OSO Ready: The Boys of Beartooth Bay: Harrison Read online

  OSO Ready

  The Boys of Beartooth Bay Book 2: Harrison

  Claire Ryann

  Eva Wilder

  Magpie Press

  Contents

  Copyright

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  Other Titles

  OSO Ready

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Coming Soon

  Also by Claire Ryann

  About Claire Ryann

  About Eva Wilder

  Copyright © 2016 Claire Ryann

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  All rights reserved worldwide

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  No part of this book may be reproduced, uploaded to the Internet, or copied without permission from the author. The author respectfully asks that you please support artistic expression and help promote anti-piracy efforts by purchasing a copy of this book at the authorized online outlets.

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  This is a work of fiction intended for mature audiences only. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to events, locales, business establishments, or actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is purely coincidental.

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  All sexual activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related.

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  Other Titles

  OSO Ready is Book 2 in the all new Boys of Beartooth Bay series by Claire Ryann with Eva Wilder. It features all new characters in an all new shifter "world."

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  Claire Ryann is also the USA Today Bestselling author of the Sierra Moon Shifters series:

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  Quest of the Alpha: Sierra Moon Book One

  Return of the Pack: Sierra Moon Book Two

  Mated for Life: Sierra Moon Book Three

  Lion in Wait: Sierra Moon Book Four

  How the Bear Stole Christmas: Sierra Moon Book Five

  Bearly Sleeping: Sierra Moon Book Six

  A Grizzly Discovery: Sierra Moon Book Seven

  ImPAWSible Dream: Sierra Moon Book Eight*

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  * available as part of the Shifters in the Spring multi-author anthology

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  Other works by Claire Ryann with Eva Wilder:

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  OSO Stubborn: The Boys of Beartooth Bay book 1: Ethan

  OSO Ready: The Boys of Beartooth Bay book 2: Harrison

  Coming soon to Beartooth Bay:

  OSO Willing: The Boys of Beartooth Bay book 3- Clayton

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  American Tigers Series 1:

  Siberian Soul part 1

  Siberian Soul part 2

  Siberian Soul part 3

  * * *

  Outfoxing the Alpha

  OSO Ready

  The Boys of Beartooth Bay book 2: Harrison

  by

  Claire Ryann & Eva Wilder

  Chapter 1

  "What's up with the super model hair?"

  "Yeah man, you smell like a chick."

  Harris walked past the taunts and took his usual seat at the bar in the back room of the Oso Thirsty brewpub.

  He pointed at the newest tap, something his cousin, Ethan, had named "Honeybear Brew." Ethan had come up with the honey wheat brew for his own wedding just a few weeks back. The light wheat ale had been such a hit with the locals during the process of perfecting the recipe that it had become a staple on the brewery's beer board during the summer months in Beartooth Bay.

  Harris had to admit, the stuff was refreshing and it had become his new favorite for the summer.

  Summers in Beartooth Bay never got too hot. The central California coastal town got most of its sun during the fall. Summers tended to be stormy and cool but a cold beer still went down smooth in the afternoon.

  The weather didn't keep the tourists away. The town filled up annually with travelers from all over the world stopping to ogle otters, sea lions, the great Pacific Ocean, and consume bread bowls full of clam chowder by the truck load. And Ethan somehow managed to brew enough small batch beers to help those tourists wash down their chowder and fish and chips.

  The boys had watched their youngest cousin's enterprise with interest over the last couple of years. Harris was proud of Ethan for striking out on his own to follow his dream.

  Harris had known he would end up on the fishing trawler with his cousin, Ethan's oldest brother Luke, since he was a cub.

  Eight years his senior, Luke had taken over the family business at the tender age of 19. Harris could still remember going out with Uncle Jack and Luke when he was only 12. He'd known since that first outing that he was destined to spend his life on a fishing boat.

  The family had been in Osos County since before the Spanish came through and named everything after the bears that used to roam the area. They'd built their fishing business up as the town began to form around the beach.

  But going into the family business lost a lot of appeal for the younger generations. Restrictions on commercial fishing, over fishing of the clams and abalone that had sustained generations in the area, and fewer places to shift and roam without risking discovery. All that was left in the family fleet was one trawler now run by Ethan's oldest brother, Lucas.

  The four older boys made an acceptable living from their daily jaunts out to see what ever they could catch for the day, but they were all well aware that they benefited greatly from the head start provided by their family history in the area.

  Harris thanked the tender for the frothy pint of ale as it was set in front of him and then turned on his barstool to look at the family members that made up his co-workers and his best friends.

  Lucas stood in front of one of the big windows that looked out over the bay. The whole back room was lined with these huge windows, the room itself sitting on the second story of the building, looming over the waters of the small harbor.

