Cozy Bear Autumn, Part One

*** Please note: This story takes place after the short story series "Hot Bear Summer." If you'd like to read Hot Bear Summer first, you can do so by clicking here: Hot Bear Summer, Part One. ***

Lola Becker let out a very unladylike grunt as she hoisted her duffel bag over her shoulder and made her way into Wood Canyon Resort, the hotel that would be her home for the next week.

“I knew I should have invested in a new rolling suitcase,” she muttered, sweat already breaking out on her forehead as she lugged the heavy duffel toward the reception desk. Her well-loved rolling suitcase had broken the last time she went on vacation, and she hadn’t wanted to spend money to replace it with so many other bills to pay. She’d figured she could get by with the duffel bag for this trip, but she was already regretting that decision. She wasn’t exactly a gym rat, and lugging her heavy bag around felt too much like a workout for her tastes.

She nevertheless managed to drag the bag to the reception desk, where the friendly clerk checked her in and even offered to have one of the bellboys take the bag to her room for her. Lola gratefully accepted the offer, and several minutes later she was sitting on the edge of a very soft bed in a tastefully decorated room. Lola had to admit that Julia had been right: Wood Canyon Resort seemed like the perfect place to spend a weeklong vacation.

Of course, Julia had tried to insist that Lola stay with her, but Lola had refused. For one thing, Julia had a brand-new boyfriend that she seemed very into, and Lola didn’t want to intrude on that.

But for another thing, Lola wanted some time by herself. True, Julia was her best friend, and the biggest point of this trip was to spend time together. But another point of the trip was for Lola to get the space she needed to figure out her future.

Julia had started over in Wood Canyon, and had done very well, with a thriving donut shop and a thriving new relationship. Lola knew Julia thought the answer was for Lola to move to Wood Canyon, too. But Lola had no plans to move.

Lola loved the busy city life she had back home, and she loved her job as a nurse. The problem was she’d spent the last five years dating a man she’d thought would become her husband, and that man had completely deserted her with no warning several weeks ago.

Lola had been in a tailspin ever since. She’d had to leave the house she’d shared with that jerk. She’d lost all their mutual friends. She felt like a stranger in her own town.

But still, that didn’t mean she wanted to move to a whole new town, especially a boring country town. Sure, it’d be fun for a weeklong visit. But beyond that, the slower pace of life Julia bragged about made Lola want to yawn. It wasn’t her sort of thing. If Lola wasn’t constantly moving, she felt stuck.

Lola stood, trying to push away thoughts of her future for the moment. She’d just arrived in Wood Canyon. The best thing she could do right now was relax and try to recover from her hectic travel day. She still had two hours before she needed to meet Julia at the kayak rental place where Julia’s boyfriend worked. To be honest, kayaking scared Lola a bit. She’d never tried it, and she wasn’t the best of swimmers. But Julia had promised it would be fun, and that there were plenty of lifejackets available to make sure she stayed safe. In the spirit of trying new things, Lola had agreed.

Still, a few hours later, as she made her way back down to the hotel lobby, she felt her stomach twisting into nervous knots. Even if she didn’t need to worry about literally drowning, she was pretty sure she still needed to worry about making a fool of herself in front of Julia’s new boyfriend, along with whomever else might happen to be on the river at the time.

Lola told herself not to worry about it. Surely she had reached the point in her life where she knew better than to care what other people thought about her!

With a sigh, Lola made her way to the hotel’s front door. Deep, down, she knew she still cared far too much what others thought. She tried not to, but she was only human. 

Still, she tried to hold her head high. She glanced around as though she were the most confident woman in the room, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder and striding forward with purpose.

At the exact moment she tossed her hair, her eyes locked with the eyes of a tall, dark-haired man at the bar. Her breath caught as she took in his face with its chiseled, perfect jawline and eyes that were as green as an enchanted forest.

She definitely wasn’t looking for a man, but if she had been, this one would have been one of her top choices. His biceps bulged against the sleeves of his fitted black t-shirt, and his gray jogger sweatpants gave her a nice idea of how the lower half of his body might look with a little less clothing.

