Bear in a Billion: EXPOSED (#1) (7 page)

“And private.”

Haley felt a sudden flash of concern. The shifter was, after all, a shifter. He could transform into a grizzly bear. Would they be safe? She looked across at Ethan. Strong, protective. She knew he would fight for her because he had saved her life, but he was still only human. Haley pushed the thought of danger from her mind. She needed to take the risk. For the story.

Ethan pulled his van to a halt in front of the beach.

“Come on,” he said.

“It’s not nine yet.”

“I know. You hungry?”

“Yeah, but…”

“There’s no use starving while we wait.”

Ethan opened the sliding door of the van and pulled out a picnic basket. He grabbed a bottle of wine and dropped it inside along with the takeout food and a picnic blanket. He strode out on the beach and arranged the blanket and food on the sand.

“Ethan, this is lovely,” Haley said.

“I don’t know about lovely, but I can guarantee tasty. Martha’s makes the best egg salad sandwiches anywhere.”

Haley smiled sadly.

Damn. What had he done? He wanted everything to be perfect. This woman was, without doubt, the most impressive, fantastic creature ever to cross his path and he didn’t dare screw it up. He needed to be careful. He needed to play it right. Because, though Ethan considered himself lucky in life, he didn’t think he was so lucky in love. Except with Haley. With Haley it felt different. And Ethan’s bear was resolute. Haley was the woman for him. He couldn’t have her upset.

“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked.

“Nothing. It’s just that…”

“It’s just that what?”

“Well, the picnic is lovely. But if we’re here to meet the shifter isn’t it going to look a little strange if we’re sitting down enjoying a glass of red wine?”

“You’re right,” Ethan said. “He might be a champagne kind of guy.”

“Ethan…”

“Listen, if you want to wait until after he shows, I get it.”

Haley smiled widely.

“Come on, give me hand with the blanket,” Ethan said.

Haley took an end and they folded it back up.

“Meeting first. Wine after. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

Chapter Five

Haley paced in the sand as she awaited the shifter. It was nine o’clock on the dot. She knew Ethan could tell she was nervous, but she tried to put him out of her mind. As wonderful as Ethan was, this was her career. Getting this interview could mean big things for her. And though Ethan might be a flash in the pan or something more, her investment in herself was forever. She needed to make this meeting count.

“What time is it, Ethan?”

“One minute past nine.”

Haley continued to pace. The stars were out and the moon was full, a gentle ocean breeze in the air, but she barely registered any of it. Her mind was on the shifter. What would he look like? Should she be scared? She’d already been over that in her head. Ethan was here. But what could Ethan do if the shifter transformed into a two-thousand-pound grizzly bear who decided to go on a rampage? Not much, if Haley had to guess.

“Time?” Haley asked.

“A minute later than the last time you asked.”

Haley shook her head. “I hope he shows.”

Ethan approached her. “Look, Haley, if he doesn’t…”

“He’s going to show,” Haley said.

Haley continued to pace uneasily. Five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen. She felt her worst fears slowly being confirmed.

“This is not happening, is it, Ethan?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Ethan said.

“Ethan! You’re supposed to be reassuring.”

“Haley. I just got a text,” Ethan said quietly.

Haley felt her heart fall.

“And?”

“And he’s changed his mind. He’s not coming.”

“Did he say why?”

“Something about being stuck out of town.”

Haley kicked at the sand. Why did she think this would work out in the first place? Why would the shifter deign to meet her, an unknown reporter? He could go to any news outlet in the country. What was she doing thinking she could be a reporter, anyhow? When she got laid off from the
Kirbyville Post
, maybe she should have read the writing on the wall. Maybe it had nothing to do with advertising dollars and the newspaper business. Maybe it had everything to do with her. Maybe she just wasn’t good enough. Haley knew she was spiraling. She took a deep breath.

Get it together, Haley.
It was a long shot. There will be other opportunities to prove yourself as a reporter. You tried. That’s all you can do.

“Ethan?”

“Yeah, Haley?”

“I think I’m ready for that wine now.”

**********************

Ethan opened the bottle of wine and Haley started to feel better. She was always like this, she thought, always going after the big prize when the thing she wanted was right in front of her. Like Ethan. Why couldn’t she be grateful for what she had? Ethan was wonderful. He was passionate. He was caring. He had saved her life. She got goosebumps just speaking to him. His soft, husky voice, his clear blue eyes, his smile. But then, her mind wandered off to the shifter again. Why hadn’t he showed? He had said he would, and then he didn’t. Things didn’t happen without a reason. What had happened to cause the shifter to change his mind?

Ethan refilled her glass.

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” Haley asked.

“No, not at all. You’ve only had one glass, right?”

“Yup.”

“Good. Because I’ve got something to show you.”

“What?”

“Forget the what, where, and why for the rest of the night and let me take care of you, Haley. You’re going to love this.”

Ethan walked back to the van and pulled the two longboards off the rack on the side. Haley saw what he had in mind.

“Oh, no. No, no, no.” Haley didn’t like the idea. Not one bit. “No way, Ethan. That ocean got the best of me and I’m fine with that. I’m cutting my losses. I didn’t even bring a bathing suit.”

“You’ve got shorts and a T-shirt. You’ll be fine.” Ethan put a surfboard under each arm. “Just follow me. Nature has a special treat for us tonight, Haley, and I want you to have a front row seat.”

Haley just stared at the surfboard. She felt a surge of fear well up within her. Real fear. “That’s not a seat,” she finally said.

“You’ll be fine.”

