Bearing the Frostbite (Ice Bear Shifters Book 6) by Sloane Meyers Page B

would have to find somewhere else to live. The place was too big for her by herself, and she didn’t want to blow through her finances by spending it all on rent. Her grandmother had been receiving a monthly pension, which had ended on her death. Alexis had been left with Gram’s modest savings account, and no insurance money. Certainly enough to live comfortably for a few months until she found a job, but not enough to pay the rent on a place that was too big for her, anyway.
    Alexis wiped her dusty hands off on her jeans as she stood, then tugged at her soft, red sweater to straighten it. She was glad she had at least showered today, and put on clothes that weren’t pajamas. Surely, a bottle of wine deserved at least that much courtesy.
    “What are we celebrating?” Alexis asked, as James headed for the kitchen to preheat the oven for the pizza.
    “The end of tourist season,” he called over his shoulder, and Alexis couldn’t help but giggle.
    “You must be pretty excited about it, if you decided to buy a bottle of wine to celebrate.”
    “Well,” he said as he made his way back to the living room where Alexis was standing, “That’s not all I’m celebrating. I’ve also been offered a permanent job at the airport. Sort of.”
    Alexis raised an eyebrow. “Sort of? How can you be ‘sort of’ offered a permanent job?”
    “Well, even though tourist season is over and they’re getting rid of the seasonal workers, one of their normal full-time employees is going out on maternity leave in October. There aren’t any new full-time positions opening up, but the manager said she’s been impressed with my work and would love it if I could cover for the woman while she’s on leave. The woman is planning to take a six month leave of absence, so by the time she’s back, the seasonal work will be starting up again. I shouldn’t have much of a break in my work schedule, and, hopefully, by the end of the next tourist season, they’ll be so familiar with me that I can get a truly permanent position. At any rate, I have a job for the next year, at least.”
    “James, that’s great,” Alexis said, reaching over to give him a hug. “I know you’ve been worried about what you’re going to do when tourist season ends.”
    “Well, it is great. But that’s not even the end of it,” James said, and then paused dramatically.
    “Oh?” Alexis said, raising her eyebrow again.
    “We’re going on vacation. At least, I hope we are. I’m going to Montana for a few weeks, and I want you to come with me. Since I don’t start my ‘sort of permanent’ position until October, I have a few weeks off. You know part of my reason for taking this job was that I wanted to save some money to take a little trip. It looks like I have the money and time to do it, after all.”
    Alexis faltered. “I don’t know, James. I mean, spending a week on vacation with you sounds amazing. But I still have stuff to do here. And I don’t have a lot of extra money right now.”
    “You need a break, sweetheart,” James said. “You’ve been through so much, and you’ve been working so hard to get everything with your grandma’s affairs squared away. Take a week or two and come relax with me. I’m going to Glacier National Park in Montana. It’s supposed to be beautiful this time of year. I can help you pay for the trip. I don’t have a lot of expenses since I’m living in the cabins with the clan, and I’ve been saving almost all of my paychecks from the airline.”
    Alexis hesitated. The idea of going somewhere new, especially with James, was tempting. But Alexis felt a little uncomfortable taking money from James. Even though they had considered themselves to be boyfriend and girlfriend for a while now, they hadn’t had much time to really “date” given their circumstances. In fact, they hadn’t even slept together yet. Alexis had been drowning in grief too much to think about much else. She wasn’t sure that their