Bear The Burn (Firebear Brides 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

might have needed a bunch of work and there was certainly a lot to do, but it somehow felt homey. Safe. Like no one was going to come and break a window, at least.
    “I needed a breather. I’ve been running my own business, a bakery, for years now and I seem to be running into more trouble with it every year. It’s not that I don’t love my job. I do. But I can’t trust people there and it seems like every good deed gets punished.”
    She felt her shoulders sagging and as soon as she reminded herself to stop feeling sorry for herself, she felt a strong hand squeezing her shoulder. Looking over at Royce, he had this look of understanding in his slate gray eyes that made her stomach twist up in all kinds of happy knots. Those eyes were filled with mystery and she couldn’t wait to unravel what was going on behind them, even if she was just as likely to jump up and run from her problems again.
    “I get it. It’s tough, breaking through. And it’s even harder finding people who share your passion, who get where you’re coming from. I had a great team in Boston, but life led me down another direction and I’m glad for it. If it hadn’t, we wouldn’t be here, enjoying one another’s company,” he said, a surprisingly soft note to his deep, masculine voice.
    Tiana took a stuttering breath, nodding her head meekly. Few things could shut her up, but Royce Hamilton had a presence about him that made her feel like she could maybe relax around him. Maybe she wouldn’t have to be so goddamn wound up all the time, constantly expecting the sky to fall around her ears like she had in Dallas.
    “But you haven’t really answered my question. I know you told me that it was an inheritance issue that made you put up the ad, but what is it exactly?” she asked, plucking a glazed carrot off the plate and popping it in her mouth.
    It tasted like heaven. She had never been great at savory dishes, but Royce had them down pat. Even in comparison to the hearty, juicy cooking of Texas, this man knew what he was doing with a frying pan and some seasoning. One of the many intriguing things about him.
    Royce chuckled, a deep, rumbling noise that licked at her ears. “It’s my uncle. He was the last remaining one from the ‘old guard’ who still lived in Idaho. My mom moved me and my brothers out of here after my dad passed away. She wasn’t a shifter and she had four young sons to take care of on her own all of a sudden. I think it was too much for her. Anyway, my uncle made a point about wanting to give the lands back to the younger generation, but with some caveats. All four of us need to get married. And at least two of us need to have children before a year has passed. So we’re on a bit of a schedule.”
    Tiana cocked a brow at that, looking at Royce in surprise.
    The hits just keep on coming, don’t they?
    “So you thought the most reasonable way to take care of the problem is to get a mail-order bride?”
    “Well, I have you now, don’t I? Not such a shitty plan after all,” Royce grinned, finishing off his plate.
    “You don’t have me yet, mister!” Tiana laughed, relishing the fact that she could feel so at ease around him already. “But okay, fine. So it might work out for you. But what do your brothers think?”
    “Ah. Well, you see, that is a slightly bigger issue,” Royce said, slumping back in the chair with a frown crossing his masculine, attractive face.
    Only now did she notice that he had a slight dip in his nose and that he had dimples. The few days of stubble he had made him look rugged and seasoned, but most definitely at the prime of his life. When before, she’d only managed to concentrate on his shape, now she could see the strength in those muscles, the wiry knots underneath his skin that spoke of conditioning unlike anything Tiana could even imagine.
    He was strong . And powerful. A man at the peak of his physical fitness, which considering he was a werebear, was a serious thing to throw around.