Her Chef Bear

by Alice Summerfield

  HER CHEF BEAR

  Lone Dragons (Book 3)

  By ALICE SUMMERFIELD

  Her Chef Bear

  Copyright © 2018 by Alice Summerfield

  Her Chef Bear

  Copyright 2018, Alice Summerfield

  First electronic publication: August 2018

  Published in the United States of America.

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded, or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s permission.

  License Statement

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Note from the Author

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.

  Cover Design by Melody Simmons

  (https://bookcoverscre8tive.com)

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  Summary

  Frederica Hale believes in justice and affordable higher education for all, and she’s willing to put her time and energy where her mouth is. Since joining the project two years ago, it’s been her dream to see the state’s newest university complex break ground. But falling in love with Scott Behr upends her neatly ordered priorities. Now she has to decide which is more important: her dream or the chance at a future with her soul mate?

  Were-bear, military veteran, and now chef, Scott Behr lives a quiet life. Enter Frederica Hale. She may be the lawyer tasked by the state to see a university complex built on his bit of wilderness, but she’s also his soul mate. Can Scott win the woman, the woods, and their happily ever after? And will Frederica let him?

  A passionate paranormal romance between a principled lawyer and the obstinate were-bear that would move mountains to be with her, Her Chef Bear is #3 in the Lone Dragons Series. Every book in the series is a complete and standalone novel with a guaranteed happy ending, and they can be read in any order.

  If you like paranormal romance with a touch of stubbornness, don’t miss this exciting read! Scroll up and one click today!

  Table of Contents

  Books in this Series

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  Chapter 01 – Frederica

  Chapter 02 – Scott

  Chapter 03 – Frederica

  Chapter 04 – Frederica

  Chapter 05 – Scott

  Chapter 06 – Frederica

  Chapter 07 – Scott

  Chapter 08 – Frederica

  Chapter 09 – Scott

  Chapter 10 – Frederica

  Chapter 11 – Scott

  Chapter 12 – Frederica

  Chapter 13 – Scott

  Chapter 14 – Frederica

  Chapter 15 – Scott

  Chapter 16 – Scott

  Chapter 17 – Frederica

  Chapter 18 – Scott

  Chapter 19 – Frederica

  Other Books in the Lone Dragons Series

  Similar Books by Alice Summerfield

  Chapter 01 – Frederica

  On Tuesday, Frederica woke to a crashing thunderstorm, tropical storm force winds, and the certain knowledge that this sudden and unseasonable weather was her fault. Somehow, she had called the storm in her sleep.

  Ellis, she thought wryly, will be so jealous.

  Frederica’s sister, Ellis, prided herself on being the charmingly wild one. Frederica was the one that was supposed to be staid and sensible.

  Frederica was about three heartbeats from staidly, sensibly shaking off her human form and going flying in the storm.

  Lightning flashed, momentarily lighting up her bedroom, and on its heels, thunder crashed, rattling Frederica’s alarm clock on its bedside table. It was so near that it nearly rattled Frederica out of her human flesh.

  And why shouldn’t I go flying? Frederica wondered, feeling rebellious. Storm dragons are made for storms!

  Feeling rebellious was hardly a new feeling for her – Frederica had felt rebellious about something or other most of her life – but Frederica usually didn’t feel rebellious about going to work. She loved her work, and she was good at it. Frederica was one of the lucky few who got to go to work every day. Rarely did she feel like she had to go do her job.

  But that morning, Frederica absolutely, positively did not want to go to work or anywhere else in her human form. Just the thought of cramming herself into her apartment’s small shower and letting warm water sluice over her human skin before she stuffed herself into a work suit made Frederica want to claw the stuffing out of her bed.

  Fortunately, Frederica had some self-control.

  Shaking off her human shape to go flying – being drenched by bone-chillingly cold rain as she twisted through the broad expanse of the storm – seemed like a much better use of her time. Just thinking about it sent a frisson of excitement through Frederica. She shivered, her skin coming up in gooseflesh. Frederica loved flying.

  Rising, Frederica made herself a cup of tea to soothe her nerves. But the tea didn’t soothe her. Rather, it reminded her that she was ravenously hungry.

  Frederica wolfed down two pieces of toast, a Greek yogurt, a handful of lunch meat wrapped in a slice of cheese, and a breakfast bar as she waited to be able to call in sick to work. When she finally did make it through the phone tree, Frederica not only took off Tuesday, but also Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday on a whim.

  The automated system recorded her absences without missing a beat and wished her a cheery, “Have a nice day!” Frederica was still staring at the opposite wall, stunned with herself, when the computer briskly hung up on her.

  Frederica kept staring at that wall. She was so surprised that even her pulsing need to leap out of the nearest widow and fly up to join the storm had momentarily subsided.

