Big Bear Problems: BBW Werebear Shapeshifter Romance (3 page)

S
he was startled
awake by a voice hollering from downstairs.

“Jennifer Howell? Anyone here?”

There was something familiar about that tone. Still dizzy from her sleep, Jen rose from her bed and threw on the robe she had left next to her on the bed the evening before. Instead of getting up early to prepare for the workman’s arrival, she’d overslept.

Great.

“Coming!” she exclaimed, rushing downstairs. “I’m so sorry! I must have slept through the alarm and didn’t hear you pull up,“ she explained drowsily, walking carefully down the dusty stairs.

She nearly tripped as she reached far enough to catch sight of whoever was calling for her. She managed to regain composure at the last moment, clinging to the balustrade like a kid unsure of whether she wanted to slide down or fall down. She settled for clambering back to her feet with all the dignity and grace of a toddler.

Before her stood – or more like towered – a broad-shouldered hunk of a man sporting a red flannel shirt, worn blue jeans and fairly short raven black hair. His blue eyes wore a look of quiet bemusement, watching her fumble over her words and her feet. Despite being dressed in practical workman attire, his mouthwatering body was immediately obvious, muscles bulging beneath his shirt and jeans.

For some reason, she thought of granite when she looked at him – hard and unyielding. Nothing like the soft men of Phoenix, Arizona. He seemed to consider her with equal interest, though she had to wonder if it was for the same reasons as her or because she’d just made a bit of a fool of herself by almost tumbling down the stairs.

As she struggled to find her tongue again, still not entirely awake from her sleep, he broke the lingering silence.

“Hey there, Miss. I’m Ethan Grimpaw, we talked on the phone. Sorry for barging in like this, I saw the car out front, knocked, but there was no reply and the door was unlocked. We were supposed to meet at eight.”

“No, no, my bad,” she said sheepishly, trying to figure out whether maybe she was still dreaming or if the man that was to work on her new home was everything and more she’d imagined him to be. “I’ll just be a minute, I need to put on something… uh, less comfortable,” she continued, her morning robe billowing in the slight breeze coming from the open door.

“I didn’t mind the view,” Ethan replied with a chuckle, bringing a blush to Jen’s cheeks.

Jen hurried back up the stairs, looking over her shoulder before reaching the second floor.

Damn. Wyoming knows how to raise the right kind of men. And was he… flirting with me?

True to her words, she was back downstairs minutes later, fully dressed and far more awake and composed. Though, it still took some self-control to keep from blushing around him when he gave her a long appreciative look. She could just see him imagining her in her tiny little nightgown again and, to her own surprise, she didn’t particularly mind him having that visual of her.

“I believe I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Jennifer Howell,” she said, reaching out her hand in order to shake some of the awkwardness off.

“Ethan,” the man said simply and shook her hand.

Though Jen was no small girl, standing at a decent 5’9”, he towered over her, making her feel positively tiny compared to him. His strong hand fully enveloped hers in a firm, yet careful handshake. A welcoming half-smile adorned his face and his blue eyes kept contact with hers throughout. Jen felt herself going slightly weak in the knees.

I wonder what else his hands are good at
, she thought for a moment. Then, Ethan broke the silence once more.

“I wasn’t sure if you had had breakfast and seeing as you’re new in town, I figured you didn’t know that you have to get sandwiches from Maisy’s to really feel like a local. Interested?”

Jen hadn’t realized until then that she was positively famished – her last meal had been on her flight more than sixteen hours ago.

“You’re a lifesaver! I’d love some!” she exclaimed hurriedly, glad to have an excuse to do something other than just ogle at him.

Ethan nodded with a smile and walked back to the big blue Ford F-250 standing next to her dainty rental car in front of the house. Jen couldn’t help but find herself staring at his strong broad shoulders and firm ass as he walked away. Thoughts of how he’d look without those jeans were suddenly prominent enough to even silence the growling in her stomach.

