One in a Bear-llion (Polar Heat Book 3) Read Free Page B

been too shy to purchase it for herself.
    She flounced in front of him down the beach after handing him her bag, now filled with her clothes, for him to put in the car. He hurried to do so and then put up the top and locked the car quickly so he could follow after his curvy little goddess.
    Damn, the longer he spent in her presence, the more he had this urge to just follow her around. To not let her out of his sight.
    It was those stupid protective instincts.
    No, that wasn’t entirely it, because he also wanted to make her happy. Wanted her to have the swimsuit she wanted. He scratched his head as he carried their lunch and an umbrella down to the beach.
    It was crowded with families today. He picked a good spot, set things up, and kept his eyes on her all the time.
    It was like he kept expecting something to happen, but he didn’t know what.
    She was looking out at the ocean with folded arms. Damn, he loved the look of her from the back too. Those curvy arms, that luscious waist he longed to take in his hands. Those wide hips that could accommodate him just right.
    Her fruity scent blew toward him. It must just be the pheromones, he reassured himself.
    But he couldn’t say for sure. She pulled her hair out of its knot and let it blow in the wind. Her ass looked amazing in the little bikini bottom. She was sumptuous; there was no other word for it.
    And when she looked over her shoulder with a shy little grin, he almost ran over and picked her up to ravish her right then.
    Instead, he flexed one hand into a tight fist and then released it. Get a hold of yourself, man.
    She walked over to him. “Aren’t we going to swim?”
    “Sure,” he said. “If you like.”
    Oh damn. The thought of her wet in that bikini made him instantly hard, and he strode toward the ocean quickly, hoping to get in before she noticed the effect she had on him. She was a shy little thing, and he didn’t need to make her more nervous than she already seemed.
----
    M ara grinned as she watched Scott walk away. The man had an ass that didn’t quit.
    And he wanted her. That was obvious. For the first time in a long time, she had male attention that was fun and exciting rather than terrifying and awful.
    She shook away thoughts of the man that had made the last three years of her life utter hell and followed Scott out into the water.
    His body looked even better half naked than it did in a suit, rippling muscles from his wide shoulders to his tapered waist and powerful legs. His strides were so much longer than hers. When she got to the spot where the waves broke, she realized he was going to have a much easier time of this than she was.
    When she was about waist deep, a wave crashed on them. He easily walked through it, but it took her down. She held her breath as she was swirled in the sandy water.
    Then strong arms caught and pulled her up, and she looked into Scott’s surprised blue eyes.
    He set her on her feet.
    “Sorry, I didn’t think the waves would get you. They generally aren’t bad here.”
    She scoffed. “Maybe not when you’re six feet six, but when you’re five feet two…”
    She trailed off as she saw his eyes twinkling in amusement. She tried to stomp ahead of him into the waves, only to get knocked back again. He laughed and caught her under her arms.
    “If we’re going to get out to the calm part of the water, I guess we’re going to need to change our approach.”
    Before she could ask what he meant, he’d scooped her up in his arms and was holding her against his wet, slick chest. She could feel every muscle and loved the feel of her curves against his firmness.
    He lifted her to easily pass through the waves, and when they got to the gentle swells, it was only slightly too deep for her to touch. He set her down, and she treaded water.
    “Damn, you can’t touch here either?” he asked. “You are small.”
    She sputtered, but he laughed, taking the sting out of the comment.
    “Nothing wrong with that, though,”