Page 268 of The Cowbears of Curvy Bear Ranch

She closed her eyes, but when nothing happened, she snapped them open. He regarded her with an amused expression.Ugh! Jerk.He was one of those guys who liked to tease but wouldn’t follow through. She hardened her heart. She shouldn’t be thinking about him like thatanyway.

He stepped around her and strolled through the bedroom toward the door. She turned on her heel andfollowedhim.

“I’d like to rest now,”shesaid.

“You’re free to do whatever you want,”hesaid.

Oh, if only thatweretrue.

“Have a good day.” She forced a neutralexpression.

“You too,” he said with an equallycomposedface.

After closing the door, she sagged against it. The stress of driving for hundreds of miles coupled with finding out that she’d been lied to created a storm of exhaustion. She needed a nap. But first, she needed to look at her daughter’s faceagain.

She pulled the photograph out of the pocket in the suitcase and held it in her trembling fingers. Everything she was going through, the heartache, the pain—it didn’t matter as long as she could keepBrookesafe.

* * *

If Drew could have pulledhis bear out by his throat and strangled it, he would have. The whole time he was giving the tour to Sharon, his bear danced around in his chest like a wild animal, which technically he was, butstill.

Really, Bear? You’re going to get this worked up over someone you don’tevenknow?

His bear responded with a swift kick in the gut. Drew gasped and grabbedhisribs.

Dammit bear,calmdown!

The beast chuffed and pranced around before finally settling down. After an overly dramatic huff, his bear responded,hell yeah we’re going todothis.

We don’t evenknowher.

Doesn’t matter. She’s hot and she’s ours,his bearsnapped.

She’s leaving in a few days and she won’t be coming back,Drewresponded.

His bear could be such a pain in the ass sometimes. The damn creature only seemed to think about two things: women and food. Speaking of which, he needed asnack.

As he wandered into the kitchen, he spotted Mack washing a mug inthesink.

“She got you on dishwashing duty now?” Drewasked.

“Yeah, amongst other things,”Macksaid.

Drew slid onto a stool at the island in the center of the room. He grabbed a red apple out of the fruit bowl and took a crunchy bite. Juice dribbled down the corners of his mouth. He swiped it away with the back ofhishand.

“On a scale of one to ten, how pissed are you?” Mack askedcalmly.

“Eleven.”

“I figuredasmuch.”

“How did she get that past you? It sounds like she’s been communicating with Sharon for months,”Drewsaid.

“She uses the computer a lot to check for reservations. She sets up promos and stuff,” Mack said. “I never thought anything of it until she came to me this morning to confess. I’ll be honest, I wanted to wring her neck, but I love hertoomuch.”

“It’s probably all those crazy hormones. Women get insane when they’re pregnant,”Drewsaid.

“Nah, not all women, just my honey bear,”Macksaid.

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