Page 4 of Bearly Yours
He shrugged, looking unconcerned. “I only have the businesses because I like to keep busy, and I like to cook. I don’t need the money. I have enough for a hundred lifetimes.”
I shook my head. “What of your employees? I don’t think they can say the same. Besides, I love your restaurants. I’d be heartbroken if you shut them down, especiallyMeumandFlame.”
Roarke gently tilted my chin up with his forefinger so he could meet my eyes. “You mean that?”
I nodded, trying not to fidget at his touch or let my face broadcast how much his touch affected me.
He searched my face for a bit before nodding curtly. “They stay open, then. But he’s not welcome.” More smoke spiraled from his nostrils.
I waved the smoke away like a pro who’s used to being around chain smokers and tried shifting the subject to something else. Again. He wouldn’t change his mind. If there was another being on the face of this earth more stubborn than a dragon, I’d love to meet them, because I doubted they existed.
I shook my head and leaned against his shoulder, suddenly weary. “Sheep?” I asked, out of the blue. It was a game of ours, wherein I tried to guess what hoards he had. As a dragon, I knew he had a few, but he was very mum about them, refusing to tell anyone what they were. Mostly I was curious, but I was also tired of never getting invited to his house for movie night, because apparently his hoards were not the size or type you could just shove in a closet when company came over.
While movie night at my house wasfine,I wanted him to be comfortable enough with me to invite me over. I thought hewasthat comfortable with me. It was possible, though, that his hoards were very embarrassing. In which case, I needed to see them sooner rather than later because I needed a lift of my spirits and excellent fodder for blackmail.
He laughed, the sound smoky and sexy. It made my skin tingle and my belly swoop. “If I had sheep, I would eat them, or I’d introduce a lot of new lamb dishes to the restaurants.”
Poor, poor lambs.
“Shot glasses?”
He snorted, looking down at me with fondness and amusement. “You’ll not guess,cailín.”
“1800’s ladies’ dresses?”
His laughter filled the garden, echoing down the lantern lit pathways. I smiled and laid my head back on his shoulder. I’d figure it out eventually.
Later,I entered my cozy little home on Clan property and flipped on a light, reaching down to undo one strap on my heel and then the other. I sighed in relief when they were both off, then walked on tender feet to my bedroom to dump them in my closet. I really wasn’t a fan of heels. And I didn’t understand the females who loved them. They were like the boned corsets of the 19thcentury, except for your feet. And like a slave to peer pressure, I had several pairs of them. Ironically, the peer pressure had come from my male Clan members. None of whom wore heels. What did they know about fashion?
I didn’t see or smell Kona—our resident Koala that Ben had given into the Moonhaven Bear Clan to keep safe, healthy, and happy—anywhere in my house as I flipped on another light. But that didn’t mean anything, because Kona could go invisible and literally be anywhere. And for some reason, he loved hanging out at my house more than the others in the Clan, even though we passed him around from house to house quite often.
“Kona?” I called, sniffing around. My nose was telling me he’d been in the house recently, but wasn’t here at the moment. I also couldn’t hear him snoring or otherwise making mischief, so I assumed he was with a brother for the evening.
I breathed out a sigh of relief. I mean, I loved the little guy, but he was a rascal.
I changed out of my little black dress and put on some comfy sweatpants and a Moonhaven Cove sweater that was old, stretched out, ratty and very, very comfortable.
I needed new clothes. It took forever to find stuff I loved that fit my tall and curvy body perfectly, so when Ididfind them, I wore them out. Most of my stuff had holes, rips, stains and/or bite marks from my over-exuberant Clan, or it was so threadbare that it was practically indecent. Roarke had been threatening for ages to lock me in a department store until I bought some new things.
He’d do it too, so I should maybe think about getting some clothing soon. I laughed and went to go heat up the spaghetti that Roarke had sent home with me. I had a shifter’s metabolism, and that meant I was frequently hungry. Although Taco, one of my Clan, literally seemed to eat 24/7 and had most shifters beat by a long shot. Hence, his nickname, which my Clan members had given him. In fact, I didn’t know of any small eaters in my Clan, unless they were the mates of the bear shifters, or the small cubs.
Shifter mates could literally be any type of person. Another shifter of the same species, a different species, any type of paranormal, even humans. The only humans in Moonhaven were the spouses of paranormals, and they were spelled to secrecy so they couldn’t reveal our town to anyone.
King Draven, one of the founders, and those supernaturals that made up the PNW Council, hadn’t wanted to take any chances. This place was our sanctuary. Our haven, where we could live in the world but be separate and have our own space. It was the best of both worlds, and none of the citizens wanted it to be wrecked by someone with a grudge or loose lips. So, secrecy was super important, and guaranteed through both potion and spell. The spell covered the town itself, and the potion covered those who left for any length of time.
I took my plate and glass of ice water to my sofa and snuggled my fuzzy lap blanket around my hips and thighs, just like Iliked it, then I settled in with Roarke’s amazing spaghetti and meatballs and an animated comedy TV show.
I didn’t watch most adult television. It made my heart hurt. There was too much violence, and I hated the swearing. I chuckled as I bit into a succulent meatball, which was spicy and tangy and so, so good. I hummed in delight and scooped up another.
My sensitivity to swearing was the reason Roarke only swore in Gaelic around me. And it was for thatexactreason that I’d never learned his native tongue. Sometimes I wanted to know what the softer sounding words he said meant, especially the ones he frequently said tome, but I didn’t want to be able to translate his swearing, so I’d never learned.
I turned off the TV when the show was over and got ready for bed. As I lay there, my mind churning over the events of the day, my phone buzzed, and without even looking at it, I knew who it was.
Roarke- You asleep yet?
Nope. Just got in bed.
My phone was silent for so long after that that I thought he’d gotten busy with something else, so I put it back on my nightstand. Then, a few minutes later, it finally buzzed again.
