Page 27 of Coveted By the Bear

Becca lowered her voice and laughed. “I bet he is trying to make me jealous.” She turned a death glare on me. “Won’t work, though. I’d never be jealous of Crazy Mira.”

Caleb cleared his throat from behind me. Annoyance soaked his tone when he asked, “Everything okay here, ladies?”

“What are you doing?” Becca whisper-screamed. “Did you even think about how embarrassing this would be for me? I had to find out about this”—Becca waved her hand frantically in my direction—“from Nora Leadby, and she heard it from, like, thirty other people!”

“Believe it or not,” Caleb said, putting his hand on my hip to push me toward the truck, “I didn’t think about you when I asked Mira to breakfast. You and I aren’t together, Becca. We never really were, so I’d appreciate it if you left her alone.”

Caleb took his sweet time tucking me into the truck and sauntering around the front, looking as if he didn’t at all notice everyone gathered outside of Rooney’s staring blatantly. He gave the crowd a friendly wave and a, “Y’all have a good day,” and then we were off to the butcher shop so I could apply for a job. Again.

Caleb, after seeing my apparent lack of fear when it came to bloodier situations, had decided a job in the back at Don’s Butcher Shop would be the perfect one for me. I didn’t really care, nor was I picky. I’d do anything shy of standing on a street corner with my boobs out to earn some money if it meant I’d reclaim my independence.

A more disappointed look I had never seen on anyone’s face than on Butcher Don’s when I walked through the door to his shop.

“What can I do you for, Miss Fletcher?” he drawled, wiping his hands on his apron. It was clear as water he hoped I was ordering a pound of beefsteak.

I clenched my hands together to steady them as I approached the counter. “Your sign still says you’re hiring. I think I would fit what you need. I process my own game and am comfortable with a knife. Would you mind if I filled out an application?”

I could see the answer written all over his face before he even opened his mouth to speak. “Mira, I just don’t have a position open for someone like you.”

I left the butcher shop about thirty seconds later, having received almost, word for word, the same rejection I had obtained two months ago.

Caleb sat in the truck with the stereo blaring. His arm dangled comfortably out of the window, and he raised it in a what the hell gesture when I hurried across the sidewalk to hop into the cab.

“What happened? You weren’t even in there a minute,” he said.

I shrugged miserably. “Mr. Don said the same thing he said last time.”

Caleb growled. It was the only word I had for the angry noise that burst from his throat. “Come on,” he ordered before I even had the chance to warm my fingers by the heater.

“Caleb, it’s fine—”

“No, it’s not, Mira. It’s fucked up,” he said, heading for my side of the truck.

I slithered out of the cab before he could reach the door. “Okay,” I muttered, shutting the door gently behind me. That creaking metal door didn’t even know I had just saved it from the slamming of its life.

“Caleb,” Don greeted with a smile. His face fell when he realized I was hiding behind him.

“Don Forbes, you have a sign up on the door that says you’re hiring, and you won’t even let her fill out a damned application for it?” Caleb asked. The walls seemed to move inward with the volume of his voice. “She has a high school diploma, which is more than I can say for the last dipshit who worked here. She knows her way around an animal, and she’s strong enough to handle what you need her to. What’s the hold up?”

“Caleb,” the portly man behind the counter said low. “It ain’t that I don’t want to help her out. It’s just I’m barely making it right now. I can’t handle a dip in business, or I’ll lose it. She,” he said jabbing a finger in my direction, “will scare off all of my business, even if she doesn’t mean to. I can’t help you. I have a family to take care of.”

Caleb swung his gaze to me, and I grabbed his forearm when I noticed the gold in his eyes. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not,” he argued, tilting his head.

He began to turn away from me, but I flung my arms around his shoulders and held him close. “Your eyes,” I breathed. “We need to go.”

He rubbed the side of my face, his short stubble rasping against my cheek. “Okay.” His grip tightened on my waist, and my legs went numb. I wanted to stay like this forever, holding him. It had been an impulsive thing to do, but he’d reacted in the most unexpected way. Like he was enjoying my touch.

Caleb inhaled a long breath and stepped around me and through the front door, leaving me to try and look like I hadn’t just had the most life-altering moment of my entire existence.

“Sorry, Mr. Don,” I murmured, then spun for the door.

“This ain’t right,” Caleb fumed from the driver’s side of his truck. His deep southern drawl came out more when he was angry. He wasn’t even trying to keep his eyes human-looking right now, and I tossed up a little thank-you that the windows of Caleb’s truck were heavily tinted.

“It’s not right, but he has a point,” I said. “I would hurt business for anyone in town.”

I didn’t know why I was defending any of them from the wrath of a McCreedy. They had never lifted a finger for me, unless it was to throw stuff.