Furever Mated (BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance) (5 page)

S
carlett felt
a sharp pang in her forehead. She slowly fluttered her eyelids open but her vision was blurry. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, trying to focus. She felt warm leather under her face. She slowly pushed herself up and felt the leather pull against her sticky skin.
Where the hell am I?

She sat up and rubbed her eyelids. When she opened them she was surrounded by books.
I’m in the library
, she thought. Scarlett moved her hand to cradle her throbbing head. Last night was such a blur. She remembered dinner, and downing margaritas. Strong arms wrapped around her body, caressing her breasts, flashed into her thoughts.
Fuck!
She quickly snapped her head up from her hands and looked next to her on the couch, expecting to see Mr. Strong Arms lying next to her. But the couch was empty.

Scarlett glanced around the library and realized that she was all alone. She looked down at herself and realized that she was in her bra and dress. Her eyes trailed down to her feet and she was still in her heels.
Well, that’s strange
, she thought. She dropped her head into her hands.
Was it just a very realistic dream?

Scarlett looked down at her watch and noticed that it was seven in the morning. She could easily slip out of here and get back to her bungalow and hopefully no one would notice. Scarlett quickly got up and grabbed her purse. She rushed over to the sliding door of the library and quietly opened it. She peeked in, noticed no one was there, and slipped through the door, and as quietly as possible ran down the hallway that led to the bar.

She glanced in and noticed that the only people in the bar were cleaning and hotel staff.
They must see this all the time
, she thought. She looked to her right and saw a door that led outside, to the bungalows. When the staff was turned and occupied with something else, she quickly tiptoed to the exit pushed open the door and slunk outside, hoping that she wasn’t noticed. Once outside, she bolted back to her bungalow.

She quickly unlocked the door and ran inside. She heard the door click behind her as she leaned her back against the door and let out a long breath she did not realize she was holding. What in the world had she been thinking? It was never like Scarlett to drink that much. Scarlett racked her brain and tried to remember what happened. After dinner, things were pretty fuzzy.

Sleep
, she thought.
Sleep might help you remember what happened
. Scarlett walked into the bedroom and unzipped her dress. She let it fall off her body, and flashes of his lips against her skin rushed into her thoughts.
It had to have been a dream
, she thought. A super sexy one, but a dream nonetheless. Scarlett jumped into the fluffy king-size bed and shoved her head under the pillows.

A
loud ringing
startled Scarlett awake. With a sigh, she flung the pillow from her face and turned over, ready to beat the alarm clock on the nightstand so it would shut up. Looking over to the nightstand Scarlett realized that it wasn’t the alarm that jolted her awake. It was the phone. Scarlett slowly picked it up.

“Hello?” she said groggily.

“Where the hell did you go last night?” Blair screeched.

“Jesus, B, take it down a few notches,” Scarlett said. “I must have gotten a little tipsy and passed out in the hotel library.”

“A little tipsy?” Blair laughed. “You were stumbling to the bathroom the last time I saw you.”

“I’m sorry, B. I didn’t mean to make you worried.”

Blair let out a long sigh. “I know. And I also know that you probably started drinking that much because you didn’t want to be here in the first place, so I’m sorry, too. I’m just glad you are all right.”

“Yeah,” Scarlett said. “I’m good.”

“OK, well, we are going to head to the beach in a little while, if you want to come.”

“Let me know when you go, and I can suffer through this massive hangover on the beach,” Scarlett said.

Blair let out a loud laugh. “OK, Scars. Get some rest, and I will come and swing by to get you in an hour.”

S
carlett plopped
down on her towel and stared at the ocean. It looked so peaceful out there. After a long hot shower, Gatorade, and a greasy lunch, Scarlett was finally started to feel better. She still couldn’t piece together last night, but had come to the conclusion that the sexy man in the library was just a figment of her imagination. Scarlett wasn’t one to have one-night stands; she doubted she even had the courage to do one.

Scarlett leaned back on her towel and let the sun’s warmth caress her body. Even though she was fair-skinned, she loved being out in the sun. Sure, she had to dunk herself in sunscreen beforehand, but feeling the sun’s heat on her skin was worth it.

“There is the clan leader I tried to talk to last night,” Maggie said. “He wasn’t having it, though.”

“Damn, he’s hot,” Amanda said.

