Beary Overdue (Polar Bliss 1) Read online

  When they walked inside, the first thing she noticed was a crowd three people deep around the bar. Hayden was the only one behind the counter, but he filled orders quickly and efficiently, moving with the controlled grace of a predator. Riley had confirmed her guess about him being a shifter, a polar bear, too, and the knowledge only added to his appeal. Once again she cursed her stupid, almost obsessive, attraction to Reid.

  Ridge found them a table, and a curvy, ginger haired waitress about her height greeted them a few seconds later. The woman looked like a fairy goddess with creamy white skin, dark green eyes, and a light smattering of freckles across her nose. She had the same smooth, controlled movements as Hayden, and Jillian immediately recognized her as Hayden’s sister. Riley had told her a little bit about the siblings, including the fact that they were Reid’s only employees.

  She looked around the bar again and shook her head. With only one bartender and one waitress, the place was severely understaffed. While she commended Reid for hiring both siblings, and according to Riley, paying them extremely well, she couldn’t ignore the fact that he worked them too hard by not taking on more workers.

  “Hey guys,” the woman said. “It’s good to see you again. What can I get you?”

  “Hi Hayley,” Riley said. “Do you know where Reid is?”

  “Um,” Hayley looked around, and Jillian spotted him a second before the waitress did. “Left side of the bar, but it looks like he’ll be going outside soon.”

  “Thanks Hayley,” Ridge said. “I’ll get our drinks from the bar.”

  “Sounds good,” she said. “Hope to see you all later.”

  Hayley moved to the next table, and Ridge stood.

  “Want to come with me, Jilly?”

  She nodded and followed Ridge through the crowd. They sidled up to the left side of the bar, and Ridge stood behind her so she could see better.

  Reid sat on a bar stool surrounded by at least six women, and they were all thin and petite, covered in heavy make-up, and dressed similar to the woman she’d seen in his apartment. In fact, one of them might have been the same woman, though she doubted it.

  Each woman in the entourage hung on his every word, laughed in all the right moments, and pawed at him as if desperate for his attention, which of course they were. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the one he liked best would be spending the night with him.

  She frowned and turned in time to see Hayden cutting someone off.

  “Sorry, man,” Hayden said. “You’ve had enough. Do you have a ride home?”

  “Fuck you,” the man slurred. “I want another.”

  “Not tonight, buddy,” Hayden reiterated. “Here’s a glass of water.”

  “I don’t want your fucking water,” the man said, shoving the glass away. It teetered on the edge of the bar, and then fell inside and shattered next to Hayden’s feet.

  “Hayden,” Reid said. “He’s alright. Give him another on the house.”

  Hayden glared at Reid, but he followed orders and gave the man another beer.

  Hayley shoved her way through the crowd and placed her tray on the counter. An angry man followed, bellowing behind her.

  “You overcharged me, you dumb, fat fuck, now give me my money back.”

  “Hayden,” she yelled, before turning to face the man. “For the hundredth time, I didn’t overcharge you. Bottles are five dollars each. You bought two. That equals ten dollars, and you gave me ten dollars.”

  “Hey,” Reid interrupted. “What’s going on here?”

  Hayley opened her mouth to explain, and the man cut her off.

  “The other waitress told me bottles were three dollars, and this fattie is charging me five. She’s a fucking thief, and she’s probably stealing from all of your customers to buy more hamburgers on the way home.”

  “Hey,” Hayden yelled. “That’s my sister, asshole. One more word—”

  “Hayley, give the man back his money,” Reid said. “Sir, your drinks are on the house. Sorry for the confusion.”

  Jillian let out a tiny gasp, but somehow Reid heard it. His eyes locked with hers, and for a second it seemed as if they were the only two people in the room, then he smiled a feral smile and turned back toward his entourage of women with his arms open wide. They swarmed him, fighting for the closest spot, and Jillian turned toward Ridge.

