Jade Crew: Captive Bear (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Ridgeback Bears Book 4) Read Free Page B

gorgeous. I bet he would be a lot of fun in—
    Kierra chopped that thought off with a vicious mental slash, shaking herself and bringing her focus back. It took another strong effort, but she managed to tear her eyes away from Darren and focus back on Gwen.
    “This place is wonderful,” she complimented, meaning every word of it. I hadn’t been inside in a long time, so I barely recollect it, but this is just beautiful. I love the fireplace.”
    “I do too! I was so happy when I convinced Ferro to let me put it in. He seemed strangely reluctant at first,” she teased over her shoulder as Ferro was close enough to overhear. “Almost as if he were afraid of fire.”
    Everyone in the circle knew that Ferro was a dragon-shifter, and they had a small laugh at his expense. Even Ferro cracked a smile at it.
    As the laughter died, Kierra felt her eyes drifting back toward Darren. She had no idea why Gwen had brought him up to her, but she wasn’t complaining. His strong jaw flexed and his iron eyes drilled into her mercilessly, but Kierra didn’t flinch away from the gaze. Gwen excused herself, going to get them drinks and taking Nash and Jenny, one of her campaign aides, with her. Leaving her alone. With Darren. A shifter.
    Hoooo boy.
    “So, Gwen tells me you’re running for mayor of Origin?” Darren said brightly.
    She blinked. It wasn’t the subject matter that shocked her. Everyone wanted to talk about the elections with her. In fact, it was often the only subject most people wanted to talk to her about. No, Kierra was stunned by the fact that Darren actually seemed sincere in his interest.
    “You actually want to talk about that?” She frowned in disbelief.
    Hurt played across his face before he could conceal it, and all of a sudden Kierra felt horrible.
    “I find it fascinating,” he said, though some of the interest in his voice had faded.
    Kierra sighed. “Listen, I’m sorry Darren. It’s just that everyone wants to talk about the upcoming election with me lately, but only a fraction of them actually give a damn. It’s all because of the job, or because they want some sort of concession from me if I get elected. I’m not used to someone who is genuinely interested in the fact that I’m running for mayor. And it’s actually of Genesis Valley, not just the town,” she said. “Not that there’s much outside of it, but the territory does encompass the whole Valley.”
    “It’s okay,” he said, his shoulders loosening up as he accepted her apology. “I can understand how it would be such a drag on you after a while. It probably kills some of your initial interest in doing the job to begin with I’d assume.”
    She sagged slightly with relief, both at his willingness to forgive her, and the accuracy of his statement. “You have no idea. No. Idea,” she told him, emphasizing the words. “Don’t get me wrong,” she continued, “I am absolutely still interested in the job, but the dull repetitiveness of it definitely gets to you at times. I’ve found, so far at least, that the best way to counter that is to get out and talk to people, real people. The ones whose votes actually matter. Not the folks at the top, though thankfully there aren’t very many of those in a town the size of Origin.”
    Darren’s eyes flashed with bright silver as his nostrils flared in an agreeing snort. “Unfortunately we still have room for a few pompous jerks,” he said, glancing over at where Emma and Nash were having a heated conversation. “Remind me to thank Emma for distracting him.”
    “Yeah, he is rather pretentious, isn’t he?” she agreed.
    “You have no idea,” he told her, half-mocking her earlier statement with his tone. “He was briefly assigned to my crew for a few weeks, and let me tell you, it was a living hell. Can I buy you a drink?” he asked suddenly at the end.
    Kierra grimaced. “No, thank you. I’m theoretically here on business. Nash said I should come here, meet some of the