Read Online A Change To Bear (A BBW Shifter Romance) (Last of the Shapeshifters) by A.E. Grace - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: A.E. Grace
Tags: A BBW Shifter Romance
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indications of the truth?
And Liam didn’t fit that description at all! She wondered if perhaps he had been in the military. That could be the source for his lack of communication skills, she mused. Maybe he was a scarred veteran suffering from a stress disorder, had seen too much on the battlefield, experienced hell itself, and had come back a broken shell of himself. Terry groaned. It was starting to sound like the half-ass plot of a cheap novel, and on top of that, she was dealing in stereotypes again. That was one sure-fire way to make dumb assumptions.
There was, of course, another possibility, and it was the simplest one of them all. Perhaps he was just an anti-social type, one who harbored general indifference toward anyone and anything. He could certainly be one of those kinds of people, with a closed off emotional quotient, and a self-interest instinct that outweighed everything else. But again, the shoe didn’t seem to fit.
There was something else she had noticed, too, that had lurked at first in the background, difficult to see or quantify. He had a weighted weariness to him, and it was present in his whole body. It wasn’t that he had bags of black hanging beneath his eyes, and it wasn’t that he yawned, or that he slumped, or that he shuffled. It was in his motions, his movements, the kinesthetic impression she gleaned from his walk, from his facial expression, from the way he was so efficient, and seemed like he needed to be. He didn’t emote with the cavalier freedom that she did, or that most people did, and though his body always looked ready to perform, it also suggested that he was actively trying to minimize his actions, as though storing energy for some unknown thing or event.
And his eyes, the way they looked with indifference at the world around him. The only times they changed, the only times a different message was sent that went beyond mere observation, was when he looked at her. It wasn’t a large transformation, but she had noticed that he blinked less, and that his eyes stayed fixed on her. Maybe it was just natural, the difference between the way people look at people, and everything else. Or maybe it wasn’t.
The weariness extended into his ochre orbs as well. When she looked at them, she often felt like she was looking at a magazine cover whereon depicted was a person who had spent the better part of their life suffering, and as a result looked far, far older than they actually were. But Liam didn’t look old at all. In fact, he had pretty damn good skin, lacked any creases around his eyes or lips, and could probably pass for someone ten years younger if he shaved off the shadow and didn’t look so serious all the time.
Terry decided she’d spent too much time mulling over the possibilities of Liam and the secret past he appeared determined not to reveal. Wiping her upper lip with the back of her hand, she set off in the direction the traffic was going. That way was the city center, and what better thing to do on her first morning in Vietnam than to have a traditional Vietnamese breakfast, which was basically a bowl of rice noodles and thin slices of raw beef that cooked in the broth. She found it odd that there was no clear distinction between foods eaten at breakfast and lunch, and thought how polar opposite it was to back home where breakfast was cereal and toast, and lunch was simply not, unless you were a broke university student, or something of an eccentric.
Another breakfast food commonly eaten were the freshly baked baguettes, one of those odd cultural left-overs from the brief French occupation. She would definitely have to try one of those. It seemed like the day was starting to revolve around food, and coming from the nine-to-five where she ate tuna, ham, or egg salad sandwiches pretty much every day, that didn’t seem like such a bad idea at all.
Though the road beside her, was heaving with mopeds, the pavement was relatively devoid of people. It was the complete
And Liam didn’t fit that description at all! She wondered if perhaps he had been in the military. That could be the source for his lack of communication skills, she mused. Maybe he was a scarred veteran suffering from a stress disorder, had seen too much on the battlefield, experienced hell itself, and had come back a broken shell of himself. Terry groaned. It was starting to sound like the half-ass plot of a cheap novel, and on top of that, she was dealing in stereotypes again. That was one sure-fire way to make dumb assumptions.
There was, of course, another possibility, and it was the simplest one of them all. Perhaps he was just an anti-social type, one who harbored general indifference toward anyone and anything. He could certainly be one of those kinds of people, with a closed off emotional quotient, and a self-interest instinct that outweighed everything else. But again, the shoe didn’t seem to fit.
There was something else she had noticed, too, that had lurked at first in the background, difficult to see or quantify. He had a weighted weariness to him, and it was present in his whole body. It wasn’t that he had bags of black hanging beneath his eyes, and it wasn’t that he yawned, or that he slumped, or that he shuffled. It was in his motions, his movements, the kinesthetic impression she gleaned from his walk, from his facial expression, from the way he was so efficient, and seemed like he needed to be. He didn’t emote with the cavalier freedom that she did, or that most people did, and though his body always looked ready to perform, it also suggested that he was actively trying to minimize his actions, as though storing energy for some unknown thing or event.
And his eyes, the way they looked with indifference at the world around him. The only times they changed, the only times a different message was sent that went beyond mere observation, was when he looked at her. It wasn’t a large transformation, but she had noticed that he blinked less, and that his eyes stayed fixed on her. Maybe it was just natural, the difference between the way people look at people, and everything else. Or maybe it wasn’t.
The weariness extended into his ochre orbs as well. When she looked at them, she often felt like she was looking at a magazine cover whereon depicted was a person who had spent the better part of their life suffering, and as a result looked far, far older than they actually were. But Liam didn’t look old at all. In fact, he had pretty damn good skin, lacked any creases around his eyes or lips, and could probably pass for someone ten years younger if he shaved off the shadow and didn’t look so serious all the time.
Terry decided she’d spent too much time mulling over the possibilities of Liam and the secret past he appeared determined not to reveal. Wiping her upper lip with the back of her hand, she set off in the direction the traffic was going. That way was the city center, and what better thing to do on her first morning in Vietnam than to have a traditional Vietnamese breakfast, which was basically a bowl of rice noodles and thin slices of raw beef that cooked in the broth. She found it odd that there was no clear distinction between foods eaten at breakfast and lunch, and thought how polar opposite it was to back home where breakfast was cereal and toast, and lunch was simply not, unless you were a broke university student, or something of an eccentric.
Another breakfast food commonly eaten were the freshly baked baguettes, one of those odd cultural left-overs from the brief French occupation. She would definitely have to try one of those. It seemed like the day was starting to revolve around food, and coming from the nine-to-five where she ate tuna, ham, or egg salad sandwiches pretty much every day, that didn’t seem like such a bad idea at all.
Though the road beside her, was heaving with mopeds, the pavement was relatively devoid of people. It was the complete
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