Page 9 of Goldie's Grumpy Grizzly
“Yeah, us meeting like this. Our paths were meant to cross!” She leans over and yanks the sheets back into place while looking me over. “You said it yourself. I’ve got amends to make for crashing into you. I can’t think of a more perfect set-up than me being right here, by your side, while you recuperate. Though it seems you’re healing pretty well. You look hardly worse for wear.”
“I heal fast,” I snap. “Bear shifter ability.”
“Oh, I look forward to hearing all about those. What’d you say your name was?”
“I didn’t. You should leave.” My gaze follows her as she continues moving around the room, looking too at home in my space. “I’ll find you another cabin to stay in.”
“Oh. But this cabin’s the best one. It’s so homey and cozy, and I’ve already filled up the freezer with food to last me the length of my stay. There’s really no reason to leave. We can share the space.”
I scrub my face with one hand. “No. I—”
“Besides, I’m not to blame for what’s happened here. There are clearly forces at work that are beyond us. Maybe something to do with the portals or the magic or whatever everyone says is so concentrated here.” Rae flutters a hand in the air and her top rides up. A silk strap slips down her shoulder again and exposes more of the ink tattooed over her breast.
A bear claw. Right over her heart.
My bear whimpers, begging me to unsheath my own claws, free her of all that pesky clothing, and give in to the instinct screaming for me to claim this blonde beauty.
No. Screw this. This isn’t happening.
“Hitting me with your car is one hundred percent your fault.” I chomp another bite of her muffin. “Someone could’ve been seriously hurt. You included.”
My heart lurches at the thought. Might she have been hurt? I hadn’t even considered it. I peer at her again, watching her movements carefully in case she’s favoring one side over the other.
“Okay, fair point. I’m sorry about that, but we were clearly meant to be together.”
“What?”
“Here. Together. In this cabin. Your cabin,” she corrects, pointing at me. “There are no other suitable lodges, and I’m staying for the week to finish some work. So, hear me out. To make up for that unfortunate car incident, I’ll look after you. For your information, I’m an excellent nurse. And I made enough food for a small army to power me through my work, I won’t be any trouble at all.”
I snort. Fat chance. She’s already a whole-ass mountain heap of trouble just being here, but she doesn’t seem to be suffering any ill effects from our collision.
Maybe I better stay close, just in case she develops a sore neck or something.
I toss the rest of the muffin into my mouth and chew irritably while I try to think it through.
“I mean, we can share the space or you can go. Don’t think I’m above a public review of the multiple cabins I was moved into that were unsuitable before being unceremoniously kicked to the curb—”
“I’m not kick—” A frustrated growl escapes me as I roll my eyes to the high, exposed beams. “Stay then. I’ll…”
Go, I want to say, but the word sticks in my throat. “… sleep on the couch.”
“Great!” The radiant smile she aims at me steals my very breath. “But the bed’s plenty big enough for two. Maybe even three or four. And I don’t bite… Hard, anyway.”
Then she spins on her heel and sashays her way to the bathroom, chattering all the while as my eyes drop to her rounded ass. I don’t hear a word she says as I swallow hard, suddenly wishing I had a whole different kind of sweetness on my tongue.
My cock swells painfully in my jeans as I choke down a groan. There’s no fucking way my mate is going to share a bed with “three or four” people. If anyone’s sharing that bed with her, it’s going to be me.
Even if it kills me.
Chapter Five
Rae
Fifteen minutes later, I bound into the kitchen fresh out of the shower, and I’m treated to an
eyeful of Br—no, Cole he said his name was—Cole’s backside.
Good God, the man looks like he was carved from stone by a master artist. His shoulders are wide, crowding out the view of the sunlit trees outside. His back muscles ripple with every swipe of his hand as he dutifully scrubs out the pile of bakeware I left piled in the sink before I’d abandoned the housework in favor of trying to write last night.
