Silver Bullet Bear (Paranormal Shifter Romance (The Agency Book 3) Read Free Page A

one,” Josh said, pulling open the door to a luxurious-looking four-door airport limousine.
    “Chad, please,” her brother said as he slid inside, nodding politely in her direction.
    Hannah just sniffed and lifted her chin loftily, still unhappy with her brother’s decision to hire her a bodyguard. It’s not like she needed one, and he damn well knew that.
    “Mrs. Terrik, you’ll be in the second car,” Josh said, bringing her out of her reverie as he indicated the door he now held open.
    “Hannah. Seriously. Don’t even think of ignoring the fact I just said that either, okay? Besides, it’s just Ms.,” she said, leaving her luggage on the sidewalk and getting in the car.
    Josh quickly put their two bags in the trunks and then climbed in the back seat with her. He nodded at the driver and the two vehicles departed, her brother leading the way as usual.
    “Phew.” The audible sigh of relief came from next to her. “That was not how I envisioned all that going down.”
    She glanced over at him, planning on ignoring him at first, before giving in. He seemed genuinely thrown off by her reaction.
    “Listen, I’m sorry for tearing your head off earlier,” she said. “I just hate it when he acts like I’m fifteen and gets me a hired gun for the weekend because I’m in some sort of mortal danger or something. Which I’m not.”
    “Why would he think you’re in danger, and he’s not?”
    Hannah frowned. “Because secretly he’s a sexist pig?” She laughed at the reaction on his face. “I’m sorry, I’m just joking. That’s not true. I mean, he is protective of me, but that’s just natural older-brother syndrome I think.”
    “So you have no idea why I was directed to protect you while you two are here?”
    She shrugged. “Not really. I mean, I guess he could think that there might be trouble in the city, but that wouldn’t be a first. I’ve proven I can handle myself before. I’m not sure why this would be any different.”
    Around them the landscape began to speed up as they got on the highway, heading in the direction of a slew of skyscrapers ahead of her. Downtown. She desperately wished they were heading in the opposite direction. The lure of the forest she had seen was strong.
    “What are you and he here for anyway?” Josh asked.
    Hannah looked at him skeptically. “Wow, they really didn’t tell you much, did they?”
    He shook his head. “No, all I got was ‘Go meet Chad Terrik at the airport. Ensure that no harm comes to his sister while they are in town. No harm, understood?’,” he said, using air quotes to emphasis the last sentence. The shifter shrugged. “So, here I am.”
    “I see,” she said, wondering if he was telling the truth. If he knew more, he was doing an admirable job of hiding it from her. “Well, my brother does a lot of public speaking. He’s got two speeches planned here before we move on to the next town.”
    “Speeches about what?” Josh asked immediately, and she could see suspicion forming in his eyes.
    “Equal rights for all, that kind of stuff,” she said, trying to brush it off.
    “Ah,” Josh said, leaning back in his seat, seeming to relax at that comment. “And you? What do you do in it all?”
    Hannah hesitated, looking away. “Nothing,” she said at last. “I’m still trying to figure out what to do with my life. So I just go around with him,” she said, staring out the window.
    There was a brief silence as Josh digested that news. “Why don’t you do what he does?”
    She shook her head violently. “No, that’s not for me. I know what he does is valuable, that it needs to be done. But I just couldn’t do it. Too much talking, not enough doing,” she said with a harsh laugh.
    Josh nodded thoughtfully as he sat back into the seat next to her. Hannah very carefully did not react to the not-so-covert glances he continually sent her way as they drove on.
    Was he checking her out?
    No, there had to be another reason. She wasn’t sure