Page 182 of The Cowbears of Curvy Bear Ranch

“Who would have known? No one knew anything about my parents. That’s why I came to find my mom. I needed to understand what was happeningtome.”

“Oh honey. I can’t imagine going through life feeling like something was off but not knowing why.” He stepped forward and wrapped his armsaroundher.

She snuggled against his chest and truly relaxed for the first time inherlife.

“We’ll find your mom,” he said. “But I can tell you anything you need to know about being ashifter.”

“A shifter? Is that what it’s called?” sheasked.

“That’s what we allcallit.”

“Who’s‘we’?”

“My brothers and I are allshifters.”

“Wow. How many other people are shifters up here? Is it everyone? Does the whole town turn into bears?” She rattled off the questions faster and faster until helaughed.

“We can talk about all of that once we put some clothes on. Fortunately, I keep a couple of spares in my truck. The clothes are probably too big for you, but it’s better than nothing. Not that I’d mind having you walk around naked all day. I’m all for that. But I don’t want to have to share you withanyoneelse.”

“I doubt you’ll have to beat back a line of eager suitors,” she said in a self-deprecatingtone.

“Don’t you know how beautiful you are?” he asked. “Or are you just fishing forcompliments?”

“I’m too big. I don’t work out. You can’t bounce a quarter offmyass.”

“I beg to differ, and maybe we should try that sometime.” He flashed awickedgrin.

Every inch of her body sparked with heat as she followed him to the car. The animalistic side of her wanted to immediately pounce on him and ride him to the heights of ecstasy, but the human side of her knew that wasn’t practical. Maybe later. She tried to suppress a grin, but failedmiserably.

“Trust me. I’d love nothing more than to fling you over my shoulder and carry you back to my bed, but I know you want to find your mom. I have an idea of where we might be able to get more information.” He handed her a sweater and a pair of pants withabelt.

“Where?” she asked as shedressed.

“My brother’s fiancée’s mom owns a pie shop in town. If I’m remembering correctly, June hosts the Red Hat Society meetings at the shop on Wednesdays. If we hurry, we might be able to catchGertrude.”

“Who’s Gertrude?” sheasked.

He chuckled. “Only the nosiest woman on the planet. No one can sneeze without her knowing about it. When Logan and Kate decided to have a shotgun wedding, she’d called everyone in West Yellowstone before they’d even made it down theaisle.”

“Hopefully she’ll know something,”Carolsaid.

“She will.” He helped her into the truck then ran around and climbed in. “I still want to talk about you being a bear, but let’s wait until after we findyourmom.”

“Allright.”

She scooted closer to him and laid her hand on his thigh. He’d slipped into a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt which did nothing to lower his sex appeal. If anything, knowing what was under those clothes was an even bigger tease than when he’d stood naked in frontofher.

After they found her mom, she definitely wanted to revisit the whole bear thing. But even though Hank could tell her everything she needed to know about being a bear, she still needed to find her mom. She hadn’t realized how much she’d longed to have a family until now. She couldn’t let her momslipaway.

* * *

During the wholedrive back to West Yellowstone, Hank couldn’t get the image of Carol in her bear form out of his mind. His bear danced around in his chest telling him that he’d found his mate. He’d waited his whole life to find the right woman. Could it really be this unbelievably sexy city girl from New York? If that was true, then he needed to make sure she found her mom. Maybe through her, she’d be able to convince Carol to stay with him. He couldn’t lose his mate now, not when he’d spent a lifetime waitingforher.

As he pulled into the parking lot behind the pie shop, June walked out of the back door. She hauled a huge black trash bag behind her. He jumped out and ran overtohelp.

“Hank, what a nice surprise. I was just asking Brady how everyone was doing the other day,”Junesaid.

At fifty years old, tendrils of gray streaked through her jet-black hair. She wore it with stunning grace. In great shape for her age, she could have tossed the trash out without any assistance, but Hank wasn’t the type to watch someonestruggle.

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