Page 4 of Accidentally All Inclusive (Beartastic Summer of Love #5)

Jules

My hands shook, and I clenched them into fists so that it wasn’t so obvious how nervous I was.

I could not stop shaking.

My knees had grown weak the moment I took in the sight of the massive bear of a man that stood before me.

Bear in a sense that he was big, burly, and had a scruffy beard that would likely leave beard burn on my inner thighs, but also, he was a bear shifter like me.

Probably a grizzly, whereas I was a black bear.

A small one. In my shifted form, I looked more like a dog than a bear.

He was probably bigger than any bear in the natural world.

Everything about the man in front of me was bigger than me. If he wrapped around me, I’d disappear. I could only imagine what his, um, cock would do to me. Which had me turning even more red.

Based on his words and the confusion surrounding this companion thing, I would never find out. I’d never earn the money I needed, and the loan shark wouldn’t be as nice the next time he came after me. He hadn’t been particularly nice the first time around.

The shaking in my hands somehow transferred to my shoulders, and I struggled to take in air.

“Hey, take a deep breath. Okay?” The alpha grabbed my hand and took a deep breath himself, demonstrating how to breathe normally. I watched as his massive chest rose and fell with each exaggerated breath. Then he guided me over to the bed, and I sat down on the edge of it.

I had only been in the room a few minutes before he arrived.

The boss of the place alerted me when my person was checking in and gave me the key to get in the cabin.

Since hiring in, I had been coached on what to do and how to behave, what things were expected of me and what things were not.

I was prepared, or at least, I thought I was.

Going over introducing myself to my client in my head and doing it in real life were two very different things.

Would I have to return to the staff housing where I’d been for the past few days? Would I get a new assignment? What if that person wasn’t as nice as Westley? I’d only been around him for a few minutes, but my bear told me I could trust him.

I was not ready for this. Not prepared. And if I didn’t pull myself together, I wasn’t going to be able to go through with it.

And then Westley came in, shocked to see me there, as if he hadn’t ordered this exact package. At first, I thought maybe I wasn’t to his liking, but then clearly there had been some enormous mix-up here.

“Have some juice.” He grabbed a can of something from the fridge and thrust it into my hands. I took a slow sip and then thanked him. The sweetness of the cranberry juice had my bear perking up.

“There. Are you feeling better?” Westley asked, his eyes roving over me, as if he was afraid I might pass out at any moment.

I nodded. Only I wasn’t feeling that much better.

Sure, my breathing had slowed down, and I wasn’t going to have a panic attack.

Yet. But if I was not here to be his companion, then what was I going to do?

I needed this job. I needed the payout. I needed it soon.

My phone was full of missed calls and threatening voicemails from the loan shark I only knew as Corbin.

“Whoa. Slow down. You’re getting panicky again. What has you worried?”

“Money,” I said with some reluctance. Westley didn’t need my burdens thrust upon him, yet my bear didn’t care. He was submitting to the alpha.

He nodded. “You’re afraid you might get fired if I don’t have you be my companion?”

I nodded.

“And this is your first time doing this?”

I nodded again. “You ordered a virgin.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t order anything. At least, I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know what they mean by companion, I guess. I thought it was just someone who would go on the excursions with me. Snorkeling or whatever. Maybe dinner.”

I fought back a giggle and put a hand over my mouth.

His mouth quirked like he was fighting back a smile. “It’s okay. You can laugh.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too. I was so desperate for a vacation I didn’t read the fine print.”

I nodded. He seemed like too nice of a guy for this anyway.

He wouldn’t need a companion; he could just find his own date to spend time with.

No payment necessary. Locals would line up around the block for a chance to score with a tourist like him.

“I’ll go back to the staff housing. You might have to call and cancel your companion package, though.

You can probably get your money back.” I didn’t know that for sure, and I probably shouldn’t promise anything like that in case refunds weren’t possible.

“No. That won’t be necessary. You can still work this week. Nobody has to know if we don’t have any of the… services. I don’t want your job in jeopardy just because I didn’t read what I was agreeing to.”

Wheels spun in my mind. “That could work!” I jumped at the chance.

I needed the money, he had already paid for me, and we didn’t have time for me to be assigned to a different guest. “I mean, I can still hang out with you. Snorkeling or whatever.” I shrugged.

“Even if you don’t want me like that.” I gestured toward the bed.

He laughed. “Oh, I don’t think that want is the problem here, cub.”

I blushed.

“It’s just that I believe in enthusiastic consent.

And, well, there is nothing wrong with sex work at all—it’s an admirable profession—but this wasn’t something I signed up for, nor is it something I need.

But don’t for a minute think that the issue is with you, because it is not.

” His gaze roved over my body and his voice deepened.

I cleared my throat. “Would you rather be alone your whole vacation? Or were you planning on finding someone at a bar or whatever?” I didn’t want to cockblock the guy if he was hoping to score with someone else. Even though my bear hated that idea.

“It’s not that,” he said. “I wouldn’t mind company for dinners or some excursions I signed up for. There just doesn’t need to be any sex. I’m here to relax, not hook up.”

I nodded. “Okay. I’m not sure how the pay will work out for that. I get extra for being a…” my cheeks heated, “…virgin, right?”

“Well, I wouldn’t want you to miss out on that bonus if you’d need it, so we just don’t let them know anything.”

“You’d lie for me?”

He shrugged. “I don’t want to see you in distress. And if you need the money, you need the money.”

I wanted to tell him everything then, lay out all my problems. He seemed like the sort that would lend a sympathetic ear and save an omega in distress.

But this was a man who was on vacation. He was supposed to be enjoying himself.

He didn’t need my problems weighing him down, and I didn’t want to seem needy. More needy than I already did.

He was already being kinder than I deserved. I would be the best platonic companion ever. Westley would want for nothing on his vacation

“Would you like to rest after your travels? I can get dinner for you or something.”

“Yeah, let’s get some dinner ordered up here. Where will you be staying?”

Oh, that was another problem. I was supposed to be staying in the room with him. This was not a small room, but there was only one bed and a couch that clearly was not meant to be used as a bed.

“Here,” I said. “Somewhere.”

“Right. Of course. Well, we’ll figure something out. I can always shift and sleep in my bear form on the floor.”

“Absolutely not,” I said. “I don’t want to put you out. This is your vacation.”

“Well, I’m not going to sit back and let an omega sleep on the floor while I take a big comfy bed.”

I looked at the massive California king. “We could both fit,” I said.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “We’re adults. We can handle this.”

“Exactly.”

“See? One thing settled already. There’s no need to panic about any of this.”

I had to smile at that, because even though we might have figured out one thing, there were so many other things to worry about. But when he looked at me like that, I couldn’t find a single reason to worry about any of them.

“I’ll order dinner. Is there anything particular you might like?”

“I heard really good things about the steaks here.”

I nodded. “The porterhouse.”

He smiled. “You know me so well.”