Hunt (The Grizzly Brothers Chronicles Book 1) (7 page)

“Not as broad as you think.”

I
waited impatiently
while the hostess gathered our menus. The impatience had nothing to do with my being hungry. It had everything to do with wanting to sit down so people would stop staring at us.

I checked my dress half-a dozen times to make sure there was nothing on it until I realized they weren’t staring at me exactly; they were staring at me with Ian.

Unfortunately the staring didn’t stop once we reached our table. All eyes were on us as Ian pulled out my chair, and they remained there once we were seated across from each other.

I’d only just opened a menu when a couple walked over. The woman smiled at us. “Hello, Ian, is this your Mara everyone’s been talking about?”

His Mara? I waited for him to explain we were only friends.

He didn’t. “Yes, this is Mara. Mara, this is Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell.”

“Nice to meet you,” I muttered. I tried to come up with a way to politely explain that I wasn’t really with Ian, but they walked away before I could.

“Your Mara?” I narrowed my eyes at him as soon as the couple walked off.

He grinned. “I don’t mind the sound of that.”

“I’m not your Mara. You know that.”

“Come on, they were only making conversation.”

I managed to read one section of the menu before a woman walked over. “Hi you two!”

“Hello, Ms. Tanner. How are you this evening?” Ian laid on all the charm.

“I am just fine. I wanted to make sure I had the opportunity to introduce myself to Mara.” She held out a hand to me. “I’m Evelyn. Welcome to Crestview.”

“Thank you.”

“It didn’t take you long to settle on Ian, did it?” Her voice lost a little bit of its chirpiness, and I thought about what Mrs. Peterson had said about not everyone liking Ian.

“I haven’t settled on anything. I am in town for the summer, and Ian has been nice enough to show me around.”

“I have a son who wouldn’t mind showing you around.” She opened her purse. “Would you like me to have Mitch call you?”

“Oh no. That won’t be necessary.” Maybe I should have gone along with the charade after all.

“Mara and I have a packed schedule.” Ian’s face was hard. “Nice of you to come over, Evelyn.”

She nodded tersely and walked away.

“So that was weird.”

“Weird isn’t the word I’d use.” He picked up his menu.

I dropped the subject. I wasn’t sure why it bothered Ian so much. He wasn’t that into me. Yes there had been the intense moment at my house, but that was it. Otherwise we’d been like friends hanging out. Nothing more.

The staring didn’t get any better, and I blindly ordered a steak while trying to avoid everyone.

Ian didn’t seem as fazed by it as I was. He’d relaxed once Evelyn had returned to her table across the room.

We sat in a comfortable enough silence while we waited for our food. He dug right into his plate, but I wasn’t very interested in mine.

“Is the food okay?” He pointed to my barely touched steak. There was nothing wrong with the food, but the attention made it impossible to eat.

“Yes, it’s great.”

“How would you know?” He set aside his fork. “You haven’t eaten.”

“It’s hard to eat with everyone looking at us.”

“Well, that’s your fault you know.” He sipped his water. I’d expected him to order beer, but he’d stuck to the same beverage I was having.

“How is it my fault?”

“If you’d shown your face around here before this they wouldn’t be staring.” He set his water back down.

“Nuh uh.” I shook my head.” This isn’t my fault. It’s yours.”

“How is it mine?” He pointed to his chest.

“It was your idea to come out.”

“Actually it was Mrs. Peterson’s.” He smiled.

“But you agreed. Readily. I did not.”

“It’s still your presence that has them staring. If I was alone they wouldn’t do more than smile and wave.”

“It might also have something to do with the way you keep leading them to believe this is a date.”

“It is a date.” He took another bite of his steak.

“No it’s not.”

“How is it not a date?”

“We’re eating dinner together because of Mrs. Peterson. That’s it.”

“No. We’re eating dinner together because it’s a socially acceptable way for me to spend time with you.” He leaned toward me over the table. “If it were up to me we would be spending time together in other ways, and it wouldn’t involve having half the town staring at us.”

