Bear Pack's Nanny: A Reverse Harem Romance (Nanny Shifter Service Book 5) Read online

  “How about that one?” asked Cassie, pointing to a red convertible.

  “Sure,” said Josh. “That’s Sam’s favorite; she’ll be happy you picked it. And you can feel free to take any of these when you want if you have free time. Just make sure you fire off a text to let me know you’ve got it.”

  Then a look of realization formed on his face.

  “Ah, that reminds me. Hold on a second.”

  Josh disappeared back into the house, giving Cassie a few minutes to look over in wonder at the fleet of cars in the garage. When Josh returned, he had a sleek, late-model phone in his hands.

  “Here you go,” he said. “It’s got all of our numbers in it, and it’s got trackers for the girls, so you’ll know where to find them if they wander off.”

  The idea of the girls doing that was enough to make Cassie sick to her stomach.

  Then he handed her a sliver credit card.

  “And this is for any expenses. Whatever you need, go ahead and put on the card.”

  And then, as if on cue, the girls appeared.

  “You guys ready?” asked Josh.

  “Let’s go!” said Sam.

  Josh reached over onto a nearby pegboard and removed a set of keys.

  “Have fun,” said Josh. “And I’m sure Nick will be messaging you with the pizza order.

  “Sounds good,” said Cassie.

  Josh left the three, and Cassie and the girls went over to the convertible and climbed in. As Cassie slid into the front seat, anxiety formed in her gut. She knew this wasn’t just an outing with the girls – it was a test.

  A test she didn’t want to fail.

  “Okay,” said Cassie as the garage door opened behind her. “Bookstore first?”

  “Fine,” said Amy. “Let’s get it out of the way.”

  “Can you show me some of your favorite books?” asked Sam. “I’m almost done with what I’m reading, and I need some new ones.”

  “Of course!” said Cassie.

  She pulled out onto the winding road leading away from the house and into town.

  “And how about I get you guys some art supplies? I can teach you how to draw or how to take pictures.”

  The girls both seemed very enthusiastic about the idea.

  Cassie took the car carefully down the road leading to Burlington, stopping only to send a quick text to Bess to let her know what was going on. Bess responded with an excited text, asking Cassie to call her as soon as she could with all the details. Cassie wondered how she was going to do that, both with the NDA, and with how many strange things she’d noticed about this family in only these first few hours she’d been with them.

  Soon she was in Burlington, the three of them ready for their afternoon together.

  CHAPTER 7

  CASSIE

  Cassie pulled the convertible into an open space in the downtown shopping area of the city, ready to do some exploring.

  “Which bookstore do you like, Sam?” asked Cassie as the three of them walked down the broad sidewalk, the sun shining and the pedestrians bustling around them.

  “Hmm,” said Sam, giving the matter some serious thought. “I like page turner’s most, I think. They’re the biggest and always have the ones like I like.

  “Sounds like a winner,” said Cassie.

  The three of them made their way to the bookstore, and as soon as Cassie stepped into the massive space of packed-full bookshelves, she knew she’d found one of her new favorite places.

  Sam was off as soon as they entered, rushing down the aisles and eagerly looking over the books she wanted. Cassie caught up to her, and together the two of them made their way through the entire store, each of them going over their favorite books.

  And Amy was patient during the shopping, seemingly knowing that her turn at the clothes store was coming up soon.

  After Sam and Cassie had collected a healthy little stack of books, they checked out and were back outside. As they made their way to the boutique district, Cassie’s phone buzzed in her pocket. It was text from Josh.

  Josh: Everything going fine with the girls?

  Cassie: Yep. Sam had fun at the bookstore, and now we’re off to check out some shoes.

  Josh: Awesome. Try not to let them run you ragged. Because they will, if you give them half the chance.

  Cassie: I’ll do my best : )

  Josh: Oh and send me your address and I can have your things brought to the house. And get ready for Nick’s pizza order.

  Cassie responded with the information and slipped the phone back into her pocket. The three went the rest of the way to the clothing store. Once they stepped inside it was Amy’s turn to go wild, roaming the aisles while Sam waited patiently. Cassie and Amy went through every square inch of the place, trying on shoes and looking over the fashion display.

  After a busy hour, Cassie made her way to the front with the girls and paid for what Amy had picked out. Once they were done at the clothes store, they stopped by the pizza place Nick requested and put in the order for the gang, every pizza a meat lover’s except for Cassie’s medium cheese and pepperoni.

  “You guys sure are big meat eaters,” said Cassie as the three of them sat in the park near the pizza place as they waited for their order to be made.

  Amy shrugged.

  “I always get made fun of for it by my friends, but it’s just what tastes the best.”

  “Yeah,” said Sam, her eyes buried in one of the books she’d just bought. “And I’m always hungry for it. I don’t really know why.”

  It was a small detail, but one that Cassie couldn’t help but focus on. It was strange to her that this whole…family, or whatever it was, would all have the same craving for meat. It might make sense if they were all related, but she still had no idea about what was going on with the parent situation.

  Cassie wanted to know which of these men was the father – it was like a puzzle she had to figure out.

