Free Lone Bear: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Bear Mountain Book 1) by Ruby Shae Page A

reiterated as she looked at him over the sheriff’s head. She’d never cowered from him either, another thing he loved about her.
    “Listen, Katherine—”
    “Cut it out, Tom. Come on, let’s go find a seat,” the deputy said, cutting the other man off.
    The deputy, Dave, patted his partner on the shoulder and walked toward a table. The movement seemed to break the artificial trance the sheriff had tried to create between Kate and himself, and he turned to follow the other man.
    He nearly crashed into Gage, and though he tried to hide his unease, he wasn’t quick enough. He hastily masked his fear, then stepped aside and made his way to the table. Gage shook his head and approached the counter.
    The man was sheriff of the town and yet he couldn’t even look Gage in the eye. The citizens deserved better, but they kept reelecting the loser. Gage had wondered why on more than one occasion, but he never asked. Instinct told him to keep his distance, but when the sheriff insisted on talking to Kate, all bets were off. Her obvious dislike of the sheriff fueled his desire to protect her at all costs. Even if it meant he gained unwanted attention from the man.
    He stepped up to the counter and she met his smile with one of her own.
    “Six eighty,” she said.
    He gave her his credit card and when he signed the receipt, he left her a generous tip like he always did.
    “Have a good day, Katie.”
    He shoved his receipt in his front pocket and walked out the door. He heard the bell on the door ring again, but he didn’t pay any attention until he heard her call his name.
    “Gage. Gage, wait up!”
    “What’s wrong?” he asked after he turned back toward her. He looked up and down the street, but they were alone.
    Out in the open, without the confines of the diner, the differences in their appearances were more evident. Kate was tall and curvier than most women, but he still towered over her. He liked her ample breasts and ass, and the fact that she wasn’t stick thin. He’d dated many types of women over the years, and he knew he needed someone who could take a pounding from a man of his size. He knew Kate would be able to take everything he had to offer. Her body had been built for a man like him.
    “Um…nothing,” she blushed and he realized he’d been raking his eyes over her form since she caught up to him. They were on the edge of winter and the crisp autumn air whisked around them. Her nipples hardened and poked through the cotton top of her uniform. He couldn’t rid his mind of the images of her laying beneath him as he slid into her warmth and sucked one of those hard nipples into his mouth.
    “Go back inside, Katie. You shouldn’t be out here without a coat,” he could feel his dick pressing against the zipper of his jeans and in an effort not to scare her off with his blatant arousal, he snapped at her.
    Her face fell and she crossed her arms over her breasts in an uncharacteristic self-conscious way. Had he embarrassed her?
    “I’m sorry to bother you,” she turned to run back inside, but he took one large step and stopped her with a hand on her bicep. He tried to be as gentle as he could, but the surge of heat that raced up his arm made him want more. He squeezed her arm again before he spoke.
    “No, I’m sorry. Did you want to ask me something?”
    “Um, no,” she shook her head. “Never mind. I have to get back.”
    He released her arm and she ran back in the café, with her arms wrapped around her like a shield. Her brown hair had been pulled back into a high pony tail and the curls bounced against her neck as she ran.
    Shit!
    She’d finally approached him and he’d botched it all up. Sex was all he could think about with her so close and in an effort not to scare her off, he’d done exactly that. What had she been about to ask him? He wished he knew, but hope swelled deep in his heart. She wanted something and he felt certain it had been personal.
    Had she been about to ask him out? He