“And you’re going to pretend that doesn’t have anything to do with sex?” I crossed my arms.

“No. I’m not going to pretend, because pretending is getting me nowhere.” He pulled his shirt away from his body as if to cool off. “I’m going to start laying it out there for you.”

“Lay what out?” I pushed my plate away a little.

“I want you. I want you for many reasons. Some of those reasons involve sex.” His eyes heated. “Let me rephrase that. Many of those reasons involve sex, but others have nothing to do with sex. And tonight we’re focusing on all those non-sex reasons. Got it?”

I was in shock. There was no other explanation for why I was nodding.

“Good.” He smiled. “Glad we’re on the same page now. If people stop staring, will you eat?”

I nodded absently, too shocked over his burst of honesty.

“Good.” He slowly stood up. “Excuse me, everyone. This is Mara.” Ian pointed to me. “Yes, she’s new in town, and yes she’s beautiful. But we’d appreciate if you’d stop staring. Could you please do us a favor and enjoy your meal without watching us?”

A few people nodded, a few laughed. And another few clapped. I slunk down in my seat. Dinner was turning out to be one of the most embarrassing situations of my life. I was mortified. Had he seriously just done that?

“Oh, and she’s completely unavailable in case any of that staring relates to that question.” He pointed his gaze right at Evelyn. She turned red and looked away.

“Is she unavailable because of you?” An older man called out.

“What do you think?” Ian grinned.

A few people clapped again, and I wanted to sink into the floor.

Ian sat down, and I dared to look around. No one was looking at us anymore.

“They aren’t staring. You can eat.” He gestured to my plate.

“I can’t believe you did that,” I whispered.

“Sure you can. And it worked.”

“Did you have to add that unavailable part?”

“You don’t like attention. That will get you less attention.”

“But that’s not why you said it.” Motivations mattered.

“No, I said it for my own reasons, but it helped you.”

“Do girls usually find you charming, or is it just the sex appeal?” I watched him. He was even more handsome than I’d originally thought. Either that or my attraction to him was growing, and I really hoped that wasn’t the case.

“Now who’s the one talking about sex?”

“I’m just asking. Is it just that?” I gestured to him.

“That?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Your face and body.” They were hard to ignore.

He grinned, and I regretted my words. “You tell me.”

“How can I tell you? I don’t know how you are around other women.”

“What makes you think I’m around a lot of other woman?” He leaned forward again.

“I’m not going to repeat my whole face and body comment.”

“Only you did.” He grinned.

I groaned. “Ok, finish eating so we can get out of here.”

“I am finished.” He pointed to his empty plate.

“Ok, then we can go.”

“You haven’t eaten more than two bites.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“No one is staring, you can eat.” He pointed to my plate.

“I’d rather leave.”

“But then you’ll be hungry, and I can’t allow that. Mrs. Peterson would eat me alive.”

“I think you’ll manage.”

“Come on, eat something. Then we can move on to our next stop of the evening.” He picked up my fork and tried to hand it to me.

“There are no other stops.”

“There’s a great one. Afterwards I’ll get you home by sometime.”

I laughed despite myself. “Fine.” I waited until he set the fork down. Then I picked it up and took a few bites of the steak. I could at least enjoy the meal.

A different waitress from the one who’d been serving us walked over. “Hey, Ian.”

“Hi, Amy.” He smiled tersely.

“I thought you were away.”

“I was, but now I’m back.”

“Have you seen Jonovan yet?” She stepped closer to Ian’s chair.

“No.” Ian shook his head. “But I just got back.”

“He stood me up two nights ago, and I called to tell him it was okay but he didn’t pick up.”

“Call him again.” Ian fidgeted in his seat.

“I called like fifty times. And with the things I promised, there’s no way he’d have ignored all those calls.”

I looked down at my plate, but I had completely lost my appetite. The things she was promising?

“Listen, Amy.” Ian eyed me warily before turning back to the waitress. “I don’t think this is the best time to be talking about this.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your date, but could you tell him to call me if you see him? I’m not mad. I just need to see him.” The young woman’s voice was full of such hope.

