A Wife For The Bear: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Bear Brides Book 3) by Natalie Kristen Page A

time. Go take care
of your business. Off you go now. Shoo!”
    He hesitated. “I'll be
here when you get back,” she smiled. “See you later.
I...I love you, Brad.”
    Brad stared at her, his eyes
burning with passion and love. He spun round and snatched her up,
lifting her off the ground. “I love you, Lisha. I love you
very much! And I will love you all my days and make you happy all
your days!”
    Lisha blushed as she heard
some oohs and ahhs from the nearby tables. The little old ladies, or
the Book Babes as they called themselves, were giggling and grinning
at them.
    “My Howard, bless his
soul, used to spin me around like that,” one of them sighed.
“This is so romantic!”
    The Book Babes chuckled and
began egging Brad on. “Spin her around again, son. Women love
that!”
    By the time Brad put her
down, Lisha was completely dizzy and breathless. She waved to Brad
as he sprinted off and let the excited Book Babes draw her into a
scintillating and titillating discussion about who the most romantic
hero of all time was.
    At the end of the fevered
discussion, Lisha was a fully initiated Book Babe. Seeing how
knowledgeable and passionate she was about romance novels, they'd
invited her to join their book club.
    Without hesitation, she'd
said yes.

CHAPTER
TEN

    Lisha swallowed the last
mouthful of egg sandwich and brushed the crumbs off her blouse.
Leaning back on the park bench, she picked up the paper cup beside
her and sipped her coffee.
    Her lunch break was almost
over, and she should be getting back to the library soon. But it was
a lovely day to be out. There hadn't been much sunshine for the past
few weeks, but today the sunlight sparkled through the trees and
danced and winked on the ground. After a period of gray and gloom,
it seemed the sun was finally coming out again.
    Lisha looked around the
beautiful park and inhaled the fresh, fragrant air. Brad was right.
The darkness would leave, and there would be love and laughter in her
life once more.
    With a relaxed mind and a
sated stomach, Lisha began to daydream. She knew that she would
build a very happy home with Brad, and he would be a wonderful
husband and father. In her mind, she saw them rolling on the lawn
with a bunch of laughing, lively young kids. They were going to have
lots of rambunctious, ferocious cubs. Lisha chuckled. What would
their cubs be called, bigers, tibears or…?
    Lisha started and shook her
head hard. She was getting way ahead of herself. They weren't even
married yet and she was thinking of their babies. Lisha let out a
sigh. She missed having a family and a home so much. Was it wrong
to yearn and crave for some stability and love in her life?
    Throwing her paper bag and
cup in the bin, she began to walk back to the library. She crossed
the road quickly and was about to run up the front steps of the
library when goosebumps erupted over her skin and the hairs at the
back of her neck rose in warning. Lisha's heart stuttered. She had
felt this odd chill only once before. When she'd glimpsed that black
car gliding silently up the street towards her house just seconds
before her dad was shot.
    Numb with horror, she froze
for an instant before instinct took over. Lisha threw herself to the
ground and rolled.
    A silver bullet ricocheted
off the stone steps and grazed her cheek. She hissed at the searing
pain and slapped her hand to her cheek. Her cheek felt like it was
on fire, like her skin had been burned off.
    She scrambled up, her eyes
wide and alert. She saw him immediately. Mack Kross.
    Bile rose up her throat.
Mack Kross had broken out of jail. Or the people he worked for had
gotten him out of jail. Those crime lords had a wide reach, and
there might be prison officials on the take.
    She knew that he would come
after her. He had tracked her down, across the towns and cities,
hunting her relentlessly with vengeance on his mind.
    Mack was sitting behind the
wheel of a black sedan across the road, looking down the barrel of