Page 4 of Bear Boss’s Mate (Pleasantville Shifter #1)

MARCY MADE HERSELF a quick dinner and retreated to the sofa with a glass of wine for comfort. She shook her head when she recalled the flowers she’d received that day from Mick, then grimaced.

The memories of the past couple of months haunted her, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that her life would never be the same. All because of one poor decision.

In the six years she’d been in town, she’d only been on a handful of dates that went nowhere. She gave up expecting to meet a romantic partner and focused on her job instead. Marcy had come to accept that she would be alone.

Unfortunately, Mick appeared at a time where she was feeling lonely.

He started working at Boyd and Harvey, where he began pursuing her right away.

He was charming at first, but she wasn’t attracted to him romantically.

Initially, she’d turned down his invitations to go out.

He soon wore her down with his pestering.

So with great reluctance she agreed to one night out, thinking she would enjoy the company if nothing else.

What a mistake that was.

The evening went okay, and Marcy had a decent enough time. But it only confirmed for her that there was no chemistry between them. She realized right away that she should not let him think she was interested in him. But despite her telling him as much, he persisted in asking her to hang out.

It was only after he promised he only wanted to be friends she went out a few more times with him. For a couple of weeks they went to the movies, and a dinner or two, but that was all. She’d only ever let him walk her to her apartment door and never invited him in, lest he get the wrong idea.

She couldn’t bear the thought of kissing him, let alone anything else, even though he kept pushing her to let him get closer.

They’d hung out about five times outside of work. But it soon became apparent that he wanted more from her. In fact, he believed they were going out as boyfriend and girlfriend and began telling people at work, despite her objections to the contrary.

Almost overnight, he became possessive of her and began calling Marcy every night.

She’d made every reasonable attempt to show him she was not interested beyond wanting to be his friend. But Mick played on her sympathies.

At one point, he mentioned how he had dated a woman who left him for a shifter. The bitterness in his voice made her realize he was more than just a scorned boyfriend. It was clear he’d never gotten over the betrayal. Mick hated shifters and didn’t trust women at all.

Finally, she’d had enough of his antics and ended their friendship. Things went to hell the moment she told him she would not go out with him again. A day later, she saw him glaring at her as she stood talking to a male colleague.

That same day after work, he was waiting for her outside. She could see he was shaking with anger. He approached her with his fists clenched tight at his sides. Something told her to get away from him, but she dismissed it, thinking she would be overreacting.

“Are you sleeping with that guy?” Mick accused.

She scrunched up her face. “What guy?”

“Jerry. The guy from IT.” He stepped in closer.

She laughed. “No. Of course not.”

“You’re lying. Women like you lead guys like me on. You’re nothing but a whore.” His voice was filled with venom.

“I’m not lying. I’ve never led you on. You’re just–,” Before she had time to react, she felt the sting of a slap across her cheek. Stunned, she turned and ran back into the building.

But he hurried after her and tugged at her arm, turning her to face him. He smacked her a second time even harder. She gasped and put her hand to her cheek. Tears filled her eyes . What the hell? She stared wide-eyed.

No one had ever raised a hand to her before, and she wasn’t emotionally prepared for it. A cry lodged in her throat and she froze for a moment in distress.

A security guard approached. “Is everything okay here?”

Finding her voice at last, she cried out. “Keep him away from me.” She rushed past the guard, trembling with fear.

Mick didn’t follow her this time, and she turned to see the guard escorting him out of the building. Feeling powerless to do anything else, Marcy had security call a taxi for her so she could go home.

She cried herself to sleep unsure what to do about her situation.

The following day, she told her employer what had happened, and his response was less than supportive. “You shouldn’t have been dating him in the first place,” he said.

Marcy’s blood was boiling. She balled her hands into tight fists and fought back tears. “We were not dating. The guy slapped me. Twice! Surely you won’t let him work here, knowing that?”

“You brought this on yourself. I won’t fire Mick for your bad choices.”

She’d had enough of asshole men and their treatment of her. “If you aren’t going to do anything, I quit.” She cleared out her desk and went home.

The shock and trauma of what had happened stayed with her for weeks. She didn’t leave the apartment and was scared to go anywhere for a time. Mick’s harassment started right away, and he phoned and texted her consistently.

Thankfully, she’d had enough money saved to support herself for several months. But it only took her a month before she got the job at Bear Bones Construction.

From the moment she left her old job, she refused to take Mick’s calls or respond to him. This led him to insist something was wrong with her in his voicemails. Marcy knew she had done nothing to warrant his abuse, verbal or otherwise.

They’d never had a romantic relationship, despite his objections. She was baffled by his delusional state of mind and was scared to death of him. Just the sound of his voice sickened her.

She had anxiety unlike anything she’d ever experienced in her life. Mick had the nerve to blast her for quitting her job. He didn’t like not knowing what she was doing every moment of every day. Then he began leaving threatening voicemails. Telling her he had better not see her dating anyone else.

Even a call to the police did nothing to help her situation. However, she did take their advice and get a new phone number. But the damage was already done.

Mick’s behavior toward her ruined any chance for her to be happy. It also cemented her belief that she should never date someone from work. She knew it wasn’t wise to trust a man just because he was nice to her.

She didn’t think all men were jerks. But she also hadn’t met one that proved to her he was worth her time.

Despite Mick’s taunts and threats, there was no way she’d let him force her out of town or out of her new job. She liked Pleasantville and the new opportunity she’d been given at Bear Bones Construction.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she pushed the horrible memories of the last six weeks away and sipped her glass of wine. With her new job, she now had a reason to leave her apartment five days a week, and that was a win.

If only Mick would leave her alone.

She wondered what her tormentor might do if, or when she ever started dating again.

She prayed Mick would give up harassing her long before that happened.