“You can do better than him.” Ian’s expression darkened.

“I don’t want to do better than him.” She stalked off.

“Who’s Jonovan?” I repeated the unfamiliar name.

“My brother.”

“Oh.” He’d mentioned having lots of brothers. I wondered if this one was like Tyler.

“Before you start getting any ideas, we’re different people. And no I’ve never slept with that waitress.”

“I didn’t ask you any of those questions.” I’d thought some of them.

“But you were thinking them. All of them.” He read me. He knew where my thoughts would have gone.

“Maybe.” Especially when he told her she could do better.

“And by doing better I didn’t mean me.”

I froze. Had he read my mind?

“I could tell you were heading down that line of thinking. She’s not my type.”

“Then what is your type?” The waitress had been pretty enough, and she had a bust most women would envy. Including me.

“You.” His eyes locked on mine with an intensity that shook me.

“I’m done eating.” I set my napkin on the table.

“I don’t blame you. I’m sorry you heard that.”

“I’ve heard worse.”

“You shouldn’t have.” His eyes darkened.

“How do you know?” I leaned forward. “How do you know I don’t promise the same things?”

He shifted in his seat. “Because if you did, you wouldn’t have lost your appetite when she came over. Unless you lost it for another reason?” He raised an eyebrow.

“No. no other reason.”

“Exactly.”

We fell into an uncomfortable silence as we waited for the bill.

When the waitress set it down, we both reached for it.

“I’ve got this.” Ian pulled it away before I could.

“Let’s split it.”

“Not a chance. I’m treating you.”

“That’s not fair. I can pay my half.”

“This isn’t about what you can or cannot do. It’s about what we’re doing.”

I groaned. “You are very pushy.”

“So are you. I’m paying for it.” He signaled the waitress and handed over a credit card with the bill.

I let it go in order to avoid making a scene and getting more attention, but I’d find an ATM and pay him back eventually.

I
should have gone home
. I should have dropped Mara off and headed home to deal with the Jonovan mess, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t let Mara out of my sight. The more time I spent with her, the more I craved her. It went beyond any of my expectations. The pull was intense, and it felt like there was an electricity in the air pulling me toward her. I longed to touch her and taste her. To explore each and every inch of her body, as well as to learn everything about her. I wanted to know what she liked, and what she didn’t. I needed to know how to drive her wild, and how to make her feel safe.

Sitting beside her in my truck was harder now. She was so close yet so far away, because I’d promised our evening would be sex free. And that meant I needed to keep my hands to myself. That didn’t mean I couldn’t put us in a situation where she might want to put her hands on me.

“Thanks for dinner.” She broke the silence that filled the cab of my truck. It wasn’t an awkward silence exactly, but it had gone on for far too long.

“You’re welcome.” I turned and drove out of town in the opposite direction of Mrs. Peterson’s.

“You’re going the wrong way.” She pointed out the windshield. “I think.”

I laughed. “I am going the right way.”

“The right way to where?” she asked warily.

“The right way to our next stop.” I kept my eyes on the road. I didn’t want to give the surprise away.

“Will this one involve people staring?”

“Nope. It’s only us.”

“I don’t think we have to take it that far.” She frowned.

“It’s going to be fun.” I put my arm behind her. She stiffened slightly before relaxing back against my arm. She was going to have to get used to my touch on a lot more than her shoulders.

“Sleep is fun too.”

“Yes, but since you are not inviting me to sleep with you this evening, we’ll have to do this instead.” Even saying the words brought my thoughts back where they couldn’t be.

“I meant actually sl—”

“And I knew that. Wait, unless you were inviting me to do another kind of sleeping with you?” I winked. “Then we can do that instead.”

“Not a chance.” She paused. “For any kind of sleeping together.”

“What, you worried I’ll bite you in your sleep?” There was more truth to that statement than she knew.

“Biting wasn’t the first worry I had.”