Well, I guess at least you are shaking up the side of him that you’re looking at,
she thought with a sigh.

While Ethan was returning with a large paper bag he picked up from the bed of his truck, Jen took a cloth to the chairs and table standing on the porch. She cleaned them and made them presentable enough to have breakfast at, but she quietly added them to her ever-growing list of things to replace. Ethan put the bag on the table and started taking out its contents – wrapped packages and two very large cups.

The smell wafting from the cups was clearly coffee and the faint, tantalizing aromas of food emanating from the packages made Jen painfully aware of how hungry she actually was. Tracking her gaze, Ethan grinned a country-boy smile, one that would have made any woman glad to jump into his truck and blaze into the sunset.

“I love a girl with a good appetite. Dig in,” he said.

She wasn’t going to argue with that. They bit into their breakfast. The large ham sandwiches tasted divine and the strong black coffee was as crisp as the morning, the sun rising over the mountains surrounding the hilltop Jen’s house was on. As hungry as she was, she was impressed by Ethan’s ability to pack away a meal. The man ravenously tore into his food and took large swigs of coffee. Once again, as if reading her mind, Ethan exclaimed with a wink, “I think I’m going to need all the energy I can get, judging by the way this place looks.”

“You’ve got that right,” Jen agreed with a chuckle.

A while later, they went to inspect the work ahead. Ethan walked in and around the house, giving the structure and components a good hard look and sometimes a squeeze or a push, gauging strength and integrity. Sometimes, he nodded to himself, reminding Jen of a great predator, sizing up its prey and making notes as he went along. Jen followed him silently, not knowing what to say and rather just staying quiet as to not interrupt Ethan. Besides, she didn’t mind the view, so it was all fine by her.

“Well, it’s in better shape than it looks, to be honest. The structure is intact and solid, there’s no water damage and, thankfully, no sign of termites either. Just needs a few of the carrying beams replaced, and that roof is going to give you trouble unless you have it fixed this year. And, well, the whole thing needs a new coat of paint, but I don’t think I need to tell you that.”

He finished with a bit of a smile, that same look in his eyes that made her want to muss her hands into his hair and forget all about any kind of renovation. Jen sighed with visible relief.

“Thank you, it’s good to have someone give me honest feedback. Do you think you can handle all of this on your own?”

Before Ethan could answer, a telltale sound of crackling gravel signaled a car arriving out front.

I wasn’t expecting any visitors,
Jen thought to herself.

She looked at Ethan questioningly. He gave her a slight shrug, but a dark shadow ran over his face, disappearing just as swiftly as it had appeared. In that moment, he looked every bit the fierce predator that she had imagined him to be.

J
en and Ethan
made their way outside to find a muddy F-150 parked next to Ethan’s truck. Leaning on it was a man only an inch or so shorter than Ethan, but with a somewhat less burly physique. He still struck an imposing picture and something about him made Jen’s stomach twist uncomfortably. While Ethan’s size and strength made her feel safe, this guy just worried her for some reason.

Not a man I’d like to meet in a dark alley,
she thought to herself, suddenly very thankful that she had Ethan by her side.

As the man watched the duo exit the house, a sly grin appeared on his face as he eyed Jen. A wave of discomfort came over her as the stranger’s hazel eyes peered at her intently and she had to fight the urge to grimace. The silence was interrupted by Ethan’s gruff voice, a steely note now very apparent in his words.

“What the hell are you doing here, Ryan?” he asked as he took a half-step forward.

Jen, somewhat startled by Ethan’s tone, stayed back. She wasn’t a confrontational person to begin with, and honestly the last thing she was looking for was some local beef on the very first morning of moving into her new home. There was something soothing about Ethan’s presence that made her feel safer behind his wide back, and she decided to try and butt out of this little conflict.

What the hell is going on here?

