Wedding Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Enforcer Bears Book 3)
Read Wedding Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (Enforcer Bears Book 3) Online
Authors: Zoe Chant
Wedding Bear
Enforcer Bears #3
By Zoe Chant
Copyright Zoe Chant 2016
All Rights Reserved
Author’s Note
This book stands alone. However, it’s part of
Enforcer Bears
, a series about the bear shifters of Linden Creek. If you’d like to read the series in order, the first two books are
Bear Cop
and
Hunter Bear
.
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“T
his is going to be the worst day of my life.”
With increasing horror, Sidney Lewis flipped through the pictures of bridesmaid dresses for her cousin Cleo’s wedding that her sister had sent her. All of them were designed to flatter the bodies of the skinny models who wore them—or the figure of her own sister, who’d left the small town life of Linden Creek long ago for the glamorous life at the side of an investment banker in the big city.
Sidney grimaced when she realized that her sister Karen was of course going to bring him along for one of his rare visits. Their cousin Cleo was getting married to a gorgeous hunk of a man who seemed perfect in every regard. He was incredibly sexy, he treated Cleo as if she was a queen, and he’d single-handedly begun to fix up all the old vacation homes at the lake that Cleo had inherited.
And if that wasn’t enough to make Sidney feel terrible about her own status as a hopeless single, Cleo’s perfect fiancé had a brother who was just as perfect—and who was about to marry Sidney’s best friend Eve, who ran the famous Linden Creek bakery.
“A double wedding means twice the guilt-trip from Mom,” Sidney muttered and then put her phone away. She’d deal with her sister’s suggestions tomorrow. In any case, it wasn’t her sister’s job to pick dresses, even though Karen was one of those people only happy when she was in charge.
There’s no way Cleo will put me into a dress that makes me look like an oversized cream puff. It’s all going to work out. Somehow.
With a deep sigh, Sidney went for her secret guilty pleasure—the stash of wedding magazines hidden beneath her bed. With the double wedding coming up, at least she had an excuse now to buy them. As maid of honor, she’d volunteered to help her best friend and her cousin with most of the preparations. So technically, leafing through glossy pages with gorgeous dresses, happy people, and beautifully decorated banquet tables counted as research.
But the sad truth of her status as eternal single was that for many years now, Sidney would go and pick up one of the wedding magazines whenever she felt down. She’d look at wedding dresses made of satin, silk, and lace and read the stories about how gorgeous men proposed to women who looked like movie stars, and she’d imagine herself in their place.
Surely she couldn’t have bad luck with men forever? Surely one day, someone would look at her in a flowing white dress and treat her like she was a princess?
Outside, there was the sudden boom of thunder. Sidney flinched and put the magazine away.
There were only two weeks left until the wedding. It was the end of summer, and while so far, the weather had been gorgeous, she was getting more worried with every day that passed. Cleo and Eve wanted to take their vows outside—but what if it rained?
Sidney picked up her phone again.
Don’t worry, we’ll have bright sunshine in two weeks,
she texted.
A few seconds later, her phone beeped.
Stop worrying so much. Everything will be fine!
Cleo’s reply read.
Sidney groaned. “I wish
you
would worry more!” she muttered, and then stood, suddenly restless.
She couldn’t even say why she was so worried. She should be happy for Cleo and Eve. She was!
But there were also the texts from her sister and the frequent calls from her mother. The entire family would be there for the wedding.
“And everyone will see what a loser I am.”
It wasn’t that she was unhappy with her life. She loved her job as the small town’s librarian. But at the wedding, everyone would be able to compare her to her successful sister and the two gorgeous, happy brides, while Sidney didn’t even have a date for the wedding.
Another boom rattled the house.
The thunderstorm had to be right above her now. The patter of rain increased in volume. A sudden flash of lightning made her look towards the patio door.
Then she screamed.
There, racing straight towards her through her garden, was a giant, brown bear.
“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!”
With her hands shaking, Sidney tried to take hold of her phone.
“Come on, come on,
come on
!” she muttered, staring in despair at her trembling fingers that failed to hit 911. Another crash of thunder resounded, and in her panic, she dropped the phone. When she whipped around to stare at her door once more, the bear was gone.
Instead, there was a naked, unconscious man lying on her patio.
“Oh my God,” she said again, unable to close her mouth.
She kept staring. Everything had happened so quickly that it didn’t feel real.
“That’s it, I’ve snapped. It’s the whole wedding stress—I’m going insane!”
She looked down at her hands. They were still trembling.
She took a deep breath. Then, with sudden determination, she pinched herself.
“Ouch!” Damn, that had stung. With a grimace, she rubbed her arm.
Carefully, her heart still racing in her chest, she looked towards the door once more—and nearly jumped when she saw that the motionless body was still there.
“Not a dream then!” She had to bite back sudden, hysterical laughter.
Oh God, what if he’s dead? What if the bear was real, too? What if the bear killed him?
Very slowly, she tiptoed towards the door. The man didn’t move. The bear was nowhere to be seen.
The rain was slowing to a drizzle now, the thunderstorm moving away. The stranger had made it to where the roof of her patio protected him from the rain. Even though she could only see his back, she could tell that he was strong. He had broad shoulders and well-defined biceps. His back was all chiseled muscles, and his backside...
“Oh my God,” Sidney said again, then blushed and clasped her hand over her mouth.
Get a grip on yourself. This really isn’t the time to stare at a naked stranger’s butt!