“Was your worry about me, or you?”

“Both of us.” She looked out the window.

“You’re a hard girl to read.”

“No I’m not.”

“Sure you are.”

“How so?” She turned back to look at me.

“You want me, yet you’re fighting it.”

She sighed. “I don’t want you, but believe what you want. What is hard to read?”

“Why you’re fighting it. I can’t tell if it’s a moral thing, a social thing, or a game thing.”

“A game thing?” Her voice had an edge to it.

“Yeah, like you want to play chase or something.”

“Uh, yeah. I’m not a dog. We’ve been over this.”

“I’m well aware of your species, babe.”

“Babe?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Does that term bother you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” It wasn’t one I ever used much before, but it had felt natural with her.

“Because it’s short for baby. And I’m not a baby.”

“Would you prefer I called you honey? Love? How about darling?”

“None of the above. Mara is sufficient.”

“You can call me whatever you want.”

“Great. I’ll stick with Ian.” She looked toward the window.

“I’m just letting you know.” I stopped short of also letting her know she could do anything she wanted to me. Well, anything other than walk away. I wasn’t going to allow that.

“Ok.”

“So if it’s not a game, which is it? Are you morally opposed to wanting a guy you just met? Or are you more concerned with what people think?”

“Neither.”

“It has to be something.” And I would figure it out.

“It could be because I don’t want you.” She crossed her legs at the ankles.

“You do.”

She sighed. “You can stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“Playing this macho thing with me. It’s not working.”

“I’m not playing any game with you.” The only games I’d be playing with her would be ones she enjoyed. “Although I’d be happy to play any games you want.”

“How about the take me home game.”

“Who hurt you?” Someone had. And now I was going to be the one paying the price for the scars. Although it would be worth it in the end, and I’d make the guy pay.

“No one.”

“Is it this Connor guy?”

“He’s my professor and old friend.”

“Old friend can be code for ex.”

“He’s ten years older than me,” she said as though that changed anything.

“So? I’m probably a few years older than you.”

“We were never involved.”

Something about the way she said involved bothered me. It wasn’t as clean as it should have been. “Then who was it?”

“No one. Ok? Drop it.”

“All right. If you drop asking me to take you home.”

“Home. Now that would be a nice place to be.”

“Missing your farm or your city?” I wondered if she was homesick. Maybe there was a guy back home. The thought made my blood boil.

“I’m not sure. Maybe just the concept of it.”

“When did you last have a boyfriend?”

“What part of drop it don’t you understand?”

“This is a different question. Besides, I’d tell you whatever you want to know about my past relationships.”

“I don’t want to know about them.” She rolled her eyes.

“Nope, you just wanted to know if I’d slept with the waitress.”

“No I didn’t.” She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them. “It doesn’t matter what you tell me, because there’s nothing for me to tell you.”

“You expect me to believe you’ve never had a boyfriend?”

“Oh, I’ve had them.” She laughed dryly.

“And?” I waited impatiently for details I both wanted and didn’t want to hear.

“And just as things seem to be going well they leave. Or run is more like it.” She rested her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Why?” She opened her eyes.

“Because I can’t imagine any guy running from you.” After driving a few miles west of town, I turned into an empty field and parked the truck. I wanted to ask her more questions, but I refused to ruin our evening with thoughts of other men who’d burned her in the past. She wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore. I turned off the truck and sent us into near darkness.

“Why are we stopping?” She sat forward and looked around.

“Because this is our stop.” I pulled out the blanket I always kept in my truck and hopped out. I walked around to her side.

She just sat there when I opened the door. “Where are we?”

“A field.”

“I can see that.” She peered into the darkness. The only light came from the moon and stars above.

“Trust me. This is fun.” Maybe I was asking a lot of her, but eventually she’d relax enough to enjoy a surprise.

I took her hand, and she hopped down after a moment of hesitation. I led her around to the back of my truck and opened the tailgate.

“Uh, I’m not getting in the bed of your truck.” She crossed one arm over her chest and clasped her other elbow.