  What on earth possessed me to say that? Frederica wondered. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday? Plus the weekend! How am I going to fill all those empty days?

  Frederica never took time off. The last time that she had looked, Frederica had possessed nearly six months of banked days off, all of them paid. And there she was, frittering away four of them on a whim.

  Fredrica didn’t even believe in whims! She was a planner! She never did things just because! And yet, she had just taken four days off of work… just because she had felt like it.

  I must be out of my mind, concluded Frederica. It was not exactly a comforting thought.

  Frederica was still trying to figure out what she had been thinking, when her cell phone began to ring. Glancing at its screen, Federica discovered that it was the office, the one that she worked in, calling her. Taking a deep breath, Frederica pushed away her surprise, steadied her nerves, and answered it, saying almost tentatively, “Hello?”

  “Freddie! I’m so glad that I caught you!
The system just sent me an e-mail notification saying that you took the day off! Are you okay?”

  At Marshall’s concern, Frederica smiled.

  “I was just going to call you,” said Frederica. “Here’s what’s going on.”

  When she finished apprising her office’s shared receptionist of the situation, Frederica said, “I think I’ll use the days to go up to Mermaid County early and get the lay of the land, so to speak.”

  The state was building a new university complex in Mermaid County. Many of the locals were incredibly excited about the money and new opportunities that would bring to the community. A few were dead set against both the project and developing any of the land out there, although no one in her office knew why, and they wouldn’t say.

  Originally, Frederica and her boss had meant to drive down to Mermaid County on Friday night so that they could attend a community meeting on Saturday, answer any questions put to them by both sides, and maybe feel out the reasons for the staunch grassroots resistance to the new university complex.

  In the present, Marshall said, “You aren’t due in court any time this week or next week.”

  Through the phone line, Frederica could hear him flipping through the pages of the book in which he kept all their work obligations. Their office kept a shared electronic calendar, but Marshall insisted on keeping a hard copy too.

  “Do you want me to ask for an extension on anything for you?” inquired Marshall after a moment.

  “No, I think I’m where I need to be on all my projects,” said Frederica after a moment’s thought.

  “Then enjoy your days off,” said Marshall cheerfully. “And remember: you have that community meeting in Mermaid County on Saturday night. It runs from six to ten p.m. in the community center.”

  “Got it,” said Frederica. “Thanks.”

  “Enjoy your time off! Make sure to do something fun!” said Marshall cheerfully, before they said their goodbyes and hung up.

  That done, Frederica went to the French doors.

  Frederica’s apartment was small and not entirely to her tastes, but it was near her office, the new courthouse, and a variety of restaurants that all did take-out. It also had a balcony. As a storm dragon, Frederica could appreciate a good balcony or even a small, cramped one like the one that was actually attached to her apartment.

  Opening the French doors, Frederica sucked in a deep breath, drawing her storm into her lungs. It was magnificent!

  She stepped outside, the cement that floored her balcony rough and cold beneath her feet. In a matter of minutes, the rain had soaked through her t-shirt, sticking it to her like a second skin. Frederica only just remembered to close the French doors behind herself.

  Frederica’s tiny balcony was encircled by a flimsy privacy wall. She would have been in trouble had anyone actually leaned against it, but it was perfect at hiding her from prying eyes. Not that there was anyone loitering outside at the moment anyway. Because of her storm, it was too dark, too wet, and all together to stormy for anyone but a storm dragon to be hanging out on their balcony for purposes of prying or anything else.

  Frederica jumped, throwing herself up into the heart of the storm. Shreds of cheap fabric rained down past Freederica’s clawed hands and lightning crackled, striking her. It flashed through her, making her blood and flesh and bones hum pleasantly.

  This was where she belonged.

  Frederica flew for hours, dancing among storm clouds and between the jagged forks of lightning until she was hungry enough to eat an entire cow, but her sense of restlessness didn’t leave her. Eventually, she had to bow to necessity.

  The sky was still dark with clouds and the day dark with rain, when Frederica reluctantly returned to her balcony and her human form. Quickly she went inside, ruthlessly crushing down her desire to stand outside in the rain… or to return to the sky.

  One inside, Frederica pulled on her robe and belted it. Ignoring the way that its silky fabric stuck to her skin, she began to pack. Clothes, toiletries, and her most necessary electronics all found their way into her waterproof luggage. As she packed, Frederica made some plans. She wasn’t the sort of person who winged things. She always had a plan in place.

  Except when I took the rest of the week off, thought Frederica, as she dragged her luggage over to wait for her next to her balcony’s doors.

  Frederica made some calls, mostly to Mermaid County, although one is to have a meal delivered. She was starving.

