Ready to Bear Read Online Free PDF Page B

important to her. Clearly, she didn’t want to try trading on the Carmichael family connection. He thought that was interesting and refreshing.
    “Billy Miller,” he said as he smiled softly down at her. They had made their way into a doorway and proceeded up a narrow set of stairs. Billy could hear the music from the club vibrating through the walls. Although it wasn’t the kind of situation he had anticipated running into, he was grateful that he didn’t have to step foot inside the club. It would have been too much for his senses to handle, and he needed to stay sharp.
    “The sheriff,” Thea said slowly, bringing his attention back to her. They arrived at the top of the stairs. Eric unlocked the heavy steel door in front of them and slid it open. The building housing the club had the appearance of an old warehouse.
    “There’s a couch right over there,” he said gruffly, pointing across the room.
    Billy noticed that the room was like every city loft that he had ever been in. The exterior walls were made from stone, and the furniture seemed to all be made out of shiny hard metal. There were nothing but hard angles and harsh light everywhere. It was the exact opposite of the kind of world where he felt comfortable.
    He saw the leather couch Eric indicated sitting against the far wall, and he headed in that direction. As he settled Thea onto it, if felt as if she clung to him. He didn’t move away. His heartbeat was surely noticeable to her, and he felt warm as he allowed himself to cradle her against his chest for just a few moments beyond appropriate.
    “Perhaps someone would be willing to tell me exactly what the fuck just happened out there now?” Eric said, interrupting his thoughts.
    Immediately, Thea’s grip sprung free, and she slid away from him. Billy regretted the loss of her warmth against him. He took a deep breath and stood. He didn’t flinch under Eric’s hard gaze.
    If there was one thing that Billy knew how to do better than anything else, it was stand up to an alpha.

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    Thea was in shock. She still couldn’t quite process what had happened since she first heard the gravelly voice of the man behind her in the alley. She had been attacked and dragged back into the alley against her will. If the man standing in front of her hadn’t come when he did….she felt hard shudders wrack her body.
    The fog in her mind over what had almost happened finally started to clear. She swung her legs out, and her feet hit the floor. The cool surface brought her around the rest of the way. She wasn’t going to crumble under the weight of the emotions swirling through her body. She found sure footing in facts.
    “I came to get Alex,” she said. Her throat felt hoarse as if she had been screaming for hours. In fact, she had given herself over to that violence, willingly or not, with little more than a whimper. She hated herself for that. She should have fought back harder, although the sting in her jaw reminded her that the situation could have ended much worse.
    “What are you even doing here in the city?” Eric’s gaze zeroed in on her. “You weren’t supposed to get back until tomorrow.”
    “I changed my flight,” she said. She felt bone-weary. “I sent Alex a text this morning. He has school tomorrow, Eric.”
    “Wait, wait,” Eric said. “What does Alex have to do with what just happened out there?”
    “If you or Alex had bothered to answer one of my ten phone calls, I wouldn’t be here,” Thea said.
    “What the fuck? This was my fault?” Eric’s voice raised in a signal that he was prepping for a fight.
    “Lower your voice,” Billy said. His voice was little more than a low rumble.
    Thea couldn’t believe it. The coincidence of seeing this man twice in the same day seemed extraordinary enough, especially now that she also knew who he was. She had been an idiot for not placing him earlier, but, of course, in all the photos where she’d seen him, he’d been in the