Bodyguard Bear (Bear Creek Protectors Book 1) Read online

  “No, he died when I was five.” Red’s face clouded with distant thoughts of a father he didn’t know, and her heart ached for him. She knew how it felt to lose your father. The loss, the pain.

  “I’m sorry,” Kate told him.

  “It was a long time ago.” Red smothered his emotions. Or tried to. But she suspected the loss of his mom so recently would have dredged up all the old feelings of loss. It made Kate even more determined to make her mom understand the choices she was about to make were not meant to hurt her.

  However, knowing her mom as she did, Marylin was going to take a hell of a lot of convincing.

  Chapter Six – Red

  “So what do you think?” Jamie asked. They were huddled together at the end of the corridor furthest from Kate’s room. The group had walked up here together, and then Red and Jamie checked her hotel room before they escorted her inside and made sure she locked the door with a promise to call if she needed anything.

  Red would have preferred to take Kate to her room alone. Then the situation might have arisen where he might have taken her in his arms and kissed her luscious full lips.

  “We need to investigate further. Maybe station a man at the door.” Caroline immediately looked at Red, who snapped out of his daydream.

  “I’d be happy to do it,” Red told her quickly. “After all, if anyone was going to make sure Kate stayed safe, it would be her mate.”

  “So it is true,” Carter said. “I knew as soon as we met you and Kate on the steps of the hotel there was something between you.”

  “Okay, are we going to take turns watching Kate?” Caroline looked up and down the corridor. “Although, if we’re out here and the stalker returns, he’s going to run before we get a chance to catch him.”

  “Do we even know this person will come back tonight?” Jamie asked. “There was no sign of him in the street. Perhaps he’s moved on.”

  After their dinner together, the group had walked back to the hotel, Red, Jamie, and Caroline on high alert for anything suspicious. There had been nothing. Not even a sense that they were being watched. Perhaps the stalker knew he was up against four bear shifters and decided to move on.

  “Can we say that for sure?” Red asked. “I’m happy to do whatever it takes to keep Kate safe. I don’t expect you all to stay up all night, too.”

  “Listen, Carter has to sleep, he has to be on set at eight tomorrow morning. The rest of us can walk the perimeter, see if we spot anything unusual. If we do, we deal with it. If we don’t, we make a plan. Perhaps we can take shifts.”

  “Do you think he’d be brazen enough to just walk up to Kate’s hotel room door?” Carter asked, looking up and down the long corridor. “There’s CCTV in the elevator and the stairwells.”

  “He could be disguised as a hotel worker. Hell, he might even be a hotel worker.” Jamie looked up at the ceiling. “Or he could just fly in.”

  “You think he’s a bird, too?” Red asked. He was convinced the only way someone could have gotten away from the back of the restaurant, unseen, was if he flew away.

  “Bird. Or a rat. Something small that could blend in.” Jamie looked back toward Kate’s room. “Which means they could come in through the air vents or anything.”

  “Great.” Red raked his hand through his hair. It felt strange not to feel the prickle of his buzz cut hair. Since leaving the Army he’d let his hair grow. Every time he looked in the mirror it reminded him he was no longer part of the Army.

  “We really should be inside the room.” Caroline shrugged. “But Kate has to make that choice.”

  Red nodded. “Jamie’s right, this person might have moved on and I think Kate thinks the same way. With no real threat present, she’s not going to want us in her room.”

  Carter slapped his shoulder. “I don’t know, she might want you in there, my friend.”

  “She doesn’t know I’m her mate. I doubt she even knows about shifters.” Red’s cheeks flamed red.

  “Come on, you didn’t see the way she looked at you?” Carter continued as the elevator doors opened and a woman stepped out.

  They all stopped talking and watched the woman exit the elevator and approach Kate’s door. Red tensed and made to move to intercept, but Carter caught his arm. “That’s Marylin, your future mother-in-law.”

  “Kate’s mom?” Red asked as Marylin raised her hand to knock on the door.

