The Bear's Virgin Darling (Honeypot Darlings Book 1) (7 page)

Wyatt

“What the hell have I gotten myself into?” I mutter, leaving her cabin. I walk right over to Micah’s and barge in without knocking.

“Hey!” He cries out, closing his web browser. He was obviously looking at porn. Or something. I don’t know. I don’t want to know. That’s not why I’m here.

I ignore him and head for the mini-fridge where I know he has an ample supply of booze. Micah’s no alcoholic, but he’s also not a prude. I open it up and grab a beer and chug.

“Slow down there, champ,” Micah says, standing and stretching. When I don’t show signs of listening to his advice, grabbing another beer and starting in on it, he looks concerned. “Long day?”

“Something weird just happened.”

“Weird like, shifters dancing in pink tutus or weird like, you have a crush on the new girl?”

“I have a crush on the new girl.”

Micah looks self-satisfied and grabs a beer for himself. He pops the top and turns back to me.

“Totally called it,” he says.

“What do you mean?”

“When Carter told me he was hiring a super hot girl from out of town, I called it. I said you’d be into her.”

“How did you know she was super hot?” I say, jealousy starting to rear its ugly head. Had he seen a picture of her before she came here? What did he know about her past? I shouldn’t be surprised; Micah is a genius with computers. Of course Carter would ask him to run a background check and take a look at her Internet presence prior to interviewing her. It only makes sense.

“Calm down there, lover boy,” Micah says calmly. Too calmly. My youngest brother is very self-controlled. He’s more put-together than I could ever hope to be, but Micah has his own secrets. I don’t know what he’s going through right now and I hope that at some point, he’ll open up to me, but right now I know he’s fighting his own demons.

“Sorry,” I say, realizing I’ve gone full caveman on him. That’s not like me. Not really. Then again, I haven’t really been myself since before I dated sweet Georgia Edwards. When she left, something inside of me changed. Something went dark.

Part of me felt like it had died and would never feel alive again.

“Carter had me run her background check. That included checking up on her social media sites. I know you don’t handle hiring much, but these days, it’s really important to look online. Most people post using their real names and a lot of times, they think things are private that aren’t. You’d be surprised at how many applicants we had whose online profiles had pictures of them drinking, doing drugs, or just partying in general.”

“And that’s not okay,” I say dryly. Micah just shrugs.

“Nothing wrong with how people live their lives, but we also need to be careful that our employees are going to present a professional image.”

“I understand.” My curiosity is driving me crazy, though, and I’m itching to ask what he found. Of course, I could pull out my phone and look her up, too, but Micah has tools and skills that I couldn’t dream of.

“You want to know what I found?” He asks, finally preparing to put me out of my misery.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“What? Knowing more than you for once in my life? Of course.”

I drink the beer, waiting. There’s no pushing Micah when he gets in these moods. Finally, he sits back down and pulls up a folder on his computer. He motions me closer and I move. It’s Hope. It’s all the data he gathered about her life: pictures of Hope, data about her last job, and a transcript of a conversation with her last boss.

“You actually called her references?” I ask. “I always thought that was just for show.”

“Most people do. That’s why I always call.” He taps the screen. “Hope Demers. 26 years old, model citizen. She graduated with honors and a degree in English literature. After graduation, she landed a job at A Cup of Tea and turned the company around. Her boss quickly promoted her, as she should have, and put Hope in charge of basically everything.”

Micah pulls up a few pictures and newspaper articles. Hope looks so happy in them, so peaceful. She looks excited, even. Something must have changed, must have happened to her. She’s still completely gorgeous, but now her eyes look more sad than happy. What secrets is Hope hiding? What burdens is she bearing on her own?

“Why Honeypot?” I ask. “Why would she leave this perfect life behind for something so different?” I don’t know if Micah’s research when that deep, but when he turns back to me, I know that he knows.

“It’s probably not my place to say anything,” he begins. “Usually, when I discover something about an employee’s past, I don’t tell Carter unless it’s vital that he know, but you’re my brother, so fuck it.”

He clicks an image and pulls it up. Hope is standing next to another guy, one who looks like a real asshole. He’s obviously human and obviously a spoiled rich kid. His button-down plaid does nothing to convince me that he’s good enough for her.

“Meet Jacob Clint,” Micah says. “Surprisingly enough, he wasn’t listed as one of her references, but there were so many pictures of them together on social media, I decided to look into it.”

“She has a boyfriend,” I say through gritted teeth, frustrated and upset that I was coming onto her. More importantly, she
let
me. What the hell? I might not go after humans often, but I
never
go after cheaters. That is so not my style. If a girl belongs to another guy, I stay away.

Far away.

