Page 8 of Bearly Taken

Too many emotions.

I slammed the driver’s side door behind me, tensing for a moment as I waited for Parker to start crying.

Thankfully, he slept through the noise.

Reed’s truckstayed behind me through the drive to my mom’s house.

My mom saw him watching from the vehicle, and asked what was going on when she did. I explained that he’d found out, and she hugged me tightly.

“Are you going to give him a chance?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

I wanted to.

Desperately.

But I couldn’t risk letting him hurt me again. I couldn’t risk watching him leave me again.

“Whatever the right choice is, I know you’ll make it.” She hugged me, taking Parker’s stupidly-heavy car seat and leaving me to go to work.

She had done so much for me.

So, so much.

Part of me wanted to move into Reed’s house and accept the clan’s money just to make her life easier. Sylvie’s, too. They had both told me so many times that they were happy to help me, and always had a good attitude, but still.

I hated that I couldn’t do everything myself. Really, truly hated it.

Reed’s eyes were on me as I got back in my car and drove to the diner. When I headed inside, he caught the heavy back door before it could close behind me.

I flashed him a glare, but didn’t try to stop him from following me in. My boss there was a bear shifter, which meant Reed’s word would have more sway than mine.

Or equal, I supposed.

I’d worked there for a long time.

“Hey, Wrennie,” Lennie, my boss, called from the kitchen. Though he owned the place, he’d made it clear he would be cooking there until he was in the ground. “Is that the Pawson boy?”

“It is,” Reed said from behind me. “Hoping you’re still hiring.”

I gave him a suspicious look, and he lifted an eyebrow at me.

“You know we’re always hiring shifters,” Lennie said.

Reed chuckled. “Counted on it.”

“Heard your fancy security job pays pretty well, though.”

“It does,” he agreed. “But my mate wants your money. You can add my paycheck to hers.”

Lennie laughed, loudly.

I glowered at Reed.

He tucked an escaped strand of my smooth, straight hair behind my ear. The touch alone made me warm. Much warmer than it should’ve.

Reed followed me to the aprons, tying one around his waist as I tied mine. He’d never worked at the diner before, but I knew from experience that if a shifter was involved, Lennie didn’t give a damn. Reed could show up, and he’d get paid.

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