Page 31 of His Determined Bear

I glanced around the room and sighed. Okay, the first thing I have to do is get rid of some of these baked goods. And I knew exactly where to start.

I went over to where I left my phone charging next to the coffee maker. I would text Kian, my brother Gabe’s mate. He loved everything I baked and take care of a lot of it.

Graham: How would you like some treats?

I didn’t have to wait long before I got a reply.

Kian: Do you even have to ask? Gimme. Gimme. Gimme.

I chuckled at his response. Kian always had that effect on me.

I got moving, cleaning up, and preparing to pack things up. I made it a priority to keep some to-go containers here for when I baked at home. The first priority was to package the oatmeal cookies I’d made for my nephews. They needed the extra fiber, and this hopefully would help. I’d also made chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies for Kian and Nash.I would need two more containers for them.

The last time I saw Rhys, he’d asked me to make some lemon bars for him. So I needed a large container for him.

I glanced at the pan of brownies that immediately reminded me of Cooper and sighed. He doesn’t have to like everything I bake, but he did love my torta barozzi. Without giving it any more thought, I decided to give them to Kian and Nash. My brothers mate’s would definitely enjoy eating them.

When everything was packed up and ready to go, I loaded it into the UTV since I wasn’t going far. And it would stop you from driving straight to Cooper’s.

I drove over to Kian’s first. He must have been waiting for me because he came out with his hands outstretched.

“Oh my, I smell cinnamon,” he put his hand on his heart. “It’s going to be a great day.”

I snorted, “You’re great for my ego.”

Kian chuckled, “The cookies definitely help.”

I put my hand on my chest and gasped, “You only like me for my cookies.”

He pretended to think about it, “Not just the cookies, but also your brownies, cakes, pies, and oh my gosh, the cinnamon rolls.” He held the box to his chest, he furrowed his brow.

“Do you think Gabe will sniff these out? Cause you know, I love my mate, but cinnamon rolls are a hard limit.”

I laughed, “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

“He’s my mate, so I’ll have to share with him,” Kian said like it was just what it was. “Well, he can have one.”

I wanted that with Cooper. The banter, the teasing, the intimate knowledge of one another. Fuck, I wanted to see him.

I followed Kian into the house and on to the kitchen, only to find it quiet. “My nephews are sleeping?”

Kian sighed exaggeratedly, “Thank the gods. I have all four of them, and thankfully they all seemed to go down at the same time.”

I wouldn’t have minded some nephew distraction today.

“So, what are you working on at the moment?” I asked Kian as I watched him flit around the kitchen making a coffee.

“Just some freelance stuff at the moment,” he said as he made my coffee just the way I liked it before putting the mug in front of me with a cookie. Then he cut a small slice of brownie and placed a cinnamon roll on a plate for himself. When he sat beside me at the bar, he looked my way, “Don’t judge.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I assured him.

We ate in silence for a bit, and I watched with fascination as my five-foot-five brother-in-law polished off both the cinnamon roll and the brownie in no time at all. He then leaned back in his seat, patting his stomach.

“So, what did you think of brownies?” I tried to sound nonchalant, but I wasn’t sure I quite pulled it off.

“They’re great as usual,” Kian replied. “Remember how many I had at Papa’s birthday?”

“Not too dry?” I checked.

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