  “One and the same.” Carter’s tone caused Red’s eyes to narrow as he watched Marylin with his peripheral vision. Something had distracted her, and she put her hand in the expensive designer purse which she clutched tightly as if wary someone might try to steal it from her.

  “I wonder if she’s come to check on her daughter?” Caroline asked quietly.

  Marylin pulled a phone from her purse and frowned then glanced at the four people huddled in the corner.

  “So, it’s been a great evening,” Carter said a little too loudly.

  Jamie jumped as Carter took hold of his hand and shook it. After a moment of opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish, Jamie realized they were supposed to look natural. Which was harder to do than Red thought, as Marylin continued to stare at them.

  “We should get back to our room, Carter,” Caroline said and leaned forward to kiss Jamie on the cheek. “We’ll go get the kids, you two loiter here,” she whispered so only Jamie and Red could hear. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  Carter and Caroline walked toward the elevator, passing Marylin. “Goodnight, Marylin,” Carter said politely as he pressed the button and waited for the elevator.

  “Goodnight,” Marylin answered and pressed the screen on her phone but didn’t speak until Carter and Caroline had gotten in the elevator and the door shut behind them.

  “Let’s walk through the doors leading to the stairwell,” Jamie said quietly. “We should still be able to hear Marylin’s phone conversation.”

  Red and Jamie strolled off, without looking back at Marylin. They didn’t want to raise her suspicions at all. However, Red could feel her eyes boring into his back every step of the way. Only when they pushed open the door leading to the stairwell did she speak to the person who had called. “Hello.”

  “Damn it, she’s walking to the other end of the corridor,” Red said.

  “We should be able to hear.” Jamie kept his foot against the door keeping it ajar, so they had a better chance of hearing the conversation. Of course, it might be an innocent conversation and nothing to do with the events surrounding Kate. Maybe Marylin had a lover she didn’t want her daughter to know about.

  “Why are you calling me? We agreed no phone contact,” Marylin hissed into the phone. Her eyes flicked to Kate’s door and a look of guilt swept across her face.

  Red had enough experience of people to know Marylin was guilty of something. Although it might not be connected to her daughter’s stalker. Jumping to conclusions without all the correct intel got people hurt. Red could not risk that. Not when his mate was involved.

  “What man?” Marylin continued in a hushed voice. “And they met Carter Eden afterward?”

  “She is involved,” Jamie said with disgust.

  “You fool. If they find out your involvement, you had damn well better make sure you keep your mouth shut.” Her face turned red as she listened to the other person on the phone. Whatever they were saying, she didn’t like it. “I am the one who is paying you…”

  Jamie glanced at Red, his face a mixture of revulsion and anger. They were thinking the same thing. What kind of person…no, what kind of parent sets up their child like that?

  “I understand,” Marylin said with forced contrition. The call ended, and she sighed, her chest rising and falling with a shudder as she put her phone back in her purse.

  Walking back along the corridor, she stopped briefly outside of the hotel room door but didn’t knock, instead, she walked to the elevator and pressed the button. As she stood waiting, she took a tissue out of her pocket and dabbed her eyes.


  Jamie let the door close and stepped back. “She’s paying someone to stalk her daughter.”

  His tone was incredulous and so was his expression. Red struggled to believe it himself. His own mother would have done anything to protect him and would never have tried to scare him, let alone hurt him.

  “Why?” That was the only question he had. “Why would she do that to her own daughter?”

  Jamie shrugged. “It seems we have two mysteries on our hands. We need to figure out who it is that’s stalking Kate and why Marylin paid them to do it.”

  “Whoever was on the phone didn’t seem very happy with Marylin’s threat. Perhaps he’s ended the deal?” Red could only hope Marylin saw sense and put an end to this crazy plot to frighten her daughter before someone got hurt. And he didn’t mean physically. No, he and the others could protect Kate from whoever was trying to frighten her. But they could not protect her heart when she found out about her mom.

  “Maybe one of us should talk to Marylin and get her to end this and come clean with Kate?” Jamie mused as they walked down the stairs. “She’s going to find out. These things never stay secret.”

