Between the Bear's Sheets (Wylde Brothers 2)

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 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 who 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 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 there 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, 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 at 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.