Bearing the Midnight Sun (Ice Bear Shifters Book 3) (4 page)

He had no idea what was happening on the television screen. All he could think about was the sound of her breathing just inches away from his ear. His inner bear struggled to convince Tyler to make a move on her. But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t. Not now. He would spend time with her over the next few months, and help her get the most out of her vacation. He would run with her, and show her the best places to kick back and relax during Glacier Point’s short summer. If he ever saw a hint that she would be willing to stay here permanently, then he would reconsider whether he should try to win her over. But he could only show her who he really was if he knew for sure she was interested in more than a summer fling. Right now, the only guy she seemed truly interested in was her crazy ex back in Nebraska.

Tyler heard Kat’s breathing turn slow and even, and he looked over to see that she had fallen asleep. Her head had fallen sideways onto her shoulder, and her mouth hung slightly open. He watched her for a few moments, feeling slightly creepy but unable to tear his eyes away from her gorgeous face. Finally, he leaned over and gently kissed the top of her head. He felt a fiery heat shoot through his body as he made contact with her. He inner bear roared, and Tyler knew he had to leave before he made any rash decisions. He got up slowly, and gently laid Kat down on her side, putting a blanket over her.

In the kitchen, he found a pad of paper and a pen, and then wrote her a quick note.

Kat—you fell asleep and I thought I should let you rest. There’s ice-cream in the freezer if you want dessert. Feel better, and let me know when you’re ready to start running. See you soon, Tyler.

Tyler placed the note on the dining room table, and killed the lights in the cabin. Then he forced himself to walk out the front door and leave, when all he really wanted to do was to snuggle up on the couch and fall asleep with Kat in his arms.

Kat’s heart had leapt in her chest when she felt Tyler kissing the top of her head. She thought for sure that this would finally be the moment he made a definite move. She had convinced herself that Tyler was growing interested in her. All night long, he had been sending signals. A meaningful gaze here, a brush of her hand there. When she awoke from dozing on the couch to realize he was gently kissing her head, she had felt a rush of excitement. But then nervousness overtook her. She froze, and pretended to be asleep.

Was she really ready to do this? To admit that she was giving up on her ex-fiancé? To let herself fall in love with this sexy Alaskan hunk? Before Kat could sort out her thoughts, Tyler had gone to the kitchen. She cracked one eye open to peek at him, and saw him writing a note, which he left on the small dining room table. Then he left.

Kat sat up, then hobbled over to where the note lay. She read it several times, trying to decode any hint of romantic intentions. But his message was decidedly platonic. “Have some ice-cream, feel better, see ya around.” Maybe she had been misreading his signals all night. He wasn’t interested in anything romantic with her. He was just a really kind guy who was concerned about his friend who was recovering from a wolf attack.

Kat sighed in frustration. Tyler had friend-zoned her. And who could blame him? She spent the majority of their time together talking about how she wanted to win back her ex. It didn’t exactly make her sound like someone who was interested in a relationship. Kat went to open the freezer, where she found a carton of ice-cream as Tyler’s note had promised. She pulled it out and grabbed a bowl, then scooped out several generous spoonfuls from the strawberry side. She took a bite and savored the sweet, berry goodness.

Today had been a brief moment of weakness in her plan to win Ethan back. She would get back on track tomorrow. Her leg would need to heal before she could go for a run again, but she would start working on her sightseeing list. She had also brought a stack of novels with her to Glacier Point, many of which she had been meaning to read for quite some time. She had plenty of things to keep her busy.

Plenty of things to keep her mind off of Tyler Cox.

* * *

As May turned into June, the temperature in Glacier Point finally rose above freezing. It would stay that way until about mid-September. As the snow melted away, the locals parked their snowmobiles permanently for the summer and switched to using cars or bicycles to navigate the town’s streets. Parkas and heavy jackets gave way to shorts and t-shirts, and the mood of the residents was jubilant. The warmer weather brought an influx of tourists, and the formerly sleepy businesses came alive. The majority of their revenue would come from the few short months of summer vacationers, who were eager to see the midnight sun and the “raw Alaskan beauty” that their guidebooks had promised them.

Kat didn’t have to worry about being tempted to spend too much time with Tyler. He spent so many hours working that he barely had a moment to breathe. The gym ran specials to attract summer visitors, convincing them that they could jumpstart their health by getting some training done in the few short days they spent in Glacier Point. Kat found it hard to believe that anyone would buy into the idea that a three day gym pass would help you get into shape, let alone that people would actually want to work out while on vacation. But the tourists seemed to eat up the idea, and there were days that Tyler spent upwards of twelve hours at the gym. When he wasn’t there, he went to work on the new cabin he was building. It had to be completed before the snow returned, so he had to stay diligent about making progress.

