Free Ski Bear (Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance) (Rescue Bears Book 5) by Scarlett Grove

bakery. She couldn’t get pregnant. Zach was right!
    She sat up, rubbing her head and groaning.
    “Oh god, you’re right. It’s happening to me, isn’t it?”
    “Yeah. But that’s fine. I’ve got you,” he said, helping her stand. “You all right with what we did?”
    She let out a long breath. She’d loved it. It had been fucking amazing. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist.
    “It was so good.” She shuddered. “Thank you for not taking advantage of me. This whole thing is crazy.”
    “I’ve never had to deal with any of this stuff before either.”
    “So we have to figure it out together,” she said, looking up at him.
    “Yeah.” He kissed the top of her head.
    They left the tower and put their skis back on. All the way back to the ski lift, Zach took every opportunity to impress Maisie with his acrobatics and skill on skis. He jumped over a ravine, back flipped off a short rise, and did a one-hundred-eighty-degree turn in the air as he barreled over a hillside. Maisie watched in awe as she trekked beside him, pushing herself until they made it back to the lift.
    The ride down was even more exhilarating than the one coming up. She was full of excitement and partially sated lust. It was all too sexy to ignore. Maisie was becoming more and more willing to give in to this whole fated mate business.
    The stirring desire she felt for Zach made her want to know everything about him. There was also something deeply creative and inspiring about how she felt for him. It was like those classical romantic poems. Love elevating the lovers to another level.
    Zach made her feel more alive every time they were together. She wanted to feel that way all the time.
    When he walked her to her door, she invited him up, hoping to finish what they’d started.
    “I have to get back to the lodge,” he breathed, kissing her forehead.
    Upstairs, she watched him drive away. Zach was getting under her skin. A few weeks ago, she never would have seen herself with a shifter like Zach. Now that she had him, she wished she understood what to do with him.
    There was still a part of her that believed he’d take off as soon as he realized they weren’t compatible.
    She woke up at four a.m. the next morning as sore as she could ever remember being. It was like she’d fallen off the mountain, not skied a few miles across it.
    She sat up in bed, already hating life as her abdominal muscles screamed. How was she ever supposed to keep up with Zach if she was this sore after one lovely date?
    She forced herself out of bed and went to the shower. The warm water partially loosened her stiff muscles, but not by much.
    She got ready for the day, not sure how she was going to run the bakery feeling like this. Luckily, today was the day her new apprentice was starting.
    The girl had an excellent resume and Maisie was lucky to get her. Maisie put on her chef coat and apron, ready as she could be to start the day. She’d need about a trillion cups of coffee to get through the morning.
    Thankfully, her new assistant showed up right on time and helped her prepare the bread and pastries for the day. When it was time to open, she let the new girl, whose name was Sadie, take the till.
    Maisie needed a little longer break than usual this morning. She sat in the kitchen eating a blueberry scone and sipping her sixth cup of coffee.
    Why had she agreed to go skiing with Zach? She wanted him to want her. It was crazy, but she didn’t care.
    If he needed her to be athletic, then she’d be athletic. Maisie intended to learn to ski well enough to keep up with Zach, even if it killed her.

11
    Z ach skied down the slope and watched his clients ride away on the lift. He had a few free hours of time to himself on the mountain. He loved his job. But feeling the fresh powder under his skis as he tore down the mountain was the best there was. Besides the feeling of Maisie’s body under his hands.
    He took the lift up the mountain to the