Read Online Gray Back Broken Bear (Gray Back Bears Book 4) by T. S. Joyce - Free Book Online Page B

beside him on the living room couch, talking about her first job. She’d waited tables at some diner where she lived, and she had lots of funny stories about the people she’d worked with. Her lips looked like art as they formed each word.
    Or maybe it was the kiss from last night he kept thinking about. The feel of her lips against his. He’d never once had the urge to kiss the other girls in the Gray Backs, but around Ana, it was all he could think about. Focus. She’s looking. She’ll think you’re weird like everyone else does. Keep her.
    “So, what do you do for fun?”
    “What do you do?” he countered. Not because he was avoiding the question, but because he was suddenly excruciatingly curious about what filled up her quiet hours.
    Ana scrunched up her nose. “Don’t laugh.”
    “I won’t.”
    “Pinky promise.” She lifted her pinky in the air. “Hook your pinky onto mine and say, I pinky promise not to laugh.”
    He did as she asked and reveled in the feel of her. So much so that he didn’t let go of her finger after he recited the oath. He just sank farther back into the couch cushion beside her with their pinkies hooked. She put her legs over his lap as if they’d known each other for always. He smiled at how fucking cute she was.
    “I like to knit.”
    “Like old ladies do? Hats and socks and blankets?”
    “No. You’re smiling, Easton. Don’t let that get out of hand.” She waited for him to wipe his amusement off his face before she continued. “I knit clothes for animals. Turtle sweaters with spikes on the back, and dog costumes for Halloween. I even made a dress for a guinea pig wedding once. People send me special requests online, and I make them.”
    Easton waited for the laugh to die in his throat before he asked, “And they pay you money for these…costumes?”
    Ana lifted her chin proudly. “Yes. I never told Caden about that stuff because I knew he would think it stupid and beneath me, and he would ask me to give it up.”
    “Caden was your last mate?” His bear rattled a long growl inside of him.
    Ana let go of his pinky and pressed her palm against his chest. “Not my choice. He was a smart pairing, but I didn’t care for him.”
    “I would like to see a dress for a guinea pig.”
    Ana dropped her gaze to her hand, but it didn’t hide her smile. Maybe happiness did exist. Ana looked happy now.
    “Now, your turn. Tell me what you like to do.”
    No one had ever asked him this before, so he took his time answering. “I like to chop wood.”
    “Why?”
    “Because it makes me feel like my bear isn’t going to rip out of my skin.”
    The smile fell from Ana’s face. “Does it feel like that often?”
    He nodded. Best she know what she was in for. “All the time.”
    “Every minute?”
    He nodded. “Except it’s not so bad when I’m around you. Or chopping firewood.”
    “What do you do with the wood?”
    “I could take care of you.”
    She propped a pair of throw pillows under her head and relaxed against the couch, her legs still draped over him. She was wearing jean shorts, so he rested his hand on her smooth legs. “Did you shave your legs?” he asked.
    “Mmm hmm.”
    “Did you shave my legs for me? In case I touched you here?” When he ran his fingertip up her shin, she shivered.
    “Yes,” she said on a breath. Her face had gone all serious, and her pupils dilated, making the blue in her eyes look darker. “Now stop distracting me. What did you mean about taking care of me? I don’t want money, Easton. I just want you.”
    “A cord of lumber goes for two-hundred fifty to three-hundred dollars come wintertime around here. I chop all spring and summer and sell in the fall after the first snow.”
    “Sell to who?”
    “Until Jason came along, I sold to backwoodsman. People who didn’t care I was a little…off. People who needed firewood because they hadn’t chopped enough for themselves because they were too old or sick or they couldn’t find