  “You think we should tell Kate?” Red didn’t want to be the one to break the news to his mate. He didn’t want to be responsible for the breakdown in her relationship with her mom. However, it was his duty to tell her, to keep her safe from whoever might want to hurt her. Both emotionally and physically. “I’ll do it.”

  “Wait, hold on a minute,” Jamie said as they exited the stairs and walked along the corridor toward his room. He took out a keycard and opened the door. “This would be better coming from Marylin. We should give her a chance to come clean.”

  “Who a chance to come clean?” Dani asked quietly and put her finger to her lips to hush them. “The children are all asleep.”

  “Dani has worked her magic,” Carter said, leaning back on the sofa, looking every inch a movie star.

  “So who needs to come clean?” Dani asked again.

  “Marylin.” Jamie kissed his wife on the cheek, slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close.

  “Kate’s mom?” Carter asked, sitting forward. “Marylin is responsible?” The movie star grace had gone, replaced by a primal beast, ready to spring into action.

  “We overheard a telephone conversation that implied Marylin hired someone to follow Kate.” Jamie’s words of explanation were met with stunned disbelief.

  “Marylin had her own daughter followed?” Caroline asked slowly.

  “Yes.” Red accepted a cup of coffee from Dani. “Thank you.”

  “Just followed?” Caroline asked. “Or did she pay someone to frighten Kate?”

  “We don’t know for sure,” Red answered as he sat down in a soft, comfortable chair. “She could have hired a man to follow Kate if she thought she was hiding something from her. Or Marylin might have wanted to really frighten her. But I don’t see what she would gain from that.”

  “Perhaps she thought if she frightened Kate enough, it would make her turn to Marylin. The relationship between mother and daughter is strained enough to snap right now,” Carter told them, although Red already figured that out.

  “She might have wanted Kate followed for a good reason.” All eyes turned to Dani as she spoke.

  “A good reason?” Caroline asked sharply.

  “Yes. Perhaps Kate is in danger from someone else. Kate might not even be aware of it. Marylin might be trying to protect her daughter without upsetting her.” Dani’s explanation could also fit.

  “If that was the reason, it’s certainly backfired now,” Red replied. “Kate is scared. She’s afraid of the unknown.”

  “Let’s sleep on it,” Carter suggested. “Tomorrow we’ll protect Kate while trying to figure out what’s going on and what exactly Marylin’s motives are.” He switched his attention to Dani. “I think you might be the one to help there, Dani.”

  “Me?” Dani asked. “Oh, I’m not part of your Bear Creek Bodyguard business. I have enough with my job and four kids.”

  “Which is exactly why you should talk to Marylin and try to gain her confidence. You can relate to her. She’s raised Kate alone and is very protective. She might not see you as a threat.” Carter looked sideways at Caroline. “I’d ask you, Caroline, but I’m afraid you might bite her head off.”

  Caroline nodded and placed her coffee cup on the table before getting up from the sofa. “You’re right. I might not be the most maternal person in the world. But even I know that if Marylin is behind this, she’s so very in the wrong.”

  Carter rose from the sofa and hugged his wife. “Let’s get our kids back to the room.”

  “What about you, Red?” Jamie asked. “You didn’t get a room.”

  “He can sleep here on the sofa for one night,” Dani offered. “If that’s okay with you?”

  “I don’t want to impose,” Red replied, taking a step backward.

  “Just take the sofa,” Jamie said. “At least this way you can be close if something did happen to Kate. And you can be at her door first thing in the morning to take her down to breakfast.”

  “Okay.” It sounded like a good plan, even if he was two floors below Kate and couldn’t hear her if she called out his name. He and his bear would feel much better if they were curled up outside her hotel room door. Or, even better, at the bottom of her bed.

  Or lying beside her in bed, his bear interjected.

  One step at a time, Red answered. Kate has had enough shocks for one day without us declaring our undying love to her.

  I suppose you are right, his bear agreed reluctantly.

