Chapter 1

Chapter

One

" G oddammit, Reed, get your ass in here."

Reed Conifer tried super hard not to roll his eyes. His boss might be one of the biggest talent agents in Valleywood, but he was also a solid gold asshole, and Reed had the pleasure of being his personal assistant.

"Yes, sir. Good morning. Here's your schedule for the day." James Lane was still pretty analog, and he liked his schedule printed out and put into a leather folio each morning.

"Jesus Christ, will you hurry up? Did you pick up my dry cleaning?"

"Yes, sir. It's hung in your closet." Dry cleaning and bagels for the office picked up, schedules done, three Zoom meetings set up, plus two conference rooms done in the way that James required.

"I have to squeeze in Lia Lorenza. She called ten minutes ago. She'll want a nonfat caramel latte."

"Yes, sir." When, exactly, was this supposed to happen?

"Well? Go! There's a new coffee place. It's just around the corner." He waved Reed off.

"Going." Asshole. Seriously. He wasn't sure why he'd come to the big city. He'd thought working for a talent agency would be glamorous. It was long hours and a lot of drudgery.

"Hey, Reed, did I hear you were going to get coffee?" Kari Hoag, the nice agent in the office handed him a ten. "Would you get me almond milk hot latte as big as my head?"

"Of course I will. Anything else?"

"Wait up, Teddy! We want in." Lauren and Hank both gave him their orders, and he got on the phone on his way out the door, earphone in.

Sometimes a bear needed to talk to his mom.

"Hey, baby doll. What's up?" Mom sounded like she was doing laundry. He could hear the thump of the dryer.

"Going to fetch coffee. Glamorous, I know." He chuckled softly under his breath.

"Mmm. You film-and-TV types. You sound a little down, love." His mom always knew.

"Oh, you know how it is." They all think I'm fat and dopey. They all call me Teddy. They laugh at me and think I'm too slow to understand. I want to come home and hibernate. "Busy, busy."

"My important boy." Her low laugh almost made him tear up. God, he missed her.

"That's me. Coffee-grabbing meeting maker. How's Pop?"

"Oh, he got a commission to carve a sign for a big hotel. He's over the moon."

"Yeah? That sounds great. I can't wait to come home and visit. Maybe around the holidays."

"Oh, that would be a fine thing, honey. I can make you a mixed-berry pie." She did love with food, his mom.

"I'm not eating carbs right now, but for your pie? I'd make an exception."

"No carbs? Why on earth not?"

"It's the film industry, Mom. I have to try to stay trim." He stopped, staring at the new coffee place. It was called Rocky Mountain Java Company and had a Colorado symbol right there on the logo.

Which was kinda odd in Valleywood.

There was a long line, so he settled in at the end.

"Nonsense. You're perfect just the way you are."

"You're my mom. It's your job to say that." But that was sweet as hell.

"Well, yes, but it's also true. I'm sending you a scarf I knitted. It's getting cold."

"Yeah?" Oh, that would be grand. All the stuff Mom made was sensible and so, so soft.

"I know it's just such a wet, invasive cold up there at the lake." His mom worried about him.

"Yes. It's different from home. One day, you'll have to come."

"I will."

Oh she lied, but it was to make him happy. Suddenly, he was next in line, and he needed to go. "Okay, Mom. I'm next. I love you."

"I love you, son. You're a good boy. Talk toyou tomorrow."

"Totally." He hung up, then looked around, smiling when the young lady behind the counter motioned him up. "Wow. It's like a slice of home."

"Are you from Colorado? So is the boss. Isn't this place a hoot?"

"It is." There was a panoramic photo mural on one wall of what looked like the area around Vail Pass. Colorado flag souvenirs lined some glass shelves, as well as coffee mugs and such with the business logo. The rest of the decor was rustic wood and deep-green chairs and booths, with lots of carved bears and elk.

"What can I get for you?"

"It's long. Are you ready?" When she nodded, he rattled the order off. "One nonfat caramel latte, an almond milk latte, a triple espresso with a shot of hazelnut, a white chocolate peppermint latte, a cappuccino with extra foam, and a black coffee. Large."

"Any pastry?"

"No, thank you."

She rattled off a total, he paid, and then he moved off to the wait-here area for his order. It would take a few, so he pulled out his phone again.

Which was why he almost jumped out of his skin when someone waved a tray in front of him. "Complimentary honeybun? Made with Bjorn's Colorado honey."

His belly growled audibly, and he almost nodded, but someone might see him, so he looked up. "No, thank you. They smell so good."

"Then you should have one." The guy picked up a pastry with a napkin and handed it to him. "If you hate it, you can toss it. I won't be offended."

He took a closer look at the man, who wore a long-sleeve T-shirt with an upside-down Jeep on it that said, "If you can read this, turn my Jeep back over." He was tall, broad through the chest and shoulders, with shaggy golden-brown hair and gorgeous golden-hazel eyes.

Just as edible as the honeybun.

"I won't hate it." He blinked up at Mr. Hottie, feeling small for the first time in forever. "I like your T-shirt."

"Thank you. I got it in Ouray, in Colorado. There's a bunch of Jeep tour places there."

Reed grinned, then nibbled a bite of bun. Oh God. Yum. "I'm from Durango."