  The three of them were in the middle of a lively conversation when a phone call let Cassie know that their pizzas were ready. Cassie heaved the six pizzas from the shop to the car and the three of them were soon back on their way to the house.

  Once they were on the road, Cassie allowed herself a small sigh of relief. This had been her first outing with the girls, and it’d gone about as well as she could’ve hoped.

  Back at the house, Josh met with Cassie in the garage and helped her with the pizzas. Once in the house, Cassie was struck by how beautiful the sun looked coming in through the windows. The sky was a gorgeous orange and blue, and beams of sunlight cut through the trees beyond.

  “Come on!” said Nick, his boyish energy coming through. “I’m hungry!”

  Josh and Cassie loaded the kitchen bar with the pizzas, and the six of them began eating. Amy and Sam went on about how their day went, each of them relaying all the highlights of their shopping trip.

  “Josh!” exclaimed Amy, her slice of pizza huge in her little hands. “Are we still going out tonight?”

  “Of course,” said Josh. “Same as every Friday night.”

  Cassie couldn’t help but smirk.

  “What’s so funny?” asked Caleb, that same charming grin on his face.

  “Nothing,” said Cassie. “Just funny to hear the girls call you guys by your first names.”

  Nick laughed.

  “I know; it’s a little weird. But once they started talking we realized we were going to have to come up with some way for them to tell us apart.”

  Caleb chimed in.

  “’Dad’ didn’t cut it, since there’s three of us,” he said. “And ‘Dads one, two, and three’ just seemed totally ridiculous.”

  “So,” said Nick. “We just decided to go with first names. Not the most normal thing in the world, but then again, nothing about our situation is all that normal.”

  Cassie nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly but saying nothing.

  “Oh,” said Josh. “Your things were delivered. They’re in your bedroom, but feel fr
ee to move your art supplies into the office next to it. And I put one of our spare computers in there for you to do any photo editing or anything like that.”

  “Thank you so much,” said Cassie. “You’re all being so helpful.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” said Josh, in his usual smooth professionalism.

  “I’ll show you where your bedroom is after dinner,” said Caleb, flashing Cassie a wink that made her think he had other things they could do in the bedroom on his mind.

  Her face turned a deep red at his wink, and Cassie quickly turned her eyes down to the slice of pizza on her plate.

  The rest of the dinner passed by uneventfully, the girls going on about how much fun they’d had during their afternoon out. Once they were done, the dads having gobbled up an entire pizza each, Nick and Josh set to work on cleaning up.

  “Come on,” said Caleb. “I’ll show you around.”

  Cassie’s heart began to race as Caleb flashed her another smile. He tilted his head to the side as he got up, signaling for her to come with him. Something about the way he looked at her made it very clear he was into her, and Cassie couldn’t help but feel the same way.

  Then again, she considered, it’s not like the other dads weren’t just as hot.

  “That’s the dad wing,” he said, pointing down toward the other end of the house as the two of them walked through the living room. “Nick and Josh and I are all down there, and you probably won’t have any reason to be there.”

  The two of them entered a long, high-ceilinged hallway.

  “And this is the girl wing, you could say. The twins have their rooms here and here…”

  He tapped on a pair of doors as they passed them.

  “-and your bedroom is here.”

  Caleb and Cassie stopped at a door down at the far end of the hall, the two of them now some distance away from the living room. Caleb reached forward and gave the doorknob a twist, the door opening slowly.

  “And here’s your room,” he said, reaching in and flicking on a light.

  The bedroom was a lovely, cozy little space with off-white walls, gorgeous green plants, and windows that looked out over the woods. The bed was soft-looking and inviting, and Cassie could see a walk-in closet just off to the side.

  “You’ll have plenty of space in here, and like Josh said, you’ll have the whole office next door for whatever else you need.”

  As they stood there, Cassie admiring the room, she felt Caleb’s eyes move up and down her body. She had a feeling that if she shut the door to the room he’d be all over her, and part of her was totally turned on by the idea.

  “But as thanks for me showing you to your room, you’re going to have to do something for me,” said Caleb, that sly grin still on his face.

  Cassie felt a hot blush run up her neck.

  “What’s that?”

  “I want to see some of your art. Paintings, photos – whatever you’ve got.”

  Cassie did a quick mental inventory and remembered everything she had was back in Boston. She’d brought a few things over to Bess’s, but they were in the car when it got taken back. Aside from the pictures on her camera’s hard drive, she had nothing.

  “I…don’t really have anything to show,” she said.

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “A shy artist?” he asked. “That’s a new one.”

  “Not shy, really,” she said. “It’s a long story.”

  He nodded.

  “How about this then,” he said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest. “You and me go out for a little field trip sometime soon. We can take some pictures together, and I can see what you’ve got.”

  The idea appealed to Cassie immensely. Going out and taking pictures always did her some good.

  “Sure,” she said. “I’d love to.”

  “The girls have piano practice in the afternoon tomorrow,” he said. “We can sneak out for a little trek then.”

  A warm smile spread across Cassie’s face.

  “Deal,” she said.

