BEARedtoYouBBWShifterEroticRomanceARe by Tawny Taylor Page A

didn’t look like anyone else had been in the room. Everything was where she’d left it. She dashed out to the corridor, and after listening for a moment to make sure no one would be coming down the hallway in the next few seconds, opened the door leading to the parking lot to let Tarik inside.
    She pointed at room 113 and he nodded, preceding her. She handed him a blanket—giving the guy something to cover up his very scrumptious body was becoming a tradition. He smiled a thanks and wrapped it toga style around his form.
    He said nothing while she ran around, throwing her clothes, shoes and cosmetics into her luggage. She left the keycard on the table next to the door when they left. Tarik, being one hundred percent gentleman, carried her heavy suitcases to the door.
    When they stepped outside, they both halted mid-stride. The big white van was gone. Joe was gone too.
    “How?” she asked.
    “Where’d you park?”
    “Around back.”
    “Wait here for a few seconds. I’ll make some kind of noise if someone’s waiting to ambush us.” Still carting her luggage, Tarik jogged to the end of the building and peered around the corner. Evidently he didn’t see anything because he dashed around the corner and out of her line of sight. Fearful she was being watched or followed, she looked back over her shoulder. No one was there. Her nerves jumpy, she broke into a full run after Tarik. As she rounded the corner, she saw he had already put her suitcases in the backseat and was sitting behind the steering wheel. His uncovered arm jutted from the open driver’s-side window. She handed him the keys then ran around the rear of the vehicle and climbed into the passenger seat.
    While buckling her seatbelt, she turned to him. “Do you think Joe’s still alive?”
    “Don’t know. Don’t want to know.” He shifted the vehicle into reverse and punched the gas, backing out of the parking spot, then jammed it into first and popped the clutch, setting the truck lurching forward, wheels squealing.
    Hands on the dashboard, arms locked, she looked over her shoulder several times. Would a big white van pull out of some hidden parking spot somewhere?
    Didn’t happen.
    “Whose name is the cabin rented under?” Tarik asked as he pulled the truck out onto the two-lane road that headed north, out of Anchorage.
    “Katie’s. Why?”
    “Good. We’ll head back there. For now. Until I can figure out what our next move will be. It’s not likely they’ll find us, as long as we keep the truck hidden—”
    “Uh. I’m no pro at this running from bad guys stuff, but I think that might be a bad move. They tried to kidnap me. So they know we were together. Reallllly together, if you get my drift.”
    “Good point. Man, my mind is not working tonight. Think, think, think. We need somewhere safe. And some supplies. I think it might be worth it to swing by there and grab a few things. If we’re careful. They’re probably assuming that would be the last place we’d go now.”
    “I hope you’re right.” A part of her put up a silent cheer at the thought of going back to the isolated cabin with Tarik. The other part, the one that was heartbreak-phobic didn’t care for the idea. Yes, she supposed that part was the one she should be listening to.
    But it was so darn difficult! There were so many things going on there—men trying to kidnap her, a severe case of like melting her brain…how was she ever going to make an intelligent decision with those kinds of pressures piling on her shoulders? Sloping and weak, they lacked the required weight-bearing capacity. Normally they buckled under stresses a whole lot lighter than this.
    The like thing was particularly weighty. Despite Tarik’s bizarre problem, or maybe because of it, she genuinely liked him. He was different from any man she’d ever met before. He was complicated. Intriguing. The kind of guy who had a lot going on under the surface. She had a feeling it would take her a long time to