Justin held the door open for Eli, who had an unsure expression in place.  He wanted to say, “Be careful what you wish for,” but he doubted she would understand the reference.

“What is this?” she asked, her eyes taking in the very tall, two-story, open floor plan filled wall-to-wall with anything a person could want for hunting, fishing and camping. 

“Jackman’s Outpost,” Justin replied. “It’s similar to a Bass Pro Shop or a Cabela’s.”

“What?” she asked as her wide eyes continued taking in everything in the busy store. Saturday was prime-time shopping here.

He had to keep reminding himself that she’d come from a place that probably didn’t have big-box stores.  He asked, “Don’t you have a store for buying fishing and hunting supplies?”

“Yes.”

“What’s it called?”

She told him, but the words didn’t make sense.

He frowned at her.  “Are you saying avocado?”

“Yes.”

He spelled it.  “That’s a fruit here.”

“No. Avokado. With k, not c.”  She looked around.  “Why are we here?”

He tried out a new smile on her, hoping to crack that serious shell she lived inside.  “Last night you said you would go shopping at my favorite place. This is it. I don’t get here often since it’s not near where I’m usually working, but I’m glad you suggested it.” 

He’d been smiling for the last couple hours since leaving San Francisco and heading north. This store had always been a treat for him.

She glared at the stuffed brown bear standing upright near the entrance.  “You like dead bear?”

The taxidermy structure did creep him out these days, but he hadn’t been able to shift when he first walked into this place. Later on, he fantasized about seeing the bear shifters who taunted him as a child turned into one of these.

Not a healthy thing for a kid to think, but he’d lived in an unhealthy state for one his age.

Still, Justin was not admitting any of that and giving her an opening to argue her way out of this place.  He dismissed the stuffed animal as, “It’s not one of us.  Okay, let’s get a buggy and get you shopping.”

“Okay, yes.”

He got a kick out of her new reply when she agreed with anything and pushed the buggy into the center of the store to get this show going. 

An hour later, Justin was ready to admit defeat.

He had first steered her to women’s clothing where she surprised him by not selecting something she’d look good in walking a runway.  Instead, she chose flannel shirts in muted colors, cargo pants and hiking boots.  From there, she continued selecting items only an outdoors enthusiast would want, which included a pup tent.

When Justin tried to explain it would be too small for her, she gave him one of her what-is-wrong-with-you looks and said, “I know.”

From that point on, he withheld his opinion since she never asked for it, but he began to figure out that she was buying for someone younger than her as well.  Whatever she bought for herself in clothing, she chose a mini-me version in the boys’ department. 

He guessed the kid had to be around five to seven years old.

That explained the pup tent, sort of, but not really because she was a bear shifter headed to a bear shifter clan.

Did she think shifter kids in this country would need a tent? Was it for a kid back home?

For that matter, who was the kid that would receive the clothing?

Justin had to hand it to her, though.  She was an efficient and frugal shopper, only turning to him for clarification of a price or tag description.

Hell, if he was really honest, he’d admit to having fun watching her shop. 

She turned to the buggy Justin had manned while he followed her. Instead of shock over all she’d bought, she seemed to be taking inventory to determine if she’d missed anything. 

When she finally caught his eye, she said, “Am done. What do you want?”

A smile. 

He’d pay for all she’d picked out if she’d just smile.

No, he wouldn’t. He wanted to get an honest one given freely. 

Shaking his head, he said, “I’m good.”

“You said this was favorite store.”

“It is.”

“But you did not enjoy.”

“You don’t think so?” he asked, expecting that to throw her sideways mentally. 

She started to speak and stopped, clearly at a loss.

She was wrong about him enjoying himself. He’d become engrossed in watching how her mind worked and seeing her choices. Eli wasn’t at all what he’d first expected, and yes, he had given up trying to make himself call her Elianna.

That name was too formal for the woman before him.

There were layers upon layers of Eli he wanted to peel back one at a time until he found the person inside who showed her real emotions.

The one who laughed.

She had to be in there.

