Chapter 1

A kernel of popcorn sailed through the air and bounced off the big-screen TV as a feminine wail of disappointment rang through the room.

“Damn you, Harvey. Go after her, grab her, back her up against the nearest wall and kiss her like there’s no tomorrow—the way we all know you want to.”

“It’s not going to change now any more than it did the first twelve times you watched it,” Kelly McKenna said, absently tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear but not glancing up from where she was hunched in front of her MacBook at the wooden dining table, although there was a hint of amusement in her voice. “The first time of which, I might add, you had tears rolling down your face when Donna walked away.”

“But she kissed him,” Sofia Rivera, best friend and housemate extraordinaire, said plaintively as she reclined on the camelback sofa. “Everyone knows Donna and Harvey are meant to be. And now she’s finally kissed him, and he just let her walk away.”

Sofia sighed. “I hate you, Suits scriptwriters. They better end up together, that’s all I’m saying,” she grumbled, then flicked off the TV and flopped onto her back, looking up at the dust inside the standing lamp at the end of the sofa.

Kelly ignored the dramatics and concentrated on finishing her assignment. When she was done, she triple checked her spreadsheet. Finally satisfied, she closed the laptop screen and leaned back in the dining chair, stretched her arms overhead and arched her spine. The spot between her shoulder blades ached from too long spent hunched over a keyboard.

After a moment, she stood and walked into the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of chardonnay then stood in front of the open fridge as she tried to decide what to make for dinner.

A chicken stir-fry was well underway when Sofia languidly rose from the sofa and wandered into the kitchen, perched on the white quartz countertop and stole Kelly’s glass of wine.

“Heard a couple of people talking at the deli today,” Sofia said.

Originally from New York, she moved to Rosewood a few years ago and opened a sweet and savory delicatessen, aptly called Sofia’s, but which most people just called the deli—but as if with capitals, like: The Deli.

“Mmm . . . ?” Kelly hummed, only half listening.

“About the new owner of O’Malley’s.”

That got her attention.

Sofia took a sip of her stolen wine. “Heard it’s a shifter.”

“Species?”

“Wild speculation. Might be a tiger. Might be an aardvark.”

Kelly snorted in amusement. “So what? It’s not like a shifter moving to a town that is known—countrywide—as Shifter Town is all that uncommon. Why so much speculation?”

“Apparently, he threw down a load of cash to buy O’Malley’s. A load. And the deal got done—start to finish—in less than twenty-four hours.”

“Really?” Kelly turned to face Sofia. “If that was true, seems like something I would know, since I work there and all,” she finished sardonically.

Sofia shrugged. “Maybe it’s true. Maybe it’s not. But it’s all over town.”

Kelly’s lips twisted mischievously. “That he’s an aardvark?”

Now Sofia snorted. “No. That he paid top dollar to get O’Malley to sell.”

“He must have really wanted the place,” Kelly mused.

She remembered the night, about a month ago, when she learned O’Malley’s had been sold. Remembered it with crystal clarity, despite her daze as she exited the bar—an unusual state of affairs, since no sober, intelligent woman ever exited a bar into a dark carpark with anything but utter awareness of her surroundings.

But she’d been in shock.

The bar had been sold, and she hadn’t even realized it was on the market.

But that’s not what was so shocking. And it wasn’t that she was suddenly unemployed either, because she wasn’t.

Kelly still had a job—and a raise. And a . . . she’d looked at the new bouncer beside her . . . escort to her car. And, apparently, her own parking spot. A few meters from the front entrance under a bright streetlight.

She’d been at O’Malley’s for two years. It was far from ideal, but night shifts meant that she could go to school during the day. She was used to the rough and tumble crowd, the unfair equation between tips and cleavage, and a boss who ran her off her feet and skimped on her wages. It was also not the first time she’d worked in a bar, so one thing she knew for certain was that waitresses did not get prime parking spots.

