Bear Me Away (Alpha Werebear Paranormal Romance) (A Jamesburg Shifter Romance) Read Free Page A

thought, I am absolutely, definitely, positively in trouble.
    “So,” West said, interrupting her being lost in thought. “What do you think of all this?”
    “I think you’re huge,” Elena said, before she realized what was coming out of her mouth. She snapped her lips shut, but West just laughed.
    “That,” he said, “is true. And you are very small.”
    His voice boomed, resonating in Elena’s chest. “Uh-huh,” she said, open mouthed and nodding.
    “Oh my God, get a look at this,” Paul said, sucking wind and approaching the unlikely couple. “I thought we were here for a case, not to make googly-eyes at each other.”
    West kept smiling at Elena as he turned away, finally ripping his gaze from her eyes at the last possible moment. “I guess we should get down to business, huh?”
    Elena nodded, Paul curled the right corner of his mouth up, and rolled his eyes.
    “Sure,” West said, “come this way, I think I found something that might help you two.”
    He walked past. Elena turned her head, following him. She just stared, watched, and breathed. She and Paul were both shaking their heads, but for vastly different reasons.
    “You,” Paul said, when West was out of earshot, “are in trouble.”
    For a second, Elena shook her head in protest. Paul shot her a raised eyebrow, and chuckled. “Really? You’re going to act like what I just saw didn’t happen?”
    Elena took a deep breath. “I know,” she said. “I am in big trouble.”

-2-
“Wait, a cowboy? Uh, yes please!”
-Elena
    ––––––––
    “A carrot?” she asked. “In a garden? What a horrific mystery!”
    At least if her sarcasm was intact, Elena knew she wasn’t a complete mess. Outwardly, things might be a different story, what with all the hair tugging and lip biting. She wasn’t the only one though. West kept stealing glances in her direction, and she kept catching his eyes and then looking away.
    Sometimes though, he would be talking, and looking back and forth between the two investigators, but then just settle on Elena, eyes devouring her curves. She might be five-foot-nothing, and might be just over a buck-ten when she was sopping wet, but at her height, there were gonna be curves no matter how many sit-ups Elena did, or miles she ran.
    Of course, generally she did neither. Not enough hours in the day
    One of the times she caught him shamelessly watching her, she managed to summon the courage to shamelessly stare back. The two of them, locked in a battle of wills, completely forgot that Paul was still standing around. Elena watched his face, studying the tattoos around his eyes. West watched hers, entranced by her fiery green, amber-flecked, eyes.
    Paul cleared his throat. “So, the carrot?”
    “Oh,” West said, half-heartedly. “Yeah, the carrot.” He trailed off, still watching Elena.
    “Well, what about it? What’s the big deal about a carrot in a garden?” she asked. Her voice was slightly breathy. “Why should we care about a carrot?”
    Finally, West blinked and looked away. “The carrot matters because it’s the only one.”
    “You mean whoever did this stole the rest?”
    West shook his huge head. “No. If you look, there are two things not growing here. Onions, and—”
    “Carrots,” Elena finished for him, then flashed him a quick smile. The game between them, apparently, was on in force. “There’s no carrots, or any,” she scanned the garden again. “Onions. Bears hate onions.”
    “How’d you know?” West asked in his slow, deep voice. “I thought that us hating onions was a species secret.”
    She quirked a quick grin, avoiding a look at him because she’d rather not get caught staring. If she caught him that was one thing. But if he caught her? It didn’t make much sense, but it was a different ballgame entirely.
    “I know bears,” she said.
    “I’ll bet you do,” Paul said, under his breath. “About as well as I know about chasing poodles.”
    Elena shot him a