Bear Again (Second Chance Shifters 3) by Meredith Clarke, Ally Summers Page B

get everything started, then jump in the shower. Can you start setting up while I’m upstairs?” she asked.
    He wanted to pick her up and take her to the shower and bathe her with hot soapy bubbles. He wanted his hands on her, gliding over her perfect, rosy skin. Ever since he caught her stepping out of her shower a few weeks ago, it was an image he couldn’t get out of his head. His cock grew hard just thinking about her wet and naked.
    “Liam?”
    “Yeah, yeah. Go on. I’ll set up for you down here.” He eyed her ass as she climbed the stairs.
    Last night might not have gone as he had planned. Sophia hadn’t asked him to claim her. And he only had one more day until the eclipse. Time was running out, but he couldn’t ignore what was pounding through his chest. Everything was different. He could feel it.

17

Sophia
    T he kitchen was a mess . She had more customers for a Friday than she expected. With three birthday cakes and a retirement party, she had never had a chance to put away her baking supplies. She surveyed the disaster in front of her.
    She started with the bowls in the sink, washing each one and stacking them in the drying rack. As she reached for the mixing beaters, she heard the tap on the back door. Her heart fluttered, but she scolded herself for feeling it. It was Liam.
    She pulled open the door. “Hi.”
    He held up a white paper bag and a DVD. “Thought you might want to do dinner and a movie. Inside this time?”
    He walked past her, his spicy juniper scent following him. She felt a little drunk with him in the room.
    “I can’t,” she sighed. “I have this to deal with. Maybe another time.”
    He shrugged, placing the food and movie on her makeshift desk. “I’m here to help.”
    “It’s too much. I can take care of my own mess.”
    It was pointless. He already had an apron over his wide chest and was scrubbing a muffin pan in the sink. She stared in amazement.
    “Sometimes I don’t think you’re real.”
    He reached for a spatula. “And why is that?”
    “Because I have never been more of a bitch to a man in my life, and yet, here you are.” She folded a hand towel. “You’re washing dishes in my kitchen. You show up every morning for coffee. You put my apartment back together. You turned my parking lot into a private movie theater.” She couldn’t stop. Everything from the past month was pouring out of her.
    Liam turned off the running water and rotated to face her.
    “And no matter how many times I reject you and push you away, you show up flirting and happy to see me. With gifts and helpfulness. And with a stupid, sexy smile.” She threw the towel behind her.
    “And this is a problem for you?”
    “See? Like that. You’re doing it again.”
    “Doing what?”
    “Flirting.”
    The look in his eyes suddenly changed. The coal flickered with raw hunger. She knew that look.
    “And you don’t want me to flirt with you?” He slid one hand behind her, resting it on the counter, followed by the other.
    She shook her head. “No.”
    His body pressed into hers. She could feel the solid wall of his chest and smell his masculine scent. She swallowed. They had been close last night, but he had respected the boundaries. It didn’t feel like that now.
    “I like flirting with you, Soph. And I like doing other things with you.” He stared into her eyes. It was unlike anything she had seen before. In that one intense gaze, he said everything. He wanted her. But it wasn’t just about taking her as his mate. He was in love with her—he had been for years.
    “I want to make you happy,” he whispered. “Can’t you just let me do that?” He bent forward, dragging his lips over hers.
    Her knees buckled, but his arms instantly wrapped around her waist and he lifted her to the counter.
    She shook her head. “No.”
    “Then let me make you miserable.” He nipped at the side of her neck, pushing the apron ties from her skin.
    She groaned as he kissed along her skin, sending