Lola felt her face go warm at that thought, and she hoped she wasn’t blushing. The man was still holding her gaze, his eyes boring into her as though he could literally read her thoughts if he looked at her hard enough. 

Goodness, she hoped not. She would die of embarrassment if he knew she was mentally drooling over his body. Even if she had any intentions of acting on her undeniable attraction to him—which she did not—a girl had to play a little bit hard to get. You couldn’t immediately fall all over yourself for a guy just because he looked like a god. You had to make him work for it a little bit.

The man kept holding her gaze, and Lola felt warmth pooling inside her. The intensity of his stare gave her a bit of a thrill. Why was he looking at her like that? Did he find her as interesting as she found him? 

In another life, she might have been interested. But in this life, she felt wary of men, her heart so recently broken. Besides, she wasn’t here to find a man. She was here to escape her everyday life and regain her bearings before heading back to the real world.

That knowledge didn’t stop her from giving her hair one more flirtatious flip before turning away. The dark-haired man arched an eyebrow at her and the heat in her stomach became an instant inferno. Quickly, Lola broke eye contact and made a beeline for the door and her car beyond. She had no doubts now that her cheeks were bright red. Luckily, the man could no longer see her cheeks. With a little more luck, she wouldn’t run into him in the hotel lobby again.

She didn’t need distractions like that. Not with her heart and life currently in such a state of confusion.

* * *

Thankfully, Lola’s racing heart had settled somewhat by the time she reached the kayak rental center. She had to admit the place was charming. The river and surrounding forest were gorgeous, especially with the golden-red colors of the autumn leaves reflecting on the pristine water. The air had a bit of a chill to it, but it wasn’t unpleasant. It was more of a crisp, refreshing chill, especially with the warm hoodie Lola had donned.

She saw Julia’s car parked in the small parking lot and smiled. It hadn’t been that long ago that Lola had seen that same car back in the city she lived in. It seemed strange that Julia and her car were now permanently here in Wood Canyon. Lola felt a momentary pang of sadness over the fact that her best friend now lived so far away, but only a moment. It wouldn’t do to dwell on such thoughts right then. Lola had a whole week to spend with Julia. She wasn’t going to ruin her time by thinking about the day she’d have to once again say goodbye.

“Lola!”

Julia’s shouting of Lola’s name was so loud that Lola wryly thought she probably could have heard it even if she’d still been back at the hotel. With a huge smile spreading across her face, Lola turned toward the sound to see her best friend running toward her with outstretched arms. Moments later, Julia slammed into Lola and wrapped her in a huge hug.

“Oh my goodness, it’s so good to see you!” Julia gushed. “We have so much to catch up on! I’m sorry I didn’t come pick you up from the hotel myself but I figured we’d be able to get started on kayaking faster if we met here. The hotel is just so out of the way from the donut shop. And I’m sorry I didn’t close the donut shop for today, but Fridays are one of my busiest days and the shop is so new. I don’t want to let people down or have them think I’m wishy-washy. And also—”

“Stop!” Lola said, laughing as she pulled back to look at Julia’s worried face. “No more apologizing. I’m just so happy to see you.”

Julia grinned. “Likewise. How was the trip out? You look a little stressed.”

Lola snorted. “Is that your polite way of telling me I look like crap? The trip was alright, but the last few weeks have been anything but alright.”

Julia’s face pulled into a sympathetic frown. “I’m so sorry about everything you’ve been going through. But you’re here now, and I promise, this place is so healing! You’re going to feel like a new person before you know it.”

“This must be the famous Lola Becker,” a gruff voice called out, interrupting Julia’s and Lola’s conversation.

Lola turned to see a tall, handsome man that she immediately recognized as Julia’s new boyfriend, Andy. Lola had seen plenty of pictures of the man, so she’d known he was good-looking, but the pictures hadn’t done him justice. He was almost as handsome as the man Lola had seen in the hotel lobby earlier. 

Lola felt her cheeks heating again at that thought. Why couldn’t she get that man out of her head? So what if he looked incredible? She didn’t even know his name and would most likely never see him again.

“Lola? Are you okay?” Julia’s concerned voice suddenly brought Lola back to the current moment. “Your face looks a little flushed.”

