Fast Bear: BBW Shapeshifter BWWM Werebear Paranormal Romance (Wild Alpha Shifters Book 2)
Authors: Zola Bird
Tags: #BWWM Paranormal BBW Bear Shifter Romance, #Romance
FAST BEAR
Zola Bird
He’s a bear with a past and she’s the woman of his future.
But in order to prove it, he needs to claim her. Tonight.
Bailey Stone is a curvy woman who moved to the small resort town of Wild Summit to escape her past.
Jeremy Heller is a grizzly shifter who has left his bad-boy life behind him. Now, working as a mechanic at Wild Alpha Auto, Jeremy and Bailey meet.
The attraction between them is electric. But it’s also dangerous. Because the past has a way of catching up with people when they least expect it. And today, the past comes knocking on Bailey’s front door.
Only Jeremy and his 1966 Corvette stand between Bailey and her worst nightmare. Jeremy drives Bailey to safety. And then he drives her to ecstasy. But can their attraction stand the test of time? And can she ever trust another man again?
Jeremy and Bailey will have to do more than make love to make this relationship work. They’ll have to embrace every aspect of each other. Only then can Bailey face her demons. And only then will Jeremy be able to claim his mate.
A Note to the Reader:
Fast Bear
is a story of wild hot Alpha love. In addition to steamy lovemaking, it contains some adult language. If sizzling bear shifter love isn't your thing, you may want to skip this book. But if you're a curvy girl who likes her leading men strong and her action scorching hot, enjoy!
FAST BEAR
Zola Bird
Contents
FAST BEAR
BWWM Paranormal BBW Bear Shifter Romance
Zola Bird
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, brands, locations, media, corporations, institutions, organizations and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, or, if real, are used fictitiously without any intent to describe their actual conduct. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication and/or use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Published By
Bear Shifter Romance Press
FAST BEAR
Copyright © 2015 by Zola Bird
All rights reserved. The reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the author.
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement (including infringement without monetary gain) is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
Chapter One
Bailey Stone pulled her tired old compact car around the service department and into the rear lot of Wild Alpha Auto. She checked her reflection in the rearview mirror. Yup, as expected she was still there, still almost thirty, still smiling. She brushed her long auburn hair out of her chocolate eyes. Last delivery of the lunch hour. Jada, Brandon, and Amanda were sitting there on the rear rock wall bordering the forest. She opened her car door and grabbed the cooler.
“Hi, guys.”
“Hey, Bailey,” the three of them said together.
“Two Reubens, one club, three slaws, one strawberry smoothie.”
“Girl? Do you need to be all work all the time?” Jada asked.
“Well, you’re hungry, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“So?” Bailey said.
“So you look run off your feet. Sit with us for a minute.”
“Got to get back to the deli.”
“You’ve got to take a load off, sister.”
Bailey put down her cooler and checked her watch. 1:45. Maybe she could spare a minute. The lunch rush was now officially over. She handed out the sandwiches and the slaws. Bailey worked at Wild Summit’s most popular sandwich shop. It had been a busy morning. There must have been something in the summer air, because the tiny resort town was hungry. She sat down and took a load off.
“Want some?” Jada asked, handing her half her sandwich.
“Jada,” Bailey said, “you’re eating for two. Come on.” Bailey was well aware Jada was pregnant. She had just started showing. Brandon beamed, every bit the proud papa.
“
I’m
not,” Amanda piped up, handing Bailey a square of her club sandwich.
Bailey accepted the sandwich and took a bite. “Mmm. Bacon turkey club. Worth every penny, if I do say so myself.”
Bailey passed out cans of soda from her cooler. “I almost forgot the drinks. Now, who gets the smoothie?”
All three full mouths chewed, fingers pointing at the pearl-blue classic Corvette convertible parked to the left of them. The car was vintage, from the mid 1960s, but it had been restored to perfection. Wild Alpha mostly dealt in new vehicles, so Bailey wondered what the car was doing there, and she wondered even more why all three of them were pointing at it. She brought the smoothie over to the car.
“Anybody home?”
The convertible top was down, but as far as Bailey could see, nobody was there. Nice dark-blue leather seats, though. Bailey moved a little closer. What was that she heard? A growl? Surely not. She peered over the passenger door into the footwell of the car.
Bam!
A tan, bronzed shoulder shot up from the floor of the car. It clipped the side of the smoothie, sending it tumbling out of her hand.
No problem,
Bailey thought. The lid was on the drink. The cup went tumbling down toward a perfect bronzed chest. Oh, no. The lid came off. And the strawberry smoothie began to spill.
A strong hand took hold of the cup, squeezing it…
And a face came up from under the dash to meet Bailey. A perfectly chiseled masculine face connected to a tanned neck and the widest, most muscular chest she had ever seen. Frozen smoothie ran down the flawless chest, past a set of rippled abs.
“That’s cold,” the man growled.
“I am so sorry…” Bailey said.
“No worries. Throw me a towel.”
Brandon had seen what had happened and had already run into the shop. He came back out and tossed Bailey a blue shop rag. She caught it and handed it to the dream of a man.
“Here, let me take that,” she said, pointing to the smoothie.
The man handed the smoothie back to her, and she watched, slack-jawed, as he wiped his tanned physique with the shop rag. Streaks of grease marred his chest as he cleaned off. Damn. The man was hot. Ridiculously hot. There was no other way to put it. Fortunately, he was still lying down on the floor of the car, so he was able to get the puddle of smoothie off him before it went all over his fine automobile, too.
