by Anna Lowe
Sneak Peek II
Deception: Chapter 1
Summer hummed to the tune on the radio as she arranged the window display in the Quarter Moon Café. Little snowmen, miniature trees, and a tiny sled. She sprayed on more fake snow and looked up at the dusting of the real stuff that had fallen on the highest ridges around town overnight. She’d been in Arizona for over a few weeks now, and the place never ceased to amaze her. The contrasts, the harsh beauty of it all. She loved the red rock outcrops, the rich green pines, and the pure white of the snow. It was so different from home, and yet she’d never felt more at home in her life. It was as if her heart had found a niche of exactly the right size and shape and wanted to settle in forever.
Which was a dangerously appealing thought, because she couldn’t stay long. The shifters who ran the café and the neighboring saloon had been kind enough to let her stay this long, but she knew she couldn’t stay. Not after what she’d done. But where would she go next? Her home pack?
Her inner wolf snorted. Never going there again.
Where, then?
She had nowhere to turn. Her former home was a place she never wanted to return to, just like she never wanted to go back to being the person she’d once been. So naive. So gullible. She was only twenty-five, but she felt a hundred years older and about a thousand wiser than she’d been just a few months ago.
So many mistakes. So many ugly memories. So many regrets.
She tipped her chin up and tried letting the sunshine cheer her up. She’d found a safe new place and a great group of people to live among, at least for the time being. That’s what counted most, right?
She stepped outside the café to check the display from the street side, then went back in to adjust the reindeer pulling the sled.
“Perfect,” she murmured, wishing she could arrange her life the way she arranged that display.
Well, it was almost perfect. Straw stars were the last part — straw stars just like the ones her grandmother used to decorate the Christmas tree with. That was one of the only memories she had of home that wasn’t tainted by more recent events.
She sat down at a table by the window to make the stars, all the while inhaling the scent of breakfast. Jessica, her boss, was in the kitchen baking another batch of muffins, and the aroma of berries, vanilla, and cinnamon wafted through the room.
The bell over the door chimed merrily, and she looked up as four big men filed in. As always, her heart skipped a beat in anticipation. Would Drew be among them?
“Morning, Summer.” Luke, a wrangler from Seymour ranch, tipped his cowboy hat.
“Having a good winter, Summer?” That was Mack, the jokester of the group.
“Hi, sweetheart. Got some of that coffee today?” Sam asked.
She greeted each with a genuine smile because they were all great guys. But when a fourth man crowded the doorway, her smile stretched cheek to cheek. Her whole face heated and flushed, and a roar like waves breaking over distant rocks registered in her ears.
Drew. Drew. Drew! her inner wolf cheered.
The other three men had come striding in like they belonged in the place, but Drew paused in the doorway. He did that every time, wiping his boots in a practiced right-left, right-left slide that said he’d been raised to do that at home. Then he pulled off his hat and stepped over the threshold.
Such a polite bear, her grandmother would have sighed.
He rubbed a thickly muscled shoulder against the doorframe as he went in a territory-marking move that would have been a blatant challenge to the bears that owned the place if they weren’t his cousins. And the way he did it screamed, This place might not be mine, but it’s mine to protect. Keep out, strangers. Don’t even think about bringing trouble here.
“Morning, Summer,” he rumbled, locking eyes with her. His eyes were a pale, gold-hued green, and they sparked with wonder when they took her in.
“Morning, Drew,” she said, trying not to squeak.
It was ridiculous, how a perfectly normal exchange of greetings could set off a dozen wild fantasies. Like hearing those words while naked and sleepy in bed. Like replying and winding her leg around his as they lay skin to skin.
Morning, Summer, he’d say as she woke up, like it was the best morning ever because she was at his side.
Or maybe he’d just wake her with a quiet kiss and a touch — one that led to more touching and kissing and a long, unhurried session of making love.
Morning, Summer, he’d say when they dropped back onto the sheets, sweaty and satisfied. She’d rest her head on his chest — a chest so broad and so piled with muscle, she had dozens of options for exactly what subsection to try out — and run her hand down his thick, corded arms.
Summer cleared her throat and blinked. It was ridiculous, the way her body reacted to him. The way her mind fluttered and took wing like a hysterical butterfly set loose in a meadow blooming with wildflowers.
Get yourself together, girl, she ordered herself.
But her inner wolf remained all dreamy, batting its eyes and wagging its tail.
A crush. It had to be a crush, right? And seriously, what woman wouldn’t have a crush on a man like Drew? He was big, broad, and quiet. Honorable, too, like all bear shifters were. His beard was thick, dark, and neatly trimmed, and she longed to tip forward and nuzzle it with her chin.
When he stepped closer, his eyes went a little hazy, too, as if he was thinking the same thing. The whole world started to fade away. All of it — the rumble of truck tires on the street, the quiet clink of silverware in the café, the murmurs of the other men. All of it receded to the far corner of her mind like a vague memory, and all she could see was Drew. All she could hear was the sharp intake of his breath as he looked at her, and all she could register was the rich, woodsy scent of him. She focused on his lips — thick, round lips that somehow fit perfectly on that edgy, masculine face, and she leaned forward even more. Their arms brushed, making blood rush through her veins.
Mate, her wolf murmured. My destined mate.
Mate, she swore she heard him think. My destined mate.
But in the far corner of her mind, a warning bell rang. He’s not yours, and he never will be.
* * *
That’s just the beginning of another amazing romance featuring your favorite bear and wolf shifters! Click here to get the full story – Deception: Blue Moon Saloon, Book 5.
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Other books by Anna Lowe
Blue Moon Saloon
Perfection (a short story prequel to the series)
Damnation (Book 1)
Temptation (Book 2)
Redemption (Book 3)
Salvation (Book 4)
Deception (Book 5)
The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch
Desert Hunt (the Prequel)
Desert Moon (Book 1)
Desert Wolf: Complete Collection (Four short stories)
Desert Blood (Book 2)
Desert Fate (Book 3)
Desert Heart (Book 4)
Desert Yule (a short story)
Desert Rose (Book 5)
Desert Roots (Book 6)
Charmed in Vegas / Shifters in Vegas
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Gambling on Her Dragon
Gambling on Her Bear
Serendipity Adventure Romance
Off the Charts
Uncharted
Entangled
Windswept
Adrift
Travel Romance
Veiled Fantasies
Island Fantasies
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This is as HOT as her shifter series. For those who want spicy without paranormal, this is a perfect start. I can’t wait to read more about these characters.
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