  Lucas was a true sailor. Never seeming to let the water out of his sight for long, as though the ocean might sneak away from him if he turned his back on it. He was a big man of few words, and he seemed more brooding than normal lately but Luke wasn't the kind of guy you asked about his feelings.

  This was the best time of the day. Late morning, before the pub opened for the day but after they'd come back in from the morning's run. It had become tradition for the five of them to gather around the bar in the back room for a pint or two, catch up with each other, talk about the day's catch, talk about the brews on tap, find out how Mindy's pregnancy was going.

  Harris dropped his head and combed his hand through his recently styled tresses.

  It was true, he did smell like a girl. All that wax or gel or pomegranate stuff that he kept letting Jess put in his damn hair.

  He wrinkled his nose as he worked his fingers through the stiffly sprayed locks, trying to get it back to the way he liked it. Messy.

  Ethan. Man. Ethan. His little baby cousin. He was all grown up now. Running a successful business here on the Embarcadero with a house and a wife and a new cub on the way.

  It seemed like it had all happened so fast. One day Eeth had been this gangly teenager with a crooked grin getting caught ditching school to
go surfing. Now he was going to be a dad.

  Harris watched his youngest cousin laughing and talking across the room with the other guys.

  And the damnedest thing about it was that Ethan looked so fucking happy about it. Harris was having a hard time processing that. He just couldn't wrap his brain around wanting a mate. A wife and a baby!

  More power to you, man. Harris silently toasted his cousin as he raised his glass to his mouth.

  "Hey man," Ethan made his way across the room and clasped Harris's hand in something that served their tight knit clan as a combination handshake/high five sort of greeting, "seriously, did you go get another haircut?"

  Ethan's hand came down in a firm slap on Harris's shoulder as the rest of the crew began gathering around the bar.

  Harris shook his head and avoided eye contact. This was the part he hated. The constant teasing. Like the guys all thought they knew something that he didn't.

  "Well I do have hair, you know," he said gruffly as he dodged his own brother's attempt to ruffle his hair.

  "Yeah but bro, your hair is long enough to put in a ponytail," Clay lilted on the word pony just to make it sound girly.

  "Is not!" Harris jumped from his seat, glass in hand, and landed in a single stride well outside his brother's reach.

  "Yeah Harry, I think it is, " Ethan laughed.

  "At least one of those tiny little Johnny Appleseed ponytails," Clayton added.

  "Dude, why don't you just ask her out already?" Ethan regained his composure as he disappeared through the kitchen door behind the bar.

  Harris narrowed his eyes and let a dark growl echo through the room, aimed at his brother.

  Clay laughed, putting his hands in the air in a motion that suggested he was surrendering. Harris knew better. His brother lived to annoy him.

  Ethan reappeared with a tray of freshly washed barware from the kitchen. He began setting the glasses out behind the bar in preparation for the thirsty lunch crowd, "You know, if you really want to convince her that you're actually just there for a haircut, you should at least shave your head."

  "Yeah, there's no way this girl thinks you need a haircut every two weeks when you wear it all shaggy like that."

  Even Lucas had left his watch by the window and was joining in the shenanigans now.

  "When are you just going to admit you like her?" Clay asked.

  "Maybe you finally found your mate?" Ethan laughed as he finished stacking the glass ware behind the bar.

  Harris rolled his eyes and held his glass out for a refill. He'd been waiting for the "mate" talk to start. The guys had been teasing him ever since he met Jess, it was only a matter of time till it got around to getting mated.

  "I ain't ready to take a mate," he protested as Ethan handed him a new pint, "I just like the way she does my hair is all."

  Laughter erupted from the guys around him.

  He was going need to switch to something stronger than this damn honey wheat beer if he was going to have to sit around listening to these guys all day.

  Chapter 2

  Jessica let everything drop in a heap on the floor of the small trailer she called home as she let the front door close behind her.

  Another long day on her feet, coming home covered in hair and product.

  She left a trail of clothes behind her on the way to the shower.

  Not that she minded her job. She actually loved what she did, working as a hair stylist at one of only two small salons in the little beach town she currently called home. She'd been a stylist for almost ten years and she still looked forward to going back to work every day even though it was long hours on her feet and shorn hair from her clients never ceased to make its way under her smock to get between her clothes and her skin.

  She let her bra drop to the bathroom floor. While she waited for the water to warm up she bent over, letting her breasts hang freely while she dusted the hair out from under them.

  Hair got in the damnedest places during the day.

  Jessica stepped over the edge of the tub and into the shower, standing under the steaming jets of water while she let her mind wander.

