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

that Luke wasn’t going to come riding in on a white horse, declaring his love for her and begging her to see that his heart was just as gorgeous as his face. River fell back into her normal routine, working her shifts at the library and managing her book clubs. The afternoon before her romance book club was set to meet again, she went to pick up her usual assortment of pies from The Sweet Crust.
    She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed when she walked into the pie shop and the only person there was Riley. River had no idea what she would say to Luke if she saw him, but she couldn’t manage to completely push his face from her mind.
    “Hey, River,” Riley greeted her. “Give me just a second, and I’ll go grab your pies for you. Feel free to grab some coffee while you wait. You know where the cups are.”
    River usually didn’t take Riley up on her offer of coffee, but there was a chill in the air today. A warm beverage might be a nice way to take the edge off. Besides, she wouldn’t mind an excuse to hang around and chat with Riley for a minute. River knew that Riley and Luke were friends, and she wondered if he had mentioned anything about her. As River filled a paper cup with coffee from the large thermos at the coffee bar, she tried to come up with a casual way to ask Riley about Luke.
    “Here’s the first three,” Riley said, setting down three boxes of pies on the counter. “I’ll be right back with the rest.”
    River stirred creamer into her coffee and glanced sadly at the three boxes. The fact that Luke wasn’t there to help her carry them out struck an unexpected chord of sadness with her. She took a deep breath and blew on her coffee to cool it down, telling herself to get a grip.
    “What’s wrong?” Riley asked, as she returned with the last two boxes.
    “Nothing,” River said, staring down at her coffee, pretending to be very interested in blowing cool air onto the hot liquid.
    Riley narrowed her eyes. “Your expression looks pretty unhappy. Are you sure nothing’s wrong?”
    River shrugged. “I’m okay. I just have a lot on my mind.”
    “Sit down,” Riley said, gesturing to one of the small tables near the coffee bar. “Spill.”
    “I don’t want to keep you from your work,” River protested.
    “What work? It’s slow as molasses in here today. Sit down and tell me what’s bothering you.”
    River reluctantly sat down, trying to decide how much to tell Riley.
    “So, you’re friends with that guy Luke that comes in here sometimes, right?”
    Riley chuckled. “Yes, I’m very good friends with him, actually. His best friend Hunter is essentially my fiancé.”
    “Oh, wow. I had no idea.”
    “Yeah, Luke’s always in here trying to get the ‘best friend’ discount on pie,” Riley said with a grin.
    “Maybe I shouldn’t say anything, then, if you’re good friends with Luke.”
    “I’m good friends with you, too,” Riley said gently. “You’re in here all the time, and we’ve had a lot of fun conversations. If you want to talk about Luke, I’m happy to keep whatever you want to say between you and me. Pinky promise!”
    Riley held out her pinky, and River half heartedly linked her own pinky with Riley’s.
    “It’s kind of complicated,” River said, unsure of where to start.
    “Love usually is.”
    “Hey, easy. No one said anything about love,”
    Riley shrugged. “Call it whatever you want. But you two both obviously have some sort of feelings for each other. I know about the whole thing where he missed your drink date, by the way.”
    “He told you about that?”
    “Yup. He was pretty upset that it happened.”
    “So, was it true, then? That he got called for an emergency.”
    Riley nodded. “I think he could have handled it better, and given you a better explanation before just disappearing for three days like that. But he did get called to a wildfire pretty unexpectedly. The fire season is nearly over, so the crew doesn’t get many calls.