Grizzly Flying Free (Air Bear Shifters Book 2) by Sloane Meyers Page A

yours playing matchmaker.”
    “Silver’s playing matchmaker?” Anderson said, a feeling of dread creeping over him. What had his daughter been saying to Lexi all day in his absence?
    Auntie Grace nodded. “Oh, she’s been putting on the full court press. Telling Lexi all day about what a great man you are and how you just need a wife to be happy. And dropping not so subtle hints that this ‘hypothetical’ wife should have a lot of the same personality traits as Lexi.”
    Anderson sighed. “That girl,” he said. “Never a dull moment. She has her heart set on getting a mom. I’ll talk to her later.”
    “If I may make a suggestion,” Auntie Grace said. “Why don’t you talk to Lexi instead? It’s obvious you both like each other and are just fighting your feelings.”
    “Are you scheming along with Sawyer to get Lexi and me into a relationship? He was on my case this morning about making a move, too.”
    “I’m not scheming with him, my dear,” Auntie Grace said. “I think it’s just rather obvious that you’re falling head over heels for Lexi. And I think you should stop fighting it and just let yourself fall.”
    Anderson paused to listen to the sound of laughter drifting down the hallway. “I’m going to let Lexi know how I feel,” he promised. “But don’t say anything to Silver just yet. I don’t want her to get her hopes up only to have them dashed if Lexi doesn’t want a relationship with me, after all.”
    “I won’t say anything to Silver,” Auntie Grace said. “But I wouldn’t worry too much about Lexi turning you down. She can’t keep her eyes off of you when you’re in the room.”
    “Yeah, well, that might be the case right now,” Anderson said. “But she doesn’t know yet that I’m a grizzly. That little piece of information could change everything.”

Chapter Twelve
     
    Lexi sipped her glass of wine as she sat on the couch, listening to the sound of Anderson’s animated voice drifting down the hallway. He was reading Silver her third bedtime story, and he was putting a lot of dramatic effort into the tale. Silver had begged for Lexi to sit with them and read the stories, but she had begged off and said she wanted to rest. Reading bedtime stories together with Silver’s dad felt too intimate. Too much like what a mother would do.
    Lexi took a deep breath and took another long sip of wine. Silver had been dropping hints all day long that she wanted Lexi to be her mother. The little girl was smart—she never actually said the word mom or mother. But it was clear that she was already imagining Lexi stepping into a parental role. Lexi loved Silver dearly, but she didn’t want to disappoint the girl or lead her on. It was becoming more and more obvious that Anderson had some deeper feelings for Lexi, but Lexi wasn’t sure when or if he was going to act on those feelings. And, if he did ask Lexi to take things to the next level with him, there was no guarantee that things would work out long-term. The last thing Lexi wanted to do was break Silver’s heart, so she tried to put some boundaries on her relationship with the little girl. Declining to share the bedtime routine with Anderson was one of those boundaries.
    Speaking of boundaries, the friendship line between Lexi and Anderson was quickly blurring into nonexistence. Things had been intensifying since the moment he had walked into Auntie Grace’s house this afternoon. When Anderson’s eyes had met Lexi’s over the flour-covered island, she had felt a searing heat leaping from his gaze to her very core. He had looked at her the way a man in love looks at a woman, and she had been unable to look away. Then, in the grocery store this afternoon, his hand had casually brushed hers several times—always when Silver wasn’t watching, always deliberate. Every time his skin touched hers, she felt crackling electricity jumping from his body to hers. And when he had placed his hand on the small of her back as they walked