Haley didn’t think so. Her mind flashed back to her near drowning. To the rip current she couldn’t possible swim against, to the terrible waves pushing her farther and farther down. Her lungs had felt like they were going to burst. And then she had blacked out entirely. If not for Ethan, if he hadn’t rescued her, she would be… dead. And now he was asking her to go back in? Again? After what had happened to her? Every ounce of her being recoiled at the thought.

“Haley,” Ethan said. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” Haley replied. She trusted him. He had saved her life, after all. But it didn’t mean she was going back in there. She could enjoy nature perfectly well from dry land.

“You know I would never let anything happen to you,” Ethan said.

“Yes.”

“And you’ve heard the expression, ‘get back on the old horse’?”

“Of course.”

“Then give me your hand. I won’t let anything happen to you. Ever.”

Why did he have to be so damn convincing? She didn’t want to do it. No part of her wanted to go back into the ocean. But she didn’t want to be a coward, either. She didn’t want to be afraid. And she knew there was only one way to get over your fears. And that was to face them.

“You promise?” Haley said.

“I promise.”

Haley made a conscious effort to trust him. She took a deep breath and gave Ethan her hand. It was more awkward than it looked because he was carrying both surfboards, but he managed to fold her fingers into his. Haley’s heart beat in trepidation as he led her to the water’s edge. Even now, every fiber of her being told her that this was not a good idea. She fought back the need to turn around, to feign an injury, to stop. Haley noted that the breeze had died down to nothing. The air was perfectly still. And so was the ocean. Where before the waves had pounded in, now there was barely a ripple. Ethan dropped both boards into the water.

“I’m going to be by your side, holding your hand the whole time,” Ethan said. “Everything is going to be fine. Better than fine. It’s going to be great.”

They paddled out together, lying belly down on the big long surfboards. Ethan braced his arm across her board to hold it parallel with his and they both paddled with one arm, Ethan with his right and Haley with her left. Haley grasped her board white-knuckled at first, but she soon got the hang of it. The ocean was so calm it was like floating in a giant bathtub. As they got into synch with their paddling, they moved quickly and more easily. Then, when they were about a hundred yards out, Ethan said, “That’s far enough.”

“Far enough for what?”

“Follow what I do,” Ethan said.

Ethan slowly sat up on his surfboard so that he was straddling it between his legs. Really? Now they had to sit? Haley liked being as close as possible to the board. It felt safer that way. But she followed along with Ethan, doing exactly the same as he had, feeling the board sink just a little under her weight.

“Now what?” Haley asked, her heart beating a mile a minute again as she sat in the middle of the dark ocean, the surfboard between her legs.

“Now breathe,” Ethan said.

“Breathe?”

“Breathe.”

Haley took a deep breath. She inhaled slowly and then let it out. Then she did it again. Ethan was still holding her hand, but on about the third breath, she began to relax, her heart slowing, and as she did, her eyes opened up to everything around her. She had been so scared, so frightened at going back into the ocean that she hadn’t noticed the beauty that surrounded her. The water was as flat as a dark mirror, not a wave in sight, and on its surface, a million stars twinkled, reflected from the sky above. It was awe inspiring. Just beautiful.

“Wow,” Haley said.

“Yeah. Wow. Now watch this,” Ethan said.

Ethan ran his hand through the water in an arc. A trail of light glowed behind his fingers.

“Oh my gosh, it’s beautiful,” Haley gasped.

“It’s phosphorescence. They’re tiny sea creatures that glow in the dark.”

“Like fireflies?”

“But smaller. You tend to see it more on calm nights.”

“I was so intent on getting out here I didn’t even notice it,” Haley said.

“That’s how it is with goals. Sometimes they loom so large in your mind you don’t see what’s right in front of you.”

Haley ran her fingers through the water, the tiny glowing specks following behind her hand, and she couldn’t help but smile. She had been scared, but she should have just trusted Ethan from the start. He wouldn’t steer her wrong. She was beginning to think he would never steer her wrong. In fact, she was beginning to think, that she and Ethan might just be more than a passing thing—that he might be the one for her.

“Surfer. Cameraman. Philosopher. What else are you, Ethan Stone?”

He took her other hand and turned toward her, just the two of them, floating in the middle of a mirror-flat ocean.

“Hungry?”

Haley felt her heart skip a beat as Ethan craned his neck toward her and his lips touched hers. The kiss seemed to last forever, magical and soft, so that when he finally lifted his lips away, it took her a moment to remember that they were still floating silently in the middle of nowhere.

“Famished,” Haley finally said.

**********************

They ate the sandwiches on the drive back, but by the time they got to Ethan’s parking spot, it was evident that everything had changed. The protest had picked up even more steam. People were yelling and shouting, and there was more than one bonfire. What had been peaceful for days, now felt more urgent, violent. But instead of feeling afraid, Haley felt her reporter’s juices flowing. This was the kind of thing that had made her want to get into journalism in the first place. She was excited to find out what was going on. She was sure there was a story there.

“Ethan. Grab your camera.”

“I think you’d better stay in the van,” Ethan said.

“I’m never going to work as reporter if I stay where it’s safe all the time,” Haley replied.

“Then stay close.”

Haley hurried around the front of the van and Ethan took her hand. They moved into the crowd and Haley quickly saw that the situation was even worse than she had thought. The regular protestors were there, holding their signs, but they weren’t alone. The other protestors, the ones who wore the black bandanas, were stirring things up. Haley had heard of this happening before. Groups of people infiltrating protests for their own ends. The protest had widened out to the main street. Ethan shot video as they walked. Someone broke a shop window.

“Hey man, that’s not cool,” one of the original protestors said.