Page 3 of Claimed By Her Bear

“Yeah, because we all know when it’s negative thirty, we all crave ice cream,” Pola teased. She walked behind the counter, chuckling.

“We sure do,” Saffron replied haughtily. She breezed past Pola and waved for her to follow her. “You won’t get an invite then.”

“I’m kidding. I think it’s a great idea. I can speak with the alpha and I’m sure we can share the dates to get community engagement. She would love that.”

They arrived at Saffron’s office doorway. Saffron spun around with a wide grin.

“Would you?”

“Of course. I’m sure you could do a weekly thing. We could get others involved. Like, the librarians could read stories, we could have Santa…”

“That’s what I was thinking!” Saffron held up her hand for a high five.

Pola slapped it, happy her friend was bouncing back from her horrific experience in the shop.

“What do you think?” Saffron asked.

“Nice.” Pola stepped inside the small office. The walls had paint, the floors were wood, and there was a beautiful wood table in the center. Pola strolled over to it, running her fingers along the smooth surface. “This desk is beautiful.”

“Isn’t it? It was custom-made by the contractor. She’s amazing, and her brother owns the company.”

Pola inhaled, loving the scent of the pine wood. She caught a hint of a floral aroma that didn’t go with the desk. It reminded Pola of fresh wildflowers that she would find deep in the forest during the springtime. Her bear sat up, intrigued also. She wasn’t sure where the smell came from. Saffron didn’t have any flowers in her bare office.

Why was her bear interested in the scent? Pola pushed it aside and roamed the small area.

Pola soon left the shop after finishing the tour. She’d promised Saffron she would return after work. Today was a half a day for her, and she didn’t mind picking up Saffron and going to look for decorations for her office. It was a nice day to go on the hunt for bargain trinkets. It would be fun, and maybe they could grab an early dinner. Pola was sure her sister would be in the same spot they had left her when they returned.

Pola hopped into her vehicle and headed toward her office. The only thing was, now that she’d had that scent in her nostrils, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. The faint hint of arousal flared to life.

“I need to get laid,” Pola mumbled. It had been a while since she had been with anyone. Maybe she needed a night on the town to find someone to scratch her itch. Shifters, especially bears, had considerable sexual appetites. She was sure she would be able to find someone to have some fun with. Settling back in her seat, she was satisfied with her decision. She couldn’t call on Saffron to go with her. Now that she was a mated woman, she wouldn’t be going out on the prowl.

But that wouldn’t stop her from asking if Dasha and Saffron would want to go with her. She’d ask, and if she gave her sister the biggest puppy dog eyes she could muster, she was sure she could convince both of them to join her.

A song on the radio piqued her interest. She turned the music up and sang along with it. Tonight was going to be fun. It had been a while since she’d gone out with her sister. Having Saffron and Dasha with her, she was sure she would have a good time.

ChapterTwo

“You sure you don’t want to come with us?” Mike asked for the third time.

He and Rudy leaned against the ice cream shop’s counter and eyed her. They were finished for the day, and they wanted to go down to the local watering hole and grab a few drinks.

It had been a long day for Shekita Harper. They were coming along with renovating the Lick and Bite. This was her first job where her brother had put her in charge as the contractor to work with the owner. Troy, who owned Harper Construction, had been pushing for her to take more responsibilities with the family business. She had been content just working as a carpenter, but Troy wanted her to oversee this job so he could run the business and start another project.

This had been a good year for them. The business was flourishing, which helped keep her busy. She’d had a rough couple of years. She’d been involved with a woman who hadn’t appreciated her. The relationship had turned sour two years ago, and she’d had to escape.

Shekita inhaled sharply, not wanting to think about her.

Bobbie Curtis was a woman who had wooed Shekita. Their relationship had started out almost perfect. She was kind, fun, sexy, and possessive. Everything Shekita thought she had wanted in a partner. After about a year of dating, there were slight changes in Bobbie that Shekita had ignored. She didn’t want to think that her lover would do her any harm.

Bobbie’s sexy possessiveness that had drawn Shekita to her, turned into a dark jealousy where rage became involved.

Shekita blinked, not wanting to go down memory lane. She was no longer under Bobbie’s thumb. She’d broken free from that prison that had become her life.

“I don’t know, guys. We have to—”

“Oh, come on, Shekita. You work too hard. You are putting us to shame.” Rudy chuckled. He pushed his safety glasses to the top of his head and narrowed his gaze on her. Rudy had worked for her brother for years and was close friends with Troy. He was a goofball but a really hard grafter. “One drink.”

Shekita glanced around. All eyes were on her. She was the only woman on this crew and she was in charge of them. None of them had any issues with a woman running a construction site. She was damn good at her job, and they knew it. Each of her men were the best at what they did, and it made her job easy.

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