River Bear (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (Blue Bear Rescue) Read Free Page A

about her.
    He watched as her tongue darted out to wet her lips. “Listen, Jake. I think I should clarify right now that I have a strict policy when it comes to client relationships. I don’t get involved in that way while on the job. So it doesn’t really matter whether I’m your type or not. I’m here to work. That’s it. Got it?”
    He blinked, surprised at the way she’d so neatly shut him down. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had done that. And so effortlessly. What the hell had just happened?
    He cleared his throat. “Got it,” he said.
    “Good. I’ll see you later then.” She hesitated a second longer, and he caught the look in her eyes—uncertainty flashed, quick and sharp—and then she clicked the door shut.
    Jake rocked on his heels, speechless.
    For a split second, he’d thought she actually meant what she said. That she didn’t feel the attraction he felt. But that look… and her full lips as her tongue darted out to wet them. She wasn’t nearly as certain as she’d tried to sound about keeping a professional distance. She was just going to make it damn hard for him to get to her. Not that he should want to, with Nash’s vision on the table.
    Fuck. He was torn. And grumpy. And he was never grumpy.
    He groaned and turned for the truck. She’d left him wanting and hungry. Maybe his breakfast would do the trick.

Three
    D elilah sat back in her chair and sipped casually on the beer Jake had brought her. Mack’s Brewery was a happening place for dinner even in the off-season. Inside, the bar and tables were filled with locals all gathering at the watering hole after a day’s work. Outside on the patio, she was the lone human with a pack of shifters. She felt the tension and the invisible line drawn between the two groups even if Xavier and his crew didn’t.
    Jake was too busy avoiding eye contact with her from the other end of the table. After the tense goodbye they’d shared that morning at her hotel when she’d had to draw the professional line, he’d been a stone wall all day when he’d picked her up again. Only speaking when she asked him a question, polite but curt as he’d shown her around town. She’d appreciated the professional distance for about ten minutes. Now it was pissing her off.
    He was attracted to her. She was flattered by it, and if she was honest, she was more than attracted to him. She wanted to take him out to the truck and tell him she’d changed her mind. That she could do the job and do him. Multi-tasking at its finest. But his cool demeanor stopped her. She was afraid she’d been too harsh, that he might reject her now.
    Her fear made her wonder if she’d been right all along. She just wasn’t built for keeping people around. No one ever stuck. Maybe her dad, if he hadn’t been killed in the line of duty. But otherwise, not a single person had stuck around in her life. Maybe Jake was just another in a long line of revolving acquaintances. And that fear of loss made her too scared to get attached.
    She’d already been introduced to everyone. Nash, the hippie with the blond hair. Lucas, the brooding, serious one off to the side. Harley, the mouth. And while they’d all made her feel welcome—except for maybe Harley, who had legitimately snarled at her when she’d tried to shake his hand—she wasn’t sure they trusted her yet. Judging from the awkward silence and attempts at small talk, they hadn’t decided to let her in. Fine, they didn’t want to talk about anything important? She’d do it herself.
    “You’re Nash,” she said, and the guys all looked up, silence falling over the table. Okay, maybe that had come out a tad strong.
    “Yeah,” said the guy with the shell choker two seats down and across.
    “You have anything against humans?” she demanded.
    Nash narrowed his eyes, but it wasn’t anger that had his blond brows furrowing, it was confusion. He shot a look at Jake, then Xavier. “No?” he answered.
    “Well, is it a