She should probably call an ambulance. She’d never heard of anyone getting attacked by bears out here—but she supposed there was a first time for everything. What if he was one of the tourists who came to spend the summer hiking, and he’d somehow managed to run into the first bear who came through the woods of Linden Creek in decades?
I should at least check if he’s alive. Oh God, what if I have to do CPR?
Very carefully, keeping an eye on the garden in case the bear had hidden to wait for her, she opened the patio door. She kept one hand on the door as she stepped through with one foot. Biting her lip, she dared to nudge him with the tip of her foot.
For a moment, nothing happened. Her heart sank. How would she explain a dead stranger in her garden?
Then the man groaned softly. He didn’t move.
Emboldened, Sidney stepped out onto the patio. He was hurt. Had he fallen and hit his head when the bear pursued him?
You aren’t supposed to move people who’ve hurt their neck.
She remembered that much at least from her last first aid CPR/AED refresher course.
Earlier, she’d hung one of her sheets out here to dry because her dryer was still busy with the tablecloths her aunt had loaned them for the wedding. Now, she snatched it from the line and spread it over the stranger’s body.
“Okay. Just... stay here. Don’t move. Help is coming.” She grimaced when there was no answer and slowly backed inside.
Oh God, I am ridiculous. This is ridiculous. Why does this have to happen to me?
Frantically, she searched for her phone. Finally, she remembered that she had dropped it in her shock. It had skidded beneath her table. When she finally retrieved it, she saw that the back had come off and the battery had fallen out.
“I am cursed. There is no other explanation for this.”
She jammed the battery back into the phone, then shook it. Something rattled ominously. Wincing, she pressed the power button and waited. And waited.
The sudden sound of her doorbell made her jump.
Her first thought was that the bear had returned.
After a second, she giggled nervously. That was just silly. Bears definitely didn’t return to a house and politely rang the doorbell.
Still, her heartbeat was thundering in her ears as she crept towards her front door—and then relief flooded through her when the small spy hole revealed the imposing figure of her mother.
Without a second thought she ripped open the door. Before she could even get out a single word, her mother had already pushed past her.
“Mom! There is a bear—” Sidney breathlessly began, but her mother was already firing off sentence after sentence
“Sidney, dear, we’ve got no time for your stories! Your sister called me three times today. Did you phone your aunt to ask about her table linen? I haven’t seen you in a week, dear, why do you never visit when—”
“Mom! We had coffee two days ago,” Sidney managed to get in, her mind still reeling.
Had she imagined the bear and the man? Maybe she had.... Suddenly, with her mother here, it all seemed impossible.
“Did we?” Her mother frowned. “Oh, we did, with that handsome man your cousin Nicola is dating. She’s bringing him to the wedding, and your aunt has called me five times this week to hint that she expects an engagement to be announced any moment now, and—”
Sidney gritted her teeth, a bright, fake smile plastered on her face as she waited for the inevitable. Images of the bear racing towards her kept replaying in her mind. But why would there be a bear in Linden Creek? Nothing that had happened made sense.
And if I drag Mom to the patio and there’s no naked stranger there, she’s going to tell Karen and Auntie May and the butcher, and tomorrow the entire town will be laughing at me.
“We’re all just worried for you, honey; we’re your family and we love you and we just worry! So maybe Jesse wasn’t the right man for you, but to this day I don’t know what went wrong with Bobby, and when you dated Timothy we all thought you were perfect for each other, and you and Christian were such a cute couple. Did you hear that his parents built a new hotel in—”
“Mom!” Sidney could barely hold back a groan. All thoughts of the bear were momentarily forgotten when her mother began listing the greatest failures of her life. “That was in high school, Mom! Christian is gay!”
Her mother huffed. “Oh, there’s always something with you. You’re not getting any younger, darling. You think you can wait around for Mr. Perfect, but he won’t show up when you’re old and gray. I’ve spent my entire life taking care of you and your sisters; a few grandkids is the least I deserve. That’s really not so much to ask for! And what will I say to your aunts at the wedding when you don’t even have a date—”
At that moment, Sidney heard a sound behind her. Her mother had suddenly fallen silent and was now staring wide-eyed at a spot behind Sidney’s back, her mouth open.
Sidney felt her stomach drop as she slowly turned around.
There stood the stranger. She must have forgotten to close the door to the patio—and now he was standing in the middle of her living room, still naked except for the sheet he’d wrapped around himself, a vision of chiseled muscle and a certain kind of scruffiness that made Sidney’s knees go weak.
“Ah—hi,” he said and raised his hand to give them a sheepish wave.
“That’s—that’s my date,” Sidney said. She didn’t even know where the words had come from.
Her mother’s mouth shut with an audible click of teeth.
“For the wedding. Yes. He’s my wedding date,” Sidney kept babbling nervously. “Actually I’m really really busy right now, Mom. I got the tablecloths, and I’ve called Aunt May, and I swear I’ll call my sister as soon as I’ve got a free moment.”
She began moving forward, teeth clenched as she kept smiling brightly. “I’ll see you tomorrow. We’re going to look at dresses, you remember that, right? Have a good day, Mom! Thanks for dropping by! Love you! See you tomorrow!”
The door clicked shut before her mother had even managed to bring out a single word.
“Phew.” Sidney turned around and slumped against the door.
Then she saw that the stranger was still standing right there in her living room, completely naked apart from her sheet.