Page 1 of Trusting Her Bear

Chapter One

Quinn

“Fuck off.” I slouch further into my chair, letting my sunglasses drop over my eyes and slamming my boots on my desk.

“Quinn, you have to come,” Lucas stresses.

“I don’t have to do shit,” I growl. Lucas is a lion shifter who was recently mated and shares his mate with his two brothers. Their mate, Breeane, is opening a bakery down the street from my office. Her friend is arriving in town soon to join the business. Lucas was sent to invite me to attend her welcoming slash opening.

“Come on,” he groans. “What else do you have to do?”

“Anything else,” I grumble.

He leans over the desk. I feel his shadow creeping over me, and he sniffs. “Are you drunk?”

“No.” Not anymore.

“You reek of whiskey.”

“And?” I mutter.

“Is something going on?”

“No. I felt like having a drink last night.” I don’t want to talk about it, and definitely not with him. I don’t know why they sent him. We aren’t close. Out of all the brothers, I have had more interaction with Las.

“Breeane wants you to come.”

I push my sunglasses down with my finger. “Why?” I sigh.

“Steph is a bear shifter. She thinks she will be more comfortable if there is another bear shifter at the party,” he explains, sitting on the edge of the desk.

“I would think she would be comfortable enough with her best friend.” Breeane moved here a month ago to get the building ready for business. She has been friends with Stephanie for years and has been eagerly awaiting her arrival. “She’ll have plenty of friends there to greet her.”

“Everyone is coming.”

“See?” I replace my glasses and close my eyes.

“Everyone except you,” he says. “As much as you want to deny it, you are part of the group. Bash will be there with Marie. The dragons and the wolves—”

“You don’t have to list them all,” I interrupt. “You are just proving my point.”

“You have to be the asshole,” he growls.

“I’ve been called worse,” I mutter. He falls silent, and his stare penetrates the side of my head. “When is it?”

“Tomorrow night,” he says quickly. “Don’t worry about bringing anything, just your sparkling personality.” He jumps up. “I will tell Breeane to expect you. I don’t like disappointing my mate,” he says sternly, backing away. “I would hate to have to come back and bug you again.”

“I would hate that too.” I look at him. “What time?” I give up.

“Seven. Don’t come drunk.”

“If you leave right now, I’ll keep the promise to be there.” He nods and leaves quickly. I throw my glasses on the desk and rub my hands over my face.

I guess I’m going to a party.

Lucas is a good guy; I have nothing against him. I have tried to separate myself from all the shifters here, but they are determined to pull me in. I was doing fine until Marie came to work for me and ended up mating a vampire named Bash. I had a good but somewhat impersonal relationship with Marie. She was human when I met her, but now she is turned.

I own a small investigation firm. I hired Marie as an investigator because of her excellent memory and kept her because of her dedication to the job. I haven’t been able to keep a receptionist. I’ve gone through ten different people in that position. I cringe at the memory of some of them. I’m not a demanding boss; all I ask is that you do your job. One woman developed a crush on me and wouldn’t stop chattering. I hate meaningless conversations. She lasted three weeks before I couldn’t take her stare or voice anymore. She cried on the way out—I hate tears, too.

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