Scarlett pushed herself up on the towel to take a look at the man candy. When she saw the familiar muscular frame and the thick brown hair she felt all the blood drain from her face.
It can’t be
, she thought.
What the hell?
Did something really happen between them? Or had she met him in her drunken stupor and her dreams wished that they did?

“Scars?” Blair placed a hand on Scarlett’s shoulder. “You OK?” Blair asked. “You look like you have seen a ghost.”

Scarlett shook her head. “Yeah, I’m fine. I think I spoke with him last night, but I can’t really remember.”

The girls around her giggled. They continued to gossip about the clan members and Scarlett pretended to pay attention, but she slowly tuned them out. Had anything actually happened between her and Kurt last night? She racked her brain, trying to remember every detail, but the night was so fuzzy that she couldn’t decipher between reality and her dreams.

Scarlett leaned back down on her towel and closed her eyes. She could try and talk to him, but what would she say?
Hi, I can’t remember if we slept together or not?
He would think she was an idiot. Why did she even care what he thought about her? Scarlett rolled her eyes at herself. She hated overthinking things like this, but somehow her mind always went into overanalyze mode any time she was presented a problem. Normally she would talk to Blair about it, but Scarlett could tell that Blair was already worried about her. No need to add “I may have drunkenly slept with the hot clan leader” to Blair’s worries.

The hairs on the back of Scarlett’s neck started to stand up. She felt like she was being watched. She slowly lifted her back and rested on her forearms. She looked around and was suddenly captivated by Kurt’s dark brown eyes. Goosebumps erupted all over her body, and she felt a magnetic force trying to pull her to him, but she was stubborn and refused to listen. Just as quickly as she was put under the spell of his eyes, it was gone, and Kurt turned away and walked to a lounge chair away from hers.

What the hell was that about, and why was she so drawn to him? Scarlett couldn’t deny that Kurt was extremely attractive. With his broad shoulders, muscular frame, and strong chin with just the right amount of stubble, who could resist him? Most of the girls, including Scarlett’s friends, had taken a liking to him.

“So what is it that you heard about Kurt?” Scarlett asked.

“Well, I heard that he is a bit of a dick,” Maggie said. “A lot of the other girls have said that he hasn’t seemed very interested in being here and that he mostly stuck to himself.”

Great
, Scarlett thought. Another dick. Why is it that she always found herself attracted to the completely wrong men? Scarlett looked over to where Kurt was sitting. His eyes caught hers again and she tentatively smiled. He just stared at her, and then shifted his eyes away.
Fine, be a douchebag
, Scarlett thought. If something did happen between them, it didn’t matter. She would probably never see him again after this vacation, so there was no point in worrying about it. Kurt meant nothing to her. At least, that is what she continued to say to herself over and over again.

I
am such a fucking idiot
, Kurt thought. The moment he saw Scarlett again on the beach he knew he had somehow formed feelings for her. How he had feelings after all this time, and after ignoring all of these girls that practically threw themselves at him, he didn’t know. But he couldn’t deny that he did. And because of that, he had to stay away from her.

The moment he caught eyes with her, he quickly looked away. Kurt knew that if he stared into her beautiful pooling green eyes for long enough, he wouldn’t be able to keep his distance, and that is what he had to do, for her sake.

Frank plopped down on the sand next to Kurt. “So what happened to you last night? One minute you were next to me at the bar, and the next you were nowhere to be seen.”

“I had enough of the bar,” Kurt said. “So I headed back to my room.”

“Man, you should have stayed,” Frank said. “We need to get your ass back in the game.” Kurt laughed at himself quietly. He did more than get his ass back in the game last night. He scored a full touchdown, but he couldn’t allow himself to celebrate. He was just too broken for her, and there was no point when they would only end up being here for a week. Man, did he sound pathetic. Had the rest of his clan known about how he took her on the table of the library last night, he would have been getting high-fives left and right. Instead he was feeling sorry for himself and wanting to stay away from her.

Kurt looked over to Scarlett, who had lain back down on her towel. His eyes trailed over her body.
Damn, she looked good in a bikini
. Maybe he should just suck it up and have some fun for once. She was just a good lay, and he hadn’t had one of those in a long time.
That is why I was so hung up on her
, he thought. Kurt watched as Scarlett turned her body over to lie on her stomach. The way she propped herself up on her arms, giving Kurt a perfect view down her bikini top made his trunks feel a bit tighter. Maybe he could actually have a little fun for once.

