Read Bear Naked For Christmas (Bear Oak Novella) for Free Online

response.
    “How?”
    “Sorry, I didn’t mean to put my foot in it,” he said with a look of remorse.
    “How do you get to stay, and we don’t?” I said again, demanding he answer me.
    “It’s complicated,” was all he would offer up as a reply.
    Before I could question him any further, a knock sounded at the door.
    We all stopped what we were doing and stared in the direction that the sound came from.
    My mom frowned. “We’re not expecting anyone else, are we?” she said with a slightly nervous laugh.
    “I’ll go see who it is.” My dad pushed back his chair and went to the door as another, more persistent knock rang out.
    From where we were seated in the small dining room off the kitchen, we couldn’t see who was at the door. But we all sure could hear who it was.
    “Oh, we weren’t expecting you, Simon,” my dad said in greeting.
    “I need to see Katie,” I heard Simon demand.
    “Will he not take a bloody hint?” I said under my breath.
    Noah and I exchanged a silent look as I got to my feet. But I didn’t need his help, or at least I didn’t think I would, and so I shook my head when I saw that Noah was going to follow me.
    “Thanks, Dad, I’ll deal with this,” I said. My dad nodded as he passed. “Shout if you need me,” he whispered.
    Once my dad was out of the hallway I turned my attention to Simon. I’d been fooled into liking him, into liking the facade he’d created for everyone to see, but now, piece by piece, it was all starting to melt away. And now I could truly see who he was—a controlling piece of shit who would most likely stop at nothing to get his way. But he didn’t really know me either, or perhaps he hadn’t been paying attention. I wasn’t some pushover who was going to lie down and let him control me or fall for his pathetic attempts to win me back. No, those bridges were burnt to a crisp.
    “I thought I told you I never wanted to see you again. Why are you here?”
    “I wanted to give you another chance to reconsider,” he replied and motioned towards me. His fingers almost grazed my cheek, but I flinched away just in time.
    “Don’t you fucking touch me,” I hissed.
    “Don’t be like this, Katie. I know you want me. You can’t just give up on us. I won’t let you.”
    I raised my eyebrows. “That’s where you are wrong, Simon. You disgust me; the fact that you’ve come here makes me sick. I don’t know what I have to do to make you understand that, but I think I’ve been perfectly clear: I want you to leave and to never contact me again.”
    “You don’t know what you’re saying, Katie, my love.”
    I breathed in a lungful of air and counted to ten. Was he deaf? Or just stupid?
    “Everything OK?” A pleasant voice asked from behind me.
    Simon’s face turned pale when he saw the huge man approach. But he stood his ground. “Everything is fine. This doesn’t concern you. This is between my fiancée and me.”
    Sweet as can be, Noah turned on the charm. “How about we go outside and take a walk?” he said.
    “I don’t want to go—”
    “It wasn’t a request,” Noah said firmly.

Six
    I stood watching as Noah led Simon outside into the snow. It felt nice to have someone protect me like that, not that I really needed protecting, but nonetheless it was sweet.
    I followed them out and waited on the porch as Noah spoke to Simon, slowly easing him down the path towards his car. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, and every so often Simon would glance my way and smile a revolting grin. He looked like he knew something I didn’t, like he had an ace up his sleeve, and I couldn’t help but feel the same sense of dread wash over me as the day before.
    But I was too late. Too late to warn Noah.
    Simon dug into his pocket and pulled out a shiny, heavy object and pointed it at Noah.
    A scream caught in my throat, but I would’ve been too late to shout out my warning anyway.
    But it didn’t matter… Noah was quick, too.
    He roared at the