  When she was finished eating, Frederica took herself and her luggage out onto the balcony. This time, she was careful to lock her balcony doors, sticking the key in a magnetic lockbox shaped like a key.

  Launching herself into the air again, Frederica circled the apartment building twice, snagging her luggage with her claws before she began winging her way south towards Mermaid County.

  Frederica was a dragoness with a plan, and she wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way of it.

  By car, Florida’s capitol, Tallahassee, was roughly five or six hours away from Mermaid County. As the dragon flies, it was a much shorter distance. And the entire way, Frederica pulled her monstrous storm behind her. She couldn’t help it! Apparently, she was just in a stormy mood.

  All dragons, no matter their wealth or standing, paid a tithe to the local council for the upkeep of certain facilities, among them landing facilities. The one in Mermaid County was quiet and out of the way. It resembled nothing so much as a seemingly defunct airport, the various runways and landing pads making excellent landing strips and locations for dragons of varying size, elemental affinities, and ability levels. There was even a large lake on one edge of the old airport, presumably connected to some other body of water through means unknown to Frederica, for those dragons that swam instead of flying or traveling underground.

  Circling the airport twice, as was only polite, Frederica landed on the strip assigned to her earlier and changed shape, returning to her human form. As soon as she did, an airport employee came hustling up to her bearing a shiny square of fabric and a smile.

  “Welcome to Eugenia Drogoman Airport!” chirped the attendant, seemingly cheerful despite the weather. She obviously had a water affinity of some sort. “You must be Frederica Hale!”

  “I am.”

  “Please allow me to give you a few complimentary items that will help make you comfortable during your time here at our facilities!”

  In short order, the attendant had draped a thermal blanket over Frederica’s shoulders, looped a RIFIT tag bracelet around one of her wrists, and helped Frederica to shove her feet into a pair of cheap foam flip-flops. She even helped Frederica lugged her bag inside the terminal.

  Inside, the terminal was clean and modern with large windows and not a single wad of gum stuck to anything. The floors were so clean that they shone. Here and there, Frederica could see other dragons in their human forms, as well as some were-animals and what looked to be a pod of mermaids, being escorted around the facilities by attendants of their own.

  Frederica headed straight for the ladies’ changing room, emerging half an hour later freshly washed, dressed, and primped. Her low heels clicking against the waxed floors, Frederica went in search of the car rental desks, a large coffee, and an even larger umbrella, in that order. Maybe a coffee would soothe her jangling nerves.

  It didn’t, but it was warm and familiar and paired well with a stale sandwich from a vendor. A suitable umbrella was harder to find.

  As a storm dragon, Frederica didn’t really need to keep dry, but wet clothes were irksome, and unwanted questions were even more annoying. So, she bought a screamingly red umbrella to join her growing collection of slightly used umbrellas.

  Not for the first time, Frederica wondered if slightly used umbrellas could be given as gifts or donated to a worthy charity. In fact, she was still musing on that when the rental agent declared her car ready.

  The very last thing that Frederica did before she left the airport was to settle up with the Airport Author
ity. It was always better to get that taken care of sooner rather than later.

  Using the directions given by an app on her cell phone, Frederica drove to the hotel, hoping that they could squeeze her in a few days early. If not, Frederica supposed that she could find somewhere else to stay for the time being. After all, Central Florida was riddled with hotels, motels, and bad ideas. Surely, there was an as yet unclaimed room somewhere in it.

  Despite her confidence and generally promising start, it was very late at night by the time that Frederica managed to pull into the parking lot of her hotel. There had been two false starts, dinner, and a rather long detour along the way.

  People should give their hotels entirely distinct names with absolutely no overlap, thought Frederica grumpily as she parked her rental car, especially when said hotels are all within a short distance of each other.

  Tired, but still feeling restlessness, Frederica trudged into the hotel.

  It was the middle of the week and the off season besides, so the hotel was happy to take her a few days earlier than anticipated. In a matter of minutes, Frederica and her luggage were ensconced in one of their rooms overlooking the swimming pool. Given the weather, there wasn’t much to overlook at the moment.

  Grabbing her jaunty new umbrella, Frederica went to see what she could see… and maybe what she could eat. Flying burned a lot of calories, and she was hungry again.

  Downstairs, Frederica discovered that her hotel had a restaurant in its lobby, but it didn’t look very promising. And in Frederica’s experience, hotel food was rarely as good as it was advertised to be. Besides, it was only storming.

  Her umbrella propped at a jaunty angle on her shoulder, Frederica went to see what she could scare up for dinner.

  Chapter 02 – Scott

  Scott was having a terrible day.

  He had woken up late and had to run out the door only mostly dressed and entirely unshaven with a protein bar clutched in one hand and his shoes in the other. Scott had nearly dropped his shoes though when he saw his car – or rather, what was left of its new paint job.