Kat tried to schedule a run with him, but gave up after he rescheduled for the third time. She had to accept that Tyler was busy. He had been a great friend to have around before the tourists arrived, but now he was working nonstop. Besides, Kat now constantly met new people on the streets and in the pub. She got invited on tours and out to dinner with her new friends almost every day. Kat had almost managed to push both her ex and Tyler out of her mind. She was having a grand old time by herself. Who needed a man? Not her!

Of course, when she came home from the pub one night to find Tyler sitting on the doorstep of her cabin, holding a bunch of delicate blue wildflowers in his hand, she thought her heart was going to leap right out of her chest. The butterflies in her stomach started flapping wildly. So much for being over the idea of him.

“Hey, you,” he said with a grin as she approached. He looked tired, but happy. His violet eyes sparkled in the bright, 11 p.m. sunshine. Kat still couldn’t get over how strange it was to not see the sun set for weeks on end.

“Hey,” she said, returning the smile, and then gesturing to the bouquet in his hands. “What’s this?”

“These are ‘I’m sorry’ flowers,” he said, handing her the bunch, which was tied with a piece of straw-colored twine. “I’ve completely dropped the ball on going running with you.”

Kat shrugged. “It’s okay. I know you’re busy.”

“No, it’s not okay. I am busy, but I told you I would help you while you were here. It’s already halfway through June, and we haven’t been on a single run, which is entirely my fault. I got caught up in worrying about building the cabin, and I let it eat up all my free time instead of keeping my promises to a certain lovely lady. That needs to stop. I’ve enlisted my buddies Eric and Alan to finish up the cabin for me. They have nothing better to do anyways. I want to spend some time with you before you head back to Nebraska.”

The mention of heading back to Nebraska twisted Kat’s stomach up into knots. She was dreading going back at the end of August. She felt like there was nothing left for her in the Midwest. She had no family there anymore. The longer she was here the less she cared what Ethan was doing, and the less she missed him. She had a job to go back to at the newspaper, if she wanted it. That was about it. But Kat didn’t want to spend all of her time in Glacier Point worrying about leaving. She smiled brightly at Tyler and admired the flowers. They were gorgeous.

“These are really nice,” she said.

“They’re forget-me-nots. Alaska’s state flower. I hope you haven’t forgotten me, even though I’ve been an asshole and disappeared into the black hole of work.”

Kat gave Tyler a patient smile. “You haven’t been an asshole. I understand you’ve been swamped. I can’t believe how many tourists are here right now. It’s like a totally different town from a month ago.”

Tyler nodded. “It is crazy. The sad thing is that most of them only stay a few days, so they can check seeing the sun at midnight off of their to-do list. But there’s so much beauty around here besides just the midnight sun. There’s so much goodness to take in. You miss a lot of it if you’re only here for a couple of days.”

“You’re right. I’m glad I’m staying several months. I’ve already been on several tours and seen some amazing nature around here. We even saw a polar bear on a jeep tour I went on the other day! Can you imagine? A real, live polar bear out in the wild!”

“A polar bear? Really?” Tyler said, his eyes darkening. He didn’t seem impressed by Kat’s sighting. In fact, he seemed somewhat disturbed. “What did he look like?”

“Um, like a polar bear. Huge. Big claws. White fur.”

“What color were his eyes?”

“I think they were black? I don’t exactly remember.”

“Hmm.”

Kat frowned. Tyler was being really weird about this. “The tour guide said we were really lucky. I guess it’s really rare to actually see a polar bear.”

“He’s right,” Tyler said, still looking troubled.

“Anyways,” Kat said, wanting to change the subject. “I’m glad I’ve had a chance to do so much around here.”

“Of course,” Tyler said, seeming to snap out of it. “You should definitely take advantage of the time. But back to the whole running buddy thing. Are you still interested? I’ve blocked off my first morning appointment for each day for the rest of the month. Any day that you want to go for a run, I can take you out.”

Kat hesitated. She felt like she was even more out of shape than she had been when she first got here. Numerous dinners out and days spent on the seat of a tour vehicle for hours were quickly catching up with her. All of her jeans were starting to feel a bit snug. Which, of course, meant she
should
go run with Tyler. But she wasn’t sure she wanted to embarrass herself by huffing and puffing along next to him.