She was still in a state of confusion over the whole thing.

“Kels,” Sofia wheedled.

When Kelly heard her name said like that, she spun back to the wok, pretending the stir-fry needed a toss but really hiding her smile. She knew what was coming.

“Yeah?”

“Can you help me with my 941? Stupid IRS. It’s due next week, and when I sat down to do it yesterday, I got so frustrated I ended up sticking myself with bobby pins to stop from screaming.”

“I showed you how to do it last time.” And the quarter before that. And the quarter before that.

“I know. But I’m just no good at it.” Sofia heaved a hangdog sigh, raising her shoulders and dropping them despondently. She cast Kelly a sideways glance to gauge her reaction.

“Hmm,” Kelly mused. “I’m afraid I don’t do tax forms for people who steal my wine.”

Sofia promptly jumped off the counter, sidled over and set the wineglass down within Kelly’s easy reach.

Kelly looked at the glass.

There was one sip left.

She transferred her gaze to Sofia and arched a brow.

Her friend looked at her with wide, innocent eyes in almost the same bright green as Kelly’s. “I’ll buy you a whole cask of ambrosia, Oh Goddess of Mathematika, if you will deign to help me with my taxes.”

The arched brow rose higher. “Goddess of Mathematika?”

“Yes,” Sofia nodded sagely. “It’s what I’ve decided you should call your accounting firm once you graduate.” Her voice became cajoling. “A firm where I’ll be your first client.”

“Oh, so you’ll start paying me then?”

Sofia pretended to think for a moment then made her offer. “Free éclairs for life?”

Kelly, likewise, pretended to think about the offer before her grin got the better of her and gave away the game. “Deal.”

After all, what could be better than free éclairs for life?

Chapter 2

Kelly McKenna’s heart skipped a beat.

Then two.

Then three.

In fact, it skipped so many beats she was uncertain it would ever start again.

It was late afternoon, and sunlight filtered through the windows of the bar, bathing dust motes in soft golden light. It was something she’d never seen, because in the years she’d worked at O’Malley’s, those windows had never before been clean.

No—not O’Malley’s. Not anymore.

Bear’s Bar.

The new owner had renamed the place.

And she had a sneaking suspicion that the cause of her failing heart was said new owner.

Bear Reid.

Who else could it be?

This was Shifter Town—Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

And wolves and jaguars and everything else. But only grizzlies got that tall. That broad.

Taller and broader than any other species.

And this grizzly was something to behold.

Kelly’s every feminine instinct went on full alert. Because while all grizzlies were big and strong, they did not all have malt hair and whiskey eyes. Gorgeous, masculine features and full lips. And a gaze that made her weak at the knees.

They sure as heck did not all look like her secret fantasy come to life. She wasn’t sure how that was possible, or if she’d been asked to describe said secret fantasy, she’d have been able to adequately articulate him.

But she knew, now—without a doubt—that it was him.

Kelly McKenna wanted to have his cubs.

She wanted to spend every night nestled in those big, brawny arms and wake up thoroughly loved and utterly happy.

This man looked like forever. She knew it with a kind of bone-deep knowledge that made absolutely no sense, yet all the sense in the world.

Lock it down, her brain screamed. Lock it down tight.

Else she was going to make an utter fool of herself over a man who may not have even an iota of the interest in her that she had in him.

Kelly realized that her heart had stopped skipping because now she could hear it beating like thunder in her ears. It was so loud that he could probably hear it, too.

That thought galvanized her, and she forced herself to move across the big, empty room to where he stood behind the bar, dripping masculinity and leisurely polishing a glass with a rag, like he’d been waiting for her.

“Hi. I’m Kelly.” Her voice was husky.

“Bear.” His voice slid over her like he’d run his fingertips along her spine.

Lock it down.

She made a tiny sound, clearing her throat. “I’m a waitress here.”

“I know.”

