Bear To The Bone (Bear Claw Security 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

we met.”
    “I thought you were the most beautiful thing ever, even then,” he said seriously.
    “Oh, come on. We were kids,” she said.
    “Nope, I really thought so.” He’d had to see her, had to let her meet the boy behind the bear she’d saved. He’d been so bonded to her, even then.
    That had been a fun day. And a turning point in his life. His first real friend. Though, if he were honest, it was more like love at first sight.
    When she’d refused to be his old lady, she’d been the first person to give him a glimpse of the life he could have outside the compound. If he left the gang.
    “I thought you were cute, too,” she said. “We were such kids, weren’t we?”
    “Yes,” he said. “But sometimes kids know even better than adults.”
    “I had no idea what was coming for us,” she said. “I just knew I loved it every time I saw you. Willow loved you, too. She asked about you often, you know.”
    “She wrote me,” he said. “Has been writing me.”
    “I suppose I should have kept writing even when you stopped,” she said. “But it was painful. And I assumed you’d moved on and I was bothering you. After all, I wasn’t going to hold you to some some crush you had as a teen…”
    “I was eighteen. I knew what I wanted. And here I am.”
    She shrugged. “Here you are. So did you come back for me, or did you come back for the gang? Because obviously, they knew you were in town before I did.”
    He didn’t know what to say to that. He could only hope this was over soon so he could explain everything to her in a way that would make sense.
    Until then, he had to keep her safe from men like Harvey, men who wanted to claim what was his.
    “You know it’d be easier for me if you’d take my patch,” he said.
    “Ugh, the ‘property of’ patches?” she said. “No thanks.” Then her eyes lit up. “Is that why you joined up with them?” she asked. “Some misguided attempt to protect me from them by being one of them?”
    He sighed. She was close to the truth but still so, so off. “No. Look, it’s natural for me to be there, no matter the reasons. Maybe I just want to make money for a while, or maybe I’m trying to work out some things from my childhood. But you should know me by now, Carrie. I’m not going to do anything bad, and I’m not going to let them do anything bad to you. But it’d be a lot easier if you were wearing my patch.”
    “I’ve been fine for years,” she said. “I don’t see why you’re suddenly worrying about it now.”
    “Because you’ve stayed off their radar for years,” he said. “You didn’t have anything they wanted. But then you had to go and buy Harry’s bar.”
    “They were going to steal it out from under Serge, the latest owner. Not even leave him enough to move to be with the rest of his family.” She sighed. “I couldn’t let that happen.”
    “I know,” Cage said. “But that still puts you in the spotlight. They want that bar. It’s prime real estate and would be perfect to deal out of. They aren’t going to let up. And now they’re noticing more than the bar. They’re noticing you, too.”
    “And they wouldn’t if I had your patch?”
    “No,” he said. “No other brothers could make a move on you. That’s all it means.”
    Her mouth twisted in disgust. “Ugh, it’s all so caveman. There’s a reason I avoid the whole MC thing. I just… I don’t need a man to protect me.”
    “Oh, yes,” he said, standing from his chair and coming over to her. “Yes, you definitely do need a man to protect you, and I’m just the one to do it.”
    She pulled away from him, but his hands were on either side of her on the table, caging her in. She sighed and turned to face him. “Cage, what point are you trying to make? I’ve been fine on my own for years.”
    “And now you aren’t on your own anymore. Come on. Be my old lady.”
    “No,” she snapped. “I have to be an example to the kids at Willow’s. I love them. And