Bad Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES fur BEARS Book 1) by Natalie Kristen Page B

voices and glasses to the ceiling,
and some sloshed beer all over themselves and whoever happened to be
standing beside them.
    The
witches were heedless to the guffaws and groans around
the bar as the y sang and
danced with wild abandon. Those witches really knew how to party.
    Staci hiccuped loudly,
feeling a little light-headed. She felt the sudden, urgent need to
pee. The beer seemed to have filled her bladder pretty quickly.
    Sliding off her stool, Staci
wobbled her way across the crowded bar towards the washrooms.
    She stumbled on a step and
would have fallen flat on her face if someone hadn't caught her arm
and steadied her.
    “Easy now,” a
deep voice said.
    Staci looked up and every
nerve in her body sizzled and came alive as though she had just
received an electric shock.
    She had seen her share of
good-looking men, and the vampires in Shadow Point were all suave,
smooth and very attractive. Most of the shifters were naturally
strapping and athletic, and the fae folk were beautiful. But this
man was…
    Staci lost her train of
thought as she stared into a pair of brilliant blue eyes.
    She blinked, but that
handsome face didn't disappear. He wasn't a beer-induced
hallucination.
    The man had short, sandy hair
and the corners of his sexy, kissable lips were curved up.
    Hi handsome , a voice
purred inside her head.
    She saw laughter in his blue
eyes, and she clapped her hand to her mouth.
    Oh shit, she had blurted the
words out loud.

C HAPTER THREE

    “Hi handsome,”
the woman slurred.
    With
a gasp, she covered her mouth and took a small step back. She
seemed steady enough on her feet, but Marcus
Beck held the woman's arm for
a moment longer.
    She was really pretty, with
wavy brown hair and deep chocolate eyes. Her long-sleeved blouse
flowed down her curves and was tucked into an A-line skirt which
reached past her knees. The navy-blue skirt hugged her rounded hips
snugly and Marcus had to suppress a growl as his eyes trailed down
her lush, curvy frame. The woman was dressed primly in neat office
attire. But she was mouthwateringly sexy.
    “Ah, thank you,”
she managed.
    Marcus smiled and forced
himself to release his grip before his claws sliced out.
    “I...” She spun
round, looking a little disorientated. “I'm looking for
the...”
    “That way.”
Marcus jerked his head towards the washrooms.
    “Yes, yes. Thank you.”
She smiled. “I...I'll talk to you later,” she said,
half bashfully, half hopefully.
    “I'll
be right here.” After
a short pause, he said quickly, “I'm Marcus Beck.”
    She smiled sweetly. “Staci.”
    He watched her totter off to
the ladies' room and kept staring after her even when his two younger
brothers came up to his side and peered at him.
    “Whacha
doin?” J ax asked, frowning at him .
“ Why are you staring
into space?”
    “ He's
waiting for his lady friend,” Joshua answered.
    “What's that?”
Jax inclined his head and leaned closer.
    “I said, Marcus is
waiting for his woman,” Joshua repeated into his brother's
other ear. Jax couldn't hear so well out of one ear, but nobody made
a big deal out of it. Sometimes they even forgot that and whispered
to him in his bad ear.
    “You mean the brunette
who tripped and almost landed in your lap?” Jax asked Marcus
with a cheeky grin.
    Marcus frowned. “You
saw her?”
    Jax tapped his ear and
pointed to his eyes. “I can't hear, but I can see!”
    “She's coming out,”
Joshua said, elbowing Marcus.
    Jax winked and said too
loudly, “We'll just disappear now. We were coming to get you,
but it looks like you won't be leaving with us.”
    Marcus glared at the twins as
they chuckled and weaved through the crowd. Then he rolled his eyes
when they turned around and craned their necks, hoping to get a
better look at his mystery lady.
    Brothers, he huffed.
    He
and the Carlan twins didn't
share the same blood and last name. And with their dark hair and
eyes, Jax and Joshua looked as different from him as night and day.