Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,57

little sad, but it was hard to tell that from the awkwardness he’d fully expected.

But now she was striking. She’d clearly taken full advantage of the lodge’s spa and salons. Her thick, dark hair fell in soft, glossy waves around her shoulders and her eyes seemed bigger and brighter.

Make-up, you dummy, Eric thought.

But she wasn’t wearing very much of it, just enough to highlight her natural beauty - a little gold dusting on her eye-lids and cheeks, her lips a glossy peach. She wore a smart and sexy black cocktail dress that skirted the tops of her thighs, her long legs stretching seemingly forever beneath it and ending in a gorgeous pair of strappy heels.

His mouth was open and he was staring. He shook his head and managed to say, “Hey. You look fantastic.”

“Thanks!” Lydia tossed him a little wink and fluffed her hair, and for a moment he saw that playful younger Lydia he had known as a boy. “It’s all your lodge’s doing. You have good people there. Made me look nearly half human.”

“Oh please,” Eric said with a snort. He finally got to his feet, gesturing for her to sit down. “As if you aren’t already stupid pretty.”

It was something she used to say about him when they were young.

You know you’re stupid pretty, Strauss.

He could see her now with a rounder face and more innocent eyes, grinning at him as she tossed the comment over her shoulder before shifting into her bear form and bounding off into the forest, the redwoods of Oregon looming over the both of them.

She laughed at him as she took her seat and he saw that young girl again. “What are we drinking?”

“Well, we have some great Cabernets,” Eric said. He knew all the wines of the lodge by heart. People were always asking the concierge about good wines to have sent up to their rooms. “I know they’re your favorite.”

“Well…” She chuckled and shook her head. “I ordered Cabs because they sounded fancy and you had them. It was fun to swipe one from your parents’ wine cellar once in a while is all. I wasn’t exactly a connoisseur. I never saw my mother drink wine that didn’t come out of a box.”

“Anything you like then,” Eric said, as they got comfortable.

Their table was more romantic seeming than he’d intended. He’d wanted a private dining room to avoid any prying eyes, either Michelle’s or his brothers. The room was small and dimly lit by stately candles that stood on the cream colored table cloth. He’d pushed apart the curtains at the large window so they’d have a nice view of the slopes and they had a button they could push to alert servers. Only VIPs got dining experiences like this one.

Eric leaned on his hand and watched Lydia’s eyes dance in the amber of the candle light as she made up her mind what to drink. “I think I’d like something a little harder but also light. Maybe like...vodka and soda with lime?”

“Great.” Eric pushed their server button and Jeffrey, a fox shifter server with a towel over his arm, appeared seconds later and took their order.

Their drinks came and there was some meaningless chatter about the order and Eric felt edgy as he tossed out his advice on the best dishes. They ordered their food and the chat took a dip as they ran out of small talk.

Increasingly, he felt the weight of their past sinking down upon them

Why did you leave, he wanted to ask.

As clearly as he could see her young face looking jubilant, he could remember the last time he saw her before she had run away.

He’d told her he thought she was his mate...after which she’d vanished from his life without so much as an ‘I’m sorry.’

He still wasn’t sure if he had been wrong or not.

17

Lydia

Lydia still thought of Eric as the rugged type. It wasn’t just because he was a bear. Though it might have been because he was a Strauss. All four Strauss brothers were tough fighters when they had to be (sometimes when they didn’t have to be). Any one of them could’ve been the alpha, to Lydia’s mind, including Eric. Connor just happened to be the oldest and the biggest.

So it was a little strange to see Eric in his snazzy suit with his perfect haircut; instead of him sporting some beard growth and running around in jeans before shifting to go roll around in the mud. He had always