Chapter Two
Sierra took another drink from her water bottle, and set the container on the worn, round table. The setting sun cast an orange glow on everything left in her nearly bare kitchen, including the white business card she held in her hand.
While the bold lettering still popped, the white background was now dingy, and the card itself looked like it had seen better days. It no longer held that fresh out-of-the-box crispness it had just a few hours before, and one of the dog-eared corners was starting to fray.
She traced her finger over the words, and thought about her day.
After the encounter with Graham, she’d gone to work prepared for the worst, and she’d gotten it, and more. In fact, she’d purchased the cinnamon rolls as a peace offering, but in hindsight, they wouldn’t have helped anyway. The events of the day were too chaotic, the wounds too deep to smooth over with sugar, and yet, it had all been totally worth it.
Her parents, partners at Bennett & Bennett Legal Services, were also her bosses, and they hadn’t been happy when she’d introduced them to their new legal secretary. They’d been even more angry when they’d found out she’d been training her replacement after hours and on weekends when the office was closed.
Luckily, she’d prepared her replacement for their reaction as well.
The woman, Melanie, efficiently manned the front office until the yelling had stopped, and then seamlessly slid into her official job description when the couple had no choice but to accept their new employee, or operate without a legal secretary.
Considering Sierra had been doing the job for them since her senior year in high school, she knew the latter would never happen.
They needed someone to run the office, but no matter how much they wanted it to be their daughter, it didn’t have to be. She’d been at the job for seven years too long, and Melanie was more than qualified.
She waited for the guilt that should follow her deceit, but it never came.
Having two parents in the legal field, especially two that had seen the worst in humanity, had never boded well for her, and over-protective was an understatement when used to describe their parenting style.
If the decision were up to them, she’d still live at home and they’d commute to work every day as a family. In fact, after being forced to live at home and work in their office while attending college, the only reason she still worked for them up until today was because of their many community connections.
Simply put, no one else would hire her.
It wasn’t just in the legal field, either. She’d tried everything, and if she happened to land an interview, even with someone her parents didn’t know, they would always step-in, offer some sort of free legal advice or services, and she’d be right back to square one.
After almost a year of disappointment, she’d wised up, and made a new plan.
As much as she loved Blackbeary Creek, she couldn’t live in the same town as her parents if she ever wanted any kind of freedom. Once the decision to leave town was made, things sort of just fell into place.
She’d landed a job at the elite, five-star, Locke Hotel in Maple Bear Falls, and the perfect apartment fell into her lap a few days later. With the exception of necessities and furniture, most of her apartment was packed, and she would embark on her new life in a little less than two weeks.
Her parents didn’t know about her plans yet, and she wasn’t going to tell them until moving day. Even then, she wasn’t giving out her new address or place of employment. If they wanted to speak to her, they could call, text or video-chat.
She refused to live a half-life because of her parents’ irrational fears.
Speaking of a half-life…
She ran her fingers over his information again, and tapped the edge of the card on the table as she thought about her conversation with Graham. He might not have said the exact words, but she was pretty sure he’d asked her out. Especially after she found out he didn’t have a girlfriend.
In fact, his parting words had been specific:
I owe you one—anything—and I hope you’ll contact me soon so I can settle my debt.
Did he really mean anything? Probably not, but what did it hurt to ask?
She flipped the card in her fingers, and tapped the other edge.
It didn’t make any sense, but for some reason, the card had felt like a tether when she’d faced her parents. She’d slid it into her jacket pocket right before the yelling started, and when things had gotten tough, she’d wrapped her clammy palms around it and stood her ground. That was the reason the white had faded so fast.
This moment wasn’t any different.
The card seemed to bolster her confidence as she thought about reaching out to Graham, and yet, it seemed to provide a safe haven in new, uncharted territory.
She stared at the card, and a plan started to take shape in her mind.
If she went through with it, then it had to be in person, because she wanted him to know exactly who he was talking to, and exactly what she was asking.
She weighed the pros and cons, but the cons didn’t really matter.
The worst-case scenario would be an emphatic “no way” followed by several rounds of laughter. The rejection would hurt, but she’d get over it, especially knowing she only had two weeks left in town.
If he said yes, however, it would be a dream come true. Not only would she lose her virginity—finally—but her first time would be with a tall, muscle-bound, gorgeous man who was way out of her league.
There was literally no contest between the two sides.
She grabbed the card, stood, and slid the small rectangle into her pocket as she rushed to her bedroom. Organization had always been one of her virtues, and she read all of the labels on the neatly stacked cardboard boxes until she found the one she wanted.
She now had a better, faster, more expensive machine, but she’d always been reluctant to get rid of her small, unremarkable college laptop.
Now she understood why.
She plugged in the device, and headed for the bathroom.
