Bearly Escaped

  Contents

  Title

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  A Note from Claire Skylar

  BEARLY ESCAPED

  BBW BEAR SHIFTER ROMANCE

  CLAIRE SKYLAR

  PROLOGUE

  Legs twitching, she stepped into the harsh spotlights brighter than the midday sun taking shallow breaths, and heart hammering in her chest. Colors seemed to fade into a blinding frenzy as her blood pressure shot up. She tilted her head down to steady herself.

  Jeez! What if I'm too heavy for the stage and it collapses? Wouldn't that be a riot!

  Her face lit up with a smirk.

  A leering, jaded judge who had a penchant for poking people where it hurt the most, and ever eager to see her stumble sat right across her. That's what Anna told her anyways.

  Every trifle dazzling, ready to be picked apart, hyper-aware of every extra pound, her confidence being tested, every move being noted with a mocking Sharpie; this was on the Never-even-try bucket list.

  The only thing that kept her going was the promise to Anna, her BFF.

  God, I love her so much!

  She was lying to herself and knew it.

  C H A P T E R 1

  Ari stumbled on a wayward plastic comb when she tried to fit into the taffeta faux-silk dark green skirt. The strong grip of the belt sash made itself painfully aware. She had a couple of hours, four would be stretching it before a rash would show up.

  Take one standard cannula. An aspirator. A shady unlicensed cosmetic surgeon. Three hundred bucks. Three hours and three vials of anesthetic later. Glug! Glug! Glug! the midsection fat flows out into the mason jar—which you can take home. That's it.

  Emma's words rang loud and clear in her head as she adjusted the sash for the umpteenth time with her slipping fingers.

  The overpowering cigarette stench made her nauseous. Ari suppressed a coughing fit just in time to avoid ripping the seams.

  "Oh! Come on girl! Forget about what you are wearing, it's your voice they're gonna hear," Anna tried to bolster her confidence.

  "Are you sure you want to do this? What if they find out?" Ari still had her doubts.

  "Seriously? Is this what our friendship means to you?" Anna's penciled eyebrows arched in surprise.

  It had always this way with Anna. She took it as an affront to friendship when Becky Beloin didn't agree to swap shifts, all so that she could attend parties even though she knew Becky was a single mother with two kids and couldn't afford to do the night shifts. It was the same with Aaron Janacek when she asked him to cover her monthly payments for her Jeep- Grand-whatever even when she sipping Starbucks coffee twice a day.

  At the till, she was always blabbering about how she was going to win the next reality show, be the next Taylor Swift, get hitched to someone like Justin Bieber and her life was set. You guys will be so jealous, I swear.

  The fallback plan. Show some skin. Snag a glamorous sugar daddy. Voila! Coast along for life.

  When the drabness of life got to her, she found herself blabbering about her plans once she had the moolah. This elicited was a bunch of loud groans and cries of 'gold-digger' from the grand old ladies at the supermarket. Ari too joined in and laughed heartily with her chest straining the straps that held her bosom in place.

  There was no way this Podunk town, out in the sticks was getting the kind of glamorous rich man Anna wanted. Glamorous. Or Rich. Pick one.

  An hour back, Ari had been at the till, scanning items, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. A wide smile and a token 'how are you' for the customer punctuating her forlorn shift.

  She noticed the clock again; the second hand lying still for a moment longer than it was supposed it. She wondered if it was sentient. Moving slower, more carefully when it notices someone glancing. Much like her. She felt a kinship.

  Her eyelids were like hundred-pound manhole covers every time she looked down to scan and then check receipts. The endless droning of muzak didn't help either. Time and again she had imagined grabbing a chef's knife and stabbing the daylights out of the speakers overhead. Jeez! That would be something! Something exciting for once in her life.

  She didn't notice Anna standing next to her until she poked her in her ribs.

  "Guess what? ABV is here."

  With a bewildered look, Ari proffered," Alcohol by volume?"