They had been out on the beach for a few hours. Every so often, Kurt would look over at Scarlett, hoping to catch her eye and smile, but she never looked back in his direction.
Shit, maybe she didn’t enjoy last night as much as I did.
Kurt looked out to the ocean and watched the sun slowly creep to the horizon.

“Hey man,” Frank said, pulling Kurt out of his thoughts. “We are going to head back and shower before the event tonight.”

“What event?”

“The speed-dating happy hour,” Frank said.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

K
urt reluctantly stood
next to the bar and stared at all of the tables lined up in the lounge area. Dinner had already been served, and everyone was making their way into the bar for the event. Each table had a number on it.
I can’t believe I have been dragged into this
, Kurt thought. Kurt started to walk out of the bar, when a familiar curvy figure caught his eye. He stopped mid-tracks and stared at Scarlett in a form-fitting green dress as she sat down at table number eleven.
Well
, he thought,
maybe I can stay and suffer through this
.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Ursula’s voice carried over the loudspeakers. “Welcome to our speed-dating happy hour!” Kurt moved back towards the bar and stood next to Frank. He stifled a loud groan growing in his throat.

“The rules are fairly simple. You will have one minute with each lady, and when the buzzer sounds you will move on to the next one. You will have score cards that will rate each person, which we will collect at the end of the event and match those that rated each other the same. Ladies, if you would please take your seats.”

Kurt watched as all of the women filed in and sat down at their tables. Scarlett was sitting right in the middle of the room. Hopefully he could start right at her table.

“Gentlemen, please pick your tables.” Kurt bee-lined directly for Scarlett’s table. A clan member beat him to it, and it took all of Kurt’s training to not lose it and rip his throat out. Scarlett looked up and shot Kurt a death glare.

“My table is open,” a brown-haired woman next to Scarlett said. Kurt let out a frustrated sigh and sat down in the open seat. There was an audible
ding
which Kurt guessed signaled the start of the dating event. He stared at the brown-haired woman across from him. She smiled nervously, cleared her throat, and held out her hand.

“I’m Blair,” she said sweetly. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Kurt”

“Right, Kurt.” An awkward silence fell between them. Kurt quickly glanced over at Scarlett and he saw her giggle. Anger slowly started to course through his veins.

“So, I see you are a fan of my best friend,” Blair said. This caught Kurt’s attention.

“You know Scarlett?” he asked.

“I do,” Blair said. “We have been friends since high school, and I can tell you now that if you hurt her in any way I will come after you. I don’t care how big of a bear you are.”

Kurt let out a laugh. “I don’t intend on hurting her,” Kurt responded. “And I’m not too sure how well you would stand up against a bear, but given how protective you seem over her, I’m not willing to test my chances.”

“Good,” Blair said, and smiled. The ringer buzzed and everyone said their goodbyes.

“It was nice meeting you, Blair,” Kurt said.

“Go get her,” Blair smiled.

Kurt caught Scarlett’s eye as he walked up to her table. Kurt could see her let out a shaky breath. He hoped she wasn’t too upset with him for leaving her like he did. He sat down at the table and she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Shit,
he thought.
She is pissed.

Kurt cleared his throat. “I wanted to apologize for the other night,” he said. Scarlett stared at him with an icy glare. “It wasn’t right for me to leave you there like I did. I just wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s fine,” Scarlett said.
Fuck
, Kurt thought. When a woman said “fine,” it always meant that they were anything but.

“Look,” Kurt said. “I know you are not really fine, and by the way you are glaring at me I can tell you are pretty pissed. I was a dick, and I shouldn’t have been. I am not so great when it comes to relationships and feelings, and when I’m drunk all of my morals go out the window.”

The buzzer rang again. Everyone stood up and started moving to the next table, but Kurt remained in his seat. “I know you don’t want to be here just as much as I do. So why don’t we get out of here?”

Kurt could see the walls that Scarlett put up slowly come down. “I promise that I will make it up to you,” he said.

A slow smile spread across her beautiful face. Kurt’s heart rate sped up and he reached his hand out to Scarlett. She quickly grabbed it and they ran out of the restaurant.