Page 45 of Bear In A Boutique
It was a few hours before dark by the time they were done at the house fire. Eager to get to Olive, Ryker jumped in the back of the firetruck and grabbed his cell phone to text her, but the battery was nearly dead. He read a message from Desi that Olive was fine, and the boutique was locked up tight.
Relieved, Ryker slipped the phone in his pocket, thankful he had family. Desi had been more than willing to check in with Olive while Ryker was on the fire call, especially after he told his cousin about the creep.
His phone rang just as he slumped against the seat.
“Fox, my phone is going to die.”
“We’ve got two missing hikers. Get here when you’re—”
The phone died.
He popped his head through the open divider between his seat and the driver up front. “Drop me off at Search and Rescue. We’re going out.”
Damn it. It would be sometime tomorrow before he had the chance to get to Olive, and with a dead phone and no time to charge it, he had no way of contacting her.
No, he wasn’t wasting any more time making Olive his mate.
Every second between now and tomorrow was going to be agony.
Chapter Sixteen
“Fox and Ryker are going to miss their tux fitting.”
The stress in Lulu’s voice rolled over to Olive, who’d been a mess since running into Ryker yesterday.
“I’m sure the seamstress will understand they’re on an emergency call. You said they left last night, so hopefully they’ve found the hikers and are on their way back.”
Olive paced the boutique floor. Nothing was right. Nothing. Her body was strung tight, and she felt… empty. Her mind was churning in circles. Despite the list she made and the list for the list, she wasn’t making any progress on her work this morning.
“Rowen, Desi, Dax, and Jett are waiting for them at the bakery, but they can’t wait much longer. Ugh, you’d think this is my wedding, as nervous as I am for everything to go right.”
“It’s your mother-in-law’s big day. Of course, you want everything to go right.”
“You’re right.” Lulu sighed hard. “I’ll keep you posted. Maybe Ryker will call you from Fox’s phone.”
Oh, her friend. Always the optimist. She hadn’t shared her Ryker woes with Lulu because she didn’t want to overshadow the pregnancy news with something depressing. So, of course, Lulu continued to believe something would happen between them.
“Maybe.”
She knew without a doubt that he’d felt the same over-the-top sexual attraction that she had yesterday, and he’d just… walked away. Right, because he was leaving town, blah, blah, blah. He sure liked to continue with his hot and cold routine, though. And how he looked at her made it obvious that he felt more than friendly toward her.
“You’ve probably figured this out by now, Olive, but Ryker moves at his own pace.”
“You mean, start, stop, start, stop?”
“He’s just got to find his rhythm. Talk to you later.”
Olive turned to look at the boxes of inventory that showed up bright and early this morning. Of course, the delivery would come on the day she reopened the store. Her heart flipped when the delivery man entered the back door with his hand cart nearly overflowing with boxes. Cara must have added things to the inventory again because the shipment was huge.
She’d placed several boxes by her desk for easier access while doing other things. Slicing one of the boxes open with scissors, she opened it to find a stack of brightly colored baby blankets. The one on top was pink with white polka dots and sparkling pink fringe. Thinking of Lulu’s baby, she lifted the blankets out one by one and stacked them on her desk for inspection.
A little pull tugged low in her abdomen as she ran her hands over one of the lush blankets. What would it be like to have a baby… to have Ryker’s baby? Satisfaction hummed through her as if that’s exactly what her body was craving.
“Oh, knock it off.”
Rolling her eyes at herself, Olive put the blanket down and prepared to open the next box when a soft clicking sound came from the back hallway. Did the back door just open? The delivery person must have more to drop off.
“You can bring them up here,” she called out.
