had watched all his brothers find their mates one by one. True, they all had to fight for their loves but according to Cody, Connor was much more of a romantic than he liked to admit and if anything, he wanted somebody more than any of the rest of them had before they’d found the mates the fates intended for them.
“You’re gonna find someone,” Jessie said knowingly. “Trust me.”
“Don’t patronize me,” Connor said, but he was smiling, and Cody cuffed him on the shoulder. “Yeah, I dunno. I wish I had what you had. Weird, huh?”
“Honestly?” Cody looked at Jessie and she saw that sappy look he always got in his eyes whenever he was feeling especially squishy about his new life. “I don’t blame you at all.”
Connor
Blurb
* * *
Billionaire bear shifter, Connor Strauss has fallen for the one woman he shouldn’t crave. His natural enemy, and a woman with a deep secret.
* * *
Every one of Connor’s brothers have found their mates. He’s happy for them but wants the same for himself. Brooke, the new hire at Cole’s Couture is just too tempting to not obsess over.
* * *
As a bear shifter of Colorado, Connor has always been a stickler for the rules, but when it comes to Brooke, he seems to forget about everything else.
* * *
He isn’t supposed to find out her secret. One that makes them enemies. She’s the alpha of a pack of wolf shifters, and as much as she wants Connor Strauss, she has to find a way to keep her hands to herself. The tension between the two groups is inevitable.
* * *
The conflict might be too much for Brooke to handle and gaining control of her heart would be even harder. Especially since her supposed enemy is the one person who genuinely cares about her. Maybe, even loves her. But will she be able to love him back?
* * *
***
57
Connor
It was winter again at Black Bear Lake, and that meant the lodge was hitting its busiest season. Connor Strauss slipped his hands into his pockets and glared at a tapestry that hung next to a large window that overlooked one of the expert ski slopes outside. The tapestry was a fantastically detailed scene featuring four black bears, all mid-action by a creek, and it looked incredibly dusty.
Connor pursed his lips as he walked up to it, tapping at it with the tip of his finger. No, just a little faded. He supposed the tapestry was quite old; one of the many Strauss family antiques held over from when his parents ran the lodge. Most such heirlooms were kept at his parents’ estate, but the brothers had managed to get away with quite a few choice items that they displayed proudly around the lodge.
Connor especially loved their family antiques; they were a reminder of his heritage. At the same time, the pieces gave the place the feel of a family-owned enterprise, which is exactly what the lodge was. He and his three brothers had been running the place for a few years now, overseeing every aspect of the place equally, despite the fact that, technically, the lodge was predominantly his as the eldest. Decision making for and about the lodge was split between the four of them equally, and Connor wouldn't have it any other way.
Finished with his inspection of the tapestry, Connor nodded to himself and hummed, satisfied, before walking on down the corridor into the depths of the third-floor east wing. The lodge was booked to capacity. Everything had been cleaned, fixed, updated, and given Nathan’s seal of approval, but Connor was still on high alert - always was at the beginning of winter. Cody liked to say it was when Connor was most on edge, but that’s not how he saw it.
It was just the busiest season, when he needed to pay the most attention and keep his customers satisfied enough to return. He liked to take walks from one end of the grounds to the other, from the honeymoon suite to the employee break room, making sure everything was in tiptop condition and shipshape for what he was hoping would be their most successful season ever.
He was busy, but the thought occurred to him to go down to the shopping promenade and see if Brooke was around. She had not worked at Cole Couture, one of the fine clothing shops in their small shopping mall, very long. But Connor had already found himself making excuses to check, and usually