“Slow down there, tiger,” Micah says, smirking because he knows I don’t like to be called “tiger.” I’m not a tiger. I’m a fucking bear. If he’s going to call me anything, he can call me bear.

Or nothing.

“Continue,” I say, my voice tight.

“As I was saying,” Micah leans back and threads his fingers together behind his neck. He’s so relaxed. Why can’t I be that way? But seriously, when is he going to get to the point? “She has a lot of pictures with this guy, but he wasn’t listed as a reference. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out they were dating.”

“Were?”

“Yep.” He sits up again and clicks another picture. It’s of a gorgeous young woman. She’s side-by-side with Hope in the picture and they both look happy: thrilled, even. “Meet Margaret Alden. Until recently, she and Hope were inseparable. One month ago, all of their social media chatting stopped.”

“How can you see that?” I ask, knowing it can’t be legal. Micah, as if reading my mind, shakes my head.

“Nothing illegal,” he says. “Look. All their stuff is set to ‘public.’ That means that anyone, even you, can see what they’re saying. A month ago, everything just stops. No more posts from Hope, no more chatting back and forth, nothing, but check this out.” He clicks another picture and suddenly, it’s Margaret and the guy. Hope’s guy. Only the two of them look
very
cozy together. He’s got his arms wrapped around her and if his hand went any higher, it would be full of her obviously-fake tits.

“The best friend and the boyfriend?”

“That would be my guess.” Micah shrugs. “Sometimes you need to break away from your world, Wyatt. Sometimes you need to go to a place where nobody knows you and you can just be you. You should know that better than anyone. I think something went down and Hope wanted to get as far away from Holbrook, Missouri as she could.”

“What about her parents?” I ask, running my hand through my hair. It’s a nervous habit, one I need to stop.

“Dad is gone. Mom died a few years ago. It’s just her, Wyatt. She’s all alone.” Suddenly, Micah seems concerned, and I can see exactly why my brothers chose her to be the newest addition to our ranch.

“A little human alone in shifter country,” I shake my head. “This girl has no idea what she’s gotten herself into.”

“Bet you wish you could get yourself into her.” Micah chuckles at his joke and starts typing on the computer again, pulling up some work stuff and spreadsheets I don’t particularly care about. I finish my beer and chuck it in his recycling bin, then turn to leave.

“Hey,” I say, looking back. “Thanks, Micah. You didn’t have to help me, but you did. I appreciate it.”

He looks surprised at my gratitude and I have to wonder how long it’s been since someone appreciated Micah – really appreciated him. As far as I know, it’s been years since his last relationship, one-night flings excluded, of course.

“Anytime,” he says after a minute. “Anytime.”

When I leave the cabin, I don’t head for the house. Instead, I decide to walk part of the fence line. It’s something I usually do on the ATV, but the afternoon is quickly fading into evening and I could use a quick way to relax.

Being in nature always does that for me. Maybe it’s because I’m a bear or it might just be that I’m a country boy at heart, but after a long, stressful day, I just want to be outside.

Glancing around to make sure I’m alone, I quickly strip out of my clothes and boots. I stretch, enjoying the feel of the cooling air on my skin, and I start walking. Once I’m a short distance from the cabins, I shift quickly and begin to run.

Immediately, I feel more relaxed and at ease. Being in shifter form always makes me feel better, calmer. Ever since my first shift as a teenager, I’ve needed to regularly get into bear form in order to fully relax. Most shifters can go awhile without changing, but not me. If I don’t shift daily, or at least twice a week, I start to feel itchy.

And grumpy.

As I run along the fence line, I let my thoughts change from Hope to my little lost calf. Where the hell could the damn cow have run off to? Since it’s the second day, I’m starting to worry a little bit, and I realize I need to get an update from Alex. For now, though, I want to make sure there aren’t any other breaks in the fence.

I take a deep breath and keep running. The moon is rising and so are my hopes when it comes to the sweet little human who is currently living in cabin three.

Hope

Carter doesn’t have anything for me to do until tomorrow, so I pop open a beer and settle on the little porch in front of my cabin. It’s got exactly one chair, so I lean back and prop my feet up on my cooler, happy I thought far enough ahead to pick up some drinks before I came out to the ranch. My fridge is completely empty, so tomorrow I’ll need to head into town and pick up some groceries.

For tonight, though, beer is good.

I can’t stop thinking about Wyatt, and it’s driving me crazy. He’s so different from my first impression. It still baffles me that he apologized to me without prompting. He literally sought me out just to admit he was wrong, and to try again.

Where did he come from?

Seriously, is he some sort of alien god?

He’s not only hot as hell, but sweet and caring, too?

Who would have known?

