Her Bah Humbug Bear (A BBW Paranormal Holiday Romance) Read Free

take it. She sighed. Within minutes, the tree was in the stand and watered. He got up and dusted off his legs of his jeans, indicating he was done.
    “It’s going to be beautiful,” she said, dragging her attention away from the man and concentrating on the tree. She drew in a lungful of air, inhaling the pine scent.
    “Beautiful,” he echoed. He gazed at her, his hooded eyes making it very plain that he was talking about her and not the tree. Mercy felt her cheeks burn.
    “What do you want to do with these branches?” In a minute, he had the branches he’d cut off stacked together in his arms.
    “I’ll take them.” She covered the distance between them in a couple of steps, holding out her arms.
    He refused to give them to her. “You’ll get sap on your clothes.”
    Her arms fell to her sides. This was the closest she had been to him, except for those few moments on the tree lot. “If you could put them on the hearth, please.” She hurried over and moved the empty wood box out of the way. He frowned as she moved it and she wondered if he thought it was too heavy for her. Again, the feeling of being protected washed over her.
    To cover her embarrassment, she took the coin purse from her pocket again.
    “Please let me pay for the tree. And for setting it up for me. It would have been very difficult by myself.”
    “Nearly impossible.”
    “What?”
    “It would have been nearly impossible to have put that tree up by yourself.”
    That comment, coming from any other man, would have set her off. She was a card-carrying feminist. Mostly. Could one be a feminist if their insides melted at the first heated gaze a man turned her way?
    She cocked her head, hearing a note of concern in his voice. Gathering her courage, she asked, “If you won’t let me pay for the tree, will you stay for dinner? It’s not much, just some beef stew I made in the crock pot this morning.”
    “Is that what smells?”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Shit, I didn’t mean—”
    She just had to laugh at his expression when he thought he had insulted her. “I know. I hope it does smell good though.”
    “Yeah, it does.” The look in his eyes said he thought she smelled just as good. A tingle started inside her.
    Her tongue came out to lick her dry lips. Was this stoic bear flirting with her? “I was going to make some corn bread to go with it.”
    Even as she spoke, she saw a shutter drop down over his face. “No. I’ve got to go.” He turned sharply on his heel and grabbed his coat, stalking to the door.
    “Of course.” She hurried after him. He opened the door a few seconds before she got there. He stopped abruptly and turned around. Unable to stop her forward momentum, she almost plowed into him. They were so close she could feel his breath on her face. All she had to do was stand on her tiptoes, lean forward just a little, and she could know what his lips would feel like pressed against hers. Not soft. No, his mouth would be hard. And his taste as dark and mysterious as his scent. The angel on her shoulder told her she shouldn’t be thinking these thoughts. She shouldn’t be thinking of kissing this man. This shifter. But she was. She most definitely was. The devil inside her laughed in glee.
    And the moment she lifted her glance to his eyes, she knew that he was thinking of kissing her, too, his body bowing as if drawn to hers by an invisible thread.
    He straightened abruptly. “Don’t forget to water the tree.”
    He was out the door before she could take her next breath.

CHAPTER TWO
     
    DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, Dirk cursed as he stomped out of Mercy’s house and slammed into his truck. Throwing the big vehicle in reverse, he tried to get away as quickly as possible but only managed to spin his tires in the thin layer of snow that seemed to always be on the ground lately. Cursing, he rocked it forward then reversed at a more sedate pace. He couldn’t help but take another look at the old Victorian house. She’d closed the door