14. Chapter 14

The pickup game Zach put together does the opposite of what he wanted. I trip once while trying to score, but that only makes me fall in love with pond hockey all over again. I love the challenge of it. Being back out here only makes me want to fight for the pond even harder.

But seeing Cassie standing by the bench with Evie and Georgia reinforces how hard the road ahead may be. Feeling her eyes on me while I'm on the ice, though, not only makes me play harder than usual but also reminds me I'd planned on negotiating with her.

Not that I'd forgotten, but I made the plan before the Great Cat Attack. I've needed a couple days since then to calm down and stop itching. My skin feels okay now, but my conscience is still bugging me. I keep hearing Georgia's words about Cassie and me both having a hard time right now.

I haven't stopped wondering what Georgia meant. Is Cassie losing someone too? Is that why she wants to leave LA, or is there something else driving her so far from home?

I'm still mad at Cassie for the cat prank, and maybe each time I make a hit, it's partly to show her I can't be pushed around. At first, anyway. But then I notice her expression after I shove Zach out of my way and successfully score a goal. I'm not one to brag, but I know what impressed looks like, and that's what she is.

While all the other guys pack up and leave right after the game, I use the shower in the shop's restroom to clean up. I worry the whole time that Cassie will leave before I finish, but I have a hard enough time talking to her when I'm not a sweaty mess. I need to be at my best when I have this conversation.

After the shower, I comb my hair and try to tame my beard as much as possible without actually trimming it. Usually I wouldn't grow it out until hockey playoffs, but the Utah Miners are tearing up the ice in their first season, and I choose to believe it's because of my beard. They started winning as soon as I stopped grooming it.

Does it look good? Not really. And it's itchy. But the Miners are counting on me and my facial hair, whether or not they know it.

I walk out of the bathroom and take some deep breaths to steady my skittering nerves. Georgia assured me all the cats are gone, and the fact I can breathe means they're not just gone, but that Cassie must have gone to a lot of work to clean up after them. Something about that thought gives me a little more confidence that she'll be willing to talk.

I have no idea what I'll say as I head toward the door between the shop and the studio, but then I spot the flowers with the I'm sorry bear sitting on top of a tool cabinet. I'd forgotten about them.

They're a little wilted, but still look okay. The roses are just opening, and if I explain I planned to give them to her the other day, she'll understand why they're not fresh. Although, it looks as if they've been watered. I wonder if Cassie did that, too.

I hope.

I carry them to the door between the shop and studio and am about to knock when there's a knock on the other side, startling me. The door opens a crack, and I step back to avoid getting hit.

"Bear?" Cassie pokes her head around the door, then jumps when she sees me.

"Sorry!" I say. "I was about to knock, too."

"Oh." She puts her hand over her heart and laughs, then steps inside the shop. "That's okay. I didn't expect you to be right there."

"Yeah. I didn't expect you either." I let out a nervous laugh and clutch the flowers closer to my chest. "I'm glad you're here, though. I was hoping we could talk. Maybe work out something without resorting to anymore animal attacks."

Cassie laughs and the music of it fills the shop. I don't remember ever hearing it before. Now that I have, I'll do whatever it takes to hear it again.

"Excellent idea," she says with a smirk, then pulls out her phone and pretends to tap on it. "Let me just cancel the circus monkeys I ordered."

I break into a smile and take out my phone. "Looks like I can still get a refund on the plague of frogs I put a deposit on."

She tips back her head and laughs again, her neck long. A lock of black hair brushes her cheekbone. Her gaze drops to her phone, then comes back to mine. "Unfortunately, the locusts are already on their way. Sorry about that."

Her green eyes dance under her long lashes, and my breath hitches. Those eyes are what first drew me to Cassie. No matter how hard I try to resist thinking about her, I can't forget all the shades of green her irises skim through.

"I'm sure you'll make it up to me." My voice comes out in a low rasp I blame on the grip her eyes have on me.

"Maybe." Cassie shrugs, but her words mirror the wanting in mine. I've only seen her hair pulled back, but tonight it's loose and falls over her shoulder.

She steps closer and tucks a lock behind her ear. "I just wanted to come over and…" Her lips part. "Apologize," she finishes, then adds, "for the cats."

I drag my eyes away from her mouth and the lip caught between her teeth.

"I was coming to apologize, too." I thrust the flowers at her. "I mean, I meant to the other day. I brought these then to say sorry for the mice. With all the…" I swallow hard as she takes the flowers from me. "Cats… or, you know… whatever… I guess I forgot."

"These were for me?" she says.

Cassie smells the flowers, her eyelids fluttering closed. When she opens them again, she smiles in a way I've never seen her do. There's no reservation or hesitation in the curve of her lips. Instead of keeping me at arm's length, this smile invites me closer.

"Apology accepted," she says.

"Does this mean we can be friends?" Friends is a good starting point. That's reasonable. Even if—for whatever reason—the only thought in my mind right now is how much I'd enjoy kissing her.

Cassie lifts her shoulder in another shrug.

Which could mean why not? Or it could mean why bother? Or whatever.

Then Cassie tips her head. "Can I confess something?" She smiles softly. "I saw them after you left the other night." Her eyes drop, then shoot back to mine. "And I hoped they were for me but didn't let myself believe it after all that's happened."

"Really?"

A noise that sounds like it could be a cat—or a hyena—pierces through the magnetic field, drawing me closer to Cassie.

"Was that a cat?" I look around her into the studio, but I can't see anything through the few inches the door is open.

"I have one more to take back to Harvey. Don't worry. I'll keep him in the studio." Cassie closes the shop door with both of us on the shop side, then leans against it.

"So, the cats came from Harvey? That's what I figured." I glare over her head in the direction of the cat on the other side of the door.

