Santa Soldier Bear - Meg Ripley Page 0,55
This sleaze with a fake spray tan would’ve shit his pants if he'd hopped a plane to some of the places he’d seen. “You don’t say.”
“I have to ask: are you here for business or pleasure?” He nudged Gabe’s elbow on the narrow armrest suggestively.
“Business,” Gabe quickly affirmed. “I’m here for a new job.”
“Oh, you’re moving here? Even better. Tell me, where are you from?” The man was leaning forward, grinning enthusiastically as he waited for Gabe’s answer.
There was no point in trying to ignore him now. Gabe had baited the bear, and now he had to stay for the rest of the circus. “A little bit of everywhere, actually.” He’d moved around enough in his life, both as a child and an adult, that he didn’t have a place he could call his hometown.
“Well, let me tell you, the nightlife here is crazier than you could ever imagine. Hell, there’s plenty to do during the day, too. I’m sure you’ll start with all the touristy stuff. Everyone does. You check out the beach and the museums and the shopping, but the more you look, the more you find. I swear, you could do something different every day and never run out of new things to do. The clubs are absolutely wild, and there are gorgeous babes around every corner.”
“Great.” Gabe didn’t really care. He had work to do, and that was far more important than drinking too much or getting himself in trouble with a woman.
The man nudged him once again. “Come on, man. A young guy like you? You’ve got to be excited about being surrounded by chicks with the best tit jobs in the entire world. Seriously, the honeys are absolutely dynamite!”
What year was this guy from anyway? “I’m good, man.”
“You married or something? I mean, not like that should matter.” He chuckled as though they shared some stupid inside joke.
He could make conversation all he needed, but Gabe wasn’t interested in sharing details about his personal life with a stranger. The guy had no idea how these sorts of things worked for men like Gabe. Shifters were attracted to plenty of people, sure. They had relationships that came and went like anyone else. But that was nothing compared to the feeling of finding one’s true mate, that deep and spiritual moment when two souls that had been created for each other were finally in the same space and could feel each other in their blood. He’d felt that once, but he’d had other obligations that had pulled at him harder.
Fortunately, the crackling sound from the overhead speaker kept him from having to respond. “Ladies and gentlemen, if you look out the left side of the aircraft, you can see we’re approaching the city of Los Angeles. Please take your seats and fasten your seatbelts. We’ll be landing as soon as possible. Thank you.”
Gabe turned to the window. Sure enough, the baked wilderness of the Mojave had changed into verdant mountains embracing a sprawling city. The plane bobbed and dipped in the air as the pilot changed direction, bringing more and more of the city into focus. The massive skyscrapers were the easiest to spot, and the gridded blocks that surrounded them slowly coalesced into numerous homes with turquoise swimming pools and businesses. Another turn of the plane brought the ocean into view, with miles and miles of beach showing as a crisp white line.
Los Angeles, even from the air, was clearly bustling with life. Gabe peered down at it, wondering just how many shifters made up its population. If Vance had been right when he’d mentioned there were more shifters in L.A. than anywhere else in the country, Gabe would have more than enough to do.
An hour later, when he’d made it through baggage claim and had taken an Uber to his hotel, Gabe spotted two men seated in the lobby. They watched him as he checked in, one of them leaning over to whisper to the other. They were shifters, he could tell. In the short time that he’d been in the city, he’d already encountered quite a few of them.
A knock came on his hotel room door as he was getting settled in. Gabe turned away from his suitcase and looked through the peephole to find the same two men he’d noticed in the lobby. One of them was tall and dark with green eyes and a broad physique. The other was only slightly slimmer, his dirty blonde hair combed back and his clothes