Page 2 of Bear In A Boutique
Her heart thumped as she glanced at him, his auburn hair glinting shards of red and brown. He was the youngest of the bunch, probably a year or two older than her, and despite being friends with the women in his family, Olive didn’t know a whole lot about him. Probably because he went out of his way to ignore her when she was around.
She’d taken the hint a long time ago and stayed out of his way.
But when he smiled…oh, did it twist her into knots.
A hot flush worked over her face. Glancing down so no one would see, Olive fiddled with her ponytail as a diversion.
Ryker Mitchell had helped save her, and Jett’s wife Cara, after they’d been kidnapped by rogue grizzly shifters a year and a half ago. Olive hadn’t been able to get him out of her head since, figuring it was some kind of trauma response at first. Falling in love with your rescuer and all that. But as the months went on, her quiet infatuation didn’t go away, even when it became obvious that he wasn’t interested. They crossed paths every morning at Sticky Sweet Bakery, each getting their morning coffee, neither of them ever saying a word to the other. He never looked at her, never offered a polite greeting. Nothing.
Hint taken.
If only her heart would get the memo and let go of its pathetic crush. Realizing Lulu was looking at her curiously, Olive picked up one of the bibs and held it up.
“A bib isn’t a good sign, Lu.”
“Did you eat this morning?”
“No. I figured we were going to eat straight carbs and sugar, as one does at a festival.”
“Yes. We are. But first—”
Commotion came from the group of Mitchells. Lulu sighed in annoyance and Olive did a double take, her heart back-flipping into her throat.
Fox and Ryker were suddenly shirtless. Tanned, supple skin covered their heavily muscled, beautifully sculpted frames. These shifter men had strength and power that radiated pure primal masculinity and though the Mitchells loved to walk around with their shirts off, Olive never tired of looking. No woman in her right mind would get tired of that.
Lulu crossed her arms, seemingly unimpressed. “There’s no sense in telling him to put his shirt back on.”
“Why… would you want him to?”
“Close your mouth, Olive. Your tongue is hanging out.”
Realizing she was gawking, she turned to her friend with an apologetic wince. “I’m sorry. I’m not poaching on your husband. I promise.”
“Oh, I know you’re staring at Ryker. You can never keep your eyes off him.”
“Yeah,” she confessed without thinking. “I mean, it’s hard not to look, right? Look at them. It should be illegal to look like that.”
“They have an entire bear inside of them. They need all that muscle to hold it in.”
“I love bears,” Olive sighed.
How many times had she imagined Ryker naked? Too many to ever admit to anyone. God, she was pathetic. But how could anyone blame her?
A bright red Maltese Cross covered his left shoulder blade with a firefighter’s ax beneath it. He had an emergency radio clipped to the waistband at the back of his jeans, and a pair of gloves flopped from one rear pocket. Ryker worked for the forestry service and was a member of the town’s volunteer fire department, and search and rescue squad alongside Fox. Theyalways carried a radio of some sort and frequently ditched whatever they were doing when a call came in.
Ryker was hot, and a hero.
“What are they doing?” The words tumbled hoarsely from her suddenly dry mouth.
“Who knows? It’s always something with those two.”
The men moved to the ax-throwing cage next to them and went inside. A crowd gathered around it, blocking Olive’s view. Lulu tugged her along and made no qualms about pushing her way to the front of the crowd so they could see.
“Fox, honey?” She called sweetly.
He picked up an ax and assessed its weight in his palm. “Yes, dear?”
“Don’t embarrass your brother too badly.”
