Shifters, Inc. The Bear Who Loved Me (A BBW paranormal romance) (5 page)

              Why was she here? Why would a newspaper reporter work as a companion? He knew she was rich; she drove a new Mercedes and lived in a mansion. Was she bored? Was she following him just to mess with his head?

              Or was she here working undercover? If so, she was one dedicated reporter – willing to literally work under the covers.

              The whole “Fated Mates” theory claimed that it was inevitable that you would meet the one you were meant to be with. You’d have strong feelings of attraction for them immediately, and once you met your Fated Mate, if you didn’t give in to those feelings and start dating them right away, you would keep running into them again and again until inevitably you ended up together. Bobbi believed that, he knew.

That couldn’t possibly be happening here…but what the hell was she doing on this cruise ship?

              He moved closer to her. She spotted him and a look of shock crossed her face. After staring at him for a second, she blinked, turned and flounced off.

              There was a tiki bar at the opposite end of the clearing, and he realized with shock that he recognized a man who stood there nursing a beer. It was that Hammersmith idiot, Tom Hooper, wearing a white silk shirt that was unbuttoned to show way too much man cleavage, heavy gold chains dangling in his chest hair, and black silk pants. His hair was gelled into painful-looking spikes. Tom was watching Tonya walk away, with an expression of greed and lust that made Heath want to rip his face off.  Anger roared through him. He’d bet a year’s salary that Tom was somehow connected to Tonya being here.

              Tonya vanished into the crowd without looking back.

              Heath, blood boiling, restrained himself from running after her and instead stomped downstairs to find the ship’s security director.

              There was a security office on board for the use of any passengers who needed it, but to maintain discretion for their mission, a special security liaison, Pierre Robard, had been designated for this cruise. He operated out of the activities director’s office.

              Heath stalked in past the receptionist, stomped down the hall to Pierre’s office, and quickly shut the door behind him.

Pierre, a genial, round-faced man with skin the color of nutmeg, glanced up from behind his desk, where he’d been typing on a laptop. “What’s wrong?” he asked when he saw the expression on Heath’s face.

              “You have Hammersmith on board too?” Heath demanded angrily.

              Pierre looked a bit sheepish. “The Shangri-La Corporation wanted to ensure that we had all our bases covered.”

              “This does not cover all our bases,” Heath growled. “This creates confusion and disorganization. Do you not see the problem in hiring multiple security agencies and failing to inform them of each other’s presence? You need a well-coordinated team working together, not two teams bumbling around working against each other. Not to mention that the Hammersmith agency is known for its nepotism, and all the owner’s family members are idiots. The owner’s nephew, Tom Hooper, is on board today, and he’s an absolute jackass.”

              “We don’t have multiple security agencies, just two.” Pierre’s tone was placating.

              “That’s one too many.”

Pierre sighed and shut his laptop. “I advised against it. I was overridden. There’s nothing I can do about it,” he said. “We have the Hammersmith agency covering the Pleasure Island section of the ship, just in case we were wrong about who the real target might be. There are several less likely possibilities there, but they are still potential targets, so Hammersmith will be watching them.”

“If Hammersmith screws things up for everyone, which they usually do, it’s on you guys, not us,” Heath growled, and he stormed out of the office to find Jake and report back to him. This was beyond stupid, and with the internet and all communications shut down, they couldn’t even contact Shifters, Inc. headquarters to tell them about it.

              He debated whether he should have told Pierre that a newspaper reporter was on board posing as a companion, but he decided against it for the time being. He no longer felt that sharing intel with the Shangri-La security team was the smartest option. And for all he knew, Tonya might really be there legitimately working as a companion.

              Grumbling, he headed towards Jake’s quarters, which were on the next deck up. He felt an odd sensation tugging at him, though, pulling him back towards the Hawaii Deck.
Tonya needed him
.
Now.

             
What the hell – he might as well find her and demand to know what she was doing there. He hurried back to the Hawaii Deck, heading in the direction of where he’d seen her last. He shoved through the foliage, pushing past passionately entwined couples and ignoring come-hither glances from strolling female companions.

              He heard a feminine shriek coming from up ahead, followed by angry male shouting.

              He broke into a jog, rounding a corner and bursting through an alcove, where he saw a heavyset, angry man rubbing his face and Tonya indignantly yanking her bikini top back into place. He shook with the effort of keeping his beast under control.

              Heath hurried towards her, but Tom Hooper stepped between two clumps of foliage and beat him to it. He walked up to the man and said to him, “Sorry, she should have told you that I claimed her for the duration of the cruise. She just hasn’t changed her lei yet.”

              The man turned and stomped off, and Heath saw a look of bewilderment on Tonya’s face.

              Was it possible that she had boarded the ship without understanding the rules?

              Tom Hooper leaned towards Tonya with a leer and said something that Heath couldn’t make out. He saw her face turn pale and her mouth fall open with shock. Tom leaned over and tried to cup her buttock in his hands, and Tonya stumbled back with a shriek. Before Heath could stop himself, he’d gone bear. Exploded out of his clothes, towering seven feet tall, long, curving claws shooting from his paws…

              Tom took a few more steps back, mouth opening in shock as Heath lumbered towards him. He was human. The last thing he’d want to do was tangle with an enraged bear.

              Heath could have taken his head off with one swipe of his claws, and he wanted to, but instead he forced himself back into human form. He was stark naked now, but on a ship like this one, that wasn’t too big a deal.

              A crowd was gathering, drawn by the commotion. Great. Just what Heath didn’t want – to stand out like a big, hairy sore thumb.

