Page 1 of Bear Boss's Mate
CHAPTER ONE
WANDERING ALONG A NARROWtrail through the woods, the crisp night air chilled her skin. Marcy was startled as a twig snapped several feet behind her.
A quick glance over her shoulder revealed a man headed straight for her.
She stopped, paralyzed with fear as he grew closer. She paled at the fury in his eyes. A scream caught in her throat just as their bodies hit the ground with a dull thud.
The guy was on top of her as she flailed and kicked.
Overcome with fear, she tried and failed to summon the courage to fight back.
It was then that she heard a loud noise crashing through the forest. It was coming closer.
She tried turning her head in the sound’s direction. A loud roar echoed through the forest and the ground rumbled under the heavy footfalls as whatever it was approached.
Standing over them was an enormous grizzly bear. With one large paw, the bear swung at the man.
Her assailant flew through the air, striking a tree before crumpling to the ground.
The bear turned toward her, his golden eyes gazing upon her. She finally managed to scream.
The nightmare dissolved as Marcy jolted awake. She sat up, waiting for her racing heart to calm before gazing at the clock.Damn it.
She hurried out of bed, cursing. She was about to be late for her first day at a new job. There was no time to dwell on a horrible nightmare. She’d been awake most of the night, worrying as it was. Now she had only half an hour to get ready.
To save time, she tied her long hair up, leaving just a few strands of bouncy brown curls to fall around her face. After a quick rummage through her closet, she settled on a blue sheath dress. She hoped it would look professional enough and hide some of her curvy figure. Her hand shook as she applied her makeup.
Her mind raced with expectations of what it might be like working at a new company. The position was a lot like what she’d been doing at her last job.
Only this time, Marcy would manage her own department. Finally, it looked like her career was going somewhere.
She would be managing other people for the first time. It was a significant step up on her career track, but it still scared her.
Like so many things did these days.
She was reserved around new people, but hoped she would overcome this in the right atmosphere. Being introverted, it was going to be a big switch running her own department.
She was lucky she’d landed the new job. She’d overheard a couple of women talking about the position being open; otherwise, she wouldn’t have known that the business was hiring.
As a trained and certified accountant, she’d spent her years since university working for a small business in town. Sheenjoyed being an accountant, but couldn’t stand how she was treated by her employer.
At twenty-nine, she was the youngest woman at Boyd and Harvey Accounting. But was always treated as though she knew nothing. Frequently, she’d overheard her boss blaming her for mistakeshehad made. The horrible man didn’t apologize to her, which only infuriated her further. Any attempts at speaking up for herself were met with sarcasm or humiliation.
When she did quit, her employer acted as if she owed him something. Her employer didn’t care what her reasons were for leaving.
She was glad she never had to go back there and only wished she had left years ago. Especially since the other reason for moving on from Boyd and Harvey had to do with her personal life. But she didn’t want to think about that right now.
Now was about a fresh start, and she was going to show up late!
MARCY DABBED AWAY PERSPIRATIONfrom her brow and entered Bear Bones Construction. She walked to the reception area. “Hello, I’m Marcy Wright. I’m expected to work here today,” she wheezed.
“Good Morning, Miss Wright. I’ll call Bern to come down and get you,” she said as she dialed an extension.
“She’s here,” the receptionist said into her headset. She looked at Marcy. “He’ll be right down. Have a seat.”
Marcy responded with a brief smile and walked over to a wide couch to sit down. She hoped that the man who’d hired her would be forgiving of her being so late.
She’d been interviewed and hired by Bernard Langstaff, one of the company’s two owners.