  "No! you idiot. What's that by the way? You can tell me later on the way. Get your stuff out of the locker. We have to leave! Now!" Anna grabbed her and started walking towards the lockers.

  "Anna, what is it? Jeez, is it another boyfriend of yours that needs to get his car fixed?"

  "Ha-ha! Sort of. I need you to fix us up."

  Ten minutes and a hundred excuses later, Ari and Anna were cruising down to Anna's home.

  "You've got to tell me. What's this all about?"

  "ABV! How the hell do you not know that?" Anna looked mystified, continuing," You are a geek, right?"

  Ari stroked her temple while Anna kept smiling.

  "Looks like the geek doesn't know everything! America's Best Voice. Ring a bell?"

  Ari's stomach dropped a notch and she grabbed the door handle for support.

  America's Best Voice. The highest-rated show in North America. A Three-year contract with AudioSupar, arguably the best music label in the country along with a hundred thousand dollars in prize money—which was peanuts compared to getting signed on. What set it apart from other shows was the fact that only your singing mattered. No sob stories. No drama. Only singing.

  "W-Why are they here?" Aria scratched her head.

  "Boom! Wrong question. You should be asking me what am I doing here?" Anna tittered, barely missing a truck as she cut across the traffic. Grinning and tapping her the steering wheel impatiently, she was hunched over like she was playing a videogame.

  "Hey, slow down. We're almost here, right?" Ari exclaimed as she kept glancing between the speedometer and Anna's face. She gripped her door handle, her face twisted in fear.

  A loud screeching brake and they were in front of her home and inside in no time. Grabbing an outfit randomly from her closet, she turned to Ari, "Put this on fast. I'll get ready. The audition starts in an hour."

  "Wait. Why am I getting dressed?" Anna examined the couple-of-seasons old skirt in her hands and looked up to see Anna disappear into the other room. Anna was brushing her long silky hair as she sat on the tall chair against the mirror. The chair much like other accouterments at her two-bed apartment resembled her. Tall, slender. And there was never space for all the junk that she ordered from the rambling ads at night time TV. That explained the comb on the floor.

  Anna rushed back with her tumbling blonde hair in disarray and held Ari's arms by the sides.

  "This is my golden chance girl. The inside scoop is that Spencer Murtaugh is here. All I need is one audition and he is mine!"

  "Spencer Murtaugh! The Spencer Murtaugh? The Billionaire owner of AudioSupar? Are you sure?" Ari replied with a smirk laced with suspicion.

  Pigs will fly tonight before you and I get to see a billionaire!

  "Ari, let me worry about that. You worry about getting through the preliminary rounds."

  "Me? How?" Ari touched her throat and her hand fell down to grip her golden pendant; the one that her mother had given her.

 
There was the thing with the charity concerts that she did, maybe a couple of times every year or so where she sang country, raising a thousand bucks here, a thousand bucks there. And she did get invited to an awful lot of toddler birthday parties to sing a number or two for the adults while the kids raised living hell. With the double shifts and her studies, she barely had time to even think of going pro.

  Not that I sing well in the first place, duh!

  "Hey, we are sisters now, aren't we? Aren't you gonna help you Sista' get her Mistah?"

  "Stop playing games already. More like you acting sinister!"

  "OK! OK! Nothing big! You sing in my place and I get to go to the next rounds! As simple as that!" Anna calmed her down with a slow soothing voice.

  "But that won't work! Can't you sing?"

  "Does it matter? You get ready ASAP. We can't be late!"

  The thought of cheating made Ari's stomach drop. It felt weird like something she was not made for. Her heart started hammering in her chest, her mind already felt guilty.

  She grabbed Anna before she turned to leave again.

  "I can't. It won't work. Forget it."

  "Look, honey. You've been hearing me talk about taking chances for a damn long time," Anna stared steadily into her eyes, drilling into her soul, "Trust me. This is the one. Think about your kind mother. Didn't you say she did everything she could to help others?"

