Page 76 of Have a Bear-y Little Christmas
“Is this a whole roast chicken?” Jeannie asked, unwrapping one of the larger platters that had been covered with tinfoil instead of a plastic dome.
“I guess they figured we’d be hungry after the wild goose chase of a hike they led us on.” I shook my head. “I can’t believe they did all this. They sure are dedicated.”
Jeannie nodded as she dished food onto her plate. I was happy to see her warming up. It had only taken me a few minutes to get a great fire going, so now the small cabin was toasty despite it not being as airtight as our newer structures were.
“Would you pass the creamed spinach?” I asked.
“Of course.” She beamed at me, and that warmed me more than the blazing fire did. It was probably just the effects of a long, stressful walk, but with just the two of us here, it felt like we were on our own little vacation.
Like an actual couple.
That thought distracted me slightly, so I wasn’t really paying full attention when she handed me the creamed spinach. But then our hands brushed, and I was instantly fully alert and aware of her presence.
I’d always thought it was silly and overly dramatic when people in movies jolted just from touching each other’s hands, but the warmth of her soft skin against the roughness of my calluses had all of my senses grinding to a halt.
Goddamn, I really was attracted to her, wasn’t I?
I mean, I knew from the moment I saw her that I was physically attracted to her, but what I was feeling now was so muchmore. It was deeper. Fuller.
My inner bear was downright chuffed as she began to eat, as ifhewas the one providing for her. That was a take only the primordial, magical entity that was mostly animal could think. As for me? Well, I was just as pleased about it. The rest of the world, all those worries that tended to plague me, quieted.
Yet, if Jeannie thought anything of our accidental touch, she didn’t say anything, but I caught the scent of something over the food.
Attraction.
I usually tried not to use my nose to be a snoop, which was easier in winter when everyone was all bundled up, but now I couldn’t help but chase the smell, picking up on notes of excitement, delight, and evendesire.
It wasn’t the first time I had picked that up from Jeannie, but I hadn’t allowed myself to put full credence in it before. After all, she was a red-blooded woman approaching her sexual prime—at least, that’s what a lot of women said about their thirties. So, I figured I shouldn’t let it get to my ego that her body occasionally reacted to me, a male within her social circle.
But right now?
Right now it felt pretty goddamn pointed.
“Sorry,” she said briefly. “Are those mashed potatoes? You gotta shoot those over.”
I did, and though part of me wanted to lean over the table and figure out exactly how the both of us felt, I tamped down the urge. Everything was going a little too fast. Hell, I was just reconciling the fact that I was attracted to someone other than Zara, and it was hard not to worry that I was being swept up in the magic of the holidays and Jeannie’s natural charm.
Because she certainly had charm to spare.
Thankfully, food was a wonderful social lubricant, because the two of us got to chowing down without much delay after that. And the food wasdelicious.I knew that was mostly my hunger talking, but my body was intensely grateful for the calories. Unlike many of our shifter counterparts, bears could go a long time without food, but we had to make up for it eventually. And while there wasn’t really enough food at the cabin for me to fullygorge myself on and get back to normal, it was enough that I didn’t have to fear my metabolism going into hibernation mode.
“So, come here often?” Jeannie asked after taking a bite of a drumstick. I had the other in my hand, but I was peeling the meat off with my fork so I could mix it in with the mashed potatoes and creamed spinach. It grossed my girls out to high heaven that I blended my food like that, but I thought all the flavors enhanced each other.
“Nah, I ain’t from around these parts,” I answered with a stereotypical Hollywood twang. “But what’s a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?”
She leaned forward, posting her elbow on the table and resting her cute, rounded chin on her palm. “You calling me pretty?”
Yesterday, I would have played it off and defused the simmering tension with a simple joke. But this was today. There had to be a reason our children and Ana had arranged for me and Jeannie to be alone together tonight.
And in a romantic setting. Because even if our kids didn’t mean to, the two bottles of wine was like a giant neon sign that Ana approved.
“No,” I said, leaning forward. “I’m calling youbeautiful.”
Satisfaction surged through me when I heard her heart skip a bit. Her cheeks flushed, turning that adorable pink. I would never get tired of seeing that happen, and I was delighted that I was able to make it occur so often. Honestly, the fact that I affected such a beautiful, competent woman just by being myself made me feel quite manly in a strange way.
“Flatterer,” she accused.
“Just calling it like I see it.”
