Page 34 of The Bear's Second Chance Mate
His voice was steady again, the moment, whatever it had been, seemingly forgotten. But June couldn’t forget. Couldn’t unsee that look orunfeel the way it had reached inside her and touched something that had been sleeping for far too long.
“I should probably get going,” she said. “I have some errands to run before I collect Oli from school.”
“Oh, sure,” he said awkwardly.
“If you want any more advice, let me know,” she said as she got up and shouldered her purse.
“I will take you up on the offer,” he said.
Notmight. Butwill.
Man, this guy was confusing her.
“Thanks for meeting me today,” he said as they stepped outside the coffee shop. “And for the advice about the store. I really appreciate it.”
“Thanks for asking,” June replied, fishing her keys from her pocket. “Not many people do.”
They stood there, the space between them charged with words unsaid. June waited, heart fluttering against her ribs, for...something. A touch. A sign. Anything to confirm that the connection she felt wasn’t just in her imagination.
But Stanley kept his hands tucked in his pockets, his stance careful, respectful. The distance between them remained unbridged.
“Drive safe,” he said finally.
June nodded, trying to hide her disappointment. “I will.”
She turned to open her car door, then hesitated, looking back at him. The expression on his face stole her breath. A look so full of yearning, so intense it seemed to reach inside her and take hold of something vital. His eyes held hers for one long moment, dark and filled with an emotion she couldn’t name but felt echoed in her own chest.
Then it was gone, shuttered behind a gentle smile and a small nod.
“I’ll tell Oli you asked about him,” she said, fumbling with her keys.
Stanley nodded. “Tell him Herbert misses him.”
June smiled, opening her car door. “I will.”
She slid into the driver’s seat, and Stanley stepped closer and rested his hand on the car door. “Would you…” he hesitated, then tried again, “Would you maybe want to get coffee again sometime?”
She looked up at him quickly, hope sparking before she could help it. “Yes.”
His eyes blazed with what looked like triumph for a brief moment. A smile spread across his lips, softening his features, and yet there was something almost predatory in it, a flicker of possessiveness that made her heart stutter.
“Drive safely,” he said, his hand still resting on the edge of her door, fingers inches from hers.
“I will,” she replied, but even she could hear the tremor in her voice.
Because they weren’t really talking about driving.
The air between them crackled with something unsaid, something powerful and magnetic. A pull. A recognition. A promise she didn’t fully understand but couldn’t ignore. It hummed beneath her skin like electricity, undeniable and unspoken.
He finally closed the door, and in that final second, his fingertips brushed hers. Barely a touch, so fleeting she might have imagined it, but it jolted through her like a live wire.
Her hands trembled as she started the engine. She couldn’t look at him again. Not directly. Because if she did, she would fling the car door open and fall into his arms.
So, instead, she settled for watching him in the rearview mirror, heart pounding as she watched him shrink in the distance.
He hadn’t moved.
He stood there alone on the sidewalk, eyes fixed on her taillights.