  It had become a regular routine-- coming home each night and jumping in the shower had been part of her daily to-do list since she started doing hair. She knew plenty of stylists who spent all day at the salon and then went out for drinks afterward but somehow she'd just never gotten in the habit. She preferred to take a shower and, if she did do anything after work, start fresh.

  Since moving to Beartooth Bay, she'd added a vivid fantasy life to her routine. She hadn't meant for it to become a habit but for the last two months she'd been taking her regular after work shower with one of her new clients.

  Unfortunately, not literally.

  Jessica sighed wistfully and reached for the shower gel.

  Harrison.

  Just his name elicited a soft purr from her throat.

  He'd wandered in off the street one day looking for a trim of his wayward locks and Jess had been the lucky one to get him in her chair. She'd only been working at the salon for a few days, totally new in town and no clientele to speak of so she was pretty excited when the receptionist called her to the front of the salon for the walk in.

  Emerging from the back room, her eyes had landed on the giant of a man standing by the receptionist desk. Looming was more like it. Blocking out the view of the ocean through the front window behind him.

  Jessica's gut had immediately tied itself into something resembling a Boy Scout's merit badge demo for knot tying as she had led him to her station for a quick consultation.

  Then the knots had melted into something sticky and sweet that pooled in her stomach and drained down through her lower regions where it began a slow simmer that gradually turned to a rolling boil during their brief time together.

  His smile caught her off guard. He was easily six foot five, broad and burly looking in a pair of faded jeans and a flannel shirt. His hair was unruly, longish all over in a way that suggested he usually waited till he couldn't keep it out of his eyes before he bothered with it. In his eyes was where it had been that first day, giving him a sort of shaggy, stray dog look that only added to his appeal.

  He was one of those guys who was all rough around the edges, with those puppy dog eyes peeking out from under the dark brown fringe of the hair hanging in his face. That smile a dazzling contradiction to the unfinished exterior.

  His name was Harrison. When he introduced himself to her, his voice burned a trail through her from her ears straight to her panties. It was deep and coarse and when he repeated her name she couldn't help but imagine him saying it while doing dirty, dirty, delicious things to her.

  She hadn't intentionally stood so close behind him that her boobs hit him in the back of the head while he sat in her chair; she hadn't exactly meant to issue the double entendre when she asked "so what do you want me to do to you?" as she ran her fingers through his hair; but by the time she had him laying down with his head in the shampoo bowl, she might have made sure to lean over so her boobs were in his face and she sure as hell spent entirely too much time massaging his scalp while working the shampoo into a rich lather.

  She liked the way he hummed while she touched him. A deep, contented noise that seemed to come from his chest. So low, she almost didn't notice at first.

  She liked the way he stretched his neck to nuzzle his head into her hands, like a dog asking for extra petting.

  She liked the way his eyes sparkled at her reflection in the big mirror in front of them as she stood behind him and tried to turn his untamed salty dog do into something that would pass muster in civilization.

  She had also liked the fat tip she got at the end of the cut.

  She had not liked that he hadn't asked her out. He didn't ask for her number, he hadn't left his scribbled on the back of her card, not so much as even asking when she got off work.

  Two months ago, she had slipped the extra $20 into her apron pocket and waited till his gorgeous a
ss was out of sight before sweeping up the hair from the floor. Then she had gone home and accidentally begun the most torrid affair of her imaginary love life with Harrison the fisherman from Beartooth Bay.

  Harrison with the extremely thick muscles roping through his shoulders. Harrison with the amazing ass-- and other assets-- that those worn out jeans did so little to conceal.

  Mmm, Harrison. Jessica's hands slid over her wet body, the wild berry scent of her shower gel providing the setting for tonight's fantasy.

  Tonight he was meeting her in the hills, near a patch of wild raspberry brambles where a small spring trickled through the dense plants. She was there picking berries, combing through the plants with her fingers for the juicy red fruits and dropping them into the straw basket she held with her other hand.

  The breeze off the Pacific Ocean ran up the hills to the secret berry patch, cooling her in the exposed summer sun and whipping the cotton sundress around her legs.

  Jessica smiled at how well she'd painted the picture in her mind, letting the hot shower water cascade over her shoulders while she leaned against the cool tile stall and worked the lather over her breasts, she let her mind wander even further into her fantasy as her hand moved down her body.

  A truck is headed up the hill, pulling to a stop beside her. The engine dies and the driver's door opens. Harrison climbs down from the cab and slams the door. He's wearing a tight t-shirt that stretches across the muscles of his chest and strains over his bulging biceps. His jeans, those jeans, all worn out and faded, threads showing in patches where the fabric has worn over his hip bones, along the side of the fly in tiny patches near the seam that draws her eyes to what's beneath the worn denim. Holes over his knees, another horizontal rip running under his ass on the left side, the fabric barely even blue in most places anymore.