He did? How? “Are you the new owner?” she asked, but she didn’t doubt his answer.

He nodded.

And even though she’d been certain, a not-so-tiny thrill ran through her at this news, because it meant he was now part of her life. She shoved the thrill aside in order to focus on something else. Something she’d been wanting to say to the new owner for the last month.

“Thank you.”

At the honeyed warmth of her words, Bear looked at Kelly, brows drawn into a question.

“All the waitresses really appreciate the pay rise—and the new bouncers.”

The new bouncers were a godsend. The number of hands on her ass had decreased by an exponential factor.

“O’Malley underpaid you.”

This was true. Frank O’Malley was a jerk—a thought she’d had often—who didn’t care if his waitresses got felt up and seemed to think they should be too happy getting tips to care that he had a loose definition of minimum wage.

“O’Malley was a jerk.” She could say it now—now that he was no longer the boss and the new boss was the hottest man she’d ever seen.

Hotness off the charts.

Off the scale.

Hotness that needed to be measured in exponents.

He chuckled, and Kelly’s eyes widened in delight. She wanted to make him do that again.

“You’re not a jerk, are you?” she asked, a touch breathlessly.

She struck gold. He chuckled again.

“Because it’d suck of you didn’t live up to expectations.”

“Expectations?”

Kelly rested her forearms on the bar and leaned in, just a little. “Mm-hmm. There’s been a lot,” she drew out the word, “of speculation about the new owner.”

On the other side of the bar, he mirrored her position until, in the big, empty room, there was only a foot of space between them. “What kind of speculation?”

Her lips curled. “The good kind,” she said with a lilt.

“Care to elaborate?”

Kelly sealed her lips, despite their intense desire to elaborate, and shook her head.

Then she changed the subject. “You’re new in town, right?”

Again, she didn’t need his answer. She was Shifter Town born and bred, and while she didn’t know everyone, she’d sure as heck remember seeing this gorgeous beast walking down Main Street or in the aisles of Home Depot.

Remember seeing him. Remember dreaming about him. Remember having the best night of her life with him.

He nodded again.

“Do you like it so far?” she asked.

“More than I thought I would.”

A smile curved her lips in response to something in his voice, something she couldn’t identify but which nonetheless elicited joy, like a desert breeze or a summer storm. “Why is that?”

“It’s got unexpected charm.”

“Seen a lot of small towns, have you?” she teased. Although, really, Shifter Town was a mid-size town with small-town charm. It was something she liked telling visitors to the county.

“A few,” he drawled.

Holy Mary. That drawl was the sexiest thing she’d ever heard.

“And now you’ve landed in Rosewood.” Kelly peeked up at him then glanced away. “How does your mate like it?” Fingers crossed, fingers crossed, fingers crossed.

She looked back in time to see a grin curve his mouth. “I’m not mated.”

Yep, she was totally hitting on her new boss. In her defense, there was no way on earth she could have resisted.

“So, you’re new in town and don’t know a soul?”

“I know you.”

“Am I your first friend in Rosewood, Bear?” she teased, leaning in a little closer.

His grin got bigger and her heart sighed, but he didn’t answer.

“Well, in that case, if you need a tour guide or someone to show you the local hotspots, I’m your girl.”

“You’re my girl?”

She swallowed, that unknown quality in his voice even stronger, wiping the smile off her face, but not in a bad way. Not in a bad way at all.

“I’m your girl,” she repeated huskily.

“Good to know.”

Their eyes locked, and she felt her belly quiver at the hot, intense look he gave her. As though he knew exactly what she meant when she said that she was his girl.

Bear watched Kelly leave after he’d given her her pay check—the reason she’d come—his eyes locked on that swing of scarlet hair and the sway of her delectable ass.

He fought the urge to follow.

Not only his urge but his wilding’s.

The sunshine was even sweeter and warmer than they’d been expecting and, apparently, theirs if they wanted.

And oh, but they wanted.