Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
“Why did he break Lincoln’s arm?” she asks.
Because he deserved it. Because he’s my savior. Because there’s something between us.
“I don’t know,” I say instead. “The guy grabbed me by the waist, I slapped his face, and then Westin pounced on him.”
I get tingly all over just from thinking about it. He hated seeing that guy grab me so much that he assaulted him. Normally, I would hate that, but with him… with Westin… fuck… I’ve never been so turned on.
Heat is still swirling through me and my pussy clenches every time I remember seeing the territorial way he was looking at me.
“It’s a good thing they’re all gone,” Debbie says.
“Yeah,” I lie. I wish he was still here. I wish I could talk to him. See him. Touch him.
Something has got its hooks into me and is trying to pull me toward the door. It’s urging me to go out and find him. It’s begging me to submit to his will.
I shake the crazy thoughts out of my head and get back to work. Debbie follows me to the table to clean up the mess. There are two broken mugs and one plate on the floor.
“How’s your hand?” she asks as we begin clearing the barely touched plates.
“It’s throbbing,” I answer. “I forgot rule number one of hitting: hurt the other guy more than you hurt yourself.”
“You clocked him pretty good, but these shifters are made of steel.”
“How many shifters are there in this town?” I ask as I look around, wondering if the scrawny old man with the tomato soup is a shifter? Is he hiding a geriatric grizzly bear inside him?
“A lot,” she says with a nod. “Assume they all are. They get pretty possessive over their mates.”
She doesn’t think twice as she says this, but it staggers me. Is that why he was so protective of me? Is that why I feel such a pull to him when I’ve never felt much attraction to any boy before in my entire life?
Stop, Kimberly. Don’t be ridiculous.
He’s not attracted to me. I’m way too big and he’s all hard carved muscle. He probably just had a beef with those guys and he used me as an excuse to hit them.
But…
No, buts, Kimberly.
I shut down my fairytale thoughts and clean up the mess with my aching hand.
The rest of the day is pretty uneventful and my hand slowly gets better. I keep thinking of Westin and the way he was looking at me. It still gives me shivers.
Finally, it’s four o’clock and Martha comes in to replace me for the dinner shift. I wash up, change into my clothes, grab my shit, and get the fuck out of there as fast as I can. I don’t mind the job too much, but at the end of the day, all I want to do is go home to the small apartment I rent on the edge of town and watch Netflix.
“Bye, Debbie,” I say as I dart out the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”
The cool mountain air hits me and I breathe in the smell of spring. There’s still patches of some stubborn snow that didn’t get the memo that it’s time to melt, but other than that, it’s a beautiful spring day.
I feel eyes on me, but it’s not a creepy feeling, it’s a warm comforting presence. A gulp leaves my lips when I see him sitting in his pickup truck watching me.
Westin Wood.
Debbie gave me his last name, as well as every piece of information on him that I could get out of her. He’s a fireman. He’s a grizzly bear shifter. He’s twenty-seven years old. He’s single. He’s perfect.
And he’s staring right at me.
My heart starts racing as he opens the door to his truck and steps out.
He’s massive. His frame is built like a truck with nice broad shoulders and arms so thick that they’re making me lightheaded.
He’s wearing jeans that hug his muscular thighs and a t-shirt that clings to his hard stomach with an open jacket on top. I swallow again as he walks over. My legs have stopped working. My brain has short-circuited.
Every ounce of my body’s computing power is focused on my pounding heart as I watch him approach.
All I can do is stare as he stops in front of me, close enough for me to drag my fingertips down the hard ridges of his abs that I know are hiding under that tight shirt.
“Are you okay?” he asks in a deep voice that sends tremors teasing through my alert body.
There’s a grizzly bear inside of him. Right behind that huge sexy chest…
I catch myself drooling and my cheeks burn hot. He asked me a question and my answer is taking way too long to come out.
Say something, Kimberly! Now!
“I’m A-okay!” I say as I give him a thumbs up and a goofy smile.