Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,128

again, at least physically. Inwardly, she felt like she’d never get over her mortification. It seemed like at every turn, Cody was trying to be sweet and she was either turning it down or flipping out.

She couldn’t blame him if he kept his distance after this.

By the time she got back to the cabin up on the mountain, she was all cried out. She kept thinking of Cody inside her, the way he’d looked at her like she was the most precious thing in the world.

She had likely just thrown all that away because of stupid brain chemistry.

“Oh well,” she muttered, under her breath. But inside, she was devastated.

She sniffed and climbed out of the car, grabbing her purse and her duffle bag. She took a deep breath and leaned down to catch her reflection in the side mirror. Her eyes were red and swollen. There was no way the cubs wouldn’t be able to tell she’d been crying, and she hated to worry them.

It was Jason who noticed first, even before Molly.

“Jessie, are you crying?” He looked like a sad little puppy gazing up at her. He’d run up to hug her as soon as she walked in and she tousled his hair, and swallowed her emotion. But she hugged him back, comforted. “What’s the matter?”

The other kids were all in the living room and the toddlers were crowded in their playpen. Jessie saw the evidence that Sophie and the twins had eaten already, empty Spaghetti-o’s cans littering the counter. The dishes were stacked up and the area rugs needed vacuuming. But Molly already looked like she was about to fall asleep into her tuna fish sandwich as she sat next to Chris who was stuffing chips into his mouth.

They need to fish more often, Jessie thought, already feeling tired. They needed to learn to find edible berries and other things bears like to eat and they needed to learn to track. And that was just on the bear end of things.

Education, Cody had said. He wasn’t wrong and she should have listened instead of freaking out.

“I’m okay, sweetheart,” Jessie said, hugging Jason tight. “I was just... listening to a sad story on my phone. A podcast. It made me sad, that’s all. But it was only a story.”

Jason pulled away and looked slightly disbelieving. It was difficult to pull anything over the cubs' heads. Growing up in squalor and having to be aware of their so-called parents’ movements and moods all the time had made them hyper-aware of everything, it seemed.

“I promise,” Jessie said, smoothing down his hair. “We’re okay. I just went to visit my friend, Cody.”

“The big bear?” Jason looked vaguely excited by that and it was new. The kids had all seemed pretty nervous when she’d let Cody in. But once he’d left, she’d told them he was a good friend and a strong bear who just wanted to help.

She wondered if the boys like Jason and Chris were fascinated by the possibility of an adult male bear shifter around who was good and not an asshole. Another reason to try to hang onto Cody, she supposed. It made her heart crack a little in her chest.

“Yeah,” she said softly. “The big bear.”

Even as absolutely exhausted as she was, Jessie felt much better after some time in the cabin with the cubs. She played music from her phone and Jason helped dry dishes as she washed them and it wasn’t so bad, cleaning up and bathing the toddlers and putting away the clothes in the duffle bag she’d watched back at the lodge.

She kept herself busy enough, she was almost able to forget the sensation of Cody’s lips on her skin... almost. But then suddenly she’d wonder if she’d ever feel it again.

It was eight o’clock when there was a knock on the door and she caught Cody’s scent.

All the cubs jumped a little, alarmed. No one had ever knocked on the door before and they weren’t yet adept and singling out new shifters’ scents after only meeting them once.

Jessie had been wiping down the kitchen counters and she rinsed her hands and dried them on a dishtowel. “It’s okay, everyone. It’s Cody, my friend.”

That seemed to calm them. Molly was on the area rug playing blocks with the toddler and Jason and Chris were playing Sorry. Jessie smoothed her hair back and wished she had time to fix herself up just a little. She’d been doing housework since she’d come home and she probably