Free A Burn To Bear (Fire Bear Shifters Book 3) by Sloane Meyers Page A

get away from them as quickly as possible and go meet the more normal members of the crew.” Luke managed to keep a completely straight face as he said this, and Trevor and Hunter both threw back their heads and laughed.
    “Right, like any of us are normal,” Trevor said.
    River grinned as Luke took her hand and led her toward the back of the hangar. She finally started to relax as they went through a back door and headed for a grassy area with a picnic table and a grill. Several more people were gathered there, including Riley.
    “Riley, look who I brought,” Luke called out. Riley looked up and squealed, then ran over to give River a big bear hug. River could hear Riley’s drink sloshing around in the red Solo cup she was holding.
    “I’m so glad you’re here!” Riley said. “It’s nice to have another woman around. These men can get out of control sometimes. Come here, come meet Charlotte.”
    Riley grabbed River’s hand to pull her away from Luke and lead her toward the only other woman in the group—a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty who was also holding a red Solo cup.
    “Charlotte, this is River, Luke’s girl. River, this is Charlotte. She’s with Ian, the crew boss. He’s the taller guy over there by the grill.”
    River extended her hand to Charlotte. “Nice to meet you,” she said.
    “It’s so nice to meet you,” Charlotte said, giving River’s hand a warm shake. “Please, tell me you like wine. Riley and I have a thing for red wine. None of the guys like to drink it, so we keep it all for ourselves.”
    “I do love a good glass of red,” River said with a smile.
    “Excellent. Let me grab you a cup,” Charlotte said. She set down her own plastic cup and went to grab another one for River.
    Riley grinned and gestured to the Solo cup in her hand, which River suddenly realized was full of red wine. “As you can see, we like our wine glasses fancy,” Riley said.
    Charlotte came back and handed River a cup of wine. “Cheers, ladies,” she said, and they all tapped their cups together.
    The tall man that River had pointed out as Ian looked over from the grill and grinned. “I see you ladies have recruited another member for your plastic cup wine club,” he said. Then he wiped his hands off on his jeans before coming over and reaching out to shake River’s hand. “I’m Ian. Very nice to meet you.”
    “River. Nice to meet you, too,” River said.
    “That’s Zach over there by the grill,” Ian said, pointing at the last member of the crew. Zach barely glanced up or acknowledged River, and River thought she a dark, frustrated look pass over Ian’s face. The look lasted less than a second, though, so River couldn’t be sure. Zach focused on the grill intently, as though the burgers would burn if he didn’t watch them every single second.
    “So how did a buffoon like Luke manage to land a beautiful girl like you?” Ian asked with a twinkle in his eye.
    Luke let out a long, exasperated sigh. “What the hell? Is it gang up on Luke night? I’ll have you know that I make a very good boyfriend.”
    “I believe it,” Charlotte said. “I heard about the bookshelf you made for River. That’s so awesome.”
    “It is awesome,” River said. “And he brought it up to my third floor apartment without any help, which is hard to believe. This guy has superhuman strength or something.” River reached out to give Luke’s biceps a squeeze, but she saw Zach shoot her another dark look. Ian coughed uncomfortably, and even Luke seemed suddenly interested in his feet. Had she said something wrong?
    “Well,” Charlotte said, jumping in and saving everyone from the awkward pause. “He should be strong. We smokejumpers have to carry almost a hundred pounds of gear with us on every jump.”
    “Wait, ‘we’ smokejumpers?” River asked. “You’re a smokejumper, too?”
    Charlotte nodded proudly. “One of the only female smokejumpers in the country. I know how to keep these boys in line. If