A Burn To Bear (Fire Bear Shifters Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

at the moment. Luke felt his eyes welling up with emotion. He had started to let himself care deeply for River, and now he was paying for his mistake.
    “Luke?” a soft voice called from behind him. He turned around and saw Riley, Hunter’s lifemate, walking toward him cautiously.
    “Hey, Riley,” Luke said, trying to casually blink away the tears that had been forming in his eyes.
    “What’s wrong?” Riley asked.
    “Nothing,” Luke said, avoiding Riley’s gaze. He saw Riley out of the corner of his eyes, crossing her arms.
    “Really? Because you were almost yelling into your phone, and then you threw it across the lawn. That didn’t look like ‘nothing’. Is this about River?”
    “Why would it be about River?”
    “Hunter told me you were worried she wasn’t going to understand that you had to suddenly leave for a wildfire emergency.”
    “Well, my worries weren’t for nothing. She’s refusing to go out with me again, and said the whole thing made her realize how we’re not right for each other. Which seems ridiculous to me, because she doesn’t even know me that well. I did tell her when I first met her that I’m not much into reading, and she seems to have really latched onto that statement. Apparently, since I’m not a total book lover like her, we have nothing in common.”
    Riley laughed, and hopped up onto the picnic table to sit next to Luke. “I’ve been getting to know River pretty well over the last few weeks. She comes into the pie shop a lot to get stuff for her book clubs. She’s a really sweet person, but she has a lot of rules when it comes to men. I get the feeling that she was hurt before and is overly cautious now.”
    “Well, I’m glad you find it amusing,” Luke said bitterly.
    “I’m not trying to make light of the situation,” Riley said. “I only told you that to say that I wouldn’t give up hope on River yet. She thinks most men are assholes. I won’t comment on whether I agree with her or not, but if you really want her to take a gamble on you, then you’ll have to find a way to convince her that you’re not one of the bad apples.”
    “How am I supposed to do that when she doesn’t even want to talk to me?” Luke asked.
    Riley gave Luke’s shoulder a squeeze. “If you want a chance with her badly enough, you’ll find a way. And, for the record, I think you two would be great together, if you could just get past the fear you both have of being hurt.”
    “How do you know I’m afraid of being hurt?” Luke said.
    “Hunter told me about your ex, Sara. All I have to say about that is that it would be a shame if you let Sara continue to hold you back from love and happiness, years after she left your life. Don’t lose out on what’s right in front of you because you’re still so upset about what you left behind.”
    Riley gave Luke’s shoulder one more friendly squeeze, and then hopped off the picnic table and headed back to the hangar. Luke stared up at the hazy night sky, and tried to figure out what to do.
    He had let fear of being hurt keep him unhappy for too long. He needed to figure out a way to reach past the walls around River’s heart. But how? What would prove to her that he was worth the risk?
    River’s observation that they didn’t know much about each other was correct. But Luke at least knew that she loved reading. Maybe if he found a way to show her that he didn’t hate books, River would see that he was serious about her and give him second shot.
    He had to at least try.

Chapter Five
    October gave way to November, and River still hadn’t heard anything from Luke. She didn’t know why she was so disappointed, when she had made it so clear to him that she wasn’t interested. But some small part of her had hoped that he wouldn’t give up so easily. That he would have fought to prove to her that he meant it when he said he wanted more than just a one night stand.
    But as the hours and then days ticked by, River finally accepted