On his first night renting a cottage on the Cornish coast, widower John Tennant comes face to face with, of all things, a grizzly bear. Fearing for his life, John tries to convince the animal he isn't worth eating, and is relieved when the bear ambles away. Maintenance man Mitch Benjamin is two hundred years old but doesn’t look a day over forty. As a werebear, he needs to stay under the radar. The new renter is making that difficult. Not only is John attractive, but his vulnerability triggers all of Mitch’s protective instincts. If that wasn’t trouble enough, Mitch is struggling with his inner bear’s desire to befriend John. He knows what his bear is up to, but Mitch doesn’t want another mate. His last one was murdered ninety years ago, and he’s still grieving. John is confused by Mitch’s mixed signals. Physically, Mitch -- with his bulging muscles and hulking frame -- is a gay man’s wet dream come true. But emotionally, he keeps closing down. John discovers more comfort with the magnificent grizzly bear he occasionally meets on his evening walks along the beach. In an effort to help, Morwenna, the owner of the cottages, uses her psychic gifts to give John a message from his dead lover, George. Far from helping, it adds another layer of strangeness to what’s already turning out to be the strangest summer John can remember. Can a well-meaning medium and a determined grizzly bring John and Mitch together? Will Mitch come clean about his werebear nature? If he does, can John accept that a man and bear exist in the same body?

Summer's Lease

“Here, let me,” Mitch said from immediately behind John, an arm reaching around to take the kettle.


“Thanks. Don’t know why I’m so flustered all of a sudden. Storms normally don’t bother me.”


The kettle was set down and the hands rested on John’s shoulders. “You’re safe.”


John would give anything to lean back into that solid bulk and be wrapped in Mitch’s strong arms. He’d definitely be safe there. Shaking his head to clear it of the foolish notion, he said, “Need to stir the cocoa.”


“I’ll do it. You go back into the living room and sit down. I took the liberty of entering your spare room and pulling the comforter off the bed and bringing it downstairs.”


“Oh, thanks.” John turned around and looked up at Mitch.


“Knew it’d be a while before the fire got going and I didn’t want you catching a chill.”


John shuddered, but it wasn’t from cold. If anything, his body felt a flush of warmth at Mitch’s proximity and steady gaze on him.


Chapter 24