  “I’ve seen enough,” she whispered. “I’m going back to the table.”

  Ridge nodded and she quickly made her way back to her friends.

  “Fight, fight, fight!”

  Suddenly everyone in the room started yelling, and most of the patrons rushed to the left side of the bar. The crowd cheered and chanted, and when the horde parted, she saw a bloody Reid following another man outside. Most of the patrons trailed after them, and Ridge showed up with their drinks a few moments later.

  “This is what he’s so proud of?” Jillian asked, not expecting an answer. “You were right, Riley. He’s changed, and if I hadn’t seen everything for myself, I wouldn’t have believed it. I’m ready to go whenever you guys are.”

  “We’d better wait until everyone comes back in,” Ridge said. “It gets rowdy out there when fists are swinging, and we don’t want to get caught up in that mess.”

  They sipped their beers until the building filled back up again, and then Ridge drove them all back to Polar Bliss, and Jillian returned to her motel.

  She’d expected to be disappointed at the end of the night, but she hadn’t expected to feel gutted. Once upon a time, Reid had been a good man, but that good man was long gone.

  The realization made her heart break into a million tiny pieces.

  ***

  Reid hurried up the steps to his family home, and waited impatiently for the woman he’d brought with him to catch up. Though they’d had an inch of snowfall during the day, the steps had been cleared and there weren’t any ice patches, but her four inch heels slowed her down.

  He looked at the woman again, and shook his head. Deep inside, his bear grunted and turned away, giving him the cold shoulder. For the first time ever, he felt as if his animal had given up on him. The realization widened the hole in his heart, but he didn’t have time to reflect on the consequences right now.

  This was his last chance to get revenge on Jillian, and a temperamental bear wasn’t going to stand in his way.

  He’d been ecstatic when she’d come in the bar the night before. Not only had he been surrounded by several beautiful women, but he’d had the opportunity to exercise his power, first with his bartender and second with his waitress. The icing on the cake had been winning the brawl in the parking lot, but when he’d picked the woman he planned to fuck all night, Jillian had been gone.

  Tonight, she wouldn’t run.

  Tomorrow was the viewing, and Jillian’s final night in town, but Riley had prepared a special goodbye dinner for her tonight, and he was about to crash the party. With the woman he’d chosen the night before.

  When she finally made it up the stairs, Reid grabbed her hand and burst through the front door. Ryker came running out of the dining room, and blocked them in the foyer.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Ryker seethed.

  “It’s a family dinner,” Reid grinned, “and I’m family.”

  “You’re an asshole,” Ryker growled.

  Riley came in and peered under Ryker’s arm, followed by Jillian, Ridge and Jane.

  “Shit man,” Ridge said. “You scared me half to death.”

  He grabbed Jane’s hand and pulled her away from the scene.

  “What are you doing here, Reid?” Riley asked timidly.

  “It’s a family diner, little sis, and I’m family. I figured my invite got lost in the mail.”

  “Quit being a dick,” Ryker said. “We all know why you’re here.”

  “Reid, you can’t—”

  “He can stay,” Jillian said, cutting off her friend. “If you don’t mind, Riley, then I’m okay with it.”

  “O
kay,” Riley said. “We’re about to have dessert.”

  Jillian and Riley disappeared into the dining room, and he heard the clank of plates and silverware, and the moving of chairs. No doubt they were setting a place for both him and his date.

  “Behave yourself,” Ryker warned, “or there will be hell to pay.”

  “You worry too much,” Reid said. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

  He pushed on Ryker’s arm, and the man stepped back and allowed him to pass. He pulled his date down the hall, and inwardly smiled when he found their seats at the tiny table. Jillian was seated right across from them.

  After the introductions were made, Riley set a fresh pot of coffee on the table and passed everyone a plate of peach and apple cobbler. The crunchy, sweet, warm concoction had been his mother’s recipe and one of the only things Riley could make exceptionally well. It was also one of Jillian’s favorite desserts, or it had been all those years ago.

