A Promise To Bear (Second Chance Shifters 4) by Meredith Clarke Page B

had been handling Grace’s affairs, walking down the back steps of the lodge. She was a pretty girl, but not his type. She was thin, with long, dark blonde hair and pretty blue eyes. She was petite, and he thought about how if they were ever together, he would break her into a million tiny pieces.
    “Hey! I’m over here. What can I do for you?”
    She smiled at him for only a moment. “Too many flowers for you?”
    “Ah shit, yeah. These. I guess I should really do something with them. I don’t know where Grace had the vases or anything. Maybe somebody from catering does.”
    “The new owner has arrived, and I was wondering if we could have a sit down.”
    “The three of us?”
    “Yes. We need to discuss Grace’s will and how she wanted you to proceed with the business. I know it’s very soon after this devastating loss, but you have a business to run and a lodge full of people. I suspect you want to continue.”
    He sucked in another deep breath and held it for a moment, considering her proposition. Meet the new owner now? He didn’t even get a week before some asshole wanted to come in here and change everything and take over? Finally he released it. “I guess now is as good a time as any.”
    “Wonderful, let’s go to Grace’s office.”
    Jasper nodded and followed her up the back steps into the service entrance of the lodge. They made their way through the kitchen and out into the lobby. Standing at the front desk was a deliciously curvy woman with dark auburn hair facing away from him. Could it be?

3
    Twila
    T wila turned around just in time to make eye contact with Jasper, another memory of this place that she had tried to forget. He looked just as sexy as ever, with broad shoulders and thick, built chest. He stood almost six inches above her, and yet she could still see the green flecks in his dark emerald eyes. His hair had grown longer, dark brown wisps falling slightly into his face. But he kept it short in the back, just as she remembered.
    Flashbacks to the night before her parents were killed were seared into her brain. Her nails digging into his skin, the sweat dripping off of their hot bodies in front of the fireplace. Sex with Jasper was like nothing else she’d ever experienced in her entire life. The way he touched her curves like he worshiped them, holding her voluptuous breasts in each hand, squeezing just hard enough to send her over the edge. Everything about Jasper Blake was sexy and totally forbidden. So why, standing at the desk and waiting to discuss her grandmother’s affairs, did she feel the ache between her legs? “Jasper.”

    Jasper
    “ T wila , been a long time.” He wanted to reach out and touch her, run his fingers through her dark hair. His bear could immediately smell her arousal in the air, so clearly, she still had feelings for him. He had held onto his feelings for her even in her absence. For a long time, he thought he would never see her again, and as much as it killed him, he had become accustomed to the loneliness. He was tied to the death of her parents, so they could never be together.
    Now, seeing her again, he wanted to wrap his calloused hands around her soft, supple skin once more. If there hadn’t been about fifty people in the lobby at that time he would have considered doing it right then and there. Praying that she wouldn’t notice how hard he was getting, just being in her presence, he walked around the back of the front desk and into Grace’s office. No one had been in here since her passing. He was embarrassed for having such strong feelings for Twila when they were about to discuss his favorite person’s lost life, and what she had left behind.
    Once there, he shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at the floor while he waited for the lawyer and the new owner to enter the office. When the door shut behind Lauren, he was surprised to see Twila standing in front of them.
    “What are you doing in here?”
    “I’m not really sure,” Twila