A Promise To Bear (Second Chance Shifters 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

hurt them. Maybe it could even repair the wounds they created that weekend so long ago.
    He began to move away, but she clutched him. “Stay. Please.”
    He sat back down and cradled her once more, placing a sweet kiss on her forehead.
    She fell asleep listening to him mumble to her, not understanding the words.
    “I promised her I’d keep you safe. I promised I’d love you.”

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    T he next morning , Twila woke up tangled in a twin bed that she didn’t recognize. Once she pulled the sheet set to her face and took a whiff, she realized she was still back in Jasper’s cabin, laying in his bed.
    “Morning, wild woman.”
    “Wild woman? What’s that supposed to mean?” she said groggily, as she lifted her body out of bed. He handed her a mug of coffee.
    He laughed as he took a gulp out of his own mug. “You thrash around a lot in your sleep. It would explain why your hair looks like that when you wake up in the morning.”
    Quickly, she looked around the room and found a mirror on the opposite wall. Okay, so he had a point. Her hair was a little… atrocious. But he didn’t have to say anything about it. “I’ve heard before that I move a lot my sleep.”
    He raised an eyebrow at her. “Who else has told you?”
    If she was being honest, pretty much every guy she’d ever slept with. But she didn’t want to tell Jasper that. “Oh just some friends, you know.”
    He rolled his eyes at her. “Sure, friends. Because adults still have sleepover parties.”
    “No, but sometimes adults can sleep together without anything happening. Like last night, with you and me.” She was relieved to see that they were both going to ignore the elephant in the room: the fact that the only reason that Jasper had stayed in bed with her last night was because she had practically begged him to do so in between her tears. She hardly remembered it, but it was enough of an image that it made an impact. He stayed because of her, because she asked him to. And for that she was truly grateful.
    “Good coffee, by the way. I’m not sure I’m going to have to do any of the hospitality stuff around here if you keep this up. Dinner in the evening, coffee in the morning. Is there breakfast?”
    He laughed at her. “Yes, in the kitchen in the lodge. We are a bed and breakfast, so we kind of have to include the food in the morning.”
    She chewed on her lower lip. “I didn’t know that. I don’t think I got breakfast yesterday!”
    He shook his head at her and rolled his eyes again. “That’s because you and the real estate agent and Lauren went to look at apartments at the ass crack of dawn. And our cook doesn’t start making breakfast until 7 AM. She makes her own schedule.”
    “So you’re not the cook?”
    He shook his head. “Nah, you saw me on a good day. Pasta. That’s about the extent of what I can do. Your grandmother was the cook, and this other chef was her second in command.”
    “How did she have time to run a business when she was cooking all the time? I mean, there’s only like fifteen staff here.”
    He shrugged, his mountainous shoulders moving his thick upper body. “Maybe that’s why her books are such a mess? Maybe she really wasn’t watching the business as carefully as we thought.”
    Twila nodded, taking another sip of coffee. “That’s something we’re going to figure out today. I’m going to call Lauren and see if she knows who was running her reports. We’ve got to figure that out before we take any further steps. And payroll’s coming up at the end of the week, so we have to get it sorted out by then.”
    Just then, there was a rap at Jasper’s door. They both jumped slightly at the noise. They heard a voice call out to them. “Jasper? It’s Ranger Mills. I was wondering if I can have a word.”
    Twila cocked her head in confusion. “Ranger Mills? What’s that all about?”
    Jasper shook his head. “I have no idea. We’re really good here about following the laws of the parks. We don’t