Brash Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES fur BEARS Book 3) (4 page)

Harlan was three years
younger than her. The age difference wasn't great, but once they
were married, she realized that Harlan saw her as nothing more than a
sugar momma. She was the one who was expected to hold a steady job
and pay all the bills. He didn't pull his weight in the marriage,
and spent way more than he earned. And there were periods when he
didn't earn at all. He would jump from job to job, and just quit
when something wasn't going his way at work. He was an immature,
spoiled brat. Too late she realized that she had married a boy, not
a man.

Harlan was whiny, lazy and
had an inflated sense of entitlement. He didn't know how to take
care of anyone but himself. And he felt that Bella, being older and
more stable and responsible, should take care of him. He expected
her to take care of his needs and wants, but it didn't work both
ways. Nope. Bella was expected to be the gift that kept on giving.
Except that he didn't treat her like a precious gift at all. He
treated her like...dirt.

But still she stuck it out,
hoping that he would grow up and change for the better.

Through his long periods of
unemployment, she stood by him and supported him. She was just too
soft-hearted. But the last straw came when she caught him locking
lips with a pretty, young thing. She didn't know if he had taken her
to bed, and she didn't care. Enough was enough.

Harlan had been unapologetic,
saying it was just a harmless fling. It might be harmless to him,
but it had hurt her deeply and shattered her fragile self-esteem.
She knew she wasn't young, nubile, svelte and vivacious. She was
past thirty, dumpy, bookish and she was more comfortable around books
than people.

Even after the end of that
short but disastrous marriage, Harlan continued hounding her for
money. It had gotten to the point where she had seriously considered
calling the police and getting a restraining order.

But in the end, she had
decided to just move the hell away from her ex. She didn't like
confrontations, and she did want to have a fresh start. A new place,
a new job, and hopefully a peaceful life.

When she went online to scour
for jobs, she saw that there was an opening for a librarian in a
small town called Shadow Point. Incidentally, there was an
advertisement for properties for sale in Shadow Point at the corner
of the page.

Looking through the
properties, she saw a small house that was going for a ridiculously
low price.

On that very same night, she
applied for the job and put in an offer for the little house.

She got both, the house and
the job.

She had come to a new town to
get away from her past and her mistake. She would not make the same
mistake again. She had to toughen up, smarten up.

Bella jumped when another
piece of plaster fell from the ceiling and landed next to her coffee
cup.

Without hesitation, she
snatched up the business card and her phone.

She shouldn't delay any
longer. She had to get all the repairs that her house so badly
needed underway before the entire structure caved in on her.

CHAPTER
TEN

Bella stared at the three
mobile phone numbers printed near the bottom of the business card.
Her hand shook slightly but she was determined to dial one of those
numbers. Another tile had fallen off while she was in the shower
last night. And she had almost lost her foot when she stepped out
onto the porch this morning and the wooden decking just gave way.

She had spoken to her next
door neighbor, Celia Lee, this morning and mentioned Beck's Builders
in passing. Celia was a sweet, elderly lady who lived alone, and she
had nothing but praise for Beck's Builders. They had remodeled her
kitchen and bedroom, and she was mighty pleased with their work.
“You should definitely call them. They're the best,” was
Celia's glowing recommendation.

So.

Bella glanced down and
decided to call the first number on the card. Taking a deep breath,
she gripped her phone tighter to make sure she didn't chicken out.
At the very last instant, she changed her mind and dialed the last
number.

Her mind whirled as she
listened to the ringing tone. Who would answer? Would it be Nick?
After all, it was Nick who had given her the card. He was a nice,
affable guy, and she would be less nervous talking to him, but she
was really kind of hoping…

There was a click and a
growled “Hello.”

Bella opened her mouth but
she seemed to have momentarily lost her voice. She knew very well
who was on the line with her.

And just hearing his voice
sent a strange, electrifying tingle down her body.

“J-Joshua...” she
stammered.

There was a pause. “Yes.
Hi, Bella.”

“Hi. I...”

“Hang on a minute.”
The sound of hammering, drilling and male voices faded in the
background. “Hey. Sorry, I'm going some place quiet where we
can talk—without the guys overhearing every single word,”
he huffed.

“They can hear every
word?” she spluttered.

“Every. Fucking.
Word.” Joshua cursed and said quickly, “Sorry for the
language. But yeah, most of the guys I work with are shifters. They
see and hear too much, but they talk even more.”

The background noise died
suddenly and it became completely silent over the line.

“Hello?” she said
uncertainly.

“I'm still here. I
just got into my car, so it's quiet now.” Joshua's voice
gentled, and his tone became almost tender. “You're not
working today?”

“No. It's my off day.
I...work in the library.”

“I know. Staci told
me. Jax and Serena are sleeping in today, and Marcus has given Jax
the whole week off, but I know Jax will come rushing down to the work
site tomorrow. He just can't relax when he knows we have a deadline
to beat,” Joshua said conversationally.

“You're close to your
brothers,” she murmured.

“Yes. We're tight.
You...have family?”

Bella swallowed. “No.
I'm divorced, and my parents have passed.”

“I'm sorry.”

Bella shook her head, then
realized he couldn't see her. Clearing her throat, she said, “Um,
well, I called you because I would like to request a price quote from
Beck's Builders. I was thinking...”

“I'll come by your
house later this afternoon,” Joshua said immediately. “

“That's great.
I...I'll see you later then.”

“Yeah,” he said
gruffly, but she could hear the smile in his voice.
“And...thanks—for calling...”
Me
.