“I’m great,” Lola said in a voice that was far too chipper. She knew Julia would be able to tell that she wasn’t actually great, but she was counting on Julia to understand that she didn’t want to talk about it right then.

True to form, Julia did understand. “Well, then, let me officially introduce Andy,” Julia said as she gestured toward Andy.

Andy reached out and gave Lola’s hand a firm shake. “A pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”

Lola smiled. “And I you.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Hopefully all good.”

Lola laughed. “Are you kidding? Julia won’t shut up about amazing you are.”

Andy cracked a small smile, softening the hard lines of his gruff expression. “That’s what I like to hear. I hope she also told you that I’m the best kayak tour guide, and that you’re about to have the best river tour you’ve ever experienced.”

Lola’s nerves instantly returned. “She did tell me that, although you’ll have to forgive me for being a bit hesitant. I’ve never been big on water sports.”

Lola looked around, half-expecting to see a small crowd waiting to watch and ridicule her for her lack of kayaking abilities. Of course no one was staring, and, in fact, the parking lot was mostly empty. There were only other two other cars besides Lola’s and Julia’s, one of which Lola assumed was Andy’s. That meant that, thankfully, there weren’t even that many other customers to witness what Lola was sure would be her ultimate humiliation.

Lola realized that Andy was speaking again, and she forced herself to pay attention as he insisted once again that she would be completely safe and would even have fun. She nodded and tried to look confident, but she still felt nervous as she followed Andy into the small shop where he handed her a lifejacket and continued giving her some safety tips, which she did her best to pay attention to.  

Julia gave her encouraging smiles as they walked back out and started heading toward where Andy had prepped kayaks for them. Lola noticed that four kayaks were waiting instead of three, but she didn’t think much of it until Andy started looking around with an expectant expression on his face.

“Where is Dane?” he grumbled. “He promised me he wouldn’t be late.”

Lola felt the unease in her stomach growing, an unease that only got worse when she turned to give Julia a confused look, and realized that Julia looked somewhat guilty.

“Oh!” Julia said, in a tone far too bright to be believed. “I forgot to mention: Andy has a friend who just came into town as well. You don’t mind if he joins us, too, do you?”

Lola gave Julia a disbelieving look. Andy had walked a few yards away, apparently scanning the area for this missing “Dane” character. Lola took the opportunity to let Julia know her true feelings.

“How could you, Julia? You know I’m already nervous about kayaking! Don’t act like you just ‘forgot’ to mention there’d be a fourth person! You didn’t tell me on purpose, because you knew I’d back out if I knew some stranger would be tagging along with us!”

“I’m sorry,” Julia said, not looking all that contrite. “But he’s not a stranger. Not really. He’s one of Andy’s best friends, and he unexpectedly came into town last night. What was I supposed to say? That his best friend couldn’t come on this excursion, but mine can?”

“Yes!” Lola said, exasperated. “That’s exactly what you were supposed to say.”

Julia’s expression was a cross between petulance and contrition, and Lola didn’t know whether to be angry at her or to laugh.

“Look,” Lola said with a sigh. “Why don’t you and I just go grab some coffee or something and let Andy and his friend do their kayak thing alone?”

“No way,” Julia said. “You’re already here, and I promise once you get going you’re going to love it. And I’m sure his friend is nice. I mean—”

“Wait, have you not even met him?” Lola hissed.

“Well, not exactly. He just got in, and I’ve been busy at the donut shop. But Andy is amazing so I’m sure he wouldn’t have an asshole for a best friend.”

Lola groaned. “Julia! This is not how I wanted to spend my first day seeing you in forever!”

Julia really did look sorry then. “I know. I promise I’ll make it up to you. But I do really think you’ll love kayaking. Just give it a chance? For me?”

Lola let out an exasperated breath. “Fine, but you owe me one.”

Julia nodded, but then her eyes widened as she focused on something behind Lola. Lola frowned and turned around to see what could have shocked Julia.

That’s when she saw him. The same man from the hotel lobby.

“Wow,” Julia said. “He’s almost as good-looking as Andy.”

Almost? Lola thought. Try better.

