Winston (BBW Bear Shifter Wedding Romance) (Grizzly Groomsmen Book 3) (39 page)

With Christina and Abby gone, the hostility had quickly vanished. They began regular picnics and events to get the clans together, with the guys’ girlfriends joining in. They’d all become friends over the months, and Harmony’s little boy was brutally spoiled with kisses and hugs. They’d even briefly discussed building one giant compound that all the couples could live on together. It would take more time for that to become a reality. They’d need more land, and they had to focus on production first.
 

“Thoughts?” Veronica asked. She looked around the table at their reactions. There were many head nods and several expressions of interest.

In the end, they all liked it. Next on the agenda, they discussed the new product line. They were going to expand the soaps that the Walkers had tested, and include the new lotions the Harpers had perfected. There would also be teas, candles, and candy.

And they had plans to expand into shampoos and other food options later down the line. They had a whole five-year-plan and a ten-year-plan that had been dreamed up over the months of meetings they held. This was one of their weekly meetings, which would end with a cookout.

“Work hard first, then play harder,” was what Slade always said. Though, when they were alone, Veronica said, “Work hard first, then fuck harder.” Slade was happy with both versions.

Once they finished all the business on the list, Slade stood again.

“Any final issues of business?” he asked.

No one said anything.
 

“Then, it’s time to have some fun!” Veronica said.

“Wait a minute,” Slade said. “Any non-business issues to discuss?”

They always left time to talk about personal things or share about what was going in their lives. Veronica was hungry, though, and wanted to speed things along. They’d all talk while they cooked out anyway.

“I do have one thing.” Robin stood. “It’s been a long time coming, I think, but I wasn’t sure how to tell you all.”

Veronica’s heart started racing. Robin looked nervous. Was she about to give them bad news? Was she planning to leave?

But then Beth stood, too. “And I asked her to wait until I was ready.”

Veronica glanced at Slade and he looked just as confused and worried.

“But, here it is.” Robin breathed out a hard sigh and reached out to take Beth’s hand. Then she turned and kissed her.

Veronica’s mouth dropped open. That was the last thing she’d expected. She had no idea either of them were gay, or that they had any interest in each other. Though now, it made sense. She’d never seen either of them in a relationship and they had been getting closer over the months. She had thought it was just the combination of Christina and Abby leaving and her spending more time with Slade and leaving them alone, but apparently, it was more.

Slade started clapping and the others joined in, hooting and hollering as Beth and Robin smiled with red faces.
 

“Thank you,” Beth said. “We weren’t sure how everyone would take it.”

“You really thought there’d be complaints?” Dax said.

Knox nudged him, but laughed.
 

“Really happy for you,” Slade said. He took Veronica’s hand under the table and squeezed.

“Yeah,” she said. “I mean, I’m shocked and I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner, but this is awesome!”

She had secretly been a little disappointed that all the Walkers had girlfriends. After knowing how awesome it could be to date another shifter, she wanted that for them all. She hated seeing Robin and Beth be the only single ones at their events that were all filled with happy couples. But this made everything perfect. Everyone was paired up and happy. Things felt very complete.

“Anyone else?” Slade said.

“Who could beat that?” Beck said.

“Well, I’m going to try,” Slade said. “Not to upstage you or anything, but I had this planned for months.”

He stood and turned to Veronica. “Exactly one year ago today, we kissed for the first time. It was unexpected, but wonderful, and since that moment, I have not been able to get you off of my mind. The last year has been the most amazing year of my life, and I want to see just how much better it can get. Veronica, I don’t want to live without you. You’re already my business partner, my co-alpha, my best friend. But, I’d like to add wife to that list.”
 

He dropped down on one knee, and Veronica’s eyes went wide. They hadn’t discussed marriage at all. They’d both said they’d been so hurt in the past and had such trust issues that they were going to take things slow. This didn’t feel slow.
 

But she’d fallen so hard in love with him in the last year. So hard, she thought it would scare him if she told him. If she said how she’d dreamed of being his wife and having shifter babies. When Robin joked at the start of the meeting that she was pregnant, she wanted it to be true. But she didn’t want to move things too fast for him. It seemed now, that they’d both decided slow wasn’t necessary. Everything about this felt so right.

Slade opened a ring box and held it up to her. “Will you marry me?”

She took a moment to gaze into his eyes, to let the scene blur with her tears as her heart swelled with joy. But apparently, she’d taken too long.

“Of course she will!” Robin said.
 

“Yes!” Dax said.
 

Veronica laughed and nodded as a chorus of “Say yes!” broke out from the table.
 

Slade slipped the ring on her finger and kissed her, then stood with his arms tight around her at the head of the table. “Meeting adjourned.”
 

The room cleared, but Slade held her close to keep her there. She didn’t mind. She wanted a few minutes alone, too.

When they were alone, he kissed her again and asked, “They didn’t pressure you into it, did they?”

“No, of course not.”

“You’re sure? I know it’s fast and we said we wanted to take things slow, but—”

“It feels like exactly the right time,” she said.

“Yes. It does to me, too.”

“Then that’s all that matters.”
 

Reinicke

Bear Dating Agency V

by

Becca Fanning

Prologue

The most irritating thing in the world was a ‘happily ever after’. As the director of an incredibly popular dating agency, Karina Vasquez was responsible for such miracles occurring every damn day. She was inundated with calls from those who she’d set up, wanting to thank her for making their dreams come true. And, when grateful past clients weren’t clogging up her phone line, new ones with dreams of their own were battering down her door. In simple terms, she had become far too good at her job. Demand was outweighing what she could supply, and there was only one solution to the problem, as far as Karina could see.