“How are you settling in?” A voice comes from the dark and I jump, dropping my beer. The bottle doesn’t break, but the contents spill out over the porch.

“Crap!” I cry out, and quickly grab it, trying to salvage as much of the drink as I can.

“Sorry about that,” a man steps from the shadows and I roll my eyes.

“What is with you people and stepping out of the shadows?”

“’You people’?” His eyes narrow, and the super-handsome giant standing next to my porch suddenly looks like he’s about to rip my head from my body.

“Uh, uh, uh….” I stare at him and mouth has gone dry, but not from horniness. From fear. What the hell? Is he going to kill me? Who is he? This guy reminds me of Carter and Micah, but he’s taller, if that’s possible, and narrower. His chest isn’t as broad and he reminds me of a cat, the way he slinked up to the cabin.

“For fuck’s sake, Alex,” another voice sounds, and I hear a cabin door close. “I can smell her fear from here. What are you doing to her?”

“She said ‘you people,’” Alex says with a growl. “What did you mean by that?” He turns back to me, and I’m shaking.

“I meant people in Honeypot,” I whisper. “Not cowboys, or rancher, or something specifically. I have nothing against ranchers,” I insist, stumbling over my words. “I just…you guys keep sneaking up on me, dammit!”

The other man chuckles and comes over. He holds out his hand and I take it, gingerly.

“I’m Micah,” he says. “The third brother.”

“Hope,” I whisper.

“This is Alex,” he nods his head toward the other guy, the tall one, who is still glaring at me. “Don’t mind him. He’s a bit sensitive.”

“Am not,” Alex says, but I think Micah is right. I don’t know what crawled up Alex’s ass and died, but I don’t like the way he’s glaring at me, especially when I didn’t mean anything by my comment.

“So, Hope,” Micah changes the subject. “How do you like your cabin? Everything to your liking?”

“Yeah, it’s really nice,” I say, and Alex rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s just great for the city slicker.”

Maybe it’s the beer, the lack of sleep, or the stress, but I’ve finally had enough. I turn back to Alex and glower at him.

“What the fuck is your problem?” I ask. He looks shocked, but Micah starts cracking up. “I’m sorry, but I literally just met you five minutes ago, so if you have a problem with people from other cities, just fucking tell me and I’ll go back inside.”

Alex stutters and starts to say something, but Micah’s laughter overpowers it.

“And for your information, I’m not from a city, I’m from a small town that’s only a little bigger than Honeypot.” I don’t know why I’m explaining myself, but I am. I’m about to turn around and go back inside, but Micah hands me another beer and pats me on the shoulder.

“Okay, Hope, you can calm down now. He’s just not good around new people.”

Alex mutters something beneath his breath, but I take the beer from Micah and drink it. Soon I’m feeling warm and buzzed again, and I start to worry less about the fusser and more about Wyatt.

“Does Wyatt have a girlfriend?” I blurt out, and immediately slap my hand over my mouth. This time neither man laughs. Both just stare at me like I’ve sprouted a second head.

“He does not,” Alex finally says. “He doesn’t date much.”

“Why not?”

“You ask a lot of questions, you know,” Alex says.

“I’m a curious person.”

“Apparently.” Alex stretches his arms out above his head and once again, he reminds me of a cat. Maybe a big, lazy housecat or even a tiger. I picture him stalking around the farm and I have to laugh. Yeah, I’ve heard all the rumors about shifters or changers, depending on what you want to call them.

I don’t believe they’re true.

I’ve never met anyone who could even sort of be a shifter, but Alex is really jumpy, and he seriously looks like he’s about to start prowling around. For the first time, I have to wonder. Micah seems to catch me staring, and shakes his head at Alex. Alex immediately drops his arms and looks at me again.

“Nice to meet you, Hope,” he says, then he disappears into his cabin and closes the door.

Um, okay?

I look back at Micah, but he just shrugs.

“He’s not really a people person,” he says. “Plus, like I said, he’s not good with new people.”

“But you are,” I comment.

“I’m okay, I guess. Carter is the friendly brother. Wyatt is the one who gets things done. I’m just the tech guy.”

“What’s wrong with that?” I ask. Micah seems sad about his calling in life and I have to wonder why. He’s just as good looking as his brothers and he’s friendly enough, so why does being in IT make him feel bad about himself?

“Nothing, I suppose,” he says. “But going back to your original question, no, Wyatt does not have a girlfriend, and no, there’s nothing wrong with him. He just hasn’t met the right girl yet.”

“I’m surprised he’s single, to be honest. I’m surprised any of you are.”

“Why’s that?” This time his eyes twinkle, and I can tell he knows what I’m going to say.

“Just look at you,” I say, and then I do. “You’re…well, just look at you.”