Commander Bear (Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance) (Bear Patrol Book 1) by Scarlett Grove Read Free Book Online Page B

he looked around the woodshop.
    “That is quite a coincidence,” Rollo said, his eyes burning into Zoe.
    “What did you want to know?” Angus asked.
    “I need to know more information about how the secret compartment is constructed and how one might break into it.”
    “I can tell you what I know,” Angus said.
    Angus, who usually wasn’t a big talker, began to rattle off the details of the construction of a Louis the Fifteenth chest with a secret compartment. Heath listened intently and Rollo continued staring at Zoe.
    Zoe felt tension hang like a heavy mist in the air. Her jaguar has been roaring and clawing ever since she’d picked up Rollo’s scent. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her the entire time he’d been in the workshop. She couldn’t get the look on his face out of her mind. It was somewhere between astonished and aroused. Not just aroused, full of lust. It was almost as if she could hear his grizzly growling inside her own mind.
    They were both shifters. It was different when both mates had animals within. Shifter mates could sense each other in deeper ways than any human ever could. She could almost sense his heart beating and his blood flowing through his veins. She could smell his arousal, and it only heightened her own.
    “That’s very interesting, Angus,” Rollo finally said as Angus expounded on the marvels of the wood joints used in the 18th-century. “I think I have everything I need.”
    “Any time,” Angus said, slapping Rollo on the back with his big hand.
    Rollo was anything but small, but even for a shifter Angus was big. The impact forced Rollo forward, and he came that much closer to Zoe. He straightened his tie and cleared his throat as he looked at her.
    “So you have an interest in Louis the Fifteenth secret compartment chests?” Rollo asked her.
    “A minor interest,” Zoe said, shrugging.
    “You said they were your favorite,” Angus said. Zoe’s jaguar growled.
    “Could we have a word in private?” Rollo said to Zoe. “Heath, wait here. Zoe, follow me.”
    “What?” she said, following him out of the woodshop and around the side of the building. There was a strip of lawn that led toward a wooded area. Rollo continued walking, and she followed him until they were at the edge of the forest.
    “What do you want?” she said again.
    “You know why I wanted to speak with you in private,” he said.
    She didn’t know. Was it because he knew she’d taken the jewels? Was her cover blown? Or was it because he still wanted to date? Neither of those options were any less daunting.
    “Did you come down here on purpose?” she said, deciding to play the defensive card.
    “I had no idea you would be here, if that’s what you’re suggesting?”
    “I told you, I’m not ready to date right now,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest as she pursed her lips at him.
    “I came down here to ask Angus about the Louis the Fifteenth secret compartment chest. A subject that you seem quite familiar with. I wonder why that is.”
    “We should stop beating around the bush,” Zoe said, trying to change the subject. “You and I both know that we’re mates. Now that we’ve met, there’s no way of avoiding it. What do you propose we do now?”
    Rollo drew back, his face changing from scrutinizing to confused. “Why do you think I signed up for Mate.com in the first place, Zoe Bright?”
    “Probably for different reasons than I did. But usually people sign up for those things because they want to find a romantic relationship. Shifters, as we both know, usually want to settle down and start a family.”
    “You are a shifter,” Rollo countered.
    “But I’m not just any shifter,” Zoe purred, leaning toward him.
    She could smell his arousal rising off him and sense the tension in his muscles as they coiled, ready to pounce on her. She slid past him, brushing slightly against his arm as she walked towards the forest.
    “I’ve seen the world. I know what’s out there. I