“Now don’t get your panties in a knot, Ethan.” The man’s tone sounded mocking as he averted his eyes from Jen and stared right into Ethan’s. “I’m just here to meet and greet our newcomer, introduce myself and tell her about how things work around here. You can’t fault a local for doing that, can you? I can’t trust you to tell her everything that’s important, after all,” he said with a chuckle that sounded more malicious than anything else.

The words made Jen feel uneasy. The palpable tension and hostility between the two men was careening towards more than just words. She could easily imagine these two cowboys throwing it down right in front of her new home. There was something in the air, like the calm before a big storm hit. There was electricity, and not the kind that Jen had been sharing with Ethan. Feeling the need to defuse the situation before anything happened, she decided an introduction may be in order.

“Hi there, I’m Jennifer Howell. And you are...?” she said, rushing down the steps and reaching her hand out to him.

“The name’s Ryan Clearpond,” the man answered, taking her hand in his and shaking it firmly, so hard it hurt a little. Jen could hear a low growl behind her, but she thought it was just her imagination playing tricks on her. “I’m the owner of these here lands.” His shit-eating grin grew broader as he uttered the words, obviously stressing the word ‘owner’.

Jen frowned, all the discomfort forgotten and replaced by a twinge of annoyance. She retrieved her hand and took a step back, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I believe that’s not entirely correct. I bought this house and I’m more than certain it came with the land it stands on,” she said, a note of stern annoyance that surprised even her in her voice.

Who the hell does he think he is coming here like that?
she thought to herself.
And what’s that nonsense about this being his land? Did I get myself in some yokel land drama? My realtor’s going to get such an earful…

“This ain’t Clearpond land. Never has been and never will be,” Ethan remarked coldly. “As the lady said, it is hers now and the Grimpaw will have none of your shit. We’ve been here a good deal longer. I think it’s best you leave.”

Ryan shrugged, though he obviously wasn’t satisfied with the response he got. “Whatever. We’ll take what’s ours, sooner or later. If you don’t want to play nice then that’s up to you. And you, pretty missy, I’ll be seeing you around,” he said, his eyes firmly set on Jen.

He hopped in his truck and sped off, gravel and dust flying from under the wheels and clattering against the wall of the house. Jen frowned and almost sneezed as the risen cloud of dust wafted to her. She turned to Ethan, looking and feeling entirely puzzled.

“What was all that about?”

Ethan sighed, obviously wishing that the meeting hadn’t just happened between them and that Ryan guy.

“A regular pain in the ass. The hill separates the Grimpaw and Clearpond territories. They claim it’s theirs, but the Grimpaws have always had legitimate ownership of it. And now that some of that land has been sold to you, I’m more than willing to bet Ryan and his pack are going to make a nuisance of themselves.”

Pack?
Jen thought to herself, raising an eyebrow.
That’s a strange way to put it.

Taking notice of Jen’s confused look Ethan quickly remarked, as if correcting himself, “The Clearpond family. But pay no mind, their bark is worse than their bite.”

He had calmed down and his baritone had gone from gruff and steely to that sexy growl she already liked so much. She could feel her shoulders relaxing and a small smile creeping back on her lips. Maybe with Ethan to keep her company, she could even deal with odd local disputes without letting them dampen her spirits. After all, what was a small town without some drama, right?

“Now, how about we head into town? I’ll show you around and we can get some supplies for construction. I bet you also need some groceries and whatnot?”

Jen agreed, “Good idea, I do need some things and I’ve not even seen the town yet.”

Ethan nodded and opened the truck’s passenger door. He reached out his hand to help her into the tall-standing F-250. Her skin tingled all over when she touched him and it was hard to let go of his hand. As he jumped into the driver’s seat, Jen couldn’t help but notice the ease and grace of his movements. He was much lighter on his feet than she would have thought from a man his size.

A gentleman! And could he be any hotter? If I’d known they grow them like him around here, I would have moved years ago,
she thought to herself, the earlier unpleasant confrontation thoroughly swept from her mind.

