The Right Bear's Arms BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance(3)

“Could be, could be. Are you gonna ask—”

“Shut up, she’s coming back.” Jake smiled up at Katie while she brought over their plates. “Smells good,” he said.

“Yeah, I’ll just bet it does,” Rafe muttered, and it was Jake’s turn to kick him under the table.

Unruffled, Katie smiled. “You boys need anything else?”

Rafe snickered. “Jake needs your phone number. Ow, damn it.” Jake might have kicked him a little harder that time.

“Well, if he does, he can just ask for it himself like a big boy.” Katie smiled down at him and Jake wanted a hell of a lot more than her phone number.

“My friend is rude and usually smelly,” Jake said, trying for a smooth recovery, “but in this case he’s not wrong. I’d love to see you again sometime.” Naked, preferably, and beneath me.

Katie wore the same look of delight that every woman got when she realized she was being pursued. “We might be able to work something out.”

Sure enough, when the check came, there was an extra slip of paper with a phone number on it and a note: I’m off work at 3 most days. Call me. -k

Screw playing it cool. Jake resolved to call her that afternoon.





Chapter Two





Katie checked the mirror in the tiny employee bathroom, freshening up her lipstick. She had the door open to the break room, where Anna was shrugging out of her uniform. Things has been nonstop all morning and through the lunch rush, and Katie’s feet ached. She’d be glad to finally get off them.

“I can’t believe you actually gave him your number,” Anna said. “Do you think he’ll call?”

“I’m not that lucky.” Katie inspected herself critically. Cute enough for Anna and her to go grab a late lunch, at least. “I mean, did you see him? Out of my league. I think he just asked because his friend gave him a hard time about it.” Still, just thinking about Jake’s gorgeous eyes and that sexy lumberjack thing he had going on gave her a pleasant little thrill.

“His friend was cute too.” Anna wriggled into a pair of skinny jeans and an over-sized sweater.

“I guess, if you like little guys.”

“It just so happens, I do. I’m a little guy—well, girl.” She was, too. They made a funny pair. Katie towered over Anna by a good seven inches, and Katie didn’t even want to think by how much she outweighed Anna, who was model-thin.

“Maybe we could double-date sometime,” Katie teased.

“I thought you said you weren’t that lucky.”

As if on cue, Katie’s phone rang. “Whoa,” she said, looking at it. “Maybe I am that lucky.” She cleared her throat and tossed back her hair, then answered in her best casual-yet-sexy voice. “Hello?”

“Katie? This is Jake—we met at your diner this morning?”

“Jake... Oh, yes! I remember you now.” Katie crossed her eyes at Anna, who was holding back a laugh behind her hand. Her heart was racing. God, that sexy voice, a sweet and resonant baritone that shot right to her gut and curled there like a cat. “Nice to hear from you so soon.”

“Yeah, me and Rafe had a few minutes between sets, and I figured, hey it’s after three, so I thought I’d give it a shot.” Traffic sounds filtered through the phone, and a distant chatter of a jackhammer.

“Sets? Where are you?” Katie picked up her jacket and purse, looking to see if Anna was ready to go too.

“Sidewalk, er, outside where we’re playing today. We’re musicians.” This time of day, he must be playing some sort of late luncheon gig, probably the kind with white tablecloths and bow-tied servers. That gave Katie the mental image of him all dressed up in a crisp white tuxedo shirt, with his bow tie hanging loose and his shirt partly unbuttoned...


“—hello? Did I lose you?”

Damn. “Sorry, I think my phone cut out.”

Anna mouthed, Liar.

“I was just wondering if you were free tonight.” Tonight? “The weather’s supposed to stay warm—I thought maybe a beach picnic?”

He was actually asking her out. Anna’s hands and feet felt tingly and her face was hot. “That sounds great. What time?” Oh god, what would she wear? The lake was still too cold to go swimming, so thank god no bathing suit, but...

“I lost you again. Seven-thirty okay?” He sounded amused, as if he could read her mind.

“Yeah, that’d be great.” She had a dorky smile on her face, she could tell.

“Where should I pick you up?”

Katie gave him her address, and they hung up. All she could think about was the way his eyes had traced over her body and how much she wanted his hands to follow the same path. She didn’t normally think of herself as a “sex on the first date” sort of girl, but damned if she wasn’t willing to make an exception for him.

“So?” Anna said. “Just how lucky are you?”

“Tonight.” Katie grinned at her. “Holy crap, tonight. You gotta come help me figure out what to wear.”

“So what’s special about this guy?” Anna asked as they were leaving the diner in street clothes. “You haven’t dated anybody since I’ve known you.”

“Uh, you did see him, right?” Katie said, but Anna wasn’t wrong. Growing up with the expectation that she would eventually mate with one of the crusty, nasty alphas that lived around Boone, Colorado had soured her on relationships from a young age. The youngest “eligible bachelor” her mother trotted out in front of her was at least thirty years older than her, and always smelled like a brewery floor. The way all the kinfolk in Boone held these men up on a pedestal had verged on cult-like, and Katie wanted no part of it.