“Beck's Builders.”

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

Joshua stopped his car in
front of Bella's house and snapped off his seat belt. Nick and
Damien were already out of the car and sprinting up the front steps
to her house.

Joshua slammed his car door
shut with more force than necessary. Nick and Damien had overheard
him telling Marcus that he was going down to take a look at Bella's
house this afternoon, and they had eagerly offered to accompany him.

When he said no, their
superior shifter hearing suddenly seemed to fail them. They
gleefully yanked his car doors open and jumped in just as he was
driving off.

“Shock and awe!”
Damien had pumped his fist in the air and hooted.

That earned him a slap upside
the head from Nick. “We're not going to shock and awe her.
We're here to charm and win her,” Nick said with a wink.

“Ooh, the charm
offensive.” Damien whistled. “Who can resist that?”

And so here they all were.
All prepared to charm the pants off Bella.

Joshua had to force his
raging bear down at the thought of any other male seeing Bella with
her pants off. His bear was a literal animal. And it was very tense
and touchy at the moment.

“Dingdong!”
Damien hollered as he banged on her front door. Apparently her
doorbell wasn't working.

Joshua saw Nick run a hand
quickly through his short, blond hair and straighten his shirt. Nick
was certainly on the charm offensive here. He'd said so himself. He
was here to charm and win.

Joshua realized he was
snarling just as the door opened.

“Oh, hi.”
Bella's eyes widened at the sight of the three of them crowding at
her front door. “I wasn't expecting so many of you...I thought
only...” Her gaze flitted to Joshua and she smiled.

It was a smile just for him.

But no one noticed that. Not
even Bella.

“The more the merrier,
right?” Damien gave a courtly bow. “Damien Ken at your
service, M'am!”

Bella smiled and threw the
door wide open. “Come on in. Thanks for coming out to...take
a look at my humble abode. It's more a shack than a house right
now.” She winced and sighed. “But I hope to make it a
home.”

Damien and Nick cheerfully
trooped into the house, and Joshua brought up the rear. Bella was
walking ahead of their ragtag group, showing them the small kitchen
and opening the room doors for them.

Joshua tore his eyes away
from her amazing, curvy body and passed a critical eye over every
corner of the house. He wanted her to have a safe, comfortable place
to live in. And as she said, this place did not look homely and
comfortable right now.

But more importantly, it
didn't look safe to him. Something might fall on her head as she
walked through the house, and her doors and windows could easily be
broken and busted wide open.

She was just a sitting target
for a home invasion, an armed robbery, a burglary in bright daylight.

Joshua's head was beginning
to pound at the dangers he saw lurking in very corner of her house.
If she got hurt…

His bear swiped furiously at
his chest.
Get her away now!

Joshua muttered a vicious
oath when he jiggled her bedroom door handle and it came off in his
hand. There was no time to lose. He needed to get to work on her
house right now.

“Bella,” he said,
cutting Nick off. Nick was babbling and rambling on about the
flooring and the paintwork. He was focusing on minute, ridiculous
details when there were more urgent matters at stake.

Joshua shook his head. There
were much more critical matters at hand right now. Her safety was
his priority. Coming in a close second was her comfort.

“Listen, Bella. I'll
get my toolbox from the car, and I'm fixing the locks on your doors
right now,” he said. “You...”

“Wait, she hasn't given
us the job,” Damien interjected. “Has she?” He
frowned, looking a little confused. “Did I miss something?”

“It doesn't matter if
she gives us the job or not,” Joshua bit out, heading for the
door. “I'm fixing her goddamn house right now.”

CHAPTER
TWELVE

Bella ran after Joshua as he
marched to his SUV and popped the trunk. “Joshua, wait! I
haven't asked...”

“If you're asking about
the price, I'm doing this free of charge. Why didn't you fix your
locks when you moved into the house?” His voice rose. “That's
the first thing you should do, Bella!”

She gasped as he rounded on
her. His dark eyes burned into hers, and the heat and force of his
boiling emotions slammed into her like a wave. He was angry, but
behind his anger, was...something more. Something deep and real.

Bella stumbled back a step.
“I was meaning to, but...this is a safe neighborhood...I latch
the door and put a chair up against it...” She kicked her chin
up abruptly and folded her arms across her chest. “Why am I
defending myself to you? This is none of your business. And I...”

“This is my business,”
Joshua snapped, pushing past her. “You—are my business.”

Nick and Damien gaped at him
as he set his big toolbox down beside the front door and knelt to
inspect the handle and the lock. The two men glanced at each other
and shrugged.

“Eh, Josh...”
Damien began. “I don't think we've gotten the homeowner's
consent to do anything...”

Joshua didn't even look up.
He had his screwdriver to the door and was busy tightening the shaky
handle.

“If she doesn't like
it, she can go call the Sheriff,” Joshua answered tersely.
“But even the Sheriff can't stop me from fixing her locks. I'm
getting it done, with or without her consent.”

Bella blinked. What! He
actually had the gall...!

“You...you have no
right...” she sputtered, her temper rising.

Joshua's only response was to
lift those broad shoulders in a shrug.

Nick and Damien frowned at
Joshua but they didn't stop him. “Are you two going to just
stand there?” Joshua murmured. “You know I'm right. Her
locks aren't working. She lives alone.”

Damien glanced at her and
gave a sheepish smile. Then he grabbed a hammer and some nuts and
bolts from Joshua's toolbox. “I'll do her back door,” he
muttered over his shoulder as he scooted off.