Page 18 of His Protective Bear

“I was rude,” he added.

I shrugged, “No apologies necessary. I’ll claim you anytime and anywhere.”

His cheeks pinked, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“I’ll make a fool of myself any time Sage if that’s what it takes to prove to you I’m telling the truth. I’ll do anything. Because you’re mine, and that won’t ever change.”

His cheeks got redder, but I could swear he was pleased.

“Uh, well, I guess I’ll see you later?” he murmured.

“You can count on it,” I replied.

Yeah, that was definitely a smile I saw when he opened the door and got out of the car. Before he closed the door, he whispered, “Bye, Hunter.” But he was gone before I got over the pleasure of hearing my name on his lips.

Chapter 9

Sage

Hunter had been true to his word when he said I could count on seeing him. Every day over the last week, he was at the diner unfailingly. If I was busy, he waited for me to finish so I could attend to him, but he didn’t push. He kept it casual, and he did his best to not draw attention to us.

He was actually really sweet, and he listened when I spoke.

I knew he was super close to his family. He never stopped talking about his siblings and their kids. He loved his job and took keeping Asheville safe very seriously. Under all that hot muscular alpha thing he had going on, he was a huge nerd.

He was a gentleman, and little by little, day after day, I wanted to believe… I wanted him to be who he said he was. Every inch of me wanted it to be true, but I was terrified of hoping it was, especially if it turned out not to be. My bear sat up and took notice the second he walked into a room… although if I was honest, I had to admit I’d always known when he was in the diner. I immediately became a clumsy mess whenever I approached him, and my tongue felt like it had been glued to the roof of my mouth… so I supposed that was nothing new.

I tried not to show how excited I was with every second that passed, but I couldn’t stop glancing at the clock.

Simon came over and nudged me, “How much longer?”

I glanced over at the clock on the wall, “Twenty minutes,” I murmured.

“You nervous?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Yeah, I guess. Maybe…” I sighed.

“Should I cancel?” I bit down on my lip because every part of my body rejected that idea.

“Don’t even think about it. Hunter asked if he could drop you off at home after work. You said yes, and that’s that,” Simon said firmly.

“It’s not a big deal, he’s off work today, so it’s not like….”

Simon raised a brow, and I could tell he was waiting for me to finish what I was going to say so that he could tease me.

“It’s just a pick-up and drop-off thing. No big deal.” At least that was what I’d been telling myself since the moment he’d asked me when he came in for lunch, and I said yes.

“He’s not like him,” Simon whispered.

I tried not to tense at his words, but I couldn’t help it. Even as much as I hated thinking about him, there was a part of me that needed to hear that because I wanted to trust my judgment, even though it had steered me wrong the last time.

“Hunter is nothing like him.” Simon spat. My cousin was one of my fiercest protectors, and the truth was he hated Warren even back then.

“No, he’s not,” I whispered both in agreement and as a reminder to myself.

“If he hurts you, I’ll kick his ass,” Simon added, “but I know he won’t.” He nudged my hip. “I should let you know your niece and nephew are putting in an order for a cousin.”

I snorted and chuckled even as my cheeks heated. “Emily and Owen, my three-year-old niece and one-year-old nephew, have put in a request for cousins?”

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