The town of Sweetwater wasn’t exactly the bustling metropolis Jen was used to. Small and sleepy as it was, all the necessities were there. It was quaint, just like she’d assumed it to be from the extensive Googling she’d done. Jen and Ethan spent hours rolling from store to store, gathering materials for construction and necessities for Jen, and meeting just about every Sweetwater inhabitant there was – at least that’s what it felt like. Though they barely spoke during the drive, the silence wasn’t uncomfortable.

They sat in the car as the picturesque Wyoming landscapes and buildings trundled by. Jen found herself at ease in the peace surrounding her and with the man at the wheel, driving the truck with confidence. For one whole day, she hadn’t been obsessing about her less than stellar breakup with Chad, or the way she got booted from the company she’d helped build from the ground up. Even the way her mother always nagged at her to settle down and get married already was far from her mind, replaced with a kind of calmness she hadn’t experienced in far too long.

As the sun crested the tips of the mountains surrounding Sweetwater, Ethan pulled up at a diner.

“I’m starving, how about we grab some dinner before heading back to the house?”

The day had been long and shopping (something that had often been a guilty pleasure of Jen’s back in Phoenix) had kept her mind away from food. The sight of the diner, however, made her very aware of just how long the day had been.

Time sure flies with a sexy as sin man by your side!

“I could eat a horse,” Jen replied with a broad, honest smile.
And I wouldn’t mind having you for dessert,
she thought to herself, biting her lip slightly.

Ethan chuckled, “I’m sure Maisy can whip up something.”

And Maisy came through. The plates were laden heavy with two juicy steaks for Ethan and one for Jen. Dinner was spent mostly in silence as Jen and Ethan devoured their steaks and good wholesome sides of mash potatoes and coleslaw. Once hunger had been sated and the plates cleaned out, the two sat at the table, sipping ice tea.

She couldn’t help but giggle a little at it all. A month back, she would have been mortified to be out in jeans and sneakers, hoofing it in some little roadside stores for paint and construction equipment. And now it seemed like the best thing in the world. Though, in all honesty, she had to admit that the company must have had a little to do with how much she was enjoying herself.

She liked how
easy
everything was with Ethan. Like they’d been doing things like that for years and years and didn’t need words anymore to understand exactly what the other felt or thought. It was a bit silly, seeing as she’d only just met him, but Jen was sure she’d never felt quite as comfortable around another person as she did with Ethan.

Jen’s thoughts started to wander and she frowned as she remembered the awkward argument from earlier.

“What did Ryan really mean when he said he’d take what’s his?” she asked.

“Truthfully, I don’t know,” Ethan responded with gloom in his tone.

Silence hung between them again and Jen wasn’t sure Ethan intended to say another word about it, until he reluctantly picked up the topic again.

“The Clearponds are, ahem, shifty, when it comes to such things. And they sure as well won’t take kindly to being told off like that. For your sake, I should have kept my mouth shut, I think. But what’s done is done. The land was previously owned by one of ours and for reasons I don’t want to get into, he sold it. Dragging you into this without you being prepared for it. Don’t you worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I’m sure it’ll be okay,” Jen said mildly, taking a sip of her drink.

She couldn’t hide the fact that the thought of Ethan
protecting
her sent a warm flutter through her tummy. Who wouldn’t want to be kept safe and secure by a man who looked like… well, that!? And he could build stuff? Jackpot! Call her mama, she’s found the perfect man!

Jen hid the grin that was threatening to burst forth.

Settle down, cowgirl. How about you try and get through the first day in town before falling head over heels for a cowboy, even if he is perfect.

That sobered her a little and cooled those jets of hers. After all, hadn’t she run all the way to Wyoming from one unfortunate relationship? Maybe getting into a new one right away wasn’t the smartest idea…

But what if she really,
really
wanted to!?