An hour later, after a long shower that included shaving everything, she left the house dressed in what she hoped was a cute, sexy outfit, accessorized with a small messenger bag.
It was time to change her life.
***
Fuck!
Graham skimmed through the information he’d found one more time, and resisted the urge to put his fist through the wall. The irrational surge of anger would have scared him if he hadn’t seen first-hand what kind of mess a shifter turned into once he found his other half.
Beneath the surface, his bear growled and paced, desperate to claim his mate. The desire to show up on Sierra’s doorstep and force a mating rode him hard, but his human side knew that wasn’t the way to win her heart.
Or to stop her from leaving.
He shook his head, and closed his hand as he read the words on the screen again. This time, the fist wasn’t from anger.
It had been hours since he’d touched her, but it didn’t matter. He could still feel the heat from her soft skin warming his palm. It was as if she’d physically branded him, but there were no marks, no evidence of any kind, to indicate he’d touched her at all.
He replayed their encounter over for the millionth time, and silently cursed again. Only a lunatic—or a fucking nerd—would offer someone a thousand dollars for a bag of rolls. The sweet bread was spectacular, but to offer so much had been ridiculous, and she’d thought so, too. He’d seen it written all over her face.
Of course, she’d also thought he’d had a girlfriend.
Great first impression, loser!
By the time he’d caught up with Sierra, Tegan had been a distant memory. If he’d remembered anything about eating breakfast with the other woman, he would have stated his single status right in the beginning.
Not that it would have helped.
Stating your relationship status in the first two minutes of a conversation is another loser move, but at least she wouldn’t have thought he was a cheating asshole on top of everything else.
In the end, he’d been able to set the record straight, but he wasn’t sure it made a difference. Especially now that he knew she was leaving.
He picked up his cell, searched for the name he needed, and then stared at the call button as his conscience reared its ugly head. What he was considering was wrong, there was no other way to describe it, and yet he couldn’t let her go.
Leaving her on the street had been hard enough.
He’d chased her down, and then proceeded to make a complete fool out of himself, but neither of those things compared to the challenge of taking the bag out of her hand, and then turning to walk away.
It was, hands down, the most difficult thing he’d ever done, and faith in his abilities to find intel had been the only thing to keep him going.
Back in his office, the information he’d found on Sierra had been trivial at first, but two key factors had sent him on an emotional rollercoaster.
Her nearly nonexistent past relationships, combined with the fact that she was a virgin, filled him with a sense of pride and possession he didn’t think was possible. The fact that he would be the only man to ever touch her—ever make love to her—made his dick harden, and he had to force himself to stay in his seat.
Chasing after her with no plan, and a thick and throbbing cock, wouldn’t get him anywhere with her. Besides, as much as he wanted to sink his shaft into her warm, untouched, channel, it wasn’t all he wanted.
He wanted everything.
Unfortunately, that would never happen if she left town.
She’d started working at her parents’ law firm during her senior year in high school, managed four more while living at home and simultaneously attending a local college with an easy commute, and then continued for two more after earning her degree.
In two weeks, however, she was ditching her job as a legal secretary, one that she’d had for over seven years, and crossing over into the hospitality field at the prestigious Locke Hotel in Maple Bear Falls.
The other city was only two hours away, and yet it was too far.
He pressed the call button.
Jasper Locke, the oldest of the Locke brothers, answered on the second ring.
“Jasper Locke.”
“Hey, Jasper,” he said. “It’s Graham Roth.”
“Grammy! What a nice surprise,” Jasper replied. “How can I help you today?”
Graham smiled at the familiar nickname. Except for Tegan, hardly anyone in his clan used his full name, and because they’d vacationed in Maple Bear Falls on more than one occasion, the four grizzly bear shifter brothers had easily picked up on the silly monikers.
“I need a favor,” Graham started.
“Name it,” Jasper replied.
“I found my mate—”
“Wonderful,” Jasper said. “Would you like a room?”
“No,” he replied, but then quickly amended his response, “at least not right now. She’s a new employee at the hotel, her start date is in two weeks, and I need… I need her to stay here.”
“Ah, the lovely Sierra,” Jasper said.
Graham couldn’t stop the possessive growl from escaping.
“Relax,” Jasper laughed. “She is lovely, but I mean that in the most professional way possible. She would have fit in well here, but obviously, it wasn’t meant to be. I’ll take care of it.”
“Give it a day or two, okay?” Graham asked. “I need some time.”
“You got it,” Jasper said. “Good luck.”
“Thanks man.”
The two men ended the call, and suddenly, Graham heard shouting coming from the main room of the club. The popular hot spot didn’t open for a couple more hours, and Aiden and Zach were the only other people in the building.
When he reached his office door, it was clear they were calling his name—or more specifically, every nickname they’d ever created—and he shook his head, and laughed out loud.
He walked down the hall, and joined them in the main room of the club.