The Billionbear's Bride: BBW Bear Shifter BWWM Paranormal Romance by Zoe Chant Page A

colors and textures, and the room itself was large—large enough to hold a family and then some. He had imagined lazy Sunday afternoons here: kids running around and playing, or reading, or just lounging around and enjoying each other’s company.
    He still wanted that; in fact, the desire had only grown sharper after meeting his mate. Violet fit perfectly in this space, completing it. Completing him.
    “Wow, that looks amazing.” She reached out to brush her fingers across the rough surface, her touch lingering. She shivered; she must still be chilly from outside, Bruce realized belatedly. His bear kept him warm for the most part, but she didn’t have that protection. He would have to be her protection.
    Without prompting he immediately began grabbing logs from beside the grate and piling them into the fireplace. It was the work of a moment to add some kindling and light it up.
    When the flame caught and lit them in its warm glow, he turned back to Violet—who was watching him with an eyebrow quirked. When she caught his eyes, her gaze flicked back to the fire, which was coming to life. On impulse Bruce slipped off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. His hands stroked down her arms. She tugged the leather jacket’s collar tighter around her and their hands brushed. A small, shy smile played over her lips.
    “So are you going to show me the rest of your extravagant bachelor pad?” she continued after a moment, holding her hands out to warm them. The firelight—and maybe something else, or maybe it was just Bruce’s imagination—flickered in her warm brown eyes.
    “It’s not a bachelor pad anymore,” he responded.
    Her only response was to bite her lip and look away.
    He showed her to the kitchen, which was spacious and open. “Anytime you want to make yourself something, go right ahead,” he told her. “Do you like to cook?”
    She gave a nervous laugh. “Uh, not really?” she said, as if uncertain of his reaction. “I can make some basic things, the stuff everybody does—spaghetti and meatballs, that kind of thing—but honestly I don’t have the time,” she rushed to say. “Mostly I survive on takeout.”
    “Takeout has nothing on a good home-cooked meal,” Bruce said. “I’ll have to prove it to you sometime. Or,” he added, “I can show you a thing or two, since you’re living here now.” For the next six months, at least , said a little voice in the back of his mind. Bruce tried to banish his doubts, but they lingered in the back of his mind.
    The corners of her eyes turned up with her smile, framed by thick lashes. “I’d like that.”
    Taking his arm, Violet tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. “Now, show me around the rest of this place. I’ve never lived in a house-house before.”
    “No? Never?”
    “Just apartments. I was saving for a down payment when … when Jana started having her health problems. And …” She hesitated, her teeth worrying her bottom lip.
    “What is it?” he encouraged gently.
    “I was seeing someone—Chad was his name—we were going to get married.” Her hand twitched on his arm; she was running her thumb over her the base of her ring finger, again and again. Bruce’s bear growled internally at the thought of someone else marrying his mate. “We had started putting our lives together. You know, living together, putting each other on our bank accounts, that kind of thing.”
    Bruce sucked in a breath. He could see where this was going.
    Violet’s voice trembled as she continued. “A few weeks before the wedding, Chad … I don’t know what happened. He just ran off. No goodbye, no forwarding address, no official breakup. And he took all my savings with him.”
    Rage flared in him, a strong fire burning hot. If he ever met this Chad, Bruce knew he was going to show the guy what his insides looked like. No one treated Violet, his Violet, like that. What a creep.
    “Well, I know what happened,” Bruce said, a little bit of