But she managed not to say that aloud. Instead, she said, rather stupidly, “Not him again!”

Julia gave Lola a sharp look. “Again? What do you mean? Do you know him?”

Lola felt her cheeks flaming, but she turned to meet Julia’s gaze, anyway. “Not exactly. I just saw him at the hotel earlier and he was…staring at me in a weird way.”

In a way that made me not want to look away. In a way that made my knees weak 

Julia looked at Andy’s friend again and frowned. “Huh. I guess he must be staying there, too. I would have thought he’d want to stay with Andy. But I guess maybe he wanted his space just like you do.”

Julia’s tone was not at all accusing, but Lola felt guilty nonetheless.

“It’s just a hard time for me right now.”

Julia smiled warmly. “I understand. It was only an observation. Maybe Andy’s friend is going through a hard time, too. Come on, let’s go meet him.”

Julia grabbed Lola’s hand and pulled her forward toward Andy and his friend, who were now giving each other a bear hug complete with manly back slaps that Lola was pretty sure would have dislocated a shoulder if they’d been applied to her. She hung back, shyly, not wanting to interrupt the men’s moment and certainly not wanting to draw attention to herself. Andy’s friend would certainly recognize her from the hotel lobby. Would he say anything? Ask her why she was staring at him? Explain why he had been staring at her?

He did not. When Andy finally began making introductions, his friend greeted Lola as thought it was the first time they’d seen each other.

“Lola, this is my best friend Dane,” Andy said. “Dane, Lola. She’s Julia’s best friend.”

Dane gave Lola a smooth smile and shook her hand briefly but firmly. “Nice to meet you.”

The deep baritone of his voice sent delightful shivers down her spine, as did the moment of contact between his hand and hers. She tried her best to keep her face neutral, and not to show how he affected her. Still, she felt her cheeks growing hot once again, and she worried she was blushing.

How could he act like there was no chemistry between them when there so clearly was? Lola wished she could exude that kind of smooth nonchalance.

This was going to be a long kayak ride.

* * *

Dane halfheartedly rowed through the placid river water, letting Lola, with her frantic rowing, put some space between them. She had refused to make eye contact with him ever since Andy introduced them, and he wasn’t sure why.

She was full human, and, as far as he knew, was not aware that bear shifters existed. Andy had warned him that only Julia knew, so Dane had been careful to keep his conversation during the whole kayak tour to things that weren’t shifter related.

But even if Lola didn’t know about bear shifters, she clearly had some sense that there was something different about him. Or, even more worryingly, she had some sense that there was some deep magnetic pull between them.

The pull of a potential lifemate.

Dane sighed, and gave a few more halfhearted rows. He didn’t want to get too far behind the rest of the group, but whenever he got too close, he clearly made Lola uncomfortable.

She must have some sense of the way that his inner bear was roaring for her, even if she didn’t know what an inner bear actually was.

Since the moment she’d walked across that hotel lobby, he hadn’t been able to fully slow his racing heart. He’d been minding his own business, grabbing a beer at the hotel bar, when suddenly his inner bear had started going crazy. He’d turned, and there she was: the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He hadn’t known then that she was the best friend of his own best friend’s lifemate. He’d only known that he couldn’t stop staring at her as she walked away. He’d tried to memorize every curve of her body, every angle of her face.

She’d noticed him watching, and she’d returned his gaze, which he’d thought was a good sign. She’d even given him a flirtatious flip of her hair.

Then she’d disappeared from view, and he’d told himself to stop being ridiculous. She couldn’t possibly be his lifemate. Not a full human, who probably lived far away from his hometown.

His hometown where his life had been a giant mess for the last several months.

Someone there had gotten wind that he was a shifter, and was trying to get the police to take action against him. Thankfully, the police thought the accusations were absurd. Everyone knew shifters weren’t real!

But Dane could tell that some people in his town believed the accusations. Or, at least they believed there was something weird about him now, even if they didn’t think that shifters were a real thing. People gave him a wide berth, and gave him strange looks when he made eye contact with anyone while out and about.

Andy had convinced Dane to come to Wood Canyon for a break from it all, promising him it was a safe space. No one in Andy’s town knew or cared about shifters, other than Julia, who was obviously pro-shifter. Dane could relax and figure out his next move. 

