Free Bear's Gold (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales) by Yvette Hines

see the tree.” She tried to make light of it.
    “You want me to come and pick you
up? We could go back in a few days to get your car.”
    She tapped her foot on the floor and
stared across the office to the door leading to the sexy, but determined male
in the front room and his two adorable boys. Leaving with her brother would solve
one of her problems, keeping her distance from Theo. However, it would also
inconvenience her brother. He’d have to take off from work to come get her
during the day. Not to mention their parents would probably get wind that she
was coming home, by way of her brother’s wife, Molly. Molly and Riley’s mom
were very much alike and very close. Same reason Riley hadn’t called her older
sister, Stevie.
    “No. I’ll be fine here for a couple
more days. The people are nice.”
    “Well, keep me posted. I don’t mind
coming to get you. I have plenty of vacation days I can use.” Danny assured
her.
    “I will. Look, my cell can’t catch a
signal very well around all these trees, so I’ll call you each day.”
    “Make sure you do. I’d hate to have
to come and track you down, just to find you picked up a job and decided to
stay.”
    Riley let out a little laugh, but
her brother’s words stung. It was how her family viewed her. The flighty child.
One that was always prone to pick up roots and start a life somewhere else in a
blink of an eye. It was true that she traveled a lot after college and rarely
stayed at one center longer than a year, but she didn’t think she was that bad.
She just wanted to find a place that felt like home to her. Sans Town
never felt that way to her.
    “Got it. Look, I’m on someone else’s
phone, and I don’t want to hold up the line.” Like that was an issue.
    “Okay. I love you, squirt.”
    “You too, my big brother.”
    Hanging up, Riley pressed her head
back against the wall. She pondered the same question that had weighed on her
mind for the last two weeks since she’d decided to move back home. Was this
really what you wanted to do?
    However, she always arrived at the
same conclusion; she had no other choice. If she returned to Oregon, she would
have to continue to live her life looking over her shoulder for Fred. Without a
job anywhere else, she was at a loss. There was only so much money in her
savings account since her dastardly ex had been ciphering from it behind her
back. So, just finding another place to live until she found work, her usual
M.O., was not an option this time.
    Taking a deep breath, she pushed it
out forcefully and headed out of the room. Just a couple more days in Den
County and she could leave and start working on a new life. The only thing she
needed to do was avoid the sexy man in the house and treat her time in the area
like a much needed vacation. Simple.
    Yeah, right. Her body screamed as she pulled the
door open and stared at the tall, attractive man who seemed to dwarf everyone
else in the room around him. Including the man in a tan uniform that was
standing beside Theo. As if knowing she was staring at him, Theo looked over
his shoulder and held her immobilized with his arresting dark gaze.
    Heat infused every cell of her body
and her stomach clenched tight with need. She wanted to fan herself or jump
naked in a lake to cool off. Instead she rolled her shoulders back and kept her
composure.
    “You reach everyone you needed to?”
Theo asked, shifting his body in her direction.
    “I did. My brother was happy to hear
I was okay.”
    Giving a brisk nod, Theo introduced
her to the man he was speaking with. “Sheriff Smokey, this is Riley…”
    When Theo frowned after he said her
first name, she realized that was all she’d given him. With Fred always
following her moves, trying to finding out everywhere she went, she'd gotten
used to just giving what was necessary. However, she would be residing in this
man’s house and with his kids, so the least she could do was provide her full
name.
    “Gold. I’m Riley