Bear in a Billion: EXPOSED (#1) Read Online Free Page B
Author: Zola Bird
Tags: Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal, shapeshifters, BWWM Paranormal BBW Bear Shifter Romance
heart did a little pitter patter. She recognized that voice. Ethan. He was sitting with some other people in front of an ancient VW van.
“Hey, Ethan,” Haley said.
“I swear, I wasn’t listening to your conversation. I only heard the milk and honey part,” Ethan said. “We’ve got a couple of extra chairs here. You guys want to join us?”
Yes, Haley thought, we want to join you. Of course we want to join you. Every fiber of her being thrilled at the notion. There was the shifter research, but she could do that in the morning. Just the thought of spending more time with Ethan caused her nerves to shoot bursts of excitement through her body, flushing her cheeks and bringing her loins to life. She smiled tightly, pressing her thighs together in an effort to keep the embarrassing heat she felt between her legs in check.
“Um?” Laila said.
“Sure,” Katie said.
Ethan motioned to the empty chairs.
“Take a seat.” He opened a cooler. “I’ve got Sun Rock beer or Sun Rock beer. What’s your pleasure?”
“Sun Rock?” Haley said, more than pleased with the direction the evening was taking.
“Sun Rock it is.”
**********************
They sat around the fire and chatted, and Haley felt a real warmth, not just from the fire, and not just from Ethan, but from the community. The protesters stopped by between their various campsites, and it felt like a big family. Even Laila seemed to calm down and enjoy herself. It turned out that Ethan had been living in his van on the beach since the protest had started. He was originally from the San Francisco Bay area but came here years ago to surf, and he fell in love with the place. He’d been surfing the break at Coop Cove ever since.
“So you’re a reporter?” Ethan said.
“Unemployed reporter,” Haley corrected him.
“Freelance reporter,” Ethan said. “And you said Katie helps people with their modems, and Laila’s a virtual assistant?”
“Basically,” Haley said. “And I think I like being freelance better than being unemployed. Thanks for that.”
“Not a problem. Though they pay about the same.”
“No kidding,” Katie laughed.
“So what do you do, Ethan?” Laila asked.
“I surf.”
“And what else do you do?”
“I surf some more.”
“And then?”
“Then I try to stand up to the people who are trying to bring their industry here. I’m a cameraman, so if I can get some footage and get it to the appropriate news outlets, we might get some traction.”
“Does that pay enough?” Laila asked. “The cameraman thing?”
Oh, boy. There she went. Always the practical one, Haley thought.
Ethan laughed. “Sometimes I get some work locally. Enough to get by.”
“Speaking of getting by,” Laila said. “We should get going.”
“Wait, don’t you want to see the grunion?”
“What are grunion?” Laila asked.
“You’ll see,” Ethan said cryptically.
“Sounds intriguing, but we’ve all got an early day tomorrow,” Laila said.
“Not that early,” Haley said pointedly. She knew she had said that she only wanted to go for a quick stroll, but that had all changed the moment they had run into Ethan. She hoped Laila didn’t blow it.
“Here’s an idea,” Katie said, shooting Haley a quick wink. “Why don’t you two go see the grunion, and Laila and I will head back.”
Thank you, Katie. That’s a perfect idea, Haley thought. Please don’t screw this up, Laila.
“Ethan, do you think you can walk Haley back?” Katie asked.
“Sure. If it’s all right with Haley?”
“Sounds good to me,” Haley said.
“It’s settled, then,” Katie said, taking Laila by the arm. “We’ll see you around, Ethan.”
Haley couldn’t help but smile as Katie hauled Laila out of there. Katie had her back. Laila did too, but she wasn’t always as quick with the social cues. Ethan was quite the catch, Haley thought. Tall, handsome, and relaxed. Sure, he didn’t have a regular job and he lived in his van, but the
“Hey, Ethan,” Haley said.
“I swear, I wasn’t listening to your conversation. I only heard the milk and honey part,” Ethan said. “We’ve got a couple of extra chairs here. You guys want to join us?”
Yes, Haley thought, we want to join you. Of course we want to join you. Every fiber of her being thrilled at the notion. There was the shifter research, but she could do that in the morning. Just the thought of spending more time with Ethan caused her nerves to shoot bursts of excitement through her body, flushing her cheeks and bringing her loins to life. She smiled tightly, pressing her thighs together in an effort to keep the embarrassing heat she felt between her legs in check.
“Um?” Laila said.
“Sure,” Katie said.
Ethan motioned to the empty chairs.
“Take a seat.” He opened a cooler. “I’ve got Sun Rock beer or Sun Rock beer. What’s your pleasure?”
“Sun Rock?” Haley said, more than pleased with the direction the evening was taking.
“Sun Rock it is.”
**********************
They sat around the fire and chatted, and Haley felt a real warmth, not just from the fire, and not just from Ethan, but from the community. The protesters stopped by between their various campsites, and it felt like a big family. Even Laila seemed to calm down and enjoy herself. It turned out that Ethan had been living in his van on the beach since the protest had started. He was originally from the San Francisco Bay area but came here years ago to surf, and he fell in love with the place. He’d been surfing the break at Coop Cove ever since.
“So you’re a reporter?” Ethan said.
“Unemployed reporter,” Haley corrected him.
“Freelance reporter,” Ethan said. “And you said Katie helps people with their modems, and Laila’s a virtual assistant?”
“Basically,” Haley said. “And I think I like being freelance better than being unemployed. Thanks for that.”
“Not a problem. Though they pay about the same.”
“No kidding,” Katie laughed.
“So what do you do, Ethan?” Laila asked.
“I surf.”
“And what else do you do?”
“I surf some more.”
“And then?”
“Then I try to stand up to the people who are trying to bring their industry here. I’m a cameraman, so if I can get some footage and get it to the appropriate news outlets, we might get some traction.”
“Does that pay enough?” Laila asked. “The cameraman thing?”
Oh, boy. There she went. Always the practical one, Haley thought.
Ethan laughed. “Sometimes I get some work locally. Enough to get by.”
“Speaking of getting by,” Laila said. “We should get going.”
“Wait, don’t you want to see the grunion?”
“What are grunion?” Laila asked.
“You’ll see,” Ethan said cryptically.
“Sounds intriguing, but we’ve all got an early day tomorrow,” Laila said.
“Not that early,” Haley said pointedly. She knew she had said that she only wanted to go for a quick stroll, but that had all changed the moment they had run into Ethan. She hoped Laila didn’t blow it.
“Here’s an idea,” Katie said, shooting Haley a quick wink. “Why don’t you two go see the grunion, and Laila and I will head back.”
Thank you, Katie. That’s a perfect idea, Haley thought. Please don’t screw this up, Laila.
“Ethan, do you think you can walk Haley back?” Katie asked.
“Sure. If it’s all right with Haley?”
“Sounds good to me,” Haley said.
“It’s settled, then,” Katie said, taking Laila by the arm. “We’ll see you around, Ethan.”
Haley couldn’t help but smile as Katie hauled Laila out of there. Katie had her back. Laila did too, but she wasn’t always as quick with the social cues. Ethan was quite the catch, Haley thought. Tall, handsome, and relaxed. Sure, he didn’t have a regular job and he lived in his van, but the