Page 1 of Baby and the Beast

Baby and the Bear

Chapter One

Seth peered out of his windshield and slowed even more as the snow intensified. His wiper blades were on the maximum setting, and the GPS was telling him he still had another four miles to go. Unfortunately, it was dark, and the “road” he was on would be called a track by any normal standard.

He should have known after this morning that the rest of his day would go downhill. He’d surprised Matty with his gift this morning, intending for them to leave right away, but by the time they’d finished fighting and Seth had still decided to go, it was getting late.

“Is this a joke?” Matty finally croaked out after reading the email and rental brochure he’d included in the envelope showing a perfect sunset over the lake.

Seth had counted to ten before he replied. “We said we needed some time together, to talk. You love snow,” he added hopefully.

“I love skiing in five-star, exclusive resorts,” Matty snapped back. “I don’t love being abandoned in some backwater hillbilly—”

“That’s hardly fair,” Seth argued. “It’s even got its own hot tub.”

“Oh, well,” Matty responded sarcastically, “that makes all the difference.”

“I thought this was what you wanted.” Seth tried to be reasonable. “We’ve hardly seen each other lately.” Work had been a nightmare for three months while Seth had eased his department through the takeover, and Matty had complained bitterly every time he was home late. “I was hoping to look at buying some vacation homes and putting together the business we talked about. This area is less than three hours from both Charlotte and Atlanta, and because four of the properties need repair, we could get a good deal.”

“Repair?” Matty shrieked. “They need demolishing.”

Okay, so one urgently needed a new roof, but they all had gorgeous views of the lake, and Seth was looking forward to doing a lot of the work himself. He was forty-two next year, and he’d had enough of the rat race.

“Seth,” Matty wheedled and came closer. “I know you talked about the lake area, but we need to go a little more upmarket. There’s zero nightlife, and no one’s going to drive three hours to get to a decent club.”

Seth swallowed his disappointment. He’d really thought after their last discussion that Matty had been on board, but then again, Matty changed his mind like Seth changed his socks.

“You know what the doc said after my last numbers. I need to slow down.” He’d actually been told the stress would kill him if he didn’t make some huge changes.

“Exactly,” Matty said triumphantly. “You need to be pampered and taken care of. Some of the better resorts provide guests with their own personal chef and dedicated butler.”

Going over the conversation in his head again now as he drove to the cabin, Seth knew it had been that final sentence that nailed it. Matty had made it clear he wasn’t going to be the one taking care of Seth if he ever needed it. He expected Seth to hire someone to do it. Maybe they had never been a good fit? Matty was a delicate-boned whirlwind who looked effortlessly stunning. Pretty didn’t even come close.

And Seth? Seth was anything but. In the right light he might be termed cuddly, but his nose had been broken too many times playing football in college, and his knee hurt when it was going to rain. He’d always wondered what Matty had seen in him that night nearly two years ago when he’d been at a club for a work Christmas party and Matty had asked him to dance. Not that Seth could dance, but he’d stood there obligingly while Matty had just about used him as a pole.

He’d tried to be what Matty wanted. The diet was the hardest, even allowing for the things the doc wanted him to do. Drinking mystery green shakes—he never knew what Matty put in them—that were disgusting. He could easily eat chicken breasts instead of hamburgers, but he missed real food so much it made him cheat. Matty was always so disappointed when he made him stand on the bathroom scales every damn morning, and he still hadn’t lost any weight.

And little by little, his confidence chipped away until it started affecting his job. Instead of being decisive, he’d started second-guessing himself.

Seth’s thoughts ground to an abrupt halt as he reflexively pumped on the brakes and screeched to a halt. What was that? He peered through the snow at the dark shape. A bear? Seth blew out a long breath as the animal seemed to stare at hiscar, then ambled into the woods. Black bears, he told himself. Shy of humans. Not generally aggressive unless said human did something really stupid. He was glad he hadn’t hit him, though.Her?Or even a cub. It had seemed small, but even though black bears were usually only about five feet tall standing, that one had seemed even smaller.

Seth’s cell phone rang just as he was negotiating a bend. He glanced at the name Matty on the screen, and a sharp flare of hope stung his chest. “Hi.” He silently thanked the Bluetooth gods because he wouldn’t have dared take either hand off the steering wheel.

“I just landed in Cancún,” Matty said baldly. “You could be here by tomorrow.”

Seth tightened his hands on the steering wheel, tamping down the temptation to turn the car around and do exactly that. “I’m too far away.”

Matty laughed. “You’re only thirty minutes from the airport, and I’ve already bought your ticket.”

Seth frowned. Matty hadboughthim a plane ticket. Since when did he do anything like that? Matty didn’t have the money for tickets since Seth had taken his credit cards from him…againafter having to pay the balances off. “I mean I’m not at home,” Seth admitted. “I have a week off work, and so I decided to drive to the cabin.”

The silence was so complete Seth wondered if Matty had hung up. “Matty?”

“What do you mean you’re on your way to the cabin?” Matty sounded distant, defensive.

“I thought with the way we left things that we were done,” Seth pointed out. After going around in circles, Matty had told Seth he didn’t need to worry about dying from a heart attack, because boredom would get him long before that, and he wasn’t sticking around to watch it happen. Then he’d slammed the doorand gotten in the cab that had just pulled up to take him to the airport.

“But you can’t.”

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