Ben

By Becca Fanning

Layla Moss came out to the wilderness to get away from the everyday grind. A nice vacation away from all things involving the Women's section at her department store was just what the doctor ordered. She enjoyed her job, and sometimes she got to help bumbling clueless men as they tried to buy something for the lady in their lives. But when her best friend set her up on a blind date with someone else out here in the cabins, Layla was the one who felt clueless.
Ben Best has been called many things in his life. Very few of them were pleasant, but as a park ranger he knew what to expect. When you break up a party getting out of hand or bust someone for littering, they're going to throw some barbs at you. But he never expected to be called "Pantyhose Guy." Still, the pretty little lady had sass for days and there was something about that he found incredibly interesting...
But a dark cloud of danger was looming closer. Did their fragile young love have any chance?
This 11,000+ word novella has hot Bear Shifter Bachelor action, a Happily Ever After, no cheating and no cliffhangers!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gizmo Media
• Release date: May 23, 2021

Book preview

Fanning

Chapter 1

When Layla Moss checked out cute guys in her department store, they weren’t usually in the pantyhose section.

This one was as fine as they come, barely twenty with a boyish dimple in the corner of his thoughtful mouth. His hair was dark and a little overgrown, eyes hooded by a low, concerned brow. He was studying the varieties of pantyhose with deep intent, his massive torso hunched a little to inspect the rows and rows of boxes. Layla was supposed to be taking new stock to fill the display next to the registers, but she’d stopped in her tracks when she saw him. Now, she was helpless to her own will.

Just a guess, but I don’t think we stock your size, she quipped.

The hunk started, as if he hadn’t even realized she was there. When he looked up, his wide gaze of shock flashed with pure gold. Layla jumped too at that. She knew what golden eyes meant, everyone who lived Crenshaw-adjacent did. The guy was a shifter. And yet, he wasn’t anything like the animalistic thugs she’d seen on her streets late at night. He wasn’t foaming at the mouth or searching for a fight. He was genuinely embarrassed to be holding a pack of pantyhose, his cheeks flushing red beneath a dusting of stubble.

My Gram sent me over here, the shifter explained, his voice low and apologetic. I have no idea which of these she wants, but she’s all the way at the other end of the store. Could you-?

He trailed off, but Layla saw his eyes flash to her name tag. A rush of something totally chemical hit her in the chest, spreading warmth from all angles. She was pretty sure her face was turning pink too, and she thanked her luck that she’d got a little of that cocoa-brown skin tone from her father. Being mixed race covered a multitude of sins. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop her breath hitching like a teenager’s when she next tried to speak.

She’ll, uh, she’ll want breathable in the summer, Layla began. She came to stand beside the tall guy, gently taking the box from his hands. You’ll bake her with those.

Ah, he replied, I so don’t want that. She’s a real beast when she’s angry.

Layla looked into the stranger’s golden eyes with fascination.

I can believe it, she said.

She might have said more, even teased that secret smile from the cutie’s perfect mouth, but footsteps alerted her. She was relieved to see that the person approaching was not her boss, but this second stranger filled her with nerves all the same. He had golden eyes too, though his seemed to burn with a flame that wasn’t present in the cute guy’s eyes. The new man was a little shorter and more lithe, his lean frame clad in bike leathers. He had bright silver hair, which must have been fake, for he was far too young to be turning grey, and there was a look of deep threat all over his