  His dick started to harden when he remembered kissing her after cobbler night, and the first time they’d made love. Her mouth and skin had always tasted like brown sugar and honey to him, but after cobbler night she’d always tasted extra sweet.

  Shit!

  He couldn’t afford a walk down memory lane. Not now.

  He pushed the sensual memories away, and latched back onto his anger. His date was talking to his family, and he hadn’t even been paying attention.

  Fuck!

  She was supposed to keep quiet.

  “I teach the first grade,” Jillian said. “What do you do?”

  “Nothing,” the woman laughed. “I’m too pretty to work.”

  Jillian gave a fake smile and nodded, and then Riley filled the silence with several questions about her work. When there was another lull in the conversation, his date spoke again.

  “So, Jillian, Reid said that you used to live in Longmeadow. I bet it’s weird to be back in a small town again.”

  “Not really,” Jillian said. “This place will always be home to me.”

  “If you love it so much, then why’d you leave?” the woman asked.

  “Because no one asked me to stay.”

  All of his siblings whipped their heads in his direction, and for a moment, the room fell silent. The anger radiating off his family was palpable, but he didn’t understand why their ire was directed at him. He wasn’t sure if Jillian had meant to be so candid, or if it just slipped out, but his blood boiled.

  “Oh,” his date purred. “It sounds like unrequited love. Have you seen him? Did he recognize you with the weight gain? Is he successful?”

  “That all depends on how you define success,” Jillian said. “I’ve always been overweight, so I doubt that was a surprise, but yes, I’ve seen him. He’s not someone I would want to know now, so I’m confident I made the right decision.”

  “To bad he’s not rich,” the woman replied. “You can forgive a rich man anything.” She refocused on her dessert, ignorant to the drama unfolding around her.

  His siblings still stared, and although he didn’t understand their fury, he needed answers.

  “What the hell do you mean—”

  “Riley, you have outdone yourself,” Jillian interrupted. “Your cobbler is still the best I’ve ever had. I’ll help you clean up.”

  Jillian and Riley stood and cleared the table, and his brother’s shook their heads and helped. Jane followed Ridge like she always did, and he was left alone with his date at his family’s dinner table.

  “Let’s play a game,” Jane eagerly suggested in the other room, and everyone seemed to let out a breath of relief at her proposal.

  Dishes clanked as they were set in the sink, and everyone laughed at some inside joke. He hadn’t heard it because he’d been focusing on Jillian’s words.

  No one asked me to stay.

  They’d been the perfect couple, and had spent nearly every waking moment together. Hell, she’d basically lived at his family’s house on the weekends, and the rest of the time she’d been in Polar Bliss. Who the hell had she been expecting to ask her to stay?

  “Oh, I love games,” his date said.

  “We’re leaving,” he said, standing. “Now.”

  He hurried his date toward the door, and they left without a word.

  Jillian had been his mate—his everything—and it had all been a lie.

  He couldn’t wrap his head around her betrayal.

  Chapter Five

  Thump! Thump! Thump!

  Jillian jolted awake and glanced at the glowing clock on the motel room nightstand.

  Two-thirty in the morning.

  She’d been dreaming about Reid turning into his bear during dinner, and then crossing the table to attack her. It had seemed so real…

  Thump! Thump! Thump!

  The loud banding noise rattled her motel room door, and she nearly screamed. The same noise had led up to Reid’s transformation in her dream, and it took her a few seconds to realize someone was at the door. She glanced at the clock again, and quietly tip-toed toward the barrier.

  “Jillian, open the door.”

  She’d recognize his voice anywhere, but the fact that he was bellowing in the middle of the night sent her heart racing. She quickly unlocked the door and swung it open.

  “Reid, what’s the matter? Did something happen to Riley?”

  “Who the hell were you seeing besides me?” he shouted.

  “Um…what?”

