Table of Contents
Note from the Author
Story Description
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Enjoy A Free Sneak Peek…
Billionaire Bear’s Bride
Check out these other books by Candace Ayers…
Copyright © 2018 by Lovestruck Romance.
All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
This book is intended for adult readers only.
Any sexual activity portrayed in these pages occurs between consenting adults over the age of 18 who are not related by blood.
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Contents
Note from the Author
Story Description
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Enjoy A Free Sneak Peek…
Billionaire Bear’s Bride
Check out these other books by Candace Ayers…
Note from the Author
I am currently recruiting readers for my review team. If you would like to participate by volunteering to read advance copies of my latest books, and leaving an honest review on Amazon, please sign up for my email list here: https://www.instafreebie.com/free/Mpgjr. You will receive updates, notifications of new releases, and sometimes freebies. :)
~ Candace
Story Description
What happens when a matchmaker meets her match?
Chloe Carpenter is an account manager at a public relations firm and a natural matchmaker. She’s smart, funny and talented, but Mr. Right just hasn’t made an appearance. Not for her, anyway.
That doesn’t stop Chloe from playing mix and match with friends.
When Chloe sets up a weekend camping trip, her intention is to match up a coworker. But, while deep in the darkened forest, she comes face to face with a sexy-as-sin forest ranger who is the stuff of her own wildest fantasies.
Nathan Varga is a bear shifter and a highly successful CEO of a multi-billion-dollar Fortune 500 company. His raw masculinity tempered by power, strength and control is enough to command the fear and respect of any Ivy League business competitor.
Nathan always expected that he would one day meet his mate. He never expected that she’d be human. That complicates things. Not only does he have to figure out a way to explain his bear and reveal that he’s not really a forest ranger, but he also has to convince her that he is the match for her.
1
Jason’s lights flashed us from behind.
“I think he wants us to pull over,” Tim stated the obvious.
I turned my gaze to the left side window. Sure enough, a sign for a gas station emerged from the overgrowth of trees.
“Great, I could use a coke.” I was dangerously low on caffeine intake, and felt that the responsibility of keeping this camping trip upbeat rested mainly on my shoulders. If I was going to play matchmaker, then I needed fortification.
Both cars pulled into the parking lot and I hurried out of the backseat, instantly overcome by the ferocity of the afternoon heat. It was intense, practically suffocating, without a hint of a breeze.
Tim and Jake, the two guys up front, followed me out. Laker, one of my coworkers who’d been riding in the back with me, groaned as soon as his shoes hit the hot pavement.
“Chloe, you need to use the restroom. Don’t you?” Brianna approached me, her hands jammed on her hips. Behind her, Jason and the rest of his passengers were making their way inside the station.
“Sure… um… yeah,” I replied brightly, feigning innocence. I knew that Brianna was annoyed with me.
We walked to the restroom in silence. Once we were inside Brianna checked the stalls and then turned on me.
“What the hell’s going on?” She hissed, “Why am I riding in a car with complete strangers, while you ride with both Laker and Jake?”
“You know Jason!” I replied defensively.
“No, I met him a couple of times – but all those guys know each other, and its super awkward – not to mention that Janine is insanity personified.”
Janine was Tim’s ex-girlfriend, and admittedly, a total nightmare. She and Tim dated for years before he finally managed to break it off, but she still seemingly refused to let him go anywhere without her.
“Sorry ‘bout Janine,” I sighed, “I was really hoping that you and Jason would hit it off…”
My sentence spluttered into silence as Brianna narrowed her eyes in a vicious glare.
“Is this whole trip one of your match-making sessions?”
Busted.
“No! Not exactly – Bri, listen, I just think Jason is an awesome guy, and I also think that if you’d only talk to one another, you’d see the same.”
“Chloe!” She hid her face behind her hands in frustration.
“I’m sorry,” I was starting to feel a little bit guilty, “I really did think this trip would be fun. Work’s been so crazy, and we’ve hardly spent any real time together – I thought we could all do with some getting back to nature-type activity.”
Brianna rolled her eyes at me, and then turned toward the mirror over the sink to inspect her make-up.
“It will be fun,” she replied eventually, “It’s fine. But promise me you’ll ease up on the Jason thing, he’s really not my type and I don’t think he’s into me.”
I smiled at her reflection. I had won. I also had it on good authority, from the man himself, that Jason was interested in Brianna. He just had no idea what to do about it.
“So,” continued Brianna, putting the pieces together, “You suffered the torture of riding with stalker Tim so I could hook up with Jason?” She asked with a small, mischievous smile starting to spread across her face.
