Page 2 of Protected By The Polar Bear

“Hey,” I grunt.

“It smells good in here,” she comments, and I nod lamely.

I’m used to talking to guys, ex-military guys, who swear and grunt more than they actually say complete sentences. Maybe that’s why I never know what to say to her.

Tell her that you love her and want her to have our babies, my polar bear urges, and I snort at the thought.

I don’t think that would go over well, I tell him, and he shakes his head.

It will. Do it.

I notice Flint staring at me like I have two heads, and I school my features and try to pay attention to the conversation.

“Are you hungry?” I ask Tessa and she smiles up at me.

“Always,” she jokes. “Do you guys need help with anything?”

“No, we’re all set,” Flint says. “We should probably grab seats before Davis starts eating without us.”

I look over, and sure enough, Davis is sneaking a roll from the basket. He grins at me when he spots me watching him, and I chuckle, shaking my head.

We head over to the tables that have been pushed together for our dinner, and I pull out a chair for Tessa. She beams up at me and I try to ignore the way my heart flips over in my chest when she looks at me like that.

Tessa came to town after her best friend, Elle, moved here. Elle had come to Aspen Ridge for a vacation and ended up being attacked when her stalker found her. Luckily for her, Niko was able to save her. It was lucky for Niko, too, because Elle turned out to be his fated mate.

Elle and Tessa write romance books together and have been best friends forever, so when Elle made the move up here, Tessa followed. I had offered to help her move her things into her place here in town. That was when I realized that she was my fated mate. I’ve been doing my best to avoid her ever since. It’s too hard to be around her and not claim her.

Then claim her! My polar bear snaps at me.

I look around the table, hoping there’s another open seat, but the only one left is right next to Tessa. My polar bear is filled with glee as we take a seat next to our curvy mate, but I bite back a sigh as I drop down into the chair next to her.

My whole body is tense and I do my best to look anywhere but at her as we dig into the food.

This is going to be one long dinner.

TWO

Tessa

Ash shifts in his seat next to me, and I swallow. I’m hyper-aware of every move that he makes. It’s been like that as long as I’ve known him. There’s something about the quiet man that has me tingling all over.

When I had first moved to Aspen Ridge, and Elle had told me that shifters were real and that most of the people in town were some kind of shifter, I had high hopes that Ash and I would be fated mates, but he never made a move on me. I’ve been waiting, thinking that maybe it would just take time, but nothing.

Deep down, I know that time wasn’t part of it. I mean, Elle was in this town for like a second when Niko found her and told her they were meant to be. I’m glad that she’s found her forever love. I just wish that I had too.

Finding out that shifters, the thing that Elle and I wrote fiction books about, were real was shocking. I mean, both of us grew up loving to read romance books, with shifter romance books being our favorite. That’s why we started writing our own stories. It’s kind of wild just how much we got right in our books.

“Have you booked your hotel yet?” Elle asks me, and I blink, forcing myself to pay attention to the conversation.

“Yeah, last month. I think I’m all set,” I tell her.

I’m going to a book signing next week. It will be my first one without Elle, and I’m kind of bummed about that, but with her morning sickness, she’s not feeling well enough to travel.

“How long will you be gone?” Alec asks, and I see Ash shift in his chair again.

He’s frowning, and I wonder why.

“Where are you going?” Ash asks.

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