A Fox Between the Bear's Sheets (4 page)

twin dark slashes of his eyebrows made for a striking combination. The scent of male bear filled her

nose, and she was surprised that her reaction to him was so immediate. He took hold of her upper arm,

and the next thing she knew the noise from the café vanished, her shirt was ripped open, and he had a

cold rag pressed to her chest. All of this seemed to happen in a matter of seconds, and it took her a

moment to realize what in the hell was going on. Relief was instant, but then realization that her shirt

no longer covered her, and that this strange, gorgeous man could no doubt see her breasts and fat rolls

had her pushing his hands away and taking several steps back and clenching the edges of her coffee

stained shirt together. She bumped into a stack of boxes, which of course had them crashing all around

her. Heat flooded her face, and she looked anywhere but at the gorgeous bear shifter that was just a

few feet from her. He had taken her into the café’s storage room apparently. The scent of coffee beans

was strong, but it didn’t take away from the fact that she made a complete ass out of herself in front of

this man.

He moved closer to her, but she held her hand up to stop him. “No, I’m okay, really.” She was

humiliated, and it felt like fire was licking across her face and chest. Although this stranger was being

so friendly to her, she just wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

“Are you sure you’re okay? It looks like you got burned pretty good.” She looked up at him,

and for just a second she forgot about the situation she was in and got lost in how rugged and

handsome he was. “I mean, fuck, I feel like a total asshole for not paying attention back there.” The

wilderness that came from him was stronger than any male shifter she had come in contact with. It

was untamed and powerful, and had something inside of her melting instantly. Her feelings were

unwarranted, bizarre, and made her feel off-balance. Here she was, standing in front of him and

checking out his bulging biceps, muscular abdomen, and overall prowess in the back of some damn

coffee shop. She was pathetic, and horny.
Dammit
.

He pointed to her chest, and she gripped the edges of her soaked, latte stained blouse together

tighter. Her face heated impossibly more, and she looked down at the ground. “It was totally my fault.

I should have watched where I was going. Listen, thanks again for … everything.”
Ugh, Talia.
She

made a move to walk past him, but he stepped in her way and blocked her path. Talia tilted her head

back and stared into his eyes, confused on what the hell he was doing. Damn, but he was a huge male,

one that actually made her feel small and feminine. For several long seconds he did nothing but stare

at her, this perplexed look on his face, like she was some kind of science experiment. No doubt he was

actually
seeing
her, what with her red hair that was probably frizzy as hell, and her crazy ass blue

eyes. This awkward kind of silence stretched between them, and she cleared her throat and shifted on

her feet. She wanted out of there, now, but stranger than this whole situation was the magnetism that

she felt toward this guy.

“Ford.”

Talia blinked a few times at his random word. “Excuse me?” Were they talking about

automobile companies now?

His lips twitched as if he was amused, and she swore her panties dropped just a little bit. “Ford.

My name is Ford Wylde.” Even his name was sexy. When she didn’t respond one of his eyebrows

cocked up. “And you are?” God, how long had she been standing here just staring at him?

“Uh.” She looked around almost hesitantly. “Talia Landon.” The way he watched her had her

heart jumping in her chest.

“Talia.” It was just her name, but holy damn the way he said it, all smooth and caressing like,

made her think of all kinds of filthy things she wanted to do with him.
Whoa, where in the hell are

these thoughts coming from?
But just as quickly as he said her name she watched as a mask slid over

his face, locking down his emotions.
Okay
. Something flickered behind his eyes, and the lust that was

reflected back at her couldn’t be construed as anything else. He dipped his gaze to her chest, and she

looked down. Her nipples were clearly outlined through the material, thanks to her latte seeping

through her white blouse and white bra.

Well, that would teach her to wear white after Labor Day. God, could this day get any shittier?

Mumbling something unintelligible, she thanked him once again and headed back out of the café and

didn’t look back, although she could feel his stare on her, and that just made her move quicker. Once

back at the boutique she realized she couldn’t go walking around in her current state and would need a

new shirt and bra. Not only that, Mina would most likely shit bricks on her appearance, not because

she cared how Talia looked, but because it would make her look bad associating with her.

Well to hell with her, and if Mina wanted to give her a snarky-ass comment, Talia would be

ready for it. She was already embarrassed and fuming after looking like a fool in front of the hotter

than life bear, and she was raring to let off some steam. To her relief and disappointment Mina didn’t

seem to be in the mood to cut her down, which meant Talia didn’t have the opportunity to give it back

to her. Mina gave her one thorough glance, pinched her nose in disgust, and shook her head.

“I’m not going to even ask.” She flicked her hand toward the dressing rooms. “I need you to try

on a few gowns. Hopefully they fit because they don’t make any bigger sizes for what I want you to

wear.”

Talia opened her mouth to say something in return, to tell the too-skinny human bitch to fuck

off, but the sales attendant was ushering the budding bride-to-be into a dressing room before Talia

could say one word.

“Miss, do you need something else to wear?” Another sales attendant, a little slip of a girl,

smiled up at her. She was a rabbit shifter, and most likely of the arctic variety given her almost white

blonde hair and eerie blue eyes.

Sighing heavily, Talia looked down at herself and nodded. She brought the edges of her shirt

more tightly against her body, which was a bad idea since it accentuated her drenched breasts. “Yeah,

that would be good.” The attendant smiled at her and led her toward the back of the shop.