“Yes!” I exclaimed, realizing I could win back some friendship points. “I did. Though to be honest, he’s been cool.”
Brianna nodded, but didn’t remove her smirk. Tim had pretty much asked me out every month or so throughout college, and then for another three years after that – including while he was dating Janine. The first few times I declined politely, after that it had gotten offensive, and now I was left in a place where I point-blank ignored his come-ons.
“That’s true friendship,” she laughed, “Okay. You’re forgiven.”
“Can we leav
e now, so I can get a soda?”
“Sure, but those things will rot your teeth.”
I gave her a mega-watt smile showing off my perfectly white teeth to prove a point. She shrugged and muttered something about home whitening kits which I ignored. Soda was a necessity.
2
It’s creepy out here,” Janine whined, cozying up to Tim on the fallen log. We’d set up camp as soon as we arrived, finding a spot at the base of the mountain we’d all climb tomorrow.
The area was densely wooded, but we’d managed to find a small clearing where previous campers had artfully arranged fallen logs in a circle, around a burnt patch of soil. I thought we’d done really well on the set-up. The woods didn’t feel creepy at all; Janine was just using it as an excuse to get Tim’s attention. In a way, I was grateful.
Laker and Jake had collected dead branches and dried leaves to start a fire, and then argued for about a half-hour on the best way to arrange it. I lost my patience and built it myself.
Now our faces where lit by the flickering of red and orange flames, making us all look slightly sunburned as we sat and roasted marshmallows on the end of spindly twigs.
This was my favorite part of summer, the long evenings when it was still warm, the smell of wood burning and all of us speaking in low, muted tones so as not to disturb the creatures of the forest. I felt perfectly drowsy. We’d all had a couple of beers after dinner, and the alcohol combined with the hypnotic light of the fire sent me into a meditative state where time seemed to stand still.
I smiled over at the figures on the log opposite me. Brianna and Jason were finally talking, sitting slightly apart from everyone else. Bam.
As I watched, Brianna stood up and walked around the fire to where I was sitting.
“Hey. What are you doing?” I asked quietly, “You’re finally talking to him. Don’t stop now!”
Brianna sighed theatrically, “We’re just talking. I’ll go back later, but I need to pee. Help a girl out in her hour of need?”
“Oh.” This was the major drawback of outdoor pursuits as far as I was concerned. But I wasn’t about to let Brianna walk off into the forest by herself.
“Okay, fine. Let’s go. I’ve got a flashlight.”
I dug around in my backpack and fished out the equipment we needed: hygiene wipes, hand sanitizer, and a flashlight. Brianna was impressed, but not surprised. My hyper-efficient organizational skills fluctuated between being amusing and awe inspiring to the other employees at Barefoot PR, the public relations firm where we both worked. To me, being organized was a necessity and came as naturally as breathing.
“Are you sure you don’t have a porta-potty in there as well?” Brianna snickered.
“You laugh, but I really wish I did,” I sighed as we walked off into the darkness of the forest.
When we couldn’t see the camp lights anymore, I decreed that we’d gone far enough. We’d stayed side by side as the forest had become eerie with only a flashlight to guide us, casting shadows that shifted and moved as we walked.
“Okay, now I think I’m too spooked to pee,” Brianna hesitated as she glanced around the chosen spot.
“Don’t be silly. C’mon, Bri, the faster you do your thing, the faster we can be back at camp.” I reasoned. I held the flashlight by a tree and turned away to respect her privacy.
“Chloe… I hear something,” Brianna whispered quietly. I turned back. She was frozen in fear as she squinted into the depths of the dark forest.
I was about to tell her not to be so jumpy, when a low rumble seemed to shake the soil beneath us. I could hear bushes being thrashed aside and tree branches being snapped as if some great bulk of a thing was tumbling toward us.
“What the hell is that?” I whispered back, too frightened to move.
My legs felt like they were going to collapse beneath me at any moment. Instinctively, I wanted to shine the flashlight in the direction of the noise, but I refrained. If whatever it was happened to be passing, then I didn’t want to attract attention. I threaded my arm through Brianna’s and flicked the light off.
“What are you doing!”
I hardly heard Brianna’s hysterical plea. The noise was getting closer, as if it was heading straight toward us. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw the trees tremble ahead, and then shake violently.
A deafening roar, solitary and vicious, splintered the air. I ducked, shielding my face with my arm, as something flew out of the trees toward us. Whatever it was yelped on impact.
