Grizzly Flying High (Air Bear Shifters 1) (2 page)

He was, without a doubt, the most handsome man she had ever seen. Even though he was sitting down, she could tell that he was tall—much taller than anyone else in the room. He was muscular, too. His broad chest stretched out the fabric of his t-shirt, and his biceps pushed against the sleeves. His dark brown hair stood in a glorious mess on top of his head and matched the dark brown stubble that graced his strong jaw line. His piercing, dark brown eyes were focused on the television above the bar, which was playing reruns of an old sitcom.

Amanda grinned as she settled into the barstool next to the man. She might not be looking for love, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t enjoy an evening sitting next to perfection in human form. Maybe “roughing it” at the Ritz for a night wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

Sawyer turned uneasily in his seat when he sensed someone sitting down next to him. He had chosen this barstool because it had been the furthest away from anyone else in the bar when he first walked in a few hours ago, but, as the day turned to evening, the bar was filling up and the crowd was closing in on him. He had been slowly nursing whiskey after whiskey, keeping up a slight buzz and absentmindedly watching the marathon of old sitcoms on the television screen. At first, he had wanted to go check out the town. He had flown into Snow Valley several times over the years, but he had never had time to actually stroll through the town and take it in. The place had a reputation for being a quaint, peaceful retreat in the middle of the wilderness, and he was actually here for a few days this time, since his corporate clients had so generously offered to put him up in a hotel. He didn’t know exactly how much money these guys had, but they were obviously loaded. The price they had paid for his piloting services, plus the cost of his room at the Ritz, was possibly the most anyone had ever spent for a Frost Peak Tours package.

But Sawyer’s plans to roam Snow Valley had come to a screeching halt when he stepped out onto the street earlier today. Some big event was happening this weekend, and the place was crawling with tourists. Not in the mood to deal with crowds, Sawyer had made his way back to the hotel and taken up residence at the bar for the day. He couldn’t complain, really. He was getting paid to be here, and the people watching was pretty great. Men and women dressed to the nines in very expensive looking clothing had been filtering in and out of the bar all day. They were all in a good mood, and their loud, boisterous conversations had been entertaining. Sawyer had learned more today than he had ever wanted to know about how the richest of the rich spent their time.

Sawyer had also been completely ignored by everyone except the bartender. For an alpha grizzly, used to being the center of attention in a room whether he wanted to be or not, the feeling of being invisible was strange. Sawyer had enjoyed the anonymity, though. No one here cared to talk to the casually dressed man sulking in the corner, and that had been just fine with Sawyer. Instead of fending off women or being called on to make business decisions for his clan or tour company, Sawyer had sipped his whiskey in peace. Not a bad day.

So he was more than a little bummed when the barstool next to him finally filled. But as he shifted just enough to see who his new neighbor was, he suddenly didn’t feel quite as bummed. In fact, his bear let out a low growl of appreciation when he saw her. He had watched his fair share of stunning women come through this bar today, but the woman who had just slipped into the barstool next to him surpassed them all. She was tall, which, for a tall grizzly like Sawyer was always a plus. Her body had the perfect combination of soft curves and strong muscles, and she seemed completely comfortable in her own skin. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, which surprised him somewhat. She was the first female over the age of twelve that he had seen today who hadn’t at least taken time to put on lipstick and mascara. And her hair fell in messy, damp waves around her shoulders and smelled of lavender. Sawyer felt his heart beating faster as he breathed in her scent. Maybe having a seatmate wasn’t going to be so bad after all. She seemed different from the other women he had seen today. After all, someone who was brave enough to come out in public with damp hair and no makeup when everyone else looked like they had just walked off the cover of a magazine couldn’t be too overly obsessed with appearances, could she? The woman did have on a lovely black dress, so Sawyer wasn’t sure how she’d feel about his casual jeans and t-shirt getup. But she seemed down-to-earth enough, and, as far as he could tell, she wasn’t here with another man. Sawyer took a long drag of his whiskey and then turned to introduce himself. Might as well go for it.

But before he could get the word “hello” past his lips, two men in suits sitting on the opposite side of the woman made a move.

“Hey, there, sunshine,” one of the men said. “You look thirsty? Can I buy you a drink?”

