Page 10 of Bear with Me
"I love them!" His sweet grin almost made me forget what I'd asked.
"Good. Um … any allergies?"
"None."
"Anything you'd like me to get in town?"
His eyes widened. "Shit. Yes. You need a new notebook."
I'd expected him to forget all about it. It was my notebook, and yesterday's mishap had already slipped my mind.
"I'll go with you." Ollie scrubbed his stubbled cheeks with his nails. I couldn't look away. "Can you wait a few minutes?" He asked, oblivious to my ogling. "I don't feel alive until I shower in the morning."
Last night must have been an after-flight one-off situation for both of us, then. Maybe we were more compatible than I thought. My cock did not need the added incentive of thinking about him taking care of his morning wood in the shower, though.
"Aren't you going to shower?" His gaze lifted to my hair.
It was probably sticking out at all angles after I slept on it last night. "Good idea."
"You go first. I thought I saw a coffee maker."
"I found it, but no coffee." Mentally, I added it to my list. Outside of sugary sweet lattes, I didn't drink the stuff, but I would splurge for him.
"I'll walk to the lodge to see what they've got. Any preference?"
"Water's fine for me."
While Ollie checked the cupboards and confirmed there was no coffee, I gathered my favorite pair of jeans and a soft sweater from my suitcase, along with socks and underwear. The elves, ghosts, or whoever was in charge of making this the best vacation ever had forgotten to bring me my misplaced pajamas, too.
"On second thought," I said, "let's go somewhere for breakfast, and then we can shop for groceries, pajamas, and a notebook."
Ollie looked up from the bare cupboard and grinned. "Sounds like a plan."
My face burned beneath his gaze. I fled to the bathroom with a wave and some garbled muttering about taking a shower. Not even I could understand me.
I heard a strange creak while I adjusted the water for the shower. At first, I worried it was the pipes, but then I recognized the distinct sound of a door closing. The cabin had a back porch outside the door in the small hallway between the bedroom and the kitchen. Cool air nipped at my skin as I rushed toward the sound. The upper half of the metal door was thick glass, which made it easy to view the beautiful snow-covered trees beyond the small yard.
That wasn't the view that caught my attention. The tall and muscular hunk of naked man standing with his back to me drewmy gaze and wouldn't let me go. Before my mind could register that my new roommate was standing buck naked in the freezing cold outside our cabin, he … changed. He grew taller and hairier. Giant paws reached for the sky in a stretch. By the time he leaned forward and those paws hit the ground, shaking snow from a nearby tree, his entire body was covered in thick brown fur. He had the cutest little tail. It shimmied from side to side as he ran into the woods.
Holy shit. My roommate was a huge brown bear.
I couldn't explainwhat had happened to my phone apps at the airport, but this place definitely had rideshare. Ollie ordered a car for us, and I swore to make it up to him on our trip into Pinevale. I owed him all the money left in my bank account. The ride share was nice, but sleeping on a mattress instead of the floor or cramped loveseat: priceless.
"Is everything all right?" Ollie asked me for the fifth time since we took our seats in the cramped window booth. When we first arrived at the quaint diner, complete with checkerboard tile, Chevy tri-five bench seats in every booth, and marble laminate tabletops, Ollie had approached the lunch counter. He looked like he would take the last open stool, but then he saw the "Please wait to be seated" sign, grabbed my arm, and dragged me to it instead.
I hated casual touch, but the pleasant jolt that coursed through me every time Ollie accidentally brushed up against me was enough to keep me from throwing a tantrum. I'd done enough of that on the plane.
On our driver's recommendation, we ordered the waffles. Now that the server had taken the menu I'd been using for cover,Ollie's gaze bored into me. He wanted an answer to his question. I opened my mouth, thought better of angering the bear across from me, and closed it again.
"Twenty questions time," he said. "All you have to say is yes or no."
I nodded.
"Did something happen while you were in the shower?"
I swallowed hard. Instead of speaking, I nodded again.
"Did you hear something?"
