Read Bear The Burn (Firebear Brides 1) for Free Online Page A

high, which made the room airy and lovely. The sun was shining through the open curtains and she could hear birds singing.
    After a while of tossing and turning, attempting in vain to get Royce out of her head, she got up and dressed. Opting for a summer dress with big red posies on emerald green, which looked great against her skin, she hopped down the stairs barefooted. She was tying up her hair in a loose bun when she entered the kitchen and saw her flawless man cooking eggs and bacon and pancakes, all the while being completely shirtless.
    Perfect, her treacherous mind whispered.
    “Morning,” she quipped, scooting up to Royce and picking a crispy slice of bacon off the plate and taking a bite out of it.
    “Morning, gorgeous,” he greeted her, giving her a quick once-over.
    Tiana was happy to see that he apparently approved of what he saw. It made her feel giddy inside, and rationally speaking, that should have made her take a big step back. But there was something about that man that made her want to get closer to him, if he would let her, and so far it seemed to be going well. Half of her was sounding the sirens and telling her to run—like she always did—and the other half threatened that if she ran now, she’d never be able to stop. She wasn’t sure which part of herself she believed more.
    But only one of those options let her spend some time with Royce, so she was sort of partial to that one.
    “So what’s the plan today?” she asked, brushing aside the compliment, but storing it for later scrutiny.
    “I figured we could grab some breakfast and then I need to get back to my chores. Lots to do around here,” he said, shrugging nonchalantly.
    “Yeah? Can I help?”
    “You sure you want to get your hands dirty, honey?” he asked, and that Boston accent came on so thick that Tiana couldn’t help but laugh.
    She was used to cowboys starting to drawl all of a sudden when trying to get some sort of a point across, but it was so much more fun coming from a Bostonian. She had to wonder how he didn’t choke on that no-R lifestyle.
    “Yes, sir,” she quipped, giving him a lazy salute. “Show me a hammer and I will nail something down.”
    “Keep up that attitude and you’ll nail me down,” he laughed.
    “Isn’t that the whole point?” she queried, tossing him a playful grin.
    Great. Now you’re flirting. You’re getting yourself into five different kinds of trouble, missy, she told herself, but the smile was still perched on her lips.
    They ate quickly. The coffee he had made was dark as tar and exactly as it was supposed to be. After that, Tiana got dressed in a hurry and accompanied Royce out to the barn, where she’d caught him working the day before. He showed her what he had been toiling away with, trying to secure some of the roof beams on the old building, and she took to the work easily. Having lived and worked through at least three location changes with her bakery, she was pretty adept with manual labor and didn’t shy back an inch.
    The stress melted off of her with the work. Royce was a fun companion, not just to look at, but to talk to as well. He had an easy sort of humor about him, even if he tried to throw a jab here and there, and she usually fell right for them. But he wasn’t malicious and everything he fronted he could back up—a rare quality in a man, Tiana knew. When the afternoon finally rolled around, cutting through the suffocating heat of the morning, Tiana was finding herself well and truly smitten.
    He’d never even bothered to put on a shirt and he’d gotten no objections from Tiana for that. She liked watching his strong, chiseled body move and flex as they lugged up supplies and pulled up the thick beams on a rigged-up pulley system. Sweat drenched him and honestly, she’d never seen a man look quite as sexy. He was such a damn distraction that she kept mentally checking out, trying to work through her frustration with the power of imagination.
    “Hey, I think