The sign on her office door read: “Out to lunch. Permanently.”

She had driven to the place where happy childhood memories called, memories of a time when there were no demands or pressures placed on her. It was the place where her mother, Rose, had taught her to swim, and where her father, Javier, had cooked ribs on a rickety old barbeque. As she arrived in Fairhaven Park, the sun was shining with a glorious brilliance, and all at once she was no longer a twenty-five year old business sensation in the world of romance. Karina was as free as the birds that soared above her.

Best of all, work could not follow her here. Not long ago she’d had four clients in this very park, all of them brothers with the surname Best. But now they were paired off, a domino effect of happily ever afters that had been part of the boom which sent Karina off the deep end. That meant there were no eligible men seeking love here, only a park full of quiet, silent places where she could forget that the rest of the world existed. It was going to be heaven.

And then there was a crash, and Karina rocked in the seat of her car.

“Watch where you’re damn going!” said a voice that was almost a growl.

Karina threw her head out of her car window, watching as a man in the Land Rover opposite her did the same. He had tawny brown hair cut straight and sensible, and his face was the most serious one Karina had ever seen. He had a strong jaw pulled into a grumpy sneer and shining eyes that appeared gold by the light of the brilliant sun. For a moment, Karina just looked at him, mesmerized. Before she remembered what he’d said, and done.

“You bumped my car!” she decreed, outraged.

“You were daydreaming!” the man insisted. “You came straight at me.”

“Come on!” Karina retaliated at once. “It’s a wide road. You could have gone around! You’re just one of those assholes who likes to make trouble.”

“Sure I am,” the man replied, “but I’m also responsible for other people’s safety here. Can’t let a menace like you go unchecked.”

It was then that Karina spotted the badge glinting on his lapel. He was in some kind of uniform, and further inspection of his car revealed a huge logo for Fairhaven on the side, along with the words:
Park Ranger Service
.

“Shit,” Karina said quietly.

“Indeed,” the man said sharply. “My name’s Reinicke, by the way. I suggest you avoid me for the duration of your stay.”

He drove off, snaking around her car before she could bite back with the insult that was bursting on her tongue. Reinicke. It was such a peculiar name. It was one that Karina knew would stick in her head and come back to haunt her. She clutched her steering wheel tightly.

“Jawohl, mein herr,” she grumbled as she too drove away.

The plan was simple. Stay one night at the Old Spring Inn, prepare herself, and then let the adventure begin. Karina stood at the mirror the next morning, taking stock of her situation and kind of wondering if she hadn’t overreacted a little to the stress of her job. After a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed and an ample room service breakfast, she was beginning to feel relaxed already. Perhaps she didn’t have to go the whole hog and trek completely off the grid.

She was dressed in shorts and a shirt, with a vest underneath and a waterproof tucked into a baggie that hung from her backpack. Her dark locks hung around her face, and Karina studied herself as she pulled them back into an austere pony tail, no single hair escaping from her grip. Her face was still pretty, when it wasn’t contorted by stress, with glimmering dark eyes and full lips. Somewhere in that reflection, there was a carefree girl whose only wish had been to make other people happy by finding their true love. If she could just find that girl again, things would be all right.

Karina had bought all the gear for camping out in the wild. She intended to trek to the northern section of the park, reserved for serious hikers and those who wanted to disappear for several days and be one with nature. She wasn’t a serious hiker by any means, and the store tags still attached to half her stuff would attest to that, but how hard could it be? She did cardio and hot yoga every day back in LA. She was in shape. There was no reason to think that she couldn’t handle a few days alone in the wilderness.

Yet, there was that worry again. Her office, though busy and unbearably loud, was her kingdom. She was comfortable there, in her ergonomic chair, drinking imported coffee. Life was hectic, but it had order to it. She knew what to do in LA. Out here, there were lots of things she’d need to learn, and learn them quickly to stay safe. She moved from the mirror to her backpack, fishing down among the layers of equipment to find her phone.

It had been switched off from the moment she put that impetuous sign up on her office door. Yet she had packed it to take on her trek, like an extra limb that she couldn’t quite part from. Tentatively, Karina held down the button to bring the phone back to life. She dropped it onto the bed at once as it roared with a cacophony of beeps, clicks and buzzes. Messages were coming in from every available outlet, lighting up the screen like a fireworks display. Karina felt her heart grow tight at the prospect of answering them all, and she settled for sending only one reply.

A single tweet from her official account:

Hiking in the woods to get some me time. #offgrid

She turned the phone off and buried it deep within her bag once more.

***

By the time Karina reached the little visitor’s hut that marked the start of the northern section of Fairhaven, she was more determined than ever to leave life behind for a few days. Inside the visitor’s hut there were only three people besides herself, and the emptiness of the charming little place made her feel calm at once. She stepped across to a display unit filled with pamphlets, observing the different maps and walking trails that were available in this part of the park. She began picking up different leaflets, looking at their covers. They seemed to be color-coded, ranging from easy treks that only lasted an afternoon, up to full circuits of the highest peaks and lowest valleys that California had to offer. She wanted to be gone for a few days at least to clear her head, so she loaded up on mid-level maps.

“Yeah, you’re going to need crampons if you’re taking Route 9B.” A voice drifted towards her from the other people assembled. “I wouldn’t do it at this time of day personally. That trail is south-facing and the sun’ll be on your back for the whole climb up. If you want my advice, take Route 13 round the lake for the daytime and connect to 9B at about six tonight. You’ll be on the peak as the day cools off, and at the top for sunset.”