The Right Bear's Arms BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance(4)
In Boone, unmated bear kinfolk women got passed around from one bear to another in hopes that they would give birth to a new shifter. That’s how Katie had been born, and why her dad hadn’t stayed for long. He wasn’t Mom’s mate, just a stop for a few nights here and there. That’s why her mom pushed so hard for her to mate so young. Katie wasn’t so sure which proposition was worse. She might have been stuck in Boone forever, as an unwilling mate or plaything, if not for her grandma in Winslow, thirty miles off. Gran didn’t approve of Mom’s matchmaking, and eventually slipped Katie enough money to buy a bus ticket out of Boone.
No bears for her. Ever. And definitely no alphas. As soon as she could save up enough money, she was going to start taking photography classes at night school and she was going to be a real photographer. Her teachers in high school said she had talent, and she was going to prove them right. After that, she was going to have a perfectly normal life with a perfectly normal guy. Someday. Maybe someone like Jake, if she was lucky.
After lunch, Anna came back to Katie’s place to help her plan for her date. She left right before seven-thirty. Katie had just about finished primping when her door buzzer sounded. She smoothed down her bright blue dress with its springy pattern. It was short enough to be flirty, but long enough that sitting on the beach wouldn’t be a potential embarrassment. Grabbing her sweater, she checked her makeup in the mirror one more time, then noticed the pile of discarded outfits on the bed of her small studio apartment. Crap, what if he wanted to come back here after? She ran to the intercom by the door and pressed the button. “Just a minute!” Then she frantically shoved the clothing into her small closet. She re-straightened her dress and hair, then went downstairs to meet him.
***
Jake stood on her front stoop, trying not to shift his weight impatiently from side to side. He hadn’t been able to think about anything but her all day. Rafe had been patient all afternoon when Jake’s mind had wandered in the middle of a song. One good thing about performing in the middle of a sidewalk: usually nobody noticed if you flubbed a note here and there. But Rafe noticed. The other good thing about performing on the streets though: if you were charismatic enough, could you flub as much as you wanted and still make bank. And if there was one thing the two of them had between them, as a wolf and a bear, it was charisma.
Katie stepped out her door and his bear gave a loud, possessive growl. His. She was his. There was no mistaking it. Katie was meant to be his mate. He had to fight the urge to run his hand up the creamy length of exposed thigh that her dress revealed, and had to make himself stop thinking that the night just might end—if he were very very lucky—with that dress on a floor somewhere nearby. Her red curls were caught in a casual, messy bun and he wanted to run his fingers through it to feel it tumbling down around her shoulders.
He might have stood there staring at her all night, but then she laughed. “You weren’t kidding about having a picnic.” She gestured at the picnic basket he carried. She stood on the step above him, which put them eye to eye, and she impulsively leaned in and kissed his cheek. Jake had to take a deep breath to rein in the bear that wanted to grab her and run for the nearest bushes, and in so doing, inhaled her glorious scent: wildflowers and honey and clean female scent. Of course she was bear-kin, how could he have missed it in the first place?
“Nothing fancy.” He offered her his arm and they started down the sidewalk. “Good deli sandwiches and some cheap wine. That okay?”
“Sounds great.” Katie smiled up at him, squeezing his arm against her breast. “I’m so happy it’s finally spring. This was a great idea. Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” They made it to the lakeside park in almost no time, only to find that every other Chicagoan was grimly determined to enjoy the first truly warm evening. “Well,” Jake laughed, “at least you’ll be well-chaperoned.”
“Damn,” Katie replied, looking at him from beneath her lashes. Her voice was husky enough to send a jolt right to his cock. Once again it took all his self control to keep from suggesting they go somewhere more private, right now. No, he was going to do this right. If she was his mate—and he was almost certain she was—then he was going to woo her socks off. He’d better, anyway. As a disgraced almost-alpha, he didn’t have much else to offer a mate as valuable as one of the kinfolk.
“Well, if you have other ideas...” he teased.
“We should probably eat first.”
They found a spot that wasn’t too crowded, and Jake pulled the blanket out of the basket and spread it across the sand. He gave himself the luxury of watching her settle on the blanket, eying the way her dress rode up before she smoothed it down over her legs. She took the corned beef sandwich without a qualm, and held the paper cups for him while he poured the wine.
“So are you a Chicago native?” she asked, taking a sip.
“Nah.” He’d told the story numerous times, so it rolled easily off his tongue. “I came here from Montana a few years back. Didn’t see eye-to-eye with my family. They wanted me to take over the family business after my brother died, but I wasn’t interested.”
“I’m sorry about your brother. What does your family do?” Did she get what he meant about the family business? It didn’t look like it.