  Ari almost started to disagree but Anna shushed her with her fingers.

  "You won't say no! Not to me, when I've been so good to you, despite all that they say about you. Promise me this and I owe you big time. They say it's always good to have someone rich owe you big time."

  Ari nodded with some difficulty. This was partly true; Anna did take her to parties and stuff once in a while. She hadn't been rude to her. A bit condescending at times but never rude.

  That was more than what anyone else had done for her. It was enough to consider her a friend.

  "I'm so happy to hear that. Now let's see you get dressed and quick!"

  "There's quite a turnout. Looks like I picked the right guy. All the bums and whatnots in town are here to try their luck!" said Anna haughtily as she drove past the huge line near the stadium, to find a parking spot.

  Ari suppressed a laughing fit when she heard Anna talk about bums. How could she be so oblivious, how could she be so, so her?

  She glanced at her and was envious of how well she carried herself. Slim and taut. Raw oomph in her stride, turning heads, eliciting wolf-whistles as she walked through the streets.

  They walked past the long line and stood at the end, past the crowd which was a mix of bored teenagers and wannabe dressed-up rock stars. It looked like Comicon with home-sewn outfits maybe a couple of seasons out of fashion.

  "Can't wait to get out of this hellhole!" muttered Anna as she adjusted her Ray-bans and straightened her neck, squared her shoulders, and let her hair fall on her shoulders.

  Both of them despondently waited for the queue to move forward and move forward it did at a snail's pace. Since it was late in the afternoon and in the shade, tempers were barely under control.

  A bunch of teenagers ahead of them looked pretty excited and the duo couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation.

  "There's no way Spencer is going to show up!", a petite blond girl squeaked.

  "Spencer Murtaugh! The Spencer Murtaugh! Do you take him for an idiot? Why would he come here, of all places?", piped up another scraggly teen.

  "Well, girls, it looks like you made up your mind. Now you may kindly leave. Now, let me make myself clear. He's mine," screamed what appeared to be the leader of the pack. The rest all laughed sarcastically.

  Anna and Ari looked at each other with disbelieving stares.

  Chuckled and muttering, "Idiots", under her breath, Anna turned towards

  Ari smirked. She hadn't put much thought to him. Where did she have time? It had been a whirlwind of movement since she left work. She didn't care much for celebrities and billionaires and all that.

  The tabloids were all over him, catching the debonair night after night with a fresh face. And the same with the gossip channels. She chuckled when she realized she did know a bit about him after all. Ari picked up enough from the gossip at the till that this Billionaire was no ordinary rich guy. He didn't flaunt his wealth like the others. And had style and charisma. And how he had helped food banks during the labor strikes. And he was single.

  The teenage girls swooned and Anna stomped her foot when they claimed to be in love with him.

  She thought of foxy Anna somehow trapping this suave innocent Billionaire with her charm. Enjoying forbidden luxuries as she strolled along with him, hand in hand, have a chauffeured limo perhaps, a weekend in Italy and the next in Singapore. What a life would that be! No one to order her! No idiots to argue over coupons! No "can I talk to the manager?" encounters! A chance to explore what she was capable of instead of wasting her life away. A family perhaps; lots and lots of kids. Unknowingly Ari was replacing Anna with herself in her thoughts.

  Bah! That's never gonna happen! Me and the billionaire! Fat chance!

  "Believe me, these chumps don't have a fricking chance," Anna snorted. "The queen is here!" she pointed both thumbs to herself.

  And it was true too. What man could look away from her?

  Ari paused momentarily and caught a quick sneak peek at her reflection on a car on the road.

  She liked the dress old as it was for its frills. She was not a sucker for high fashion. Simple and clean was her motto. Chestnut curls resting on her shoulders framed her face sufficiently well. What she didn't like was how the dress made her hips and butt look bigger. With her standard work clothes- a pair of blue jeans and a company tee- it was never this conspicuous. Now she felt needlessly hyperaware of how she looked and how short the skirt was as it struggled to drape over her above-average things.

