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Chapter Two
Ty
Ty’s heart sank. Of anything the beautiful Jenni could say,Please tell me you both aren’t my dateshad to be the worst. When he and Clark turned to Gerri at the Paranormal Dating Agency for help in finding their mate, they’d made it quite clear they would be sharing. They’d shared everything since their first two-pack of cupcakes day one of preschool. Their bond, although hard for some humans to understand, was quite common among their pack. And once they reached adulthood, it gained new aspects.
He sank back into his seat and watched the snowy landscape fly by for a while, trying to figure out what to do. Maybe they should take her down the hill and check her into a hotel for the night. She could fly out tomorrow and—
“We’re your dates.” Clark flashed her the grin that had females tumbling into their bed since they’d been old enough to want one. “Don’t you like us?”
Ty settled in to listen. Wasn’t that always the way? While he struggled for words, his partner in crime and life always had them at the ready.
“Well…I don’t know you enough to like you or dislike you,” she stammered. “That’s not the problem.”
“What a relief, isn’t it, Ty?” Clark winked into the rearview mirror. “Because isn’t that what a date is all about? Getting to know each other?” He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze before releasing it. “So, we have a while longer before we get to the lodge. Tell me all about you.”
Ty shook his head slowly. If he’d ever counted on Clark to save the day, this was the time. The other women who’d shared their bed for a few nights had been passing fancies. They’d never pretended anything more, and none of the ladies left unsatisfied. This was the big one. If they hadn’t sensed it themselves, the pack healer’s words at the last full moon had cemented it.
“It’s time. You must find your mate before the last snow melts or risk never finding her at all.” The wizened bear with patchy white fur nodded so long, he thought she’d fallen asleep, but then her head jerked up. “Hurry. Your own bond is at stake.”
Jenni licked her lips, her cheeks rounded in profile, dark lashes fringing sea-green eyes. Her hair fell in soft blonde waves around her face.
The healer had no more advice than that, but after years of playing the field, they had no objections to settling down, making a home worthy of a female. They talked of the pleasure of cubs rolling around on the rug in front of the hearth. They also had no potential mates in their sights.
Jenni began to speak, in a soft voice. “I don’t know what to tell you. You already know about my family, or lack thereof. I was a model for a time. That’s where I met all my friends. When you’re starting out, the agency puts a bunch of the girls together in a model house or an apartment.” Her lips curved up in a small, sweet smile. “Coming out of the system, I needed a job and a place to live. This handled both issues for me.” She shrugged. “I got lucky.”
His blood chilled at the thought of her young and vulnerable, going from what was probably sketchy living at best to a situation where she could have ended up coming to harm.
“I was surprised to learn that full-figured models could make a good living,” she told them
Clark reached over and brushed a lock of hair from her face. “People like to see beauty. Are you still a model?”
“No.” She sat taller. “I got tired of the long hours and travel, so I opened a business where I set my own schedule. I own an online travel service.”
Ty leaned forward again. He drew in a breath of her scent, cedar and faint jasmine, heady and exotic. “What made you choose that if you didn’t want to travel anymore?”
She tipped her chin up. “When I was modeling, I took every opportunity to learn about the business, thinking I might like the management end of things better than being in front of the camera. I even spent some time behind it—which I loved, but I don’t think I have an eye for fashion photography.”
Clark turned off the main road onto a narrower one, one lane, no guardrails, and as they climbed, the view spread out all around them. They didn’t bring many people up here, and the few they did were often frightened by the sheer drop, and some were bothered by altitude in general, so Ty didn’t interrupt Jenni to point it out. Instead, he asked, “How did all that lead you into being a travel agent?”
Jenni drew a deep breath and continued. “No, I’m not a travel agent, exactly. What happened was, I kind of fell into making the arrangements for all the girls. I got good at finding deals like good hotels with great extras, flight upgrades, and I’m a little OCD about details.”
He wished they’d found time to finish making their bachelor lodge more mate-friendly. “Umm, yeah, so…you started doing it for money.”
“That’s the abbreviated version, but yes. Word got around that I had a knack, other agencies asked me to set up trips for them…and it turned out I could make just as good a living without people caking makeup on my face all the time. I never liked that part.”
Clark slowed to round the last turn before their drive and Jenni gasped. “Stop, right here! Stop the car!”
Oh no.“What’s the matter,” he asked. “We’re perfectly safe with Clark behind the wheel.” Although anyone in their right mind would find this hairpin turn terrifying. Heck, he had driven and ridden it hundreds of times, and it made even his palms sweat a little.
“Just stop.” Her voice held such urgency, Clark put the car in park. “I have to get out.”
“That’s not a great idea,” he said.
“We’re almost there, can’t you hang on for just a second?” Clark echoed.
“And miss this shot?” She fumbled for her seatbelt buckle and opened the door. “Can you hand me my small bag? The camera is in it.”
The camera? He reached over the seat for her bag and handed it up to Clark who got out and came around to stand at her side.
