Grizzly Flying High (Air Bear Shifters 1) by Sloane Meyers Page B

back and letting out another hearty laugh. “The stories I could tell you!”
    “Well, why don’t you? Tell me a story or two,” Amanda said, as her pancakes arrived and she started digging into the warm, rich food.
    Peter was happy to oblige her, and he spent the next forty-five minutes telling her about the scary, funny, or just plain weird things that had happened to him while he was out on the water. Long after Amanda had eaten the last bite of food on her plate, she was still sitting there, laughing at Peter and just enjoying being around humans. She realized, as she looked around the crowded diner, that it wasn’t necessarily solitude she was craving. She did want to be around people, but she wanted to be around people who valued the same things as her. Things like laughter, nature, and friendship. Amanda hated the power struggle she had found herself in during her years in her corporate job. She didn’t want to claw her way to the top. She wanted to be part of a group of people who encouraged each other on the climb to the top.
    Amanda mentally decided that part of finding herself had been finding out that she wanted a job where everyone was supportive of each other. She made a mental note to write about this in her journal when she got back to her hotel room, and then she turned her attention back to Peter, who was telling a story about the time his heavy duty rain boots went overboard and sank to the ocean floor, leaving him with nothing but ratty old tennis shoes to wear for several days out at sea. Amanda started asking him questions about the kinds of shoes fishermen wore, and didn’t bother to look up when the bell above the front door jangled. People were coming in and out quite frequently, so the bell had just become background noise. She didn’t notice, then, when a familiar, dark-haired giant entered the restaurant. But he noticed her.
    Sawyer’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight of Amanda, and he quickly strode across the dining room to stand next to her.
    “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked, crossing his arms and scowling down at her.
    Amanda looked up, startled, and raised an eyebrow when she saw Sawyer. “Well, hello, to you, too,” she said. “Am I not allowed to be in this diner or something?”
    Sawyer’s scowl deepened. “You can be here, sure. But why are you sitting next to him?” Sawyer spat out, pointing to Peter.
    Amanda’s surprise deepened when she realized that Sawyer was actually jealous of the man sitting next to her. Suddenly, a wave of annoyance washed over her. Who did Sawyer think he was? He had all but outright rejected her the other night, and she had finally made peace with that. But now he was showing up again and acting like he had some claim to her. She had no romantic interest in Peter, and she was pretty sure Peter had no romantic interest in her. But why should that matter to Sawyer, one way or the other? Amanda crossed her arms, matching Sawyer’s antagonistic body language, and she stuck her chin out defiantly.
    “I’m sitting next to him because I want to,” she said. She saw Peter chuckling out of the corner of her eye. Apparently, he found this whole scene funny. Sawyer, however, was not amused.
    “Come outside with me,” he said, his voice low and angry.
    “Tough luck,” Amanda said. “I don’t want to go outside.”
    “It wasn’t a question, Amanda.”
    “I just got a coffee refill,” Amanda said, tossing her hair over shoulder. “I want to finish drinking it, so I think I’ll just keep sitting right here, thank you very much.”
    She turned back to the counter, and reached for her coffee mug, fully intending to completely ignore Sawyer. He might make her heart beat faster, and he might be the most handsome man she’d ever laid eyes on, but that didn’t mean that Amanda was going to let him boss her around.
    But before her hand could reach her mug, she felt a strong arm reaching around her and lifting her up. She looked