Tyler spoke up, as if he had read her thoughts. “Look, if you’re worried about looking like you’re out of shape in front of me, then don’t be. Trust me, I’ve seen it all. I’m not here to judge. I’m here to help you reach your fitness goals, whatever they might be. And if you enjoy running, you shouldn’t pass up the chance to do some runs on the trails around here. There are some absolutely beautiful spots.”

“Okay,” Kat said. “Does tomorrow morning at 8:30 work for you?”

“Works great,” Tyler said. I’ll swing by here and we can take off running right from your front door.”

“Sounds good. Do you want to come in?”

“Nah, I need to go take care of a few other things. Besides, it’s late. We should both get some rest if we want to be up for a run bright and early.”

Kat nodded as Tyler stood to take off.

“Thanks for the flowers,” she said. “That was really sweet of you.”

“My pleasure. See you tomorrow,” he said, and leaned over to give her a quick hug. Then he disappeared off into the sunlit night, leaving Kat on her doorstep, admiring her wildflower bouquet and biting her lip in anticipation of their morning run.

* * *

Tyler went straight from Kat’s cabin to Neal’s tattoo shop, where he found Neal kicking back in one of the tattoo chairs and drinking beers with Alan, another one of the Northern Lights bears. The lights were dimmed to give the shop the appearance of being closed, but the front door was unlocked.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t our long lost bear from Glacier Point Gym,” Alan said. “Did they finally give you a half hour to go grab a bite to eat and take a piss?”

“Very funny,” Tyler said, as he walked to the back room to help himself to a beer. “How’s the cabin coming along?” he called out over his shoulder.

“Getting close to done with yours,” Alan hollered back. “Neal’s and Eric’s are already finished. So all we’ll have left to do after yours is my cabin and the addition to Ryker’s cabin. Pretty good progress if you ask me.”

Tyler walked back into the front room, clinking his beer bottle with Neal’s and Alan’s in a quick salute as he passed them. He leaned against the front counter and faced Neal and Alan, taking a long sip of his beer before speaking. “Well, I hope we get the cabins finished up soon, because we have a problem.”

Neal and Alan both turned to look at Tyler, narrowing their eyes and waiting for him to continue. Announcing there was a problem usually meant either that a human was suspicious that one of their clan members might be a shifter, or that a rival clan—such as the Blizzards—was causing trouble. Neither one of these scenarios could be taken lightly.

“My friend Kat saw a Blizzard.”

Neal set his beer down and furrowed his brow. “How do you know this?”

“She’s been going on a bunch of tours over the last few weeks, and she mentioned to me that she saw a polar bear on one of them. Of course, the tour guide was excited about it and pointed out how rare polar bear sightings are. I asked Kat if she remembered what color the eyes were, and she thinks they were black.”

Silence hung heavy in the room for several long moments. The Blizzards were the only polar bear shifter clan around with jet black eyes. Real polar bears usually had brown eyes. The shifter clans all had various colors of eyes. A few clans had blue eyes. Many clans had green eyes. But only the Northern Lights bears had violet eyes. And only the Blizzards had black eyes.

“Damn it, why are they still here in the middle of the summer?” Neal said, pounding his fist on the supply table next to him and causing the beer he had placed there to jump at the force.

“I don’t know,” Tyler said. “But at least some of them didn’t head north for the summer this year. I’m not convinced that the whole clan is down here, but I have a feeling they’ve left scouts to try to spy on us and see what we’re doing. My guess is that they’re planning to launch a big attack once the whole clan returns for the winter. But, in any case, we need to make sure we’re staying alert. I doubt they’ll attack during the summer. They’re already weaker than us, and their sensitivity to warmer weather makes them even weaker. But you never know. Better to be on guard and stay vigilant.

Neal nodded. “I think your assessment is correct, Tyler. I don’t think they’ll attack. But we all need to be watchful. I’ll alert Ryker and Eric. And both of you keep an eye out. And an ear out. Let me know if you see or hear anything more that would indicate the Blizzards are around.”

Tyler nodded, then chugged the rest of his beer. He tossed the bottle in the trash and headed for the front door. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything else. I gotta go get some rest now. I’ve got a run scheduled in the morning that I definitely don’t want to miss.”

Tyler headed home, already giddy with excitement at the thought of seeing Kat the next day.