“We have a few articles of clothing that have small defects and can’t be sold.” Talia stayed in

the doorway as the young woman went to a rack of clothes and started riffling through them. “You’re

about a size sixteen or eighteen, right?” She looked over her shoulder. There was no disgust or

accusation in the attendant’s expression that Talia was a larger girl. Talia nodded in response, and the

girl smiled and turned back to the clothing. She looked at them for another minute before picking out

a sky blue colored cardigan set. “This will match your eyes perfectly and make them pop.” Her grin

was broad, and Talia felt herself relaxing. How refreshing to actually have someone so friendly help

her with picking out clothes. “There is a small stitching error right here.” She pointed to the area in

reference, but Talia couldn’t see it. “Because of that we can’t sell these. You’re more than welcome to

them and can change in the bathroom. It’s right over there.” She pointed to a small door to the left.

“Great, thank you.” She took the cardigan set. “How much do I owe you?”

The girl waved off her question. “Nothing. Like I said, we can’t sell these and were just going

to donate them at the end of the week anyway. Besides, it looks like you need something now, and

there is no point in you spending an arm and a leg on a shirt here when I can just as easily help you

out.”

“Well, thank you again.” Talia gave her one more grateful smile. The attendant went back onto

the sales floor. Once Talia was dressed and back out where Mina was gazing at herself appreciatively

in the full-length mirror, she didn’t miss how the scowl directed her way from the bride-to-be.

“Why aren’t you trying on the dresses?” She turned around and placed her hands on her hips.

The wedding dress she had on was one of the many Mina’s family had specifically flown in from

Europe for her to try on. The dress itself was a gorgeous mermaid cut, but Mina made it look like

trash. Instead of responding with a smartass comment, Talia turned and headed into the dressing room

and stared at the gowns that she was to try on. They all looked the same: bland neutral colors, off the

shoulder straps, and knee-length hems. Talia didn’t want this wedding to happen, but she knew that

wasn’t a possibility, so having it over with as soon as possible was her next choice. After trying on the

first one, which was far too tight around her middle and showed off her rounded belly, she tossed it to

the side and slipped on the second one. It was a bit better, but now her oversized boobs were about to

pop out and flash some unsuspecting person. The last one was a gauzy material that she feared would

cling to all the parts she preferred were left hidden. Once it was on she was pleasantly surprised that it

was loose enough to hide her chunk, but sexy enough to accentuate her positive features. Turning

around in the mirror a few times, she knew this was the one she would pick. That was the only plus

side to this wedding: Mina letting the bridesmaids pick the style of dress they wanted to wear. They

may have all had to be the same color, but they had three different designs to choose from. Of course

she would still need the final approval from Her Majesty. Talia left the dressing room and stopped

when she saw Mina in a Cinderella type wedding gown. It was so puffy three full grown shifter males

could have hidden beneath it. Mina caught Talia’s reflection in the mirror and turned around. She eyed

her for several long seconds before fully speaking.

“Not bad, although I was pretty sure you’d pick that one since it is the least form-fitting.”

“Excuse me?” Talia’s blood boiled. Oh hell no. She’d had enough of Mina’s attitude. Talia

opened her mouth, ready to tell the bitch off, but Luke decided to come in at that moment. “Luke!”

Mina’s screeching voice had Talia’s ears ringing. “You aren’t supposed to see me in the wedding

dress before the wedding. It’s bad luck.”

Talia didn’t point out that Mina still had three other dresses to try on.

“Sorry, honey. I just wanted to let you know me and a bunch of the guys are going to a shifter

bar tonight.” Surprisingly Mina didn’t argue, although her focus was back on her reflection. She

turned to the left and then the right, smoothing her hands over the chiffon in the process. Just as Luke

turned to leave Talia rushed up to him and grabbed his arm.

“Mind if I tag along?” She needed out of this place and out of Mina’s company, or she was

going to strangle the bitch. Her brother looked shocked and then hesitant at her inquiry, but when he

glanced over his shoulder at Mina, heard her nasty remarks to her friends on how the fabric of the

dress didn’t fit her the way she wanted it to, she knew he would cave. It wasn’t like he didn’t know

how his future wife was; it was just the point that he actually stuck around with her despite all of it. It

may not be cool for his little sister tag along when it was clear he wanted to hang out with his friends,

but he wasn’t going to turn her down, not when she saw the sympathy on his face and she was laying

on the pouty lips extra thick.

“Really?” At her nod he smiled and then lifted his eyes to stare at Mina, which ultimately had

that smile fading. “She being that bad today, huh?”

Talia wanted to tell him Mina was bad every freaking day, but she pursed her lips and forced

herself to nod instead of spewing out what a cunt Mina was.

“I don’t know how much fun you’ll have hanging out with me and the guys, but if you really

want to come I’ll pick you up at eight. The guys want to head over to a popular shifter bar in town. I

think it’s called Something Shifty.”

Clever
. She snorted at the ridiculous name of the bar. “I’ll absolutely be ready by then. Thanks,

Luke.” He chucked her under the chin, went up to Mina and gave her a disgustingly passionate kiss,

and left the boutique. At least now she had something to look forward to, even if it was hanging out

with a group of loud, obnoxious shape-shifters. She could always get drunk enough that their obvious

and pathetic flirting with the females wouldn’t bother her. Her brother may be a renowned doctor in

California, but some of his friends were still stuck in the college party days. Besides, anything was

better than hanging out with Bridezilla.

Ford threw back his third shot and slammed the glass on the bar. It had been another day

busting his ass on the construction site. He had come into work earlier than everyone else, and stayed

later than most. Sweat had covered him, his hands had been bloody, and his body sorer than fuck, but