A Burn To Bear (Fire Bear Shifters Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

agreed to meet this guy named Luke for a date last night, against my better judgment. I knew he was too good-looking and too much of a smooth talker to be anything other than an asshole. But I let my guard down, and told him I’d catch a drink with him at Red Valley Pub after book club last night. We were supposed to meet at ten, and then he stood me up. Sort of.”
    “Sort of? How do you sort of stand someone up?” Colleen asked, sitting down on the top step of a stepstool that River had dragged over to help her put away the books located on higher shelves.
    River exhaled in frustration. Colleen was only a few years older than River, but she seemed so much more mature. She had a husband, three-year-old twins, and a house with a perfectly manicured yard. Meanwhile, River had a small, sparsely furnished apartment and no serious romantic prospects to speak of. River had gradually taken on more responsibility at the library, but she didn’t have much room to grow her career beyond the level it was at right now unless she moved to a different city or took a job that wasn’t in the library. She told herself she had plenty of time to figure her life out, but looking at Coleen made her feel like she was so far behind.
    “Don’t want to talk about it?” Colleen prompted.
    River shrugged. She didn’t usually discuss her personal life in much detail with Colleen. It’s not that Colleen wasn’t a nice or caring person—she was. But she was River’s manager, after all. Spilling all the juicy details of every bad date to Colleen just didn’t seem like the smartest idea. River felt like she might explode from all the pent up irritation she felt right now, though, and it would be nice to vent to someone for a little while.
    “He left a dozen roses and a note for me with the bartender. So he didn’t exactly just not show up at all. But it’s weird how he pushed for the date and then just abandoned it without much explanation.”
    “Did he try to call you?” Colleen asked, leaning forward with interest. Colleen considered herself a relationship expert. Her constant crusade to fix everyone’s love life could get annoying, but River had to admit that Colleen tended to offer good advice.
    “He didn’t have my number,” River said. “But he left me his number in the note. I tried calling and texting him, and all I’ve heard from him is radio silence.”
    “You didn’t exchange numbers before the date?” Colleen asked, raising an eyebrow. “It doesn’t sound like it was that serious.”
    “I guess he forgot to ask for my number? Like I said, he pushed for the date. I thought he was probably an asshole who would just want to sleep with me, but, given my extreme lack of any type of romantic action for the last year, I was willing to take a chance on him. Of course, as soon as I decided to take a chance, I got way too emotionally invested. I feel crushed and humiliated that he didn’t show up, especially since he hasn’t returned any of my phone calls.”
    “River, it’s only 9:30 in the morning. Maybe he hasn’t had a chance yet.”
    River paused, but frowned. “Don’t you think if he really felt awful about standing me up that he would have made more of an effort to contact me back right away?”
    “I don’t know, maybe. Or maybe he just hasn’t had a chance to get back to you yet. Did his note say why he left?”
    “He said he had a work emergency.”
    “A work emergency? At 10 p.m.? What kind of work does he do?”
    River paused again before answering. “I don’t actually know.”
    Colleen raised her eyebrow again. “You don’t know what kind of work he does, you didn’t exchange phone numbers, and yet you’re heartbroken over him leaving before your date. It might have been a legitimate emergency for all you know. Maybe he’s a doctor and got called in.”
    “He’s not a doctor.”
    “How do you know?”
    “He’s just not. He doesn’t look like one at all. Although he does look incredibly