Sawyer wanted to roll his eyes. The most beautiful woman in the room was sitting right there next to this guy, and the best line he could come up with was “You look thirsty?” What a bozo. Still, Sawyer had no interest in entering some sort of pissing contest over a girl, so he turned back to his whiskey. If the girl was interested in one of those guys, she wasn’t as down to earth as he’d thought, anyway,

But as Sawyer’s hand reached for his glass, he suddenly felt a soft, smaller hand covering his. He looked up, surprised, and saw the woman smiling at him.

“Hey, babe,” she said. “Sorry I’m late. The line at the gift shop was much longer than I expected it to be.”

She gave his hand a familiar squeeze, and then leaned over and planted a quick kiss on his lips. When her mouth touched his, Sawyer immediately felt a searing jolt of electricity run through his body. Whoever this woman was, she was waking up feelings in him that he’d kept stuffed down and dormant for a long time. He raised his eyebrows slightly in her direction, but she didn’t flinch as she settled in next to him and signaled for the bartender. The man in a suit next to her looked Sawyer up and down, then let out a huff and walked off.

Sawyer chuckled in the woman’s direction. “The old pretend to have a boyfriend trick, eh?”

The woman shrugged, and gave Sawyer a sideways glance. “It’s the best way to let a guy down easy. And to make sure he doesn’t keep coming up with reasons why you really should give him a chance even though you’ve already told him ‘no’ a hundred times. I’m Amanda, by the way.”

“Sawyer,” Sawyer replied. “You do realize that now you’re stuck sitting next to me and acting like we’re together for as long as that guy stays in the bar.”

Amanda looked at Sawyer, and winked. “You seem nice enough, and you’re not too bad to look at. I can think of worse people to be stuck sitting next to.”

Sawyer let a silly grin pass over his face in spite of his best efforts to remain stoic. Thankfully, Amanda didn’t seem to notice. She had managed to snag the bartender’s attention, and a moment later was listening to the man rattle off the food specials for the day. Sawyer watched her nodding her head, her dark, wavy hair bouncing as she did. Her skin was smooth and tanned—the natural kind of tan that comes from actually being out in the sun. Not the fake, slightly orange tan that many of the other women in this hotel were sporting. She gestured with her hands as she spoke to the bartender, drawing Sawyer’s attention to her nails, which were short, chipped, and slightly dirty. Amanda obviously hadn’t been spending her days here in the hotel’s salon, indulging in manicures.

“Did you get kicked out of the cool kids’ club or something?” Sawyer asked when Amanda had finished ordering her food and a glass of wine.

She gave him a quizzical look. “I’m not sure I was ever in such a club,” she said. “Why do you ask?”

Sawyer pointed at her nails. “You’re the first woman I’ve seen today without makeup. And your nails look more like they’ve been spending time in the forest than in the spa.”

Amanda glanced down at her fingernails, and shrugged. “I just got done with a week of hiking and backcountry camping. You should have seen me before I took a shower and changed. I think the guy at the front desk was tempted to boot me out of the building.”

Sawyer laughed, and then took a sip of his whiskey. “Backcountry camping, eh? By yourself?”

Amanda nodded.

“I’m impressed,” Sawyer said. “But why are you staying here, if you’re truly the outdoorsy type. Doesn’t seem like your kind of place.”

Amanda laughed. It was a loud, deep, throw-your-head back kind of laugh, and her strong reaction surprised Sawyer somewhat. “You have no idea how much this is
not
my kind of place,” she said. “In fact, I was coming here to Alaska to get away from all of this. But the hostel I was supposed to stay in was overbooked, and a suite here was literally the only other hotel room available in town. So the hostel paid for me to stay here, as an apology.”

Sawyer smiled. “That makes sense,” he said. “You do seem more like the hostel type. Where are you from?”

“Seattle,” Amanda said as the bartender returned and set a glass of red wine down in front of her. Sawyer watched her take a long, slow sip, closing her eyes in appreciation as she tasted the dark red liquid. He knew he shouldn’t stare, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her lips. He had only experienced them for a split second, and only so she could get out of an awkward situation of a guy hitting on her, but he could still feel his mouth tingling where she had kissed him. He could also feel his ears still ringing from the sound of her laugh, and he desperately wanted to hear that sound again. Something about her felt irresistible. Maybe it was just the thrill of being around someone who didn’t know who he was, and therefore had no motivation to chase after him just because he was a clan alpha. But whatever the reason, Sawyer hadn’t felt this relaxed around a woman for a long time.

