Free Beary And Bright (Fire Bear Shifters 6) by Sloane Meyers Page B

for about fifteen minutes, then decided to head to the bathroom before coming back to hop on the dance floor. She took a few extra minutes at the bathroom mirror to smooth her hair and reapply her lipstick. She thought she looked a little tired, but there wasn’t much she could do to fix that right now.
    Clara stepped back into the reception room and put her small purse back at her table, then turned to head to the dance floor. As she walked across the room, she heard a familiar voice calling out her name.
    “Hey, Clara! How are you?”
    It was Carter. Clara felt the now familiar feeling of her heart racing with excitement as she turned to look at him. He had taken off his suit jacket, leaving him in a black dress shirt with a charcoal gray tie that exactly matched the shade of his suit paints.
    “Hey, Carter. Nice to see you. It’s a little strange to see you in a suit, since I’ve only ever seen you out working on the bunkhouse in old jeans and shirts. You clean up nice.”
    “Thanks,” Carter said, running his fingers through his stiff blonde hair. He must have put some sort of mousse or gel in it, because it remained perfectly in place, even after his hand went through it. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
    Clara blushed as she felt Carter’s eyes sliding appreciatively over her body. She was wearing a strapless red cocktail dress that hit just above her knee. Clara loved wearing strapless dresses, because she felt like her shoulders were her best feature. She loved to show off their simple, subdued strength. She had brought along a black, furry shawl in case the evening cooled down too much, but it was so warm in here that she doubted she would bother wearing it until she went outside to leave. Clara also wore shimmering black strappy heels, which she hoped made her legs look longer.
    “Actually,” Carter said, dropping his voice so it took on a husky tone. “You look stunning.”
    Clara’s blush deepened, and her heart beat so quickly in her chest that she feared Carter might actually be able to hear the sound.
    “Thanks,” she managed to squeak out. “It’s nice to have an excuse to dress up.”
    Carter smiled. “That’s very true. I love having special occasions to look forward to.”
    Clara smiled back at him, and then decided to take a little control of the situation. She was worried that this conversation would end, and Carter would disappear into the wedding crowd. If that happened, she might not have another chance to talk to him tonight. And Clara wanted to keep talking to him, so she asked the question before she could stop herself.
    “Do you want to dance? I was just heading over to the dance floor.”
    Carter look surprised, but his smile widened. “Of course,” he said. “I’d love that.”
    He took Clara’s hand and led her to the dance floor. Just as they arrived, the rowdy remix of a well-known pop song ended and gave way to the soothing tunes of a love ballad. Clara suddenly felt self-conscious. She hadn’t intended to ask Carter to slow dance when she asked him to the dance floor. But he didn’t miss a beat. He put one hand on her waist and grabbed one of her hands with his other hand. He drew her in close to his body, and started gently swaying to the music. Clara felt lightheaded, like a teenager dancing with her crush at a high school dance. Carter smelled like sandalwood, and his body was warm and strong. Clara closed her eyes, trying to bring some semblance of calm to her heart as it pounded out of her chest.
    Carter didn’t try to talk to her during the dance. He didn’t joke around, or make small talk about how nice the wedding and reception had been. He just breathed huskily in and out, in and out. Every now and then, the sexy stubble on his chin would brush against Clara’s forehead. For most of the song, she didn’t dare look up at him. She was afraid of what she might see in his eyes. She feared seeing the depths of his desires, and she had a feeling those