Page 42 of His Determined Bear

“Hi,” I said. That seemed like a good place to start.

Cooper opened his mouth, but before any sound came out, he covered his mouth with his hand. His eyes widened, and his face turned green.

Before I computed what was happening, my mate was no longer in front of me. I picked up his suitcases and followed in the direction he’d gone. After shifting, my bear walked into the bathroom, and I saw his legs pushing out of the stall.

I waited out there until he was done. Some people shot me weird looks, but that was their problem.

When Cooper came out of the stall, he sighed when he saw me there. He walked over to the sink to rinse his mouth and splash some water on his face. Cooper grabbed some hand towels from the dispenser and dabbed his face. After three long sleepless weeks, my beautiful tired man finally faced me.

“Are you okay?” I asked, “Would you like something to drink?”

He groaned and shook his head, “Can we please just go?”

I wanted to demand he tell me what was wrong, but after looking at his face, I knew that was the last thing he needed.

“Alright then,” I said, and he breathed out a sigh of relief. “After you.”

His eyes were wary, and I never wanted him to feel that way in my presence.

I stayed behind him until we were outside the bathroom. I matched his step so he could keep up as I led us through the airport to the hourly parking lot.

I helped Cooper into the car first before putting his luggage in the trunk. After closing the hatch, I took a second to pull myself together before getting in the car.

For some reason, I expected to get in the car and find him with headphones on, doing his best to pretend we weren’t sharing the same space.

I drew in a deep breath, and my bear sat up. Wait. That couldn’t be right. I drew in a deeper breath and immediately wanted to shout from the highest mountain and scream with happiness.

I couldn’t believe it. Was this why he’d left? Did he think I would be angry? If only he knew how impossible that really was.

Even though I wanted to pull him across the seat into my arms and tell him how happy I was, I held myself back. I wanted him to be the one to tell me. But I couldn’t help myself, though. I cupped his cheek, rubbing my thumb back and forth across his light stubble. I held his gaze waiting for him to move away. He didn’t.

I traced his jaw more and sighed. Gods, the feel of his skin. Great Urs, I’d missed him. I leaned in and brushed my lips softly against his. Cooper breathed out like he needed it as much as I did. Like not being close hurt him as much as it hurt me.

He didn’t move away as I deepened the kiss. He kissed me back while I kept it gentle, just savoring his taste after so long. It felt like a shot of pure adrenaline to my system. Everything was suddenly in color where the world had been grey.

When I pulled back and looked into his eyes, I saw anxiety there. I wanted to wipe it away. Especially because I had a feeling, I knew what had put it there. And I had to admit the kiss and him kissing me back had gotten rid of the tight knot that had taken up permanent residency in my stomach.

“Come over,” I asked, “Please. To my house, we should talk. When you say the word I’ll take you home immediately.”

Cooper nibbled on his lips and began to shake his head. My heart felt like it was shrinking in my chest, and I tried not to show it how much it hurt me. But then he said, “Yes.”

I stared at him. Did I imagine it? “What did you say?”

A slow smile curved those perfect lips. “Yes. Yeah, I’ll come to your house.”

Chapter 17

Cooper

I’d considered canceling tonight from the moment Graham dropped me off, but the truth was I actually wanted to see him again. I’d missed him. A lot.

When I walked into the family room, mom and Aaron shared a blanket on the large sofa. The fire burning in the fireplace cast the room in a romantic glow, and they appeared to be streaming a movie on the large flat-screen TV.

Mom looked up with a smile on her face and lifted up the remote to pause the movie. Now I had two pairs of questioning eyes on me, but neither one of them asked a single question. She looked me over the way moms do, then said, “We’re so glad you're back, Coop. Have some fun with Graham.”

When the doorbell rang, my pulse started galloping like a herd of wild horses, and my mouth suddenly went dry.

“Coop.” My mom's voice had me thawing. I glanced her way, and she said, “I think that’s for you.”

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