  I am pretty!

  Her mind wavered and she began to ridicule herself for believing that just willing it would make it true. The hollow words did nothing to improve her mood.

  At least I can sing!

  That was true. Her mother Mary, so proud of her singing, often said 'angels must have wept when they sent you here'.

  I am here for Anna and I'm going to ride this out!

  C H A P T E R 2

  Spencer kept stealing furtive glances at his Rolex Speed master as if willing to make time go faster. He shifted in his executive chair, languorously trying to fit in. Somebody somewhere had failed to follow instructions. The chair made him realize how fruitless this trip was becoming, second by second. His feet chittered, as thoughts of roaming around in the forest swarmed his mind.

  Even in his human form, he had a better sense of smell than any human. The girl was sweating buckets even though her voice didn't show that yet. She was facing away from him as usual. This was how he made sure to keep out sob stories and just-pretty-faces out of contention. Singing was the only thing that mattered.

  He stretched again, more uncomfortable now, the bulky chair barely containing his six-foot-five frame. It creaked audibly, whenever his heavyset body strained in place. His inner bear growled, wanting to go free, wanting to go berserk.

  The petite contestant, while belting a soulless country number turned her head to the source of the creaking, and lost her sense of rhythm. She stood quietly and turned to face him.

  Spencer was no brat and genuinely apologized, "I'm sorry about that. You want to have a go again?"

  "Sorry, I think I'm done. Today's just not the day!" shrieked the girl, and ran off to the exit.

  Spencer sat with a bemused expression, while he pressed the button for the next one. His phone started buzzing, and he realized he'd have to get up to get it out of his coat.

  "Let's take a break for five," Spencer motioned and moved away to the dark backside of the stage. He saw the name on the screen and smiled. As he moved away, his shoulder hit a burly crew member absent-mindedly rushing to clean the m
ics.

  "Watch where you're going, idiot! Are you blind or something?" the guy growled loudly, unaware of who he was talking to. It took a bit of restraint in Spencer to keep his bear from bursting forth. His rage had never been easy to control.

  "Excuse me?" growled Spencer as he clenched his fists and ground his teeth.

  Glancing upwards at his big, muscled form and his rage-filled eyes, instant recognition came over. The guy shot a petrified look to the sides looking for someone to rescue him from this pickle. Seeing no one, he stuttered out a meek apology," S-Sorry!" Spencer shooed him away and breathed a sigh of relief.

  Lately, his rage tended to spill over much sooner. Something had to be done and soon. That was one reason he was out on the road in this no-name town. Get away from the city. Fresh air. Empty forests to roam around in his bear form. But what about the loneliness still gnawing at his heart? There was no quick fix for that.

  "Hey, Brendan. How's it going?" Spencer's heart warmed at the sound of his dear friend and confidante and the only human who knew about his inner bear.

  "What the hell are you doing in Galena? That's no place for you," Brendan bellowed.

  "Because I'm a billionaire? That there are people and places beneath me? That I should only be talking to people on my level? You know me better. Stop bugging Cindy for my whereabouts. She had a lot of stuff on her plate especially when I'm away, "Spencer said as he used his fingers to comb his long dark hair back.

  "Why you? Huh? You could send one of you many lackeys. Since when does Spencer Murtaugh need to scout talent in bumfuck, Illinois? Come on, let it all out. It's not like I'm going to tattle to the press," Brendan paused.

  Spencer sighed wistfully, breathed deeply, straining the buttons holding his three-piece suit together.

  "Cindy thinks that I'm working too hard. She and I kind of agree that the time is ripe for some fresh air and fresh sounds. And I thought to myself why not do it together. And here we are."

  Brendan laughed like a madman.

  "Bro, that's not it, right? Spill me the beans, son."