Bearing the Whiteout (Ice Bear Shifters Book 2) by Sloane Meyers Page B

Arctic, and they were stopping at nothing to eliminate any polar bears who stood in their way. Luckily, the Blizzards were extremely sensitive to heat, so they moved even further North than Glacier Point when the weather started changing. It was late February now, and, while the weather was far from warm, and snow still fell off and on, the temperature was starting to shift toward tolerable. No one had seen a Blizzard for the last month, but Eric could never completely stop himself from looking over his shoulder. Neal was convinced they were gone until next winter, but Eric wasn’t so sure. And the last thing Eric wanted to do was bring a mate into the Arctic clan conflict. Anyone Eric loved would become a target automatically. He didn’t want to do that to anyone. And he didn’t want to love someone only to live in constant fear of losing them. No, sir. Eric would keep to himself, thereby keeping the collateral damage around him to a minimum.
    But Eric didn’t want to explain all of this to Tyler, so he just scowled at him. “There are enough visitors coming through to keep me busy.”
    Tyler rolled his eyes and signaled to the bartender for another round of drinks. Just as the new drinks arrived, the door to the pub swung open with great force, letting in a blast of cold air and a woman wearing a huge parka. She was so bundled up that only her honey brown eyes were visible, but you could tell from the sparks those eyes were shooting off that she was angry. She stomped snow from her boots dramatically as she slowly unwrapped herself from her oversized parka.
    “See,” Eric said to Tyler, watching the spectacle with amusement. “You let a woman in and you’re just asking for a life full of displays of emotion like this. I bet you she’s upset about something her boyfriend said to her.”
    Tyler leaned back and crossed his arms. “You always assume that. I bet you you’re wrong. I bet it has nothing to do with a boyfriend.”
    Eric leaned back as well. “You know what? Fine. I’ll take the bet. Next round of drinks on whoever’s wrong.”
    Tyler shook his head. “Oh, no. We’re making the stakes bigger on this game. If you’re right, then I’m not allowed to bring up your love life, or lack thereof, for the next month.”
    “And if I’m wrong?”
    Tyler looked at Eric with a glint in his eye. “If you’re wrong, then you have to ask her out.”
    “On a date?”
    “Yes, idiot. On a date. What’s the matter? Scared?”
    Eric smirked and took a huge swig from his beer. “Fine. Game on. It’s going to be nice to have a month without you yakking on about the lack of women in my life.”
    Tyler returned Eric’s smirk, then looked over to the door, where the woman had finally managed to untangle herself from her multiple layers of outerwear.
    “Hey, chica,” Tyler called out to the woman. “There’s an open seat next to us, if you want.”
    The woman gave Tyler a look of grateful relief, and scurried across the room to take a barstool next to Tyler. Eric couldn’t help but take in her stunning body. If he were to lose the bet and be forced on a date, at least he couldn’t complain about his potential date’s looks. She was magnificent. Her long, honey brown hair was shiny and sleek, hanging around her shoulders in little bit of a tangled mess thanks to the time it had spent bundled up in her winter hat. She finger combed the long tresses as she hopped onto the barstool next to Tyler. Her skin was a light shade of olive, and a small smattering of freckles covered her nose and cheeks. Her skinny jeans hugged her curves. From her long, lean muscles, it was obvious that she worked out. But she wasn’t stick thin, either, and Eric let his gaze slide appreciatively over her slender frame that had just a hint of curviness in all the right places. Her body was lovely, but the most beautiful thing about her was her smile. You could see just the hint of laugh lines forming around her mouth, and when she