Bear With Me: Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance Read Online Free Page A

forward to finding out.
    “Hey, Mark! Have a good night?”
    Mark looked up to see Tom grinning wolfishly at him from the other side of the parking lot. A light breeze across his skin gave Mark a hint to why Tom’ grin was so wide.
    “Oh, sh—” he muttered, and dived back into the car as more of the wedding party appeared. Hunched down as far out of sight as possible, he scrambled to find and get back into his suit from the night before.
    Tom rapped on the window just as Mark pulled on his shoes.
    “Ready for brunch, big guy?”
    “Tom,” Mark said urgently. “I met—there was this girl—” He stopped and sighed, exasperated with himself. “Did you see who was wearing this sandal last night?” he said at last, holding up the silver shoe.
    It was a long shot. The longest of shots. How could he expect a bridegroom to remember what any woman other than his new wife was wearing? But to Mark’s surprise, Tom nodded.
    “Yeah,” he said. “I saw. All twelve of them.”
    Mark’s stomach dropped.
    “What?”
    Tom punched him in the arm. “Weren’t you paying attention yesterday? All the bridesmaids were wearing these. I should know, Kes must’ve looked at a thousand different shoes before picking this one.” He took the sandal and held it aloft, examining it critically. “Don’t you think the delicacy and elegance of these straps is the perfect complement to the playful princess-cut bridesmaid dresses? Four straps, of course. Any fewer would be paltry; any more would be garish.”
    Mark was shaking his head. “The bridesmaids? Yes, I know she was one of the bridesmaids, but…”
    Realization dawned. Stupid! He’d noticed the bridesmaids were all wearing pink, and sparkly shoes. But he hadn’t expected them to be matching shoes. God, and he’d thought getting his suit was a hassle.
    So, what now? Sort the bridesmaids by shoe-size?
    “You said she’s one of the bridesmaids?” Tom said, interrupting his train of through.
    “Yeah,” Mark replied. “She was wearing one of those pink dresses.”
    “ Was? ” Tom teased, waggling his eyebrows. Mark shoved him light-heartedly.
    “Give it a rest!”
    “Fine, fine. What’s her name? Kes’ll hunt her out for you. They’re all her friends.”
    “Who’re all my friends?”
    Kes appeared beside Tom and kissed him. She had ribbons wound through her hair in place of the flowers she’d worn yesterday, and was glowing with a quiet happiness.
    “Morning, Kes.”
    “Morning, Mark,” Kes replied, and tapped Tom on the chin. “Who are we talking about?”
    “My cousin here has a mystery sweetheart,” Tom announced, a butter-wouldn’t-melt look on his face. “He’s not sure which of your bridesmaids it was, and he didn’t catch her name, but…”
    Mark threw up his hands. “Forget it. Let’s go have brunch. If I see her, I’ll be sure not to let you know.”
    He pushed his hands deep into his pockets and turned away, shoulders rounded protectively. Behind him, he heard Kes gasp, and then felt her hand on his shoulder. She spun him around.
    “This isn’t…” Kes’s eyes flicked between Mark and Tom. “…This isn’t one of those you know what situations, is it?” She silently mouthed: Shifters?
    Mark raised his eyebrows. “Tom told you about…?”
    Kes rolled her eyes. “What, you think he’s going to bring me to family get-togethers without warning me I might find a bear-shaped uncle napping in the living room? What kind of a moron do you think your cousin is?”
    Mark stared at the newlyweds. Tom wasn’t a shifter, but being from a family of shifters, of course he would have had to tell Kes about them. And if they could make it work…
    “I don’t know if it’s … If she’s the one,” he admitted. “I just feel—I need to see her again.”
    Kes and Tom exchanged knowing glances.
    Tom clamped one hand on Mark’s shoulder, and one on his wife’s. “All right, detectives. My stomach says we can work this out and eat brunch at