  After Carter and Caroline left the hotel room with their sleeping children in their arms, a tired looking Dani fetched him a blanket and a pillow. “Goodnight, Red. Sleep well. And congratulations,” she said shyly. “You are about to embark on the most wonderful adventure of your life with a person who you love deeply and loves you in return.”

  “I hope you’re right. About Kate loving me in return,” Red added hastily.

  “She will.” Dani left him alone with his thoughts and he settled down to sleep on the sofa.

  As his mind relaxed, he extended his senses, pushing them out past the ceiling above his head and through the room where another guest slept, and he sensed his mate. She was there. He sensed her. It was as if he was glimpsing her from a distance, half hidden in the darkness.

  But she was there. And with this thought in his head, he slept on the sofa in a hotel room, with a smile on his face.

  Chapter Seven – Kate

  Kate woke early and showered. She’d slept better than she expected to, considering the events of the evening before. Perhaps because, while her dreams might be filled with a shadowy figure stalking her, each time the stalker made a grab for Kate, Red appeared and chased him away.

  Was she fooling herself to imagine there was a connection between her and Red? It might just be wishful thinking, but she was certain he felt it, too.

  Grabbing her purse, she checked her reflection in the mirror and made a face. Her skin had a ghostly glow to it from the blue body paint used to turn her from Kate Kellan into Terra Sierra. It was hell to get off each day after filming. Still, if she could attract a man like Red, even with her skin such a weird color, he might just be a keeper. Unless he was attracted to her because of the odd way she looked, in which case, he would dump her as soon as he met the real Kate Kellan.

  Only time would tell. And it was good to get your heart broken once in a while. There was no better way to get in touch with your inner self. Winking at her reflection, she channeled Terra Sierra, strode across the room and yanked the door open.

  “Oh.” There in the corridor, right outside her room, was the man of her dreams. Red. What a great start to the morning. A soft smile played across her lips as his eyes fixed on her, his body tense as if standing to attention.

  “Morning.” He stepped back as if he were invading her space.

  “Morning.” She looked up and
down the corridor. “Is it safe?”

  He gave her a wry smile. “It is. We’re alone. Most of the other guests aren’t up yet.”

  “And how do you know that?” Kate let out her pent-up breath and pulled the door toward her, closing it securely.

  He paused. “I have good hearing.”

  “And did you listen at every door?” she teased as they walked toward the elevator.

  “No.” He shook his head and pressed the button to call the elevator. “I don’t need to. My hearing is that good.”

  “Is it?” she asked, her eyes dancing as she assessed Red. “Do you have any other enhanced senses?”

  They stepped into the elevator and he leaned across her to press the button for the ground floor. As he did so, he inhaled deeply as if savoring her scent. An involuntary shiver traveled the full length of her spine. “All of my senses are enhanced,” he whispered as two more people joined them in the elevator.

  “All natural, I hope. I wouldn’t want to find out you were a cyborg or something.” She stroked her hand across his cheek. “Warm to the touch. That’s a good start.”

  Well, wasn’t she flirty this morning? Perhaps it had something to do with him filling her dreams. Or perhaps because he made her feel safe, and after last night, safe was what she needed.

  Although, it crushed her to have to rely on anyone for her own safety. It was one of the many drawbacks of the movie industry. And one of the many reasons she’d decided to leave it.

  The doors pinged open on the ground floor. Red slid past her, creating a barrier between her and the people in the hotel lobby. He waited for the other couple to leave the elevator and then stepped forward and quickly scanned the room before giving her a nod, which she took as a sign it was safe.

  Only it wasn’t. Not really, because coming across the lobby toward her was her mom.

  “Kate, there you are.” Marylin hugged her daughter and kissed her cheek. “You look peaky. Did you sleep okay?” Her mom pulled back and surveyed her daughter critically. As always.

  “Morning, Mom.” Kate looked across to Red, who was standing back, his hands clasped together while his eyes roamed the lobby. He sure was taking this seriously. Which dampened her mood. Red was right to be on his guard and she should be, too. After a good night’s sleep it was easy to imagine the whole thing was a misunderstanding and that the boogie man only lived in dreams, or in movies.