Read The Billionbear's Bride: BBW Bear Shifter BWWM Paranormal Romance for Free Online Page B

"Well, I think I kind of already have it. Jana's health taken care of," she explained.
    "Not what you need," clarified Bruce. "What you want, that you don't have."
    Violet thought of her fantasy—the handsome man riding in to save her. She couldn't say that . What else did she want? An image of the sad sage plant in her apartment came to mind.
    "A garden," she said definitively. "I've always wanted to live somewhere I could have my own garden." He hummed thoughtfully. "I've lived in apartments my whole life," she added. "A little bit of land to all my own—I'd like that."
    It sounded silly when she said it like that, but he nodded understandingly. "I know what you mean. There's nothing like having a little breathing room. That's why I like this place. The city can be so …"
    "I know exactly what you mean," she said when he trailed off in search of the right word. Like they had a mind of her own, her fingers brushed the back of his hand. Their gazes locked.
    They were interrupted by the arrival of their food. Startled by her own forwardness, Violet jerked her hand away and slipped it back into her lap.
    "You have to try this," he said, cutting off the first piece of his steak when the server had left. Then he paused, eyeing her salad. "Unless you're a vegetarian?"
    Violet laughed. "No, I eat meat."
    "This is wagyu steak," he said. He held up his fork; he intended her to take a bite from it. Leaning toward him, she closed her lips around the single bite, aware of his eyes on her the whole time. She was aware of how intimate a gesture it was—weird to say when you'd just married someone, but maybe that just made it more so.
    The meat was decadently rich and silky, like nothing she'd ever tasted.
    "I’ve never had a steak like that. What was that … wagyu?" She didn't think she was pronouncing it right.
    "Cattle from up in the mountains of Japan," he explained. "They have a lot more fat than our American cows marbled through the meat, which makes it more tender and juicy. This is true wagyu, not that hybrid stuff. There's nothing like it. Doesn't need a sauce or anything."
    "I have limited culinary experience, but I have to agree." But one thing niggled at her. In a hushed voice, she asked, "How much did that cost?"
    Bruce winked at her and cut a bite off for himself. "I never buy wagyu and tell."
    "I'm going to assume I just ate a fifty-dollar slice of steak," she decided.
    "Care to make it a hundred?" He held out another bite for her, cupping his hand under the fork. It brushed her chin when she took another bite. She giggled at the slight awkwardness and closeness of the gesture.
    Of course, she had to share, too, although she doubted her salad was made of hundred-dollar lettuce. His eyes darkened when she leaned over to feed him—she ducked her head under the intensity of his gaze. Even though she'd only had one glass, the wine must have gone to her head.
    Bruce was a perfect gentleman for the rest of the evening, and she floated back to the hotel room—back to the honeymoon suite—as if she were on a cloud.
    Bruce unlocked the door to their suite and propped it open, blocking Violet's way in.
    "I think we should do this the traditional way," he said with a twinkle in his eye.
    Violet stared at the doorway, then back at Bruce, biting her lip. "You sure that's a good idea?" She hoped she sounded discouraging.
    Not enough, apparently. "A little lady like you?" he said, and there was that Elvis voice again. "Light as a feather, I bet."
    He was a big guy: well over six feet, broad shoulders, muscles all over. And he wasn't an idiot. Violet looped her arms around his neck and said quietly, "If this goes wrong, big guy, it's all on you."
    He didn't dignify that with a response: instead, he swooped Violet up in his arms as if she weighed nothing at all. She couldn't quite hold in the shriek that came out, or the laughter that followed (part relief, but mostly joy).
    He carried her over the threshold, kicking the door closed