Romance: My Bear Boss: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (BBW Shifter Romance, Paranormal Shifter Romance) Read Online Free

unsettled than ever, Melody booted up her computer and prepared for what was sure to be an awkward day. 
    A full 45 minutes after he should’ve been in, without any warning that he’d miss his early morning meetings, Mr. Drysdale strolled in. This wasn’t the Richard she’d come to know.
    This was Mr. Drysdale. It was in his eyes, the way he didn’t look at her when he said, “Oh. You’re here. Push back my 9 o’clock to 9:30.”
    “You could’ve let me know you were going to be late,” she said as she wrote a note about the meeting.
    Mr. Drysdale stopped and looked at her with eyes as cold as the dead of winter. The warm affection he’d had for her was gone.
    “Do I answer to you?”
    “No,” she said, looking down.
    “Do I answer to you? Do you pay my salary? If you don’t walk through that door, does the company lose money?”
    Melody worked her tongue around. If she opened her mouth, she’d cry. Instead, she just shook her head.
    “Push back my 9 o’clock. If that’s a problem for you, there’s the door.” Without waiting for her to reply, he walked back through the double-doors to his office.
    Melody, not knowing what else to do, picked up the phone and dialed the client.
    When the man answered, Melody said, “Hello. This is Melody calling on behalf of Mr. Drysdale. I’m calling to inform you that your 9 o’clock meeting with Mr. Drysdale has been pushed back to 9:30.”
    “He’s postponed our meeting for three weeks now,” the man answered angrily. “
    What possible reason could he have for pushing it back half an hour? It’s a bit early for the day to have gotten out of control. This is just an insult at this point!”
    Melody closed her eyes, the tears that had welled in the corners sliding down her cheeks.
    “Sir, I agree. It’s insulting. There’s no good reason for it. He’s an ass. Come in or don’t, but either way he’s going to be double-booked for 9:30 because I’m leaving. Good luck.”
    As the man started yelling about the double booking, Melody slammed the phone back on the base. Shoving all of her things into her back, she closed out the computer. That was it, she couldn’t do this anymore.
    Before she left, though, she was going to get an answer out of him. Setting her bag on her desk, she marched through the doors to his office.
    “I’m working,” he said before she’d even started speaking.
    “What is wrong with you?”
    “I’m working. Do you see the pen in my hand? See these? These are papers.”
    Melody shook her head, unable to believe what was happening. “I quit. I’m leaving. I never want to see you again.”
    “Good,” he said and looked back to his paperwork. “Nor I you.”
    The tears came fast, stinging her eyes. Refusing to cry in front of him, she ran from the office, taking her bag on the way out.

Chapter 6
     
    The next two days, Melody stayed in her apartment, heartbroken. She wasn’t sorry for what she’d seen that night, but she hated that it had somehow ended a relationship with the most amazing man she’d ever met.
    None of her friends supported her, all of them saying she shouldn’t have told him that stupid story. But it wasn’t stupid! She knew what she saw.
    The night of the second day, there was a knock on her door. Richard stood there. Richard, and not Mr. Drysdale.
    His face was puffy, his eyes red and swollen. Had he been crying?
    “No matter how much I try, I can’t stay away from you. I should never have slept with you that night, but I just couldn’t help myself. I shouldn’t even be standing here now. You have this hold on me. I can’t think. I knew it was a bad idea, but I did it anyway. I shouldn’t have gotten involved. I shouldn’t have gotten so close to you… not without telling you the truth about me.”
    He looked away as his face twisted in anguish.
    “Richard, what are you talking about?”
    “It was me!”
    Melody’s mind froze. There was no telling how long it had lasted. All sense of time was