              Heath raked Tom with a dangerous glower, then put his arm around Tonya’s shoulders. It felt so right there, he wanted to pull her in closer and bury himself inside her.

“Actually, she’s apparently very forgetful today, because I claimed her before you did.” Heath’s voice rolled out in a growl. Tom opened his mouth to protest, but before he could, Heath leaned forward and said, his voice low and dangerous, “If you give me a hard time about this, I’ll tell Shangri-La security that you smuggled a reporter on here, compromising the privacy of all of the guests so that you could get laid.”

              Tom went pale, swallowed hard, and directed a furious scowl at Tonya before he turned and stalked off without a word.

              “You – come with me,” Heath said, grabbing Tonya’s arm and hauling her off with him.

* * *

              As Heath hauled her into his room, Tonya cast one last longing glance at the distant horizon. The shoreline had vanished hours ago, and there was nothing but the endless rolling blue sea. She was trapped here, and in way over her head.

              They walked into the room and Heath slammed the door.

              She glanced around his cabin and, despite the seriousness of the situation, she couldn’t help but chuckle. “Wow. This is pornoriffic. My cabin looks nothing like this,” she said.

              “Hold on while I get dressed,” he growled, and stalked over to an enormous closet. He quickly dressed, standing with his back to her. She knew there was no point in staring at him, but she couldn’t help herself. God help her, the man had the most perfectly sculpted ass she’d ever seen. And those muscular legs, the mighty thighs…she wanted them wrapped around her so badly that she swallowed a whimper of frustration.

              He turned and walked over to the well-stocked bar, buttoning his silk Oxford shirt.

“Well, this is different,” Tonya observed, looking him up and down. “Usually you’re more of a jeans and sneakers kind of guy.”

              Heath shrugged and poured himself a whiskey. “Want one?” he asked, glancing over at her.

              “It’s a little early, thanks. What is all this claiming business?”

              He let out a long, exasperated sigh. “Let me guess. Tom got you fake credentials and smuggled you on board. And he didn’t tell you what you were in for.”

              She flushed, shamefully. “He called me up last night and told me that something massively newsworthy was happening on this ship, and he could get me fake papers to come on board. He swore this would be the biggest story of my career. I really, really need a big story if I ever want to get hired at the Telegraph, so I agreed without really reading the fine print. I’m supposed to be something called a ‘companion’.” She grimaced in dismay at her own stupidity. “I had no idea what that meant. So now he’s told me that means that anyone can claim me to do anything they want with me, so I have to be with him this whole week, and if I protest he’s going to tell the ship’s security that I smuggled myself on here and he’ll deny that he helped me.”

              Heath’s face flushed with anger. “That dickwad. Let me explain how this cruise works. They hire beautiful men and women like you to act as escorts for the passengers. If you’re available, you’ll be wearing a green necklace. Green means go. If a passenger wants to claim you for the duration of the ship, and you agree to it, then you get a red necklace, and nobody will mess with you. Of course you have a choice; Tom was lying when he said anybody could do anything they want to you. The ship’s passengers are very clearly informed of the rules. They can’t hit on the wait staff or the maids or any crew member who is not wearing a green necklace, and they absolutely cannot force themselves on anyone.”

              “Oh.” Tonya stared at him in amazement. “Did you just call me beautiful?”

              Heath looked at her, puzzled. “Of course you’re beautiful. You know that.”

              No, she really didn’t, but it was nice to hear it. Especially from him.

              “Go on,” she said. “Some of the passengers weren’t exactly the most attractive people I’ve ever seen. What if all the companions refuse to be with them?”

              “The ship’s passengers are expected to tip the companions very generously every day. Stingy passengers end up feeling very lonely. Of course, the companions also receive generous compensation for their time on the ship, but it’s nothing in comparison to the tips.”

              “Isn’t that kind of illegal? They’re paying for the companions to have sex with them?”

              “They pay in Mardi Gras style beads, which the companions can use to shop in the ship’s stores.” Heath shrugged. “There are a lot of high-end luxury boutiques on board. That’s how they get around it.”

              “So…” Tonya looked worried. “Where does that leave me?”

              “That depends.” Heath’s tone was stern. “You do understand that there are people on here who have very public profiles, who want to enjoy themselves in privacy?”

              “I’m not here to expose anyone’s sex life,” she said indignantly. “I’m not a tabloid reporter, for God’s sake. Tom told me that he was here to thwart some kind of attack on a political figure. That’s the only reason I came.”

She had almost declined, in fact, even though she’d never been on a cruise ship before. She’d wanted to stay behind and help Bridgit figure out what to do about her a-hole family, but Bridgit had insisted that she go.

              “I can’t discuss why we’re here,” Heath said. “I can keep you from getting in trouble with ship’s security if you agree to stay out of the way and not try to do any investigating. Many people’s lives are at stake here, and if you interfere, you could expose our entire operation.”

              She nodded. “I solemnly swear to stay out of the way.” And she mostly meant it. She had a feeling that Heath was a bear of his word, and no story was worth risking lives.

              “Well, the only way for you to keep your cover and not get hassled by shipboard security is if I claim you for the rest of the cruise. That means you move into my cabin and pretend that you’re with me.” He grabbed a red lei from on top of a chest of drawers, and she saw that there were half a dozen of them there.

              “So you could claim multiple companions?” Her eyes widened.

              “Hey, it’s a pleasure cruise. However, I’m only going to claim you.” He draped the necklace over her head. Just as she was feeling a warm glow sweeping through her at the idea that he only wanted to claim her, he added, “Of course, this doesn’t actually mean I’m claiming you. I’m just doing it to help you out.”