37. Chapter 37

Bear pulls me closer, his hands lightly gripping my waist as he drops his head onto my shoulder. I wrap my arms and the blanket around us both. I didn't mean to make him cry, but that's what's happening right now. He's crying. Not only that, he's letting me be a part of it.

It's not just Bear whose shoulders are shaking and breath heaving. We've both had an emotional day. An emotional lotta days, to be honest. Between my work situation and his mom's rapidly progressing Alzheimer's, we've had major life stuff we've been dealing with for a while—before we even met on the fateful spilled coffee day last summer. And maybe, instead of facing things in a healthy way, we focused our anger on each other.

And maybe we don't have to do that anymore.

I comb my fingers through the hair at the nape of Bear's neck and nuzzle his ear. "Why have we wasted so much time?"

He presses our bodies tighter and his arms wrap around me, like body armor, but more protective. And there's still too much distance between us.

"I don't know, but let's not waste anymore." He trails his lips across my jaw until he finds mine, and whatever words were on the tip of my tongue get lost in his kiss.

All the energy we've put into fighting each other transforms into heat, driving the emotion between us. Bear's palm presses into the fabric of the jersey I'm wearing—his jersey—sending fire from the small of my spine through every vertebrae.

"I love seeing my name on your back," he growls. His blue eyes swim with a longing that catches my breath.

"I love wearing your jersey." I erase the gap between us and kiss him hard. "I want everyone to know I'm yours."

Bear groans and deepens his kiss. My whole body responds, wanting him closer. We get lost in each other, gasping for air, fighting for more. We stop long enough to look into each other's eyes and smile as though we can't believe this is happening.

We get so lost in each other that we don't hear the knocking at the front door until Georgia calls, "Cassie, are you in there?"

Bear and I break apart, flying to opposite sides of the couch. I yank the blanket up to my chest right before she opens the door.

But it's too late. Even if we'd had more warning, a flush covers his face down to his chest, and a quick glance in the decorative mirror on the opposite wall gives me a glimpse of my hair. My ponytail is loose, hanging on one side of my head. I tuck the hair that's come out of it behind my ear, an effort that works as well as Bear's attempt to rub the red from his cheeks. Major fail on both our parts.

Georgia doesn't even try to hide her smile, which her red lipstick makes even bigger. "I knocked. No one answered. I guess you were—" her smile defies all the laws of physics and grows wider, "—busy."

Bear and I steal a glance at each other before he scoots off the couch and walks to his bedroom, where he calls back, "We were busy. Did you need something?"

His voice is brusque, and when he comes back out, he's pulling on a T-shirt. But the flush that still covers him from the neck up gives away his embarrassment.

"I just needed to ask Cassie if she was still going back to LA tomorrow," Georgia says in a sing-songy, teasing tone.

Bear looks back at me. "Tomorrow?"

I nod. "I told you I was going back to LA."

"I didn't know you meant so soon."

"We didn't really get to that point in our conversation."

Georgia clears her throat and backs through the door. "I'm leaving now. I just wanted to let you know the loan is approved. The lender has been trying to call Cassie, but you weren't answering, so he called Zach, who sent me to deliver the news. You'll need a little more money up front, but you'll have enough for all the repairs and renovations. Congratulations!"

"That's amazing. Let me figure out what I'm going to do and I'll call you… after I figure out where my phone is." I have no idea where it could be, but I'm too happy to care if it's back at the apartment or at the bottom of the pond.

As soon as the door clicks shut behind Georgia, Bear faces me. "Are you still going to leave?"

With the blanket over my lap, I scoot into the couch cushions and cross my legs under me. "I have to."

His shoulders and head drop. When he looks at me again, hurt fills his eyes. "Why?"

"I have to face Markham. I have to fight for the other officers he's hurt and make sure he can't do it again." As much as it kills me to see the pain on his face, I can't stay.

"Then what?"

"What do you mean?"

Bear licks his lips and pulls his shoulders back. "I mean, after you win that fight, will you come back?"

There's a shy hopefulness in his question, but there's a confidence in the few steps he takes toward the couch that tells me if my answer is no, he'll do what it takes to convince me otherwise.

He won't have to.

"Do you want me to come back? Even though you lost our fight?" I lift my chin and send him a teasing grin.

"You think I lost?" Bear kneels in front of me and pulls me so close his forehead almost touches mine. "You're wrong. I got exactly what I wanted, and I'll be right here when you get back."

"Good. Because, even without the shop, I would have come back. But now I have more than one reason to." I smile, then sink into Bear's arms and let him cover me with his strength and kisses.

The End