"Anyway," Cassie tugs my beard, drawing my attention back to her. "I love flowers and stuffed bears. So, thank you for this bear, Bjorn." She points to the pink bear wrapped around the vase.

"But I've been wondering what you meant the other day when you accused me of ‘torturing' you when you tried to ask me out." With the slightest curve of her mouth, Cassie's friendly smile changes into something else.

Something more.

"I didn't mean it," I hurry to say before gaining my composure. "I said it in the heat of the moment."

"The part about me torturing you or the part about you asking me out?" Her

eyebrows go up a fraction of an inch in both a challenge and a hopeful question.

Unless I'm misreading all the signs she's sending, Cassie is flirting with me.

My lady skills are a little rusty, but Cassie radiates so much confidence that I soak it in, ready to make up for the first time I tried to talk to her.

Okay, hit on her. I had wanted to hit on her.

I had not wanted to spill iced coffee all over her and when I did, I lost any cool I'd pulled together.

There's nothing in my hands now. I've been given a second, (third, maybe fourth?) chance to do what I wanted to do the first time I met her. I inch closer and turn on the charm. "The torture part—even though I think you enjoy it—but I'd still like to ask you out… now that I know your feelings about bears."

"I do like bears." Cassie bites her lip, then runs her tongue over the spot.

My knees go weak. To stay upright, I press my hand to the door, inches from her head. I lose all control over my impulses. I've wanted to be this close to Cassie—to touch her—and before I can stop myself, I'm untucking her lock of hair and twirling it around one of my fingers.

"All bears?" I ask.

The smell of vanilla and possibility fills my nostrils as my eyes drop to her lips. To the spot she bit.

"Hmmm. Some bears." Cassie meets my gaze, and her eyes dance between an emerald and dark green. "Small pink ones, especially. So, thank you, again."

"And?"

"And what?" Her brow creases, and I'm tempted to drop her hair and run my thumb over the soft line between her eyebrows.

I lean closer. "I'm waiting for my apology… you know, for trying to kill me."

I like that Cassie is tall enough I don't dwarf her. Right now, I could stop a train for her, but I'm also deeply aware she doesn't need me to protect her.

"I already said I came over to apologize."

"You did." I nod and tuck the hair back behind her ear. "But I didn't actually hear you say I'm sorry." I wrap my hand around hers holding the flowers. "So maybe I'm the one who's earned the apologybear."

Her mouth drops as I take the flowers from her. "Are you being serious right now?"

I lift a shoulder and set the flowers and stuffed bear on a high shelf next to the door. All the anger and frustration that's been building for months is returning to what I've always felt for her…

Desire.

I'm going to kiss Cassie, and I want her hands to be free when I do.

Her eyes narrow and she presses her lips together. But there's a grin behind them, trying to get out.

"Two little words, Cassie, and the bear is yours." I smile.

Her face softens, she lifts her chin, and she whispers in a low voice, "Which Bear?"

My chest explodes, and I don't care if she's teasing me. The feelings I've reined in since she came to Paradise last summer break free.

"This Bear was yours the first time I ever saw you." I close the remaining inches between us and press a gentle kiss on her lips.

When I break away, Cassie looks at me. Her chest lifts and falls. I hold my breath.

An eternity passes.

Then she tugs me so close, I have to catch myself against the door to keep from crashing into her. With her hands on both sides of my head, she kisses me hard and deep, leaving me breathless and gasping for more.

I slide my hands from the door to cup her face in my hands and whisper, "You don't know how long I've wanted to kiss you like this."

"You don't know how long I've wanted to be kissed like this," she returns.

Then her mouth is on mine. Her hands slide down my back until her fingers dig into my waist.

All the tension between us melts into sighs and a desperate attempt to get even closer than we already are. Without breaking apart, I drop my hands from Cassie's face, scoop her up, and carry her to the Mustang.

I set her on the hood, and she lays back, pulling me with her. We stop long enough to smile at each other.

"What are we doing?" Cassie asks.

"I don't know, but I like it. I like you." My voice scrapes with need. "You're so beautiful. I like you smiling at me the way you are right now. You should smile like that all the time."

I expect her smile to grow wider or that she'll kiss me again. Instead, Cassie freezes. Her face turns hard, her eyes dark. As quickly as the heat between us sparked into wildfire, it cools to ice.

Cassie sits up and pushes me away. "This was a mistake. I have to go."

"What?" I stare at her, but she won't meet my eye. "What did I do?" I scoot out of her way but follow her to the door. "Cassie, whatever it is, I'm sorry. Just don't go please."

She stops at the door and turns, finally looking at me. "It's not you, Bjorn. I just…" she shakes her head, and when she speaks it's in a flat tone. "I'm going to buy this shop. You kissing me won't change that. You can't stop me from getting my bookstore."

"That's not why I kissed you," I say, my lungs tight with shame that I made her feel like that.

But she's already through the door. I hear the lock click before I can find anything else to say.

I pound on the door, then yell, "Cassie! Come on. At least talk to me…" I drop my fist to my side. "You don't even have to open the door if you don't want to," I say more softly.

Nothing comes from the other side. No noise. No reply. Nothing.

I press my forehead to the cold metal door and try one more time. "Cassie, please."

Still nothing.

I push away and slowly walk across the shop, not ready to give up hope yet.

But after I've packed up all my hockey stuff and put on my heavy coat, she still

hasn't come back or said anything.

I don't know what I said that ruined the moment between us, but maybe it's for the best. Attraction doesn't mean we're right for each other. We still want the same thing, and only one of us can have it.

My eyes skate to the roses and pink bear on the shelf. Without a second thought, I cross the room and grab them.

On my way out of the shop, I drop them in the trash.