“Sorry about that. You caught me changing a fuse.”
“No,” Bailey said. “I’m the one who should be sorry.”
“For what? Looking beautiful?”
Who talked like that? Bailey could not believe the charm coming out of this sexy stranger’s mouth. She smiled self-consciously. She was a big, curvy girl and not used to this kind of attention. Not generally used to it, that was. Sure, there were the college boys who thought taking a fat girl for a ride was a lark, and years previously she’d had a boyfriend, but on the whole, she didn’t get much attention. Not that kind of attention at least, and not from strangers. Bailey held the smoothie in her hand, squeezing it ever so slightly. A single drop of the fresh strawberry delight dripped off the cup and onto the perfect blue seat.
“Oh, jeez…”
Bailey reached down to the seat with her finger, her hand brushing just past his bronzed shoulder as he did so. She felt a tiny thrill as their bare skin touched. Bailey wiped the tiny drop of smoothie off the seat with the end of her finger, and as she did, the long sleeve of her green cotton shirt hitched up ever so slightly. The sexy stranger was eye level with her wrist and she noticed him staring at the tattoo she had there. Bailey quickly brought her finger to her mouth, licking the smoothie off, and pulled her sleeve back to where it should be.
“Good?” he asked.
“I just make ’em, I don’t drink ’em.”
“But you must have an opinion,” he said.
“Great,” Bailey replied with a smile.
The bronzed stranger rose and pulled himself out of the car. After his solid chest and stunningly symmetrical facial features, the next thing Bailey noticed was his height. The man towered over her five-foot-ten-inch frame. He was at least six foot five and nearly as wide. Her glance wandered back to his bronzed bare chest. It looked like it had been cut from marble. She admonished herself to stop staring and returned her gaze to his face. A surprising warmth emanated from his hazel-green eyes, slicked-back blond hair softening his overall appearance. The man was a vision in faded jeans. He extended a hand.
“Jeremy,” he said. “Jeremy Heller. Pleased to meet you.”
“Bailey,” Bailey said, taking his hand. “Likewise.”
“Bailey,” Jeremy said. “This is Brandon, Jada, and Amanda.”
“Thanks for the intro,” Bailey said. “But we already know each other.”
“Sorry,” Jeremy said with a laugh. “Sometimes I forget that I’m the new guy around here.”
“In addition to being my brother, Jeremy’s a half-decent mechanic. He’s helping us out here for a bit,” Brandon said. “He does some amazing work on the exotics.”
“Well, new guy, if you want some lunch to go with that smoothie, come ’round the deli.”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Jeremy said.
“Got to jet.” Bailey waved. “Bye, guys.” And she walked back to her delivery car.
************************
Hot. There was only one word for the woman. Smoking hot. Who was that vixen with the sexy curves? One minute Jeremy was cursing the wiring of his ’66 Vette and the next he was staring at perfection. Jeremy was a thirty-two-year-old bear shifter. Like all bears, he was an Alpha, but unlike many, he had grown up in the city. Jeremy was a long way from his former territory on the South Side of the city. However, he supposed that, with time, Wild Summit could eventually become his new home. Jeremy’s brother Brandon had recently moved back to town, where he’d taken over management of Wild Alpha Auto from their father. And though Jeremy had spent some time, mostly summers as a youth, in Wild Summit, he’d never stayed long in the picturesque mountain resort community.
But that’s about to change,
Jeremy thought with a sigh. Especially if there were radiant women like Bailey around. Jeremy, like all bears, appreciated a woman with curves and some meat on her bones, and Bailey fit that bill to a T.
It wasn’t simply Bailey’s physical appearance that Jeremy found himself drawn to. There was something about the way she had looked at him. Something about the way her deep-brown eyes had met his that told him he was looking at a kindred spirit. He couldn’t put it into words, it was just there, that feeling of familiarity, that sense of connection. He took a drink from the styrofoam cup. Even the smoothie made him feel like he was connected to her. It was odd. He had seen her once and now he never, ever, wanted her to leave.
“You OK, bro?” Brandon asked.
Jeremy looked up at his half-brother. Brandon was finishing his sandwich, his arm around Jada’s waist.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”
“You sure? Because you look like you’re locked in a smoothie-fueled bear dream right about now.”
“Shut up.”
Jeremy tossed the greasy mechanic’s rag at Brandon, who ducked to the side. Jada laughed. Jeremy noticed that Amanda had gone inside. At least Brandon hadn’t used the “B” word in front of the uninitiated.
“I get it. She’s hot, bro.” Jada shot Brandon a look. “Or, uh… she would be if I wasn’t here with the mother of my future cubs.”
Jada smiled. It looked like she would give Brandon a pass on that one. Brandon had recently marked Jada and claimed her as his mate, and Jeremy could have sworn that he had felt it happen, even though he was in the city over two hundred miles away at the time. Such was the way of bear shifters, though. Unlike regular people, they were connected in a powerful, instinctual manner. Jeremy knew that the feeling of Brandon’s mating and the freshly conceived cubs wasn’t the only thing that had drawn him to Wild Summit, but it was a factor. Now, however, he was wondering why he hadn’t come sooner. With Wild Summit’s fresh air and fine women like Bailey walking around ready to spill frozen drinks on him at a moment’s notice, he thought he might have found heaven.
“You say she works around here?”
“Koll’s Deli. You should check it out. I mean, if you’re done fooling with that wreck of an automobile.”
