Bear Again (Second Chance Shifters 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

counter.
    “Saturdays are insane in here. I don’t have time for your clan-mating speeches today. Okay?”
    She expected him to argue, but when she turned back around, he was tying an apron around his waist. She almost started laughing.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Helping out. What can I do?”
    She shook her head. “Oh, no, no. This is my kitchen.”
    “Then I’ll go out there.” He brushed past her and started setting up the shop for the day. Within minutes, all of the chairs were on the floor.
    Sophia twisted her lip under her teeth. It was hard to argue with the help, but she knew what he was doing. He was stealing minutes with her. Getting under her skin. Making himself useful. Showing her how damn sexy he was in an apron.
    She fidgeted with the oven dials, trying to remember what temperature she used for the croissants. She made them five days a week. How could she suddenly forget the temperature?
    “What else can I do?” His voice was low and deep as he strolled into the kitchen.
    It wasn’t that Liam had done anything to change his appearance in the past two years. He had always had a sharp jawline and eyes so dark they could be mistaken for a night sky. He ran his hands through his brown hair and Sophia caught herself staring. He was one damn good-looking man. No, he hadn’t changed—she was just now noticing all the features that made him so irresistible.
    She pointed to the white cardboard boxes near the window. “You could start folding those. Make at least twenty.”
    Liam worked quietly, folding the corners together and assembling the pastry boxes.
    “Here you go.” He walked past her with a stack. “I’ll put them up front.”
    “Thanks.” She watched him through the window as he arranged the boxes near the counter.
    In another hour, the bakery would open, and her regular Saturday morning customers would start filing in for cups of coffee and their favorite pastries.
    She filled the paper cups with muffin batter and slid them into the second oven.
    “How many things do you bake every day?” he asked.
    “I don’t know. I change it up sometimes. Today we have blueberry muffins, croissants, donuts, banana bread, and of course every cupcake you could think of.”
    “I think I’ll take one of each.”
    “What? You’re not really going to eat all that, are you?” But she stopped. She had forgotten how much bears could eat. “Hold on. I’ll put something together for you.”
    She started gathering an assortment of pastries and muffins. She handed the bag to Liam. Her fingers coasted over his and she felt the same rush she did last night when his thumb brushed over her cheek.
    He smiled. “Thank you.”
    “It doesn’t mean anything,” she warned.
    He placed the bag on the counter and stepped closer. She felt the sudden flutter in her belly. God, was he going to kiss her again?
    His eyes lit with mischief. The bad kind. The very dirty kind. The kind that made her want his hands on her.
    He leaned toward her ear. She could feel his breath along her neck. “I’ll be back to pick you up at five.”
    Every part of her body tingled from the nearness of him. “I-I didn’t say I was available,” she stammered. There had to be a way to gain control of her senses.
    He barely moved an inch. His chest could almost touch her breasts.
    “I’ll be here at five,” he stated again.
    Before she could run through her usual protests, he skirted out of the back of the kitchen.
    “Shit,” she whispered. She knew it. What was worse—he did too. He was getting to her.

10

Liam
    T here wasn’t much time . He didn’t want to put any more pressure on Sophia than she was already feeling, but there were only a month until the eclipse. What were the chances that the official mourning period would end so close to the first eclipse? He thought he would have more time than this to convince her to let him take her as his mate.
    Deep down, he wanted her to make the decision on her own, not because clan