Bear Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire #2)(8)

“What, you mean between the yelling, growling, cussing, and bleeding you did last night? You didn’t ask, and I don’t go around telling people I work for a magazine. That’s a dick move.”

Huh. Fair enough. “I don’t do this much, so bear with me.”

“Do what?”

“Apologize.”

Lena splayed her legs and locked her knees like she was bracing herself against a storm. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Well…that was it.”

Lena pursed those pretty lips of hers and looked none too impressed with him. “That might be the worst apology I’ve ever heard. I’ll help you out. Repeat after me. I’m sorry I was a peckerwood.”

His inner bear balked against being told what to do, so he narrowed a glare at the woman. Five-foot-six with curves for days and that smart mouth on her, and why was the fire in her dark eyes turning him on so much right now? To hide his growing boner, Jenner bent down, picked up a flat pebble from the beach, and skipped it across the water. “I’m sorry,” he muttered.

“Me, too.”

Shocked, he jerked his gaze to hers just to see if she was joking, but her expression was completely serious. A smile cracked her face an instant before she lifted her camera to her eyes and snapped a picture of him.

Irritated, he gave her his back. “I don’t like my picture taken. If I’m going to take you out tomorrow, that has to be part of the deal. Point that camera of yours at the wildlife, not at me.”

“You feel like part of the wildlife,” she murmured so low he would’ve missed it if he didn’t have his heightened shifter senses.

Discomfort snaked in his gut as he looked at her over his shoulder. “What do you mean?” She couldn’t find out what he was. Not ever. If she found out shifters existed, she could put his people in danger.

Lena cast him a quick glance, there and gone before she answered, “Because you feel like some wild thing, Mr. Silver. All clawed up and big with those observant eyes. I bet you’re right at home in the wilderness out here.”

That pretty pink color tinged her cheeks again.

“This is a bad idea.” He spun on his heel and left her on the bank of the river. “Breakfast is on.”

“Wait, what’s a bad idea?” she called.

“Us tracking bears together.”

“But you’re still going to take me, right?”

His chest rattled with another snarl as he thought of telling her no. What choice did he have, though? She was important to Silver Summit Outfitters and could put their lodge on the map with just a few nice words. She had major sway in the industry that directly impacted the annual income of his business. Sure, she was dangerous as hell, and his inner animal had never been more in jeopardy of being found out thanks to her seeing things others just put off as an odd quirk or strange habit. But if she wanted him as her guide, how could he say no?

She’d just called him a wild thing and nailed him right on the head. She was right. He was about as wild as they came, and now he was going to spend days with her, unable to escape her questions and stares. Fuck.

“Jenner! You’re still taking me, aren’t you?” she repeated.

Lennard stood on the porch with his arms crossed over his chest, tossing mind grenades his way with his pissed-off glare, and Jenner was completely trapped by circumstance.

“I don’t have any choice in the matter,” he barked over his shoulder.

When Lena’s face dropped, Lennard smiled his approval, and Jenner wanted to shred a spruce tree with his bear claws just to hurt something.

He was some wild thing, huh?

Jenner pushed his way past Lennard and into the lodge, away from Lena’s too-sharp eyes.

She had no idea.





Chapter Four


With her mouth hanging open, Lena watched Jenner disappear into the lodge. His change in mood had been immediate and utterly baffling. Was it because she’d called him a wild thing? Well, he was! Lena scanned the vast wilderness that surrounded the log mansion. Jenner was an outdoor guide who seemed to be completely comfortable out in the wild, scouting by himself, and he was offended? She’d meant it as a compliment.

Feeling off balance, she made her way past Lennard into the lodge. Jenner was stacking his plate high with waffles, his back to her. Lightly, she touched his elbow, but he lurched away like she’d burned him with a branding iron.

Stifling her hurt at his reaction, she murmured, “I’m sorry if I said something wrong.”

As a response, she got a flash of those narrowed blue eyes and nothing more.

“Okay then.”

Jenner grabbed a mug of steaming coffee and, with plate in hand, he strode from the lodge and out to the deck near the river. Dalton cleared his throat from the chair beside her, and Lena blinked hard to drag her gaze away from Jenner’s retreat. When she looked down at the dark-headed man, he was grinning obnoxiously big.

“I have a question.”

Turning to the empty plate on the counter, she began to fill it with the remaining food the boys had left. “Let’s hear it.”

“What are you still doing here?”

“Eating breakfast, numbnuts. It’s the crack of dawn.”

“No, not here in the kitchen. Why didn’t Jenner take you out to brown bear country this morning?”