  “I’ll let you get settled in,” he said, his eyes flicking to the bed one last time. “Let me know if you need anything.”

  He gave her one more wink before heading back down the hallway. Cassie’s eyes, almost out of her control, locked onto Caleb’s ass, the solid shape outlined perfectly by his designer jeans.

  As soon as he was gone, Cassie felt the need to lie down for a moment or two and get in some solitude. But she wasn’t able to relax for very long before Josh appeared in the doorway.

  “Hey,” he said. “Don’t mean to interrupt.”

  Cassie rolled over onto her side, her blonde tresses falling over her breasts.

  “What’s up?” she asked.

  “The family and I are about to head out for our evening walk. We’ll be gone for a few hours, so you’ve pretty much got the night to yourself. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, and feel free to relax. Only rule is that you’re up tomorrow before the girls, which should be around seven.”

  “Perfect,” said Cassie.

  “And great job today,” he said. “The girls sound like they had a great time.”

  “Happy to do it,” said Cassie. “And thanks for taking a chance on me. I hope this all works out.”

  “Me too,” he said, giving her one last smile before ducking back into the hallway.

  The “family walk.” It all struck Cassie as so strange. Why would a family be heading out for a walk in the evening like this? And for several hours? Didn’t the girls need to be in bed?

  Cassie hated to admit it, but her curiosity was piqued. After a few more minutes of relaxing, she headed out to the living room, quickly realizing that the family was gone, and that she was alone. She wandered around the place, marveling at just how big it was – it was a huge estate even for a family this size.

  After an hour of mindlessly watching TV, Cassie decided to go exploring outside. Taking her camera from her things that had been brought over earlier in the day, she grabbed a set of house keys and left through one of the back doors leading to behind the property.

  Once outside, she was struck by how still and quiet the evening was. The moon was bright and full in the sky, and the lack of light pollution let her see every twinkling star.

  Holding her camera close, Cassie took off into the woods and was soon far from the house. She snapped a few pictures here and there but realized quickly that the light was too dim to take anything worthwhile. Still, she knew it was good to stay in the habit of going out for photo trips.

  Then the idea of spending time with Caleb alone in the woods appeared in her mind, a smile spreading across her face at the thought. She knew she wasn’t imagining him hitting on her, and already his sly, sexy smile was burned into her mind.

  But she quickly shook the idea out of her head, realizing that doing anything like that with one of her new bosses would be a quick way to torpedo this amazing new job.

  Cassie carried on through the woods, enjoying the quiet and peacefulness of the scene.

  Then, all of a sudden, she heard the movement of something not too far off. She stopped in her tracks, worried she might’ve caught the attention of a predator. Cassie rushed over to the nearest tree and pressed her back flat against it, hoping the sounds would pass.

  But they didn’t. They only grew in volume, and Cassie quickly realized it wasn’t just one thing moving in the woods, but several somethings.

  As the sounds grew closer, she recognized them as footsteps, the soft padding against the forest floor broken up by heavy snorts. Soon, she realized that whatever animals were making the noises, they were close.

  Taking a deep breath, she gathered the courage to look around the tree and see what was the source of the noise.

  Cassie gasped when she realized what it was.

  Trudging through the woods, moving in a tight pack, were five black bears. Three of them were large bulky, clearly adults. And two of them were smaller, the size of cubs
. Cassie watched them move, their dark fur rippling under the moonlight. And the more she watched them, the more familiar they seemed.

  Then a strange thought hit Cassie like a bolt of lightning: these weren’t just any bears; these were the family she was now living with.

  CHAPTER 8

  CALEB

  “I know I saw something,” I said, falling back into the large lounge chair in Josh’s office. “Something was out there in the woods.”

  “Of course, there was something out there in the woods,” said Josh, seated on the edge of his large oak desk, the trees in the window behind him gently lolling in the late morning breeze. “It’s the woods; there are lots of somethings out there.”

  Nick spoke up.

  “And I’m sure you’re thinking it was Cassie?”

  “Just a hunch,” he said. “The movement stopped as soon as I noticed it, and when I sniffed the air there was something familiar on it.”

  It was familiar, all right. It was that smell that Caleb recognized as distinctly Cassie – the smell of something sweet. The smell of sex.

  “Too bad the girl doesn’t know better than to wander around the woods at night,” said Josh, crossing his arms over his chest. “Could’ve sworn I warned her about that.”

  “This could be a problem,” said Nick. “She’s only been here for a day. That’s too soon for her to know everything about us. Especially that.”

  “She’s going to find out eventually,” said Caleb. “Maybe it’s best to let her know as soon as possible.”

  Josh shook his head.

  “She’s got enough to digest about our living situation without knowing about…that.”

  Caleb snorted at the mention of their secret as “that.”

  It was more than just “that” – it was that their family wasn’t just any family. They were a group of bear shifters.

  “She’d go running for the hills if she found out about our shifter sides,” said Josh.

  “But we have the NDA,” said Nick. “Right?”

  “Right,” said Josh. “But that doesn’t mean she might not do something stupid if she found out about our animals before she has a chance to get more situated.”