He did love a challenge and had yet to find one quite as intriguing as this bear shifter.

If he could get her out in the woods, he’d convince her to shift so he could see her bear. The one that Herc had been showing an interest in as well.

That was strange.  Herc didn’t like female bear shifters.

Two bears, Herc murmured.

What are you talking about, Herc? Justin replied silently

Not one.

What in the world was Herc saying? Justin let it go and pushed the cart toward the checkout, where he suggested Eli use her credit card. 

“Yes, okay,” she muttered as she dug into her pocket.  She pulled the card out and handed it to Justin.  “Here.”

Justin shook his head. “You do it.”

“Woman busy.  You are more fast.”

He crossed his arms.  “You are just as fast.”

“Why ruin good day?” Eli snapped at him.

“I’m not. I don’t know how often we’ll be shopping together and figured you’d want to know how to use the card later on by yourself.”  He stopped short of saying after he dropped her off, because he wasn’t in such a hurry to do so anymore. 

Gifting him with a loud sigh, she turned to the woman running the register and waited for directions.  With some pointing and explaining, the woman walked her through processing the charge and requested Eli’s ID.

Thankfully, the shifter ID looked just like a passport and even had a decent image of Eli for comparing, right down to the disgruntled expression. 

Justin wished Eli had been given a driver’s license instead, but thankfully not all cashiers could immediately tell the difference between a shifter passport and a human passport with just a visual check.

If Justin had to guess after watching Eli shop meticulously, which probably included keeping a running total in her head, he’d say she was the type who wanted to be good at what she did.

Not to appear as a clueless foreigner.

Once the transaction was completed, a smiling cashier handed over the credit card and thanked Eli for her business.

His little hedgehog politely thanked the woman for excellent service.

If Justin hadn’t picked up all the bags and made for the exit, Eli would still be standing there in a mutual admiration contest with the woman.  But all joking aside, he was starting to see new pieces of Eli and liked what he’d observed. 

She sure hadn’t turned out to be a diva princess.

Had she bought all of this for something she had planned once they reached Clan Boudreaux? Why not wait until then to shop?  Half of this would be too hot in Louisiana for a shifter, even in the winter.

More for him to figure out, but the largest puzzle piece was why Eli had refused to shift into her animal last night.

Her bear had to be ready to run after that long sea trip and Eli’s injury. Herc would have been upset with Justin if he stayed human for no obvious reason after being wounded. 

Justin seethed every time he thought about that wolf shifter attacking her. In hindsight, he’d let the predator off too easy. The San Francisco wolf alpha had better come up with a name and origin for that rogue soon. 

With the bags stuffed into the back of his big sport utility rental, he shut the rear gate and told Eli, “I have a surprise for you.”

Her face fell and her eyes narrowed in suspicion.  “No surprises. More shopping.”

What the hell?  He repeated his mental mantra of not losing his temper and asked, “What are you looking for?”

“Maps.  Want maps of ... country.”

“This entire country?” he asked.

“No.” She concentrated a moment and said, “Forest and mountains. No cities.”

“It’s a big country. Do you have a specific place in mind?” Hopefully mentioning mountains ruled out Louisiana.

“North. Snow in winter.”

Damn, that just played into his hand. “I know exactly where to find what you’re looking for and the maps won’t cost you a penny.”

Her face softened with relief. “Yes, okay. Free good, but no steal.”

He scowled at her.  “Why would you think I meant we’d steal them?”

“You change words and trick me.”

“Like when?”

“You lie and close room.”

She had a point. “Okay, I might have misled you a little about the hotel room, but I am not going to lead you into trouble like stealing.”

“Maybe.”  She turned for the passenger side.

He stepped past her to open the passenger door. 

Those crystal blue eyes lifted to his and threatened to pull him in so far he’d never be able to climb out. 

“Thank you for best store and shop with me. You nice.”

He didn’t get a smile, but her words were sincere and hearing her say he was nice at this point carried more weight than other women fawning over him in the past.

Spending so much time with this one could be dangerous.