Read Online Lord of the Bears (Wild Ridge Bears Book 1) by Kimber White - Free Book Online
Authors: Kimber White
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point. I needed that paycheck to make my rent payment and next
month’s big tuition bill before the fall semester started.
Then there was Jax. My lips still felt swollen from the kiss he gave me
just before we parted. The man straight up had me seeing stars, and that too
was the last thing I needed. My current level of hot water came from my own bad
judgment about men. No matter how delicious that kiss had been or how my whole
body seemed to simmer with desire around Jax, I couldn’t let it lead me into
another bad choice.
No. It was better if I just cut my losses and came up with a plan B. My
lease ran out in six weeks and then I was supposed to head back down to Mount
Pleasant for my second to last semester of school. The bonus Damon Spence had
agreed to pay me for the calendar was what I planned to live on until January.
I didn’t have rich parents like Aaron did to cover for me. Hell, my parents
usually had more trouble making ends meet than I did. Dad was on worker’s comp
from his construction job after he’d had a bad fall at work. My mother worked
at a bank for barely more than minimum wage, but her M.S. had flared in the
last few months and she’d been house bound. It had always been my dream to find
a job making enough money to take care of them and pay them back for everything
they’d done for me. Now, it looked like I’d be heading back home to Traverse
City with my tail between my legs hitting them up for a place to stay if I
couldn’t afford to pay my own bills.
As if they could sense my distress, my land line rang. My father was
pretty much the only person who called me on it. I let out a breath and
squeezed my eyes shut tight before answering. He knew me well enough to sense
something was wrong just by the sound of my voice.
“Hey, butter bean!” Dad’s gravelly smoker’s voice made my heart warm.
He’d given the things up for good two years ago, but the damage was done.
“Hey, Daddy. You’re up early.” It was just past six a.m. He knew I
usually woke early to take a morning run before getting ready for work. Today
though, I was too keyed up to do even that.
“How’re things up north? You need anything? Money? One of Mom’s care
packages?”
I smiled and pressed the receiver against my forehead. God, I hadn’t
realized how much I needed to hear his voice. “I’m okay. I have everything I
need.”
“You sure? She’s working on a batch of her ginger snaps this afternoon.
They keep pretty well in those Christmas tins she saves.”
“Yeah? She’s feeling that well today? Well then that sounds about
perfect. Except tell her not to go overboard, she’s going to make me fat.”
My father made a noise in the back of his throat. “Whatever, bean. When
you were still playing volleyball, you damn near ate us out of the house worse
than any teenage boy. The only thing that ever grew big on you were your feet.”
I barked out a laugh and held up my size ten flip-flops. The boys in my
high school used to call me Bigfoot. They also didn’t call me much else. I was
taller than all but about three of them. I’d been everybody’s best friend and
“one of the guys,” but went to my senior prom stag with a bunch of my
girlfriends. College had pretty much been a lather, rinse, repeat proposition.
Then, I met Aaron. God. He was the rich kid with the family name everyone knew.
When he showed interest I hadn’t known what to make of him. He’d been polite
and took me to restaurants and places I never could have afforded on my own.
So, in the beginning, I’d felt like a princess. Then of course, he started to
show himself for the toad he really was.
Dad asked me a few more mundane questions. I ended up lying to him
about everything and hated myself a little for it. But, I didn’t want to worry
him. He had enough on his plate dealing with my mom’s health, doctor’s
appointments, and claims adjusters. They’d been trying to cut his benefits for
the last year, and I knew it took a
month’s big tuition bill before the fall semester started.
Then there was Jax. My lips still felt swollen from the kiss he gave me
just before we parted. The man straight up had me seeing stars, and that too
was the last thing I needed. My current level of hot water came from my own bad
judgment about men. No matter how delicious that kiss had been or how my whole
body seemed to simmer with desire around Jax, I couldn’t let it lead me into
another bad choice.
No. It was better if I just cut my losses and came up with a plan B. My
lease ran out in six weeks and then I was supposed to head back down to Mount
Pleasant for my second to last semester of school. The bonus Damon Spence had
agreed to pay me for the calendar was what I planned to live on until January.
I didn’t have rich parents like Aaron did to cover for me. Hell, my parents
usually had more trouble making ends meet than I did. Dad was on worker’s comp
from his construction job after he’d had a bad fall at work. My mother worked
at a bank for barely more than minimum wage, but her M.S. had flared in the
last few months and she’d been house bound. It had always been my dream to find
a job making enough money to take care of them and pay them back for everything
they’d done for me. Now, it looked like I’d be heading back home to Traverse
City with my tail between my legs hitting them up for a place to stay if I
couldn’t afford to pay my own bills.
As if they could sense my distress, my land line rang. My father was
pretty much the only person who called me on it. I let out a breath and
squeezed my eyes shut tight before answering. He knew me well enough to sense
something was wrong just by the sound of my voice.
“Hey, butter bean!” Dad’s gravelly smoker’s voice made my heart warm.
He’d given the things up for good two years ago, but the damage was done.
“Hey, Daddy. You’re up early.” It was just past six a.m. He knew I
usually woke early to take a morning run before getting ready for work. Today
though, I was too keyed up to do even that.
“How’re things up north? You need anything? Money? One of Mom’s care
packages?”
I smiled and pressed the receiver against my forehead. God, I hadn’t
realized how much I needed to hear his voice. “I’m okay. I have everything I
need.”
“You sure? She’s working on a batch of her ginger snaps this afternoon.
They keep pretty well in those Christmas tins she saves.”
“Yeah? She’s feeling that well today? Well then that sounds about
perfect. Except tell her not to go overboard, she’s going to make me fat.”
My father made a noise in the back of his throat. “Whatever, bean. When
you were still playing volleyball, you damn near ate us out of the house worse
than any teenage boy. The only thing that ever grew big on you were your feet.”
I barked out a laugh and held up my size ten flip-flops. The boys in my
high school used to call me Bigfoot. They also didn’t call me much else. I was
taller than all but about three of them. I’d been everybody’s best friend and
“one of the guys,” but went to my senior prom stag with a bunch of my
girlfriends. College had pretty much been a lather, rinse, repeat proposition.
Then, I met Aaron. God. He was the rich kid with the family name everyone knew.
When he showed interest I hadn’t known what to make of him. He’d been polite
and took me to restaurants and places I never could have afforded on my own.
So, in the beginning, I’d felt like a princess. Then of course, he started to
show himself for the toad he really was.
Dad asked me a few more mundane questions. I ended up lying to him
about everything and hated myself a little for it. But, I didn’t want to worry
him. He had enough on his plate dealing with my mom’s health, doctor’s
appointments, and claims adjusters. They’d been trying to cut his benefits for
the last year, and I knew it took a
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