Page 2 of Claimed By the Grumpy Shifter

She's behind the counter, arranging what looks like a wedding bouquet. Her tongue darts out to wet her lips as she concentrates, and the bear goes absolutely feral.

*Want. Need. Claim.*

I must make some kind of sound because she looks up, and those blue eyes… Christ, they're even more beautiful up close, widen in surprise.

"Oh! Hi!" Her voice is slightly breathless, and there's a flush creeping up her neck that makes me want to trace it with my tongue. "I didn't hear you come in. Can I help you with something?"

I stand there like an idiot, drinking in the sight of her. She's even more perfect up close. Soft skin that looks like it would bruise easily under my hands, curves that my palms ache to explore, and a mouth that was made for kissing.

And other things.

"I..." My voice comes out as a growl, and I have to clear my throat and try again. "I just moved in. Across the street."

Her face lights up with genuine pleasure, and it's like watching the sun rise. "Oh, you're the new neighbor! I'm Christine. Christine Parker." She extends her hand, and when I take it, the contact sends electricity shooting up my arm.

The bear rumbles its approval. She's warm and soft and smells even better up close.

"Marc," I manage, probably holding her hand longer than socially acceptable. "Marc Steel."

"Well, welcome to Cedar Falls, Marc Steel." She says my name like she's tasting it, and I have to fight the urge to lean across the counter and taste her back. "I hope you'll like it here. It's a pretty quiet place, but the people are nice."

"I'm counting on quiet," I say, and she laughs.

"Then you definitely came to the right place. The most exciting thing that's happened around here lately is that Josh, one of our local lumberjacks, is dating Elisa, my employee. We're all still recovering from the drama."

Something dark and possessive flares in my chest at the mention of another man, even though I know she's just making conversation. The bear doesn't like hearing about other males, period.

"Drama?" I ask, because I need to keep her talking. Her voice is like honey, and I'm already addicted.

"Oh, you know how it is. Small town, everyone's invested in everyone else's love life." She waves her left hand, but there's something wistful in her expression. "Elisa's a single mom, and Josh has always lived alone in the mountains until she arrived.He's so in love with her. You can see it in his eyes. He's like a lovesick puppy. It's actually pretty sweet to watch."

"What about you?" The question is out before I can stop it, too direct, too personal for someone I just met. But I need to know. "Anyone circling around you?"

The flush on her neck deepens, and she ducks her head, suddenly very interested in the bouquet she's arranging. "Me? Oh, no. I'm... I'm not really the type guys circle around."

She's wrong. So completely, utterly wrong that it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to tell her exactly how wrong she is. Not to explain that I'll be circling her for the rest of my life, that I'm already planning ways to make her mine.

"Their loss," I say instead, and her head snaps up, eyes wide with surprise.

I can hear her heartbeat, can smell the spike of arousal that makes my own pulse race. She feels it too, this pull between us, even if she doesn't understand what it means.

The bell above the door chimes, and a woman with a toddler on her hip bustles in, breaking the spell.

"Christine! Thank God you're here. I need flowers for my mother-in-law's birthday, and I have no idea what to get her. She hates everything."

Christine tears her gaze away from mine, and I immediately miss the connection. "Of course, Mrs. Williams. Let me show you some options."

I should leave. I should go back to my empty house and start unpacking, try to build some kind of normal life that doesn't revolve around the woman across the street. But I can't make myself move. Instead, I watch her work, mesmerized by the way her hands move among the flowers, the gentle way she speaksto the fussy toddler, the patience she shows with the indecisive customer.

She's everything I never knew I wanted. Everything I definitely don't deserve.

But she's mine anyway.

The bear has decided, and when a bear decides something, that's the end of the discussion. I just have to figure out how to make her understand that she belongs to me without scaring her away.

Or worse, without losing control and showing her exactly what I really am.

Mrs. Williams finally settles on an arrangement of cheerful yellow roses, and Christine rings her up with a smile that makes my chest tight. After they leave, she turns back to me with an apologetic expression.

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