Page 7 of Off-Limits to the Grizzly

“I know things have been rough, but it’ll be different now. Twin Falls is a nice place these days. It’s gotten real civilized. There’s even a yoga studio.”

She giggles. “I don’t know. So many bad memories there. I wanted a new start…”

“Give it a chance,” I say, and my thoughts are already turning over, wondering what I can do to make her so happy in Twin Falls that she never thinks of leaving again.

“Were you planning to drive overnight?” she asks suddenly.

Darn. She was always as bright as a button and my story doesn’t exactly hold water.

“There’s supposed to be a storm coming,” I say at last. Not a lie.

Now my plan is to get her back to Twin Falls as soon as possible. Guess I could book us into a motel for the night, but I can hardly get her to share my room, and there’s no way I’m gonna leave her in a room by herself.

She nods, seems to accept that, and shuffles down into her seat like she’s making herself more comfortable.

A few minutes later, her breathing slows. A little smile tugs at my lips. She must trust me, at least a little.

It is a long drive back to Twin Falls, the dark road unspooling endlessly between fields crusted in snow, but I enjoy every moment of it. My beast is quiet inside me, for the first time in a long, long time. After years of keeping watch over her, Blair is finally under my protection. And I’m not going to screw it up this time.

3

Blair

Iwake up slowly. I feel so relaxed, so peaceful. Well, that’s weird. Not a typical feeling these days—or for as long as I can remember, actually. I’m sitting half upright, snuggled under something warm and heavy that smells of leather and spice. Where am I?

Ohh,I know—

At the last moment, I stop myself from jerking upright. Mr Johnson—uh, Zach; although I don’t think I’ll ever be able to call him that—is right beside me, driving us back to Twin Falls. How long have I been asleep? I open my eyes a crack and peer through my eyelashes. It’s still dark, but there’s hint of gray in the sky now, and I can make out some red taillights in the distance. A long time, I guess.

There I was, snoozing, while he was driving.

I don’t dare turn my head and look at him, but I’m so aware of his huge bulk beside me. When I was a kid, I thought he was the biggest man in the world. Now I’m grown up… pretty much the same.

He’s one of those guys who has presence. When he walks into a room, every head turns to look at him. When I was a teen, I was scared of him. There was a lot of tension between him and Kayla, and he suddenly got all strict and shouty. She said he was a real disciplinarian. But the more rules he gave her, the more she rebelled.

He’s been so kind to me, though. And so protective. I didn’t ask him what he did to Adrian and honestly, I don’t want to know. I was just so, so glad when he appeared at the truck, like my knight in shining armor. The moment the door locks clicked into place, I feltsafe.

Which is weird, because now I feel all kinds of jumpy. Especially when I pick up that scent of his, wafting off the leather jacket he must’ve thrown over me.

Kinda wish he hadn’t gotten even more good looking in the past decade. He used to be clean-shaven, with cropped dark hair, but this salt-and-pepper thing he’s got going on is just…

Oof… there goes a little tingle between my thighs. Fuck.

Truth is, I used to have an embarrassing crush on him. When I got to about sixteen, I started noticing that he wasn’t just Kayla’s dad; he was the most attractive guy I’d ever laid eyes on.

Whenever Kayla wanted to gossip about the boys she liked, all I could think about was her dad. Once I mentioned that he was handsome and Kayla went crazy. Like, totally freaked out.

Don’t you ever think of my dad like that! she screamed.

After that, I got real awkward when I was around him. Every time he spoke to me, my cheeks would go beet red. And I’d try to get away from him as fast as I could.

Hope I don’t start to like him again—

Although, something tells me it’s already too late.

A road signlooms out of the darkness.

Twin Falls.

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