Free Jade Crew: Forgotten Bear (A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (Ridgeback Bears Book 3) by Amelia Jade

question, and one I need to ask, though I still can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”
    “What’s that?”
    “What sort of budget am I working with to do this? I hate to bring up money like that, but…I kind of need to know,” she winced, completing the sentence, hoping he didn’t freak out.
    Instead Ferro smiled. “Whatever you need,” he told her.
    “What?”
    “Unlimited. Money is not a factor,” he said, repeating his original answer.
    When she continued to stare at him as if he wasn’t making any sense, Ferro relented and explained it to her.
    “I’ve lived a long time, Gwen. I’ve spent forever collecting a fortune in gold and jewels. That’s hard work, let me tell you! But this paper money thing you humans have? That was quite easy to accumulate a large amount of. So spend whatever you need to,” he finished, this time turning and heading off to do other things.
    “Whatever it is dragon shifters do, I guess,” she said to herself, trying to process what had just happened, all because of one offhand remark.
    As she was standing there, Garrett called a break. The shifters stopped their cleaning and began to file outside. She envied their ability not to feel the cold. She was wearing a warm jacket with a hat, and had gloves in her pockets if she needed them. Every bear shifter she saw was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. It was a great look, she had to admit, but part of her wondered if they kept it up once winter arrived in force. They would look really silly otherwise, she thought, before a voice interrupted her.
    “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Russell said, coming up to her, having lingered behind while the others filed outside. She had noticed earlier the way he would smile at her, but this was the first time he had actually come up and said anything to her now that they were alone.
    Gwen decided to ignore that for a moment and just live in the now. There would be time to ask him that later. Perhaps it was just a thing when it came to being a shifter that they didn’t like to flirt in front of others. She looked him up and down before responding. “Yes, well, I think I have. Though I never expected him to be that good-looking.”
    You’re just killing it with saying things you shouldn’t be today, aren’t you?
    “Well, if we’re admitting things like that today, then I’ll let you in on a secret too,” he said, leaning in conspiratorially.
    “Oh, what’s that? I love secrets!” she teased.
    “When they told me who I had to go haunt, I didn’t think I’d get sent to someone so pretty.”
    She had the good graces to blush at that comment. She liked knowing that he thought she was pretty. It did all sorts of wonderful things to her ego when tall, ripped men showed sexual interest in her. The fact that he seemed to be about more than that was just fine with her.
    “They?” she asked.
    “Oh, yes. The Ghostly Hauntings Unit. It’s one of those lame little society things you have to attend when you’re a ghost. They make you take training classes in saying ‘Boo!’ and going “Ooooooooooooooooooh,” he said, exaggeratedly waving his hands around.
    “Stop!” she said, sputtering with laughter at his descriptions.
    “Yes ma’am,” he said, ceasing his motions immediately.
    “That’s right. I’m glad you realize that I’m now the boss of all of you,” she said with a grin.
    “What’s that supposed to mean? You say that like you mean it more than just the typical ‘Crazy Woman Thinks She’s the Boss of Men’ type of thing,” he said.
    “Did you just air quote that?” she asked in disbelief, laughing off his obviously sarcastic misogynistic line.
    “Yes, I did. I won first place in Air Quotes Club in senior year of high school, thank you very much,” he said haughtily, as if hurt by her teasing.
    “Wow,” she said, at a loss for words. “Okay, I have nothing in reply to that.” She laughed as he mock-bowed in front of her, proclaiming his victory.