “Fate works in strange ways. Maybe you weren’t meant to meet then, but now you are perfect for each other.”

  “You are still a romantic,” his dad said. Jed hoped that he and Amanda would never have to go through the same stresses his parents had, but if they did, they would still look at each other with love and hope.

  “I just want them all to be as happy as we are,” his mom answered, leaning forward to kiss his dad.

  “Yuck. You two should not do that in public. And at the dinner table too,” Kes said.

  “That makes you on dish duty,” their dad said, with his lopsided smile.

  Jed tucked into his dinner. He was happy to be home. His family meant everything to him. He only hoped Amanda liked them too.

  “You look happy, Jed,” his dad said.

  “I am starting to get there.”

  Today really had felt like a new beginning, and he liked it.

  Chapter Seven – Amanda

  “I thought you would want me to go out to the house renovation with Jed,” Amanda was saying to Dylan when Jed walked in.

  Dylan looked up from his paperwork. “I am going to go over there with Jed. I managed to talk to the timber merchants last night and they are delivering the first load of wood. I want to get started on the place. So you will have to stay here and hold down the fort.” He saw her face drop. “Sorry.”

  Amanda turned to leave, her eyes catching Jed’s and sensing his disappointment, which made her feel ridiculously happy. And just plain ridiculous, because he had caught her in the midst of trying to persuade Dylan to let them spend more time together. Ever since yesterday, her cabin in the mountains had seemed lonelier, her life emptier, and only one man could change that, and he was standing here in front of her.

  His dark auburn hair was wet, slicked back as if he had just stepped out of the shower. He wore a faded black T-shirt with some band name she had never heard of across the front, and faded blue jeans, which were tight in all the right places.

  Come to think about it, Dylan was probably right not to let them go back to the house together. Jed might end up showing her more than just his bear. She smiled to herself, and he smiled with her.

  “I’m glad I make you smile. That’s a good thing, right? Or are you laughing at me?” he asked, his expression changing and he looked down at himself, his self-assuredness gone.

  “No. I was thinking…” She smiled openly. “I was thinking just how damn sexy you look this morning.” She blushed, what had come over her?

  Jed looked down at his clothes again. “As my mate, I have to believe you. But personally, I don’t see it.”

  “Good, that means you aren’t conceited. Although it might mean you are blind. You do have mirrors in your house, don’t you?” she asked.

  “We do. And I also have two sisters at home, who always make sure I am well-grounded when it comes to my looks. And the red hair in school was enough to put most girls off.”

  Amanda glanced into Dylan’s office, to see him collecting plans or something off his desk, so she sidled up to Jed and said, “I would love to run my fingers through your hair.” She hesitated and then reached up, feeling the wet slick strands in her fingers.

  He bent his head down, his mouth close to hers. She licked her lips, longing for him to kiss her, but this wasn’t the time. She co
uldn’t work out why she found him quite so intoxicating, but she did. Letting his hair go, she said, “You can tell your bear, his fur is softer.”

  “He can hear,” Jed whispered in her ear, the hairs on her neck standing on end.

  She cleared her throat and stepped back. “Does he hear everything?”

  “Mostly.” Jed grinned. “We’re one and the same. One consciousness in two bodies, almost.”

  “That is going to take some getting used to,” Amanda said.

  “OK,” Dylan said, coming out of his office. “I’m ready to go, and you have my cell number if you need me.”

  “I do,” she said.

  “Then we will see you later.” Dylan looked from one to the other of them and then left them alone in the office, going out to the truck.

  “He is subtle,” Amanda said.

  “He is,” Jed agreed, his body leaning into hers.

  “So… I guess I’ll be eating my picnic lunch alone,” she said.

  “You brought lunch?” he asked.

  “Of course, I figure the best way to a bear’s heart is through his stomach.”

  “Ahh, so you planned to feed my bear, not me?” he asked.

  “You have me,” she said. “Now I’ll have to eat on my own.”

  “Or save some for after work. I could come back to your place and we could share your picnic on the mountain.” He looked outside. “It promises to be a perfect day.”

  “Yes. Yes, it does,” she agreed.

  “Then I’ll see you back here.” He leaned forward and quickly pressed his lips to her cheek, before leaving the office.

  Amanda stood still, watching him get into the truck, and then watched the truck disappear from view. She sighed and turned to tackle her inbox, which had doubled overnight, she was sure.

  ***

  The day passed slowly. As a new startup, the phone didn’t exactly ring off the hook; in fact, the only time it did ring was when Dylan called to check if everything was OK, and to ask her to phone the local hardware store. He needed some more goods added to the order that was arriving tomorrow. Amanda was sure they were going to bankrupt the store of its four-inch nails, but Jeff at the store seemed to have it all under control.