“Why not?”

“Been there, done that.”

I felt a mounting growl, not liking what she suggested. “This is different.” I hopped up and held out my hand.

She hesitated and shook her head.

“Come on,” I pleaded with her. “I promise I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“How do I know that’s good behavior?”

“Fine, I’ll ruin the surprise if you insist.” I was willing to do whatever it took to get her to relax. “We’re here to stargaze.”

“To stargaze?” Her eyes lightened.

“Yes. So does that mean you’ll come up now?”

She shook her head. “I’ll flash you.”

“Huh?”

“If I try to step up there. This dress is short.” She tugged down on her dress to demonstrate her point.

“Oh.” I studied those gorgeous long legs of hers, grateful for my night vision. I hopped back down and swept her up in my arms. I jumped back up into the truck.

“Put me down!” she yelled.

I gently placed her down on her feet before laying out the blanket. I lay down and gestured for her to join me. “You can use me as a pillow. I wasn’t planning this when I left my house so I don’t have one.”

“I’m fine up here.” She wrapped her arms around herself.

“You know I can see up your dress from here, right?” I waggled an eyebrow.

She groaned before sitting down beside me.

“Come on, I won’t hurt you.”

She lay down beside me, leaning on her arms.

“My chest is more comfortable.”

“I’m fine over here.”

“If you insist.” I resisted the urge to pull her closer.

“You could have told me we were going stargazing from the beginning.”

“It’s gorgeous isn’t it?” I pointed up to the star-filled sky.

“It is. It always is.”

“But this is different. The sky is different here.” I scooted over closer to her. “Isn’t it?”

She stared up at the sky. “You do see a lot of stars here.”

“It’s more than that.”

“You sell this town hard.” She kept her eyes fixed on the sky.

“I do.”

“Is there a reason for that?” She turned to me.

“I want you to enjoy your stay here.”

“Why?”

“You know why.” I was done resisting. I pulled her closer, laying her head down on my chest.

She pulled her head up for a moment before setting it back down, and I said nothing. There was no reason to risk having her move away. I would never get enough of the feel of her so close to me. Kissing her had been my undoing. It would be impossible to resist her now. “Growing up I used to sleep outside almost every summer night.”

“Yeah?” I asked with genuine interest. I wanted to know everything about her, even the things she thought were mundane.

“I always felt more comfortable under the stars.”

“You can do that here.”

“I’m not sleeping in your truck.”

“I only mean there’s some good spots. And you’re welcome to use my land. Although tell me in advance so I keep my brothers away.”

“I’m not planning on doing it here. I might go camping though.”

“You like to camp?” I asked with some surprise even though I shouldn’t have been.

“Yes. I don’t get much of a chance to anymore though.”

“We should go.” I could already picture the fun we’d have in a sleeping bag. My body reacted, and I hoped she didn’t notice.

“Getting me in the back of your truck isn’t enough?”

I smiled. “Were you planning to go alone or with the professor?”

“Alone.”

“We can go together. We can even take two tents if it makes you feel better.”

“We’ll see. I might get so busy I can’t.”

“There’s always time.” We had a lifetime whether she knew it or not.

“Not always.”

She closed her eyes, and I did the same. She shivered.

I opened my eyes. “You cold?

“Yeah. I’m not used to these cold nights yet.”

I wrapped my arms around her. “You know body heat works better without clothes.”

She chortled. “I’m not sure whether to laugh or run away.”

“Laugh.”

“If I wasn’t so tired I might run away.”

“It’s true though.” I used the free part of the blanket to wrap us up. “Body heat does work better that way.”

“Does that line usually work for you?” She kept her eyes closed.

“I’ve never tried it before.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I already told you. You’re special.” I kissed her forehead.

She tensed, but then her body relaxed once again. We fell into silence, and I closed my eyes again. I listened to her breathing, and eventually it evened out. I realized she’d fallen asleep. I felt a surge of pure joy. She’d been comfortable enough to fall asleep with me. I was making progress.