Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,16

eyes and seemed to melt into his palm. “There’s only us.”

“Nathan…”

They were magnets pulled toward each other and their lips were about to meet when something large and loud clattered to the floor in the corner. One of the porters was there, unloading boxes from a truck. Alanna jumped away from him.

Dammit.

“Alanna,” Nathan said. “Please…”

She didn’t say anything this time. She only shook her head and fled.

5

Nathan

It was the next day before Nathan saw Alanna again.

He was coming back from Connor’s office, following a long phone conversation with the gondola people when he saw her in the dining hall looking as sad as ever and poking at her arugula salad. She had John along with her this time. He was hunched over his plate, slurping up soup while he stared at his phone.

I could definitely take him, Nathan thought.

Nathan stood watching them, hovering near the entrance to the dining hall and nodding hellos to passing guests. He wanted to get a sense of the mysterious couple without them noticing. He had the distinct feeling that if the guy saw him staring in Alanna’s direction, he wouldn’t be happy.

Don’t get involved, Cody had said. But he’d also said, go with your gut.

Alanna didn’t look exactly submissive as she sat across from the heavy. But he couldn’t help feeling like she had to go along with whatever he said and that bothered him. It was subtle but it was in the body language and the way she raised her eyes and sneered at him when he wasn’t looking, only to look down again.

“Damn,” Nathan muttered.

He finally headed through the middle of the dining hall to the kitchen to get his lunch. But he couldn’t help glancing in Alanna’s direction again as he passed. Time seemed to slow when Alanna looked in his direction and their eyes met. Nathan breathed in a little, feeling transported. Every detail seemed important. He saw how the corner of her mouth turned up when she saw him. He also saw how she was trying not to make it noticeable; the guy wouldn’t like it. But her dark eyes widened slightly. She reached up and tossed her hair over her shoulder and it glinted in the sun. She gave him the slightest nod of acknowledgment and then bowed her head.

The Strauss brothers were busy bears. They were seldom to be found all in the same room together unless they’d planned to be so beforehand. But every once in a while, it happened by some fluke and Nathan found his three brothers all back in the kitchen, talking and laughing as they ate lunch, although Connor as usual, was glued to his phone.

Cody handed Nathan a chicken and parmesan sandwich slathered in pesto as soon as he walked in the door. Nathan sat down next to Eric at the kitchen island and clapped him on the back.

“How’s it goin’?” He dug into his sandwich and grabbed a handful of homemade potato chips from the bowl in the middle of the counter.

“Phone’s been ringing off the hook,” Connor said. He was growing a beard, as black and thick as his hair.

Nathan nudged him, pointing to his own chin. “You’ve got pesto-”

“Oh.” Connor wiped his chin. He was the biggest of them and that was saying something. Nathan was no slouch and neither were his brothers. But Connor was a hulk in his tidy shirts and suspenders hunched over his laptop full of lodge bookings or stressing out over their spreadsheets. He never seemed to be what Nathan might call “cheerful,” but they all knew how much Connor liked the work. “Yeah, anyway. We’re booked solid for another month. I think we got written up somewhere but I don’t know where…”

“Did room 27 book way ahead or no?” Nathan said, before taking another giant chomp of his sandwich. He caught Cody glaring at him, pointing with his spatula and he shrugged.

“Room 27?” Connor said. He tapped away on his phone and said, “I think they were short notice. But they got lucky because somebody canceled.”

“Hmm.” Nathan nodded and Cody gave him the stink eye, shaking his head.

Of course, Connor didn’t miss that. “What’s happening? Why are you doing that? Cut it out. What’s going on?”

Like a damn terrier, Nathan thought.

Cody cleared his throat and said, “Nathan’s all worried about room 27. Because she’s got legs.”

“That’s not why,” Nathan countered.

“And boobs.”

“That’s definitely not why.”

“And she’s a bear,” Cody said, shrugging. “Trust me, I noticed. She’s very appealing, but—”

“Nathan Strauss,” Connor said, turning