Read Online Beary And Bright (Fire Bear Shifters 6) by Sloane Meyers - Free Book Online

were done with the bunkhouse project. I really like the expansion, by the way. The bunkhouse is almost like a real, giant house now. But I didn’t think I’d be seeing you around here anymore after you were done with that.”
    Carter’s face fell, as though he had been expecting her to ask something else. “Yeah, the bunkhouse project is completely done. But Zach asked me earlier this week to replace all the gutters on the house as well. He said it’s just about due, and between the adoption and wedding planning, he doesn’t have time to do it himself. Don’t worry, though. This project should only take me a day, so I’ll be out of your hair again soon.”
    Clara couldn’t tell if Carter was seriously insulted or just messing with her, but she didn’t have much time to figure it out. Sophia was growing tired of playing alone, and she started calling out for Clara.
    “Auntie Clara, come on . I can’t play soccer by myself.”
    “Be right there, sweetie,” Clara called back. Then she hurriedly turned to Carter. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m not bothered by your being around. I just wondered what you were doing.” She flashed him a big smile, and he nodded and gave her a small smile back. She wasn’t sure if he believed her, but Sophia was starting to call out to her again, so Clara gave Carter a little wave and then ran off. She turned around one more time before she got to Sophia, thinking she would catch a glimpse of Carter back at work. But he had stopped reorganizing his tools, and was watching her.
    Clara quickly turned back around and bit her lip thoughtfully, thinking that maybe she hadn’t imagined that spark of desire in his eyes, after all.
     
    * * *
     
    Carter watched Clara walking away, his heart pounding in his chest. When he saw her walking over here, he had half expected her to tell him that she knew about the flowers. But she seemed oblivious, asking instead whether he needed help picking up his tools. The gesture had been sweet, but it was true what Carter had said: her helping would take much, much longer than just doing it himself. She had asked a few questions about what he was doing, and Carter couldn’t help but wonder whether she was asking because she was glad he was back. He had tried to get her to say more by joking that he would be out of here before she knew it, but her response to that had been a polite assertion that she didn’t mind him there. He hadn’t been able to read anything into it, and, as she walked away, he was mentally kicking himself.
    Here he was, spending hundreds of dollars to send her flowers with romantic notes, and yet when she was right in front of him, he couldn’t manage to come up with anything sweet to say. In all honestly, part of the problem was that he didn’t really want her to know yet that he was behind the flowers. He wanted to build up to a grand finale and reveal on Christmas Eve. If all went well, and he had swept her off her feet with nearly a month of bouquets, then he wouldn’t be spending Christmas alone this year. But maybe that was stupid. Maybe she would just think he was the weird stalker type, and be freaked out by all of the over the top attention. Maybe he was just too much of a hopeless romantic—emphasis on the hopeless part.
    Carter had started to seriously consider ending his bouquet campaign as he watched Clara walk away. But then, she had surprised him by turning around to look at him. And when he saw her eyes, he knew that he had a chance with her. She turned around quickly, obviously embarrassed to have been caught looking at him. But in the brief moment that he caught her eyes, he saw it: desire. Maybe it wasn’t strong. Maybe it was just a curious interest. But there was something there, and he was going to keep pursuing it. He pulled out his phone to call the flower shop, just to make sure that everything was on track for the bouquet of yellow roses Clara would be getting later that day. The note with the