Read Online Wanted By The Soldier Bear (Heroes of Shifter Creek 1) by Clara Moore - Free Book Online Page B

long legs perfectly, but didn’t cling too tightly. His gait gained a more mature confidence than the arrogant jerk arrogance he had as a teenager - he looked cool, calm, and collected now, as if he never could’ve been that boy who once lit a Christmas tree park on fire for “solidarity.” If she didn’t know him, she would consider flirting with him; unfortunately, she knew him well.
    He returned after what Isadora considered a lengthier conversation than necessary with the waitress. “All right, she’s bringing the food to go.”
    “Is that what you were talking to her for so long about?” she asked, raising her eyebrow..
    “Oh, who’s the jealous boyfriend now?” he said smiling.
    She rolled her eyes. “Probably one of the guys at the bar. I saw one of them check you out.”
    He looked toward the bar, “I guess I could do worse.”
    She chuckled, not wanting to give him too much enjoyment. The waitress returned with an unfamiliar look in her eye that Isadora could’ve sworn resembled fear. The woman said nothing as she handed the bag of food over. Doran smiled and thanked her.
    “Why don’t you wait outside,” he said softly to Isadora. “I’ll be right out.”
    She shrugged and walked outside. For some reason, a deep feeling of foreboding followed her out the door and waited with her outside.
    RING RING, RING RING. Was her phone always that loud? She almost dropped it pulling it out of her purse, her hands were shaking now. .
    “Hello?” she asked.
    “When are you coming back?” Fiona snapped. “I need you for pictures.”
    “We’re heading back soon. Doran insisted we go to this creepy Italian restaurant, Roselli’s .”
    “That place is creepy. I’ve heard they’ve been making concrete shoes on the side, if you know what I mean.”
    “Un huh. ”
    “Whatever. Get back already. I need you.”
    “Sure thing sweetie,” she said as she hung up. How long does it take to pay a check?
    Finally, Doran appeared. His shirt had a red stain on the bottom that she didn’t remember seeing earlier.
    “You have sauce on your shirt.” she said.
    “What?” She pointed to the stain. He frowned. “I guess I did.”
    “Interesting. Well, thanks for lunch and everything. I’ll probably eat at my desk, but it was fun.” She felt she should be nice to the man since he bought her lunch after all.
    “No problem,” he grabbed her hand, which she nearly pulled away automatically, but for some reason didn’t. “I like spending time with you.”
    “Right.”
    III.
    “And then he held my hand, and it was weird,” Isadora said, replaying her lunch with Doran to Georgia the next morning. She’d stayed late at work, throwing herself into the paper cover, mostly to avoid Doran, her step-mother, and her father. It felt too awkward. “I think I need my own place.”
    “I thought you hated that guy,” Georgia gave a thoughtful frown. “Do you like him now?”
    “Why would you think that?”
    “Well, I walked up to ask you to get some articles done ASAP, and you talked to me for twenty minutes about him. For the first ten or so, you discussed how ‘damn handsome’ he is.”
    “I could’ve sworn you asked about our lunch for some reason.”
    “Nope, I don’t care about it.”
    “Right. I’ll get to those articles right away,” Izzy said a little embarrassed.
    Fiona approached with a serious look on her face. “Good morning, Fiona. Did you get your story done?”
    “I was just going to ask that,” Georgia commented. “That was mostly why I came over, but then I got roped into this conversation about Dora’s step-brother. Which I really, really didn’t want to get roped into.”
    “Where did you say you and Doran went to lunch yesterday?” Fiona asked carefully.
    “ Roselli’s ,” Isadora responded. “The food wasn’t as good as I hoped. My mom’s food was way better.”
    “Did you realize if we call you Dora, and his name is Doran, it’s like the same name?” Georgia gave an