Dane knew that Andy wanted Dane’s next move to be to move to Wood Canyon, but Dane wasn’t so sure. Was he really ready to uproot his entire life? Andy offered to let him help run the Kayak business, and running a business fit Dane’s work experience well. But still…moving across the country wasn’t exactly something someone did just for the fun of it.

And now, he had the added worry of wondering where Lola lived, and whether it was far from here. If she truly was his lifemate, was his bear going to be unhappy if he wasn’t near her?

Dane let out a low, frustrated growl. So much for relaxing. This trip had barely started and already things had gotten complicated.

A shriek of laughter drew his attention back toward Lola’s kayak, even though he’d sworn he wouldn’t keep staring at her. How could he help not looking, though? Her long, blonde hair glimmered in the late afternoon sunshine, its color more beautiful than the golden color of the autumn leaves surrounding them. And her eyes! Those honey brown eyes he could lose his soul in! He’d done his best to avoid eye contact during the river tour, but it had been hard. His bear wanted her so badly, and she was damn adorable.

She’d been nervous about whether she could kayak, and had proclaimed several times over the first ten minutes that she was sure she was going to fall out and drown. Andy was a good tour guide, though, and had put her at ease. Having Julia there had probably helped, too. Lola had soon gotten the hang of things and relaxed.

And when she was relaxed, she was funny and vivacious, driving Dane’s inner bear even crazier.

With a sigh, he paddled closer, letting himself finally catch up with the group as they made their way back to shore. He had to decide whether he was going to give in to his wild shifter side and try to pursue Lola, or whether he was going to do the smart thing and stay as far from her as possible during this trip, then pretend he’d never met her when he got back home.

He knew enough shifter lore to know that forgetting a lifemate wasn’t completely possible. But time and distance supposedly helped, and Dane had to be realistic. Full humans didn’t generally like shifters, and if Lola was his true lifemate, he was probably destined to be alone. Andy had gotten lucky with Julia, a full human who embraced the idea of bear shifters. Dane didn’t expect to have the same luck.

He wasn’t a pessimist, just a realist, and that was reality.

As soon as the kayaks were all dragged onto shore, Julia realized she’d forgotten about a celebratory bottle of sparkling wine she wanted to crack open at the end of the trip, and ran to get it. Andy was already dragging the first kayak back toward the storage shed, leaving Dane alone with Lola.

Dane felt a moment of sheer panic. Was he really supposed to stand there alone with her? He couldn’t handle that! He should help Andy with the kayaks, anyway! He started to grab for one, but then hesitated. Was it rude to leave Lola all alone?

He looked over at her, and, for the first time since they’d been introduced, she actually met his eyes. He stared at her, unsure of what to say, and she stared back, not flinching.

“What?” she finally said, her tone sharp.

“What?” he repeated dumbly, unsure of what she was asking.

“Yes, what. What do you want? You’ve been staring at me like a weirdo ever since the first moment I saw you. You’re doing it now. Just staring and not speaking. Do I have something on my face or something?”

No, Dane thought. You don’t have anything on your face. But you do have the most beautiful face I’ve ever seen. That’s why I can’t stop staring.

Aloud, he said nothing. He only raised an eyebrow at her. He was clearly creeping her out, and he didn’t trust himself not to make an even bigger mess of things if he tried to make an excuse for his behavior. Still, he knew he couldn’t just keep staring and not talking. She was going to get even more freaked out. 

He cleared his throat, intending to at least say “Sorry.” Even if it wasn’t the perfect response, he hoped it would at least let her know he was trying.

But before he could speak the word, she was shaking her head and stomping off. “I’m going to find Julia. You’re just another typical male, and I don’t have the patience for this.”

He didn’t try to stop her, despite the way his inner bear roared at him to chase her down. There would be time later to try to fix this, if he decided to pursue her, after all.

If he decided to confide in her just how much he was not another typical male, for reasons she would likely find unbelievable.

This little getaway was taking quite an unexpected turn…

*** Thank you for reading! CLICK HERE for Cozy Bear Autumn Part Two!***