  She was still half asleep, and she had no idea what he was yelling about. Or why he was yelling. Or basically anything at all. It was as if she’d woken in an alternate universe where Reid still talked to her, and he was acting…jealous?

  “Who was he, Jillian?” he growled. “Who didn’t ask you to stay?”

  “I…what?”

  A gust of wind whooshed by the door, and she shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. She hadn’t given her pajamas a thought when she thought someone was in trouble, but now she cursed the pink cotton tank and matching Capri pants. The pants had cartoon drawings of cute polar bears riding sleds down a pink mountain, and her hard nipples poked through the thin material of the tank. Though she would never admit to feeling anything other than cold, Reid definitely noticed the way she filled out the soft cotton.

  “Fuck!” he swore. “Get inside before you freeze to death.”

  He stepped into the room, and forced her to back away from the door. If he had been any other man, she would have protested, but he wasn’t any other man. He was Reid, and despite the fact that she really didn’t know him anymore, she knew he would never harm her.

  “I need a minute,” she said, excusing herself.

  She escaped to the restroom, and then silently groaned when she found a big piece of sleep in her eye. There wasn’t much she could do with Reid in the next room, and he’d already seen all of her flaws anyway, so she removed the sleep, washed her hands and used one of the complimentary plastic cups to soothe her dry throat.

  His close proximity had effected her more than she wanted to admit, and she took a deep breath and mentally located her sweatshirt before leaving the tiny sanctuary.

  When she reentered the room, Reid was leaning against the wall near the door. He straightened, and opened his mouth to speak, but she silenced him with a finger and quickly donned her sweatshirt and slippers.

  “Okay,” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “What exactly are you doing here, Reid?”

  “Who was he?” he asked, calmer than he appeared.

  “Who was who?” The few minutes of reprieve she’d taken had done nothing to help her understand him better.

  “The guy who didn’t ask you to stay?” he growled again. “Who were you dating besides me?”

  Now he was just pissing her off.

  “Are you drunk?” she asked, standing. “How could I have possibly dated anyone besides you? You’re not making any sense.”

  “Who. Didn’t. Ask. You. To. Stay?”

  “You, you idiot!” she
cried. “We dated. I loved you, and you said you loved me, too, but when the time came for me to leave, you didn’t ask me to stay. I’m not stupid. I know about shifters and mates. If I was your mate, you would have asked me to stay, but you didn’t, so I left. I had to. I couldn’t risk getting cast aside when your true mate came along. It would have killed me.”

  Tears filled her eyes as she spoke, but her voice had been strong almost till the end. It wobbled on the last word, but she cut herself a break. She didn’t know why Reid insisted on digging up the past, but it felt good to confront him.

  “No,” he whispered, shaking his head. “This can’t be happening.”

  He placed one hand on the wall, as if for support, and his breathing was erratic. His large chest heaved rapidly, and his big body looked like it would collapse any minute. Reid didn’t do vulnerable, but there was no other way to describe the distraught man in front of her.

  Fear raced down her spine.

  “Reid,” she said, tentatively. “Let me help you sit down. Do you want me to call Ryker?”

  She ducked under his left arm, and encircled his waist. One hand rested on his hip, and the other on his abs. She tried not to think about the smooth, hard muscles under her palms, but it was hard not to appreciate his perfect body.

  They took two steps, and he abruptly righted himself and pinned her back against the wall with his hard body. His palms were flat against the wall on either side of her head, caging her in, but she knew she could easily get away if she wanted to.

  She didn’t want to.

  “I don’t want Ryker,” he heaved, his lips inches from hers. “I want you, honeypie. You’re my mate.”

  Mate! Honeypie!

  He’d started calling her honeypie after their first kiss because he’d said that she tasted like brown sugar and honey. The nickname rolling off his tongue had always made her lips smile and her pussy tingle, and though she wasn’t sure if it was his use of the word mate or the nickname, her body had the same reaction.