"No sh— kidding! Wow. Well, welcome to a piece of Colorado."

"Thank you. I'm sure you'll see me a lot." The guys liked coffee, and he liked to be out of the office.

"Yeah?" The professional smile turned into something warmer, lighting those pretty eyes right up. "I'll look forward to that."

"Me too." Whoa. The scent of honey and bear and warmth was addictive.

"Eat up, honey. You look like you need a treat."

"I'm avoiding carbs, but…" It was so good, sweet and rich. He flushed, but he ate the whole honeybun, because he liked the way the man watched his mouth.

"You deserve a sweet, honey."

Oh, that made his cheeks burn even hotter.

He was licking his fingers, trying not to get a hard-on, when his order came up.

"Reed!"

"That's me," he told the big guy.

"Well, Reed, I'm Tyler. You come back soon, okay? I'm sure I'll have another pastry to ply you with." Tyler lowered his voice. "We Colorado bears have to stick together, right?"

"Yes. We…we so do." First, though, he needed to balance this huge order and get it to the office safely.

That was going to take a miracle.

"Do you need any help? I saw you were on foot."

"I—No. No, of course not." His phone went off.

Where the fuck are you?

"I have to go." He stacked drink carriers on top of one another, putting the short drinks on the bottom, then smiled. "Nice to meet you."

"You too, honey. Have a better day."

"Thanks." He headed out, careful not to spill.

Time to go back to work. He could fantasize later.

Tyler Ronson watched the little bear practically run out of the coffee shop. The urge to follow and see where Reed worked was strong, but that would be weird and stalkery, even if he thought Reed smelled so good he wanted to just push his nose against the guy's neck and stay there for an hour.

Hazards of being a bear shifter. They did everything by smell.

"May I have one?" A lady with an extra-large drip coffee in hand hovered by his tray of honeybuns.

"Of course. Welcome to Rocky Mountain Java." Maybe it seemed weird to open a Colorado-themed coffee place in Northern PA, but his brother Justin was into hitting up all the major entertainment centers right now, and God knew Valleywood fit that criteria.

"Thank you," she purred softly, smiling at him. "This place is glorious. I've been to the big store in Denver."

"Oh, that's too cool." He grinned at her, bouncing a little. "That one is my baby."

"It's stunning. It'll do well here, I'm sure."

He hoped so. He truly did. The guy he had handpicked to run this place had bailed, and he was here until he could find another manager.

"Thanks. Enjoy that bun." He made the rounds of the rest of the front of house, then headed back behind the counter. The baristas were all doing pretty well, but he'd trained them, so they ought to be. "Jinny, you need more skim milk out on the floor."

"You got it, Tyler." She saluted, and he snorted.

When he got back to his office, he grabbed his phone out of his pocket so he could call Justin.

"Hey, bro, what's up?"

"The honeybuns are a hit."

"Of course they are. They're friggin' amazing. How's it going?"

"It's great. Lines are long. People like the theme. I'm ready to come home." Well, he had been until this morning. Little Reed bear made him interested in Valleywood for the first time.

He wanted to see that sweet little face again, smell the scent of bear.

So since he had to be there anyway…

"Well, find a manager, and you're Colorado bound."

"Back to the land of snowboarding and green chile."

"There you go. You okay, really?"

"Yeah. Yeah, met a hot little bear, so I'm better than usual." There. He didn't want Justin thinking he was miserable.

"Oh ho! You dog. Who is he? What's he like?"

"I have no idea. His name is Reed, and he works around here, and I will hunt him down soon." He grinned. Might as well admit it; he wanted to see lots of Reed. Every goddamn inch.

"Reed, huh? That's a common name, but I'll start a list."

"A list? Are you bored?" Lord knew, he never knew with Justin. The man was unnatural. He had the energy of a rabid squirrel on energy drinks, not a bear.

It wasn't fair.

Maybe his father was a magpie and Mama had lied…

"Where's he from?"

"Durango."

"Hmmm. We have a bobcat manager there. I wonder if he knows his family…"

"You are so weird." He did love the nut, though.

"I know, but I like to know things. I need to know things."

"You do. How's world coffee domination going?"

"Well, you're there in Valleywood, and Serena is in Boise, so we have two new stores."

Damn. "How did she get Boise? Do you know how much wind and rain there is here? It's cold like I've never experienced. Wet cold."

"Ty, you're a bear."

"You don't get it." The lake effect was freaking real, and it was not even really winter yet. The kids that were training with him teased him, because he was from about eight thousand feet, but this wet cold was vicious.

"Nope. I'm happy here, thanks. That's why I have people like you."

"Nooo. You have people like me to train the managers who run the stores like this. I am not big-city material, bro. This place is…peopley."

"Yeah. And fancy people too. It's very entertaining."

He was going to kill Justin.

"Yeah, yeah. If I want fancy people, I can go to Aspen." He sighed. "I need to get back out on the floor." On the good side, he actually loved what he did, and he thought the team here was doing a great job, really coming together.

"Have a good day, brother. Love you."

"Love you too, Just. Be good and don't open any more stores until I get home."

Justin just laughed at him, and he hung up, grinning, feeling better. It really was time to get back to work.

Still he had to hope Mr. Cutie Bear came back in. Soon.