“This wine is good,” Amanda said, setting down her glass. “I’ve enjoyed hiking, and I can handle living without most creature comforts for a while. But I have to admit that I really miss wine when I’m out on the trail for a week or two at a time.”

Sawyer nodded. “So you’re here on vacation? Trying to get out of the city for a little while?”

“For a long while, actually,” Amanda said. “I had a big fancy pants job at big company in Seattle. I made a lot of money, and had a pretty good career. But I was constantly working, and I didn’t have any time just for me. I didn’t take joy in my work, and I had started to feel trapped in a role that required me to give up any real chance at friendship or love—or at being who I really am deep down. I was starting to feel like my whole life was already laid out and defined for me, and that was a pretty scary thought. So I quit.”

Sawyer felt his gut twisting at her words. The feeling was all too familiar to him. Sure, he loved being clan leader, and he took pride in his work. But he felt like everyone expected him to act and think a certain way, and he felt like duty always trumped desire. He often had to give up being himself, or searching for love, so that he could put on a show of being a strong, caring alpha. He looked down at his hands, and toyed with one of the cardboard coasters that were sitting on the bar top. Maybe that’s why he felt so drawn to Amanda. She was, it sounded like, in a similar life situation as him. Or she had been. It sounded like she had found a way to escape from her overwhelming job. Sawyer could never just up and leave like she had. His job was tough, but he loved his clan too much.

“You just quit to come hike in Alaska?” Sawyer pressed. “What are your long-term plans?”

Amanda shrugged. “I don’t know. I quit to backpack around the country and figure out who I am and what I want. I know that sounds a little cliché, but there’s a reason people do it. Being in nature kind of has a way of stripping away all the fluff of everyday life and making you think about what’s really important to you.”

“So what’s important to you?” Sawyer asked.

“I’m still figuring it out,” Amanda said, then raised an eyebrow in Sawyer’s direction. “And that’s a pretty heavy conversation to have with someone I just met, don’t you think?”

Sawyer snorted. “Clearly, you haven’t had enough alcohol yet. Drink another glass or two of wine and you’ll be spilling all your deepest secrets.”

Amanda laughed, and Sawyer felt his heart clenching up at the sound. Her laughter was like a melody that somehow seeped into every atom of his being. He knew he had to get a grip on the way he was feeling right now, but the only thing he could bring himself to care about at the moment was figuring out another way to make her laugh.

“What about you?” Amanda asked, deflecting the conversation to him. “No offense, but you’re not exactly dressed for this place, either. What’s your story?”

Sawyer glanced down at his t-shirt. “I’m a pilot. I take tourists on air tours of the Alaskan wilderness. It’s a great way for them to see nature without getting their fingernails dirty,” he said, glancing down at Amanda’s fingers.

As he had hoped, she laughed again. He smiled and soaked in the sound, letting it echo through his body like a soothing balm.

“So, the air tours business must be going pretty well, if you can afford to stay at the Ritz,” Amanda said.

“Naw. Well, I mean, yes, business is going great. I can’t complain about that. But I’m only staying at the Ritz because I had a corporate client put me up here for ferrying them here in my plane. They’re here for two days for a retreat, and then I’m flying them back.”

“Flying them back where?”

“Frost Peak. It’s south of here, about an hour from Kodiak,” Sawyer said as the bartender returned with a plate of food for Amanda. He set it down in front of her, and Sawyer’s mouth watered as he looked at the burger and fries on the plate. He suddenly realized that he hadn’t eaten anything in several hours, and he asked the bartender to bring him another whiskey and to put in an order for a burger and fries for him, as well.

“Wow, that seems like a pretty cool job,” Amanda said, hungrily shoving a fry into her mouth.

Sawyer smiled. “It is. It’s a lot of work, especially during tourist season. I don’t like dealing with all the businessy aspects of things, like keeping accounts balanced and marketing—things like that. But I love flying, so that makes up for all that other stuff.”