I was able to focus enough to see a massive heap of fur lying motionless at our feet, no more than a yard away. As I watched, the furry heap moaned pitifully and rolled onto its back.
Thick fur. A muzzle. Sharp claws… Grizzly. It was a huge grizzly bear. Its sheer size alone was terrifying. The fluffy fur, small ears and inquisitive eyes that I associated with a cuddlier version of the animal did nothing to quell my fear as I gazed at the eight hundred pounds or so of muscle and brute strength lying before us. As it moaned in pain, its jaw stretched to reveal a ferocious, blood-stained set of canines.
“It’s hurt,” murmured Brianna, “The poor thing.”
What?
“Brianna, don’t – please don’t – go near it. We need to back away, quietly. Come on.” I tried to keep my voice at a whisper, but anxiety turned it into a high-pitched, sonar-like shrill instead. The bear turned its head in our direction.
“We need to help it! I think it’s bleeding,” Brianna replied, completely ignoring me as she rose from her crouched position.
“Or it’s just caused something else to bleed,” I spat, “We need to go.”
She stepped toward it. It whined again, and tried to move off its back. Brianna paused. I could see her body, like mine, trembling in fear. But, she continued, regardless, edging her way toward it, cooing softly as though it was a newborn.
I refused to abandon her. As much as every part of my body was desperate to turn and run, I wasn’t about to leave my idiot friend with a creature that could snap her neck in a matter of seconds.
3
Excuse me ma’am, can you please step away from the animal.”
The man startled me almost as much as the bear had. I jumped, emitting a strange squeaking sound, and landed badly, twisting my ankle on a small rock.
I’d been so preoccupied with Brianna and the bear that I hadn’t heard him approach. He shone a flashlight in my face and I grimaced and covered my eyes, wondering why the hell I was the target of suspicion, and not the killer grizzly lying prostrate on the ground.
“Can you not do that?” I replied haughtily.
The man lowered his light, but didn’t apologize.
“Are you a forest ranger or something?” I asked, relieved to have some back up.
The man was silent for a moment before he replied, “Yeah, a forest ranger. You ladies both need to go back to wherever it was you came from. I’m guessing the camp that way?”
He waved his light in the direction we’d just come.
“Yes.”
“I think the bear’s badly hurt,” Brianna interjected, “What are you going to do? Do you have a truck or something? How are you going to help him?”
I looked around, but saw no sign of a vehicle. The man seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
“My truck is about a mile back. I’ll drive it up here and haul him on. Do it all the time.”
He sighed as if this was an annoying event that happened on a regular basis. How many fights did these bears get themselves into?
“Will the other one be back?” I asked with slight trepidation, “Do you think we should move camp?”
If the other bear was strong and vicious enough to be able to cause this beast harm, then there was no way I wanted to be intruding on its territory.
“Not tonight, no,” he muttered darkly, “You’ll be fine.”
I tried to get a better look at the ranger, but the lack of light made it difficult. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a m
ore than capable looking physique, but his face was almost fully cast in shadow. The only thing I could make out for sure was that he certainly didn’t dress like a forest ranger. I could definitely make out dark wash jeans, and a plain black t-shirt, but they looked clean and pressed, without a hint of forest debris or mud anywhere.
“You don’t look like a forest ranger,” I speculated out loud, “I thought you guys all had those camo uniforms?”
“It’s my night off,” he deadpanned.
The forest ranger clearly wasn’t a fan of ours. No doubt he saw it all the time, urban dwellers who came to the forests and open landscapes of the Rockies to let off steam and ‘get back to nature’ without knowing the basics, which I’m pretty sure included running the hell away from grizzly bears.
“Well, we’ll be on our way… Bri?”
She hadn’t taken her eyes off the bear, and barely seemed to hear my invitation to leave. I could tell just by looking at her that she was desperate to reach out and touch its fur.
“Not a fan then?” The forest ranger asked.
“Huh?”
“Of bears. I take it you’re not a fan.” He clarified, and I was sure I could detect the hint of a smirk on his face.
“They’re awe inspiring,” I replied truthfully, “But that doesn’t mean I want to get close enough to get my head chewed off.”
“Very sensible.”
I could definitely detect a hint of amusement lacing his tone, and it ticked me off. Brianna was the maniac here, not me. I would have expected a park ranger to applaud my good sense in keeping a safe distance. But then again, I already had the impression that this guy was probably the maverick of his ranger unit.
Nathan: Billionaire Bear (Shifters of Denver Book 1) Page 1
