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supernatural,
romantic suspense,
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anonymously. I’m sure he’ll come clean within a few more days.”
Clara gave Riley a hug goodbye, and then left for the night. She left the flowers at the shop. It made more sense to her to set them up there, where all of her coworkers could enjoy them, too. The wedding she catered the next day was a large one, and Clara was so busy she felt that she barely had time to breathe. She had once again completely forgotten about her secret admirer, until she walked into the back area of the pie shop and came face to face with another huge bouquet, this one with vibrant purple and yellow flowers. Riley, who was the only other person in the shop, since it was hours past closing time, raised an eyebrow in Clara’s direction.
“Mystery man strikes again,” Riley said.
Clara didn’t answer. She just went over to the flowers and tore open the card. “Hello, Beautiful. If you’re wondering if I’m going to continue to send you flowers every day, then the answer is yes. I told you I want to make your holidays magical, and I hope having beautiful flowers to look forward to every day brings a little spark of magic into the season for you.”
Clara sighed and handed the card over to Riley. “Looks like he has no plans of stopping,” Clara said.
Riley shook her head in amazement. Or maybe in amusement. Clara couldn’t tell for sure which emotion it was.
“Okay, seriously. What are you going to do to find out who this guy is? You can’t just let someone like this go,” Riley said.
“I’m not sure how you expect me to find him,” Clara said. “I’ve thought about this long and hard, believe me. I can’t think of anyone it might be, and he’s not really giving much in the way of clues.”
“Well, you have to figure out a way,” Riley said. “This guy is something special. I have a feeling about it.”
Clara smiled affectionately at Riley. “You’re ridiculous, you know that? You’re more excited about my secret admirer than I am.”
Riley rolled her eyes at Clara, who just laughed at Riley and said she was heading out for the night. But as Clara climbed into her old car and started heading for her home at the smokejumpers’ base camp, she couldn’t help but running through every possibility in her mind of who might have a secret crush on her. She had met so many men over the last few weeks. Weddings brought out an interesting side in everyone. It hadn’t taken long for Clara to realize that the open bars at weddings, combined with the romantic atmosphere, convinced every single guy that he had a shot with any beautiful, single woman.
But none of the guys had a shot with Clara. Sure, some of them had been cute enough, and nice enough. But Clara was careful about who she let into her inner circle. She had meant it when she told Riley that she wasn’t interested in casual dating. If she was going to start a relationship with a guy, she wanted it to be something they both were in for the long haul. And she wanted to be sure he was the type of guy who would be understanding when he found out she was a shifter.
That last part was the tricky bit. It wasn’t easy figuring out who was man enough not to run away when Clara revealed that she was hiding a bear within her. She’d heard from friends back in Alaska that most men couldn’t handle that kind of news. They felt threatened by a woman who held that kind of power within her grasp.
The radio station in Clara’s car was playing a commercial-free hour of Christmas music, and the tunes coming through the old speakers in her car stirred up all kinds of nostalgic feelings. Before her old clan had been thrown into chaos and ruin by a crazed alpha, Clara had loved the holiday season. She loved the traditions and festivities that the season brought, and the warmth of being with friends and family. The last few years had brought little in the way of warmth and festivity, however. Clara hoped that this year would be different, now that she would be sharing
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