Page 48 of Choose the Bears

“Bear ones?” His lips twitched at my question, but I stepped away with a little flourish. “I’ll only accept really awesome ones that look like an actual bear…”

I was making a dumb joke, playing along, but it seemed to be the right thing to say. Lucas was way too focussed on my reactions to do a good job of the pancakes, and yet when he flipped the one he was working with, now sporting a blue eye courtesy of Kyle and the kids, I nodded in recognition. There was a pretty plausible bear shape in the frypan.

Which had me remembering.

It was just a dream. I’d taken the discourse about choosing between a bear and a man too literally, my subconscious making clear which I’d take, even though living in Australia I’d never need to worry about it. My hands rose, ready to cut into the pancake, but something stopped me. Kisses hard enough to make my lips throb, the slight burn of Asher’s stubble as he kissed lower. I looked around frantically, trying to focus on anything else but that damn dream when the man himself came strolling in the door.

Did he notice that the whole kitchen went quiet when he did? The sound of the pancakes cooking was the only thing breaking the silence. Those cool blue eyes took everything in, us standingaround the kitchen counter, the plates with the remains of our breakfast on it, and Lucas cooking.

“We’re having pancakes,” Kaleb announced. “Immie made us bear ones.”

“Did she?”

His eyes met mine, and that felt insanely intimate right now, like he could see right into my head, catching the action replay of my X-rated dream. What else would explain that small smile of his? Instead, I forced my eyes down, reminding myself that there was absolutely no way that was true.

“Bear pancakes,” Lucas said, coming over to my plate and sliding another one on, even when I made a sound of protest. If I had two, other people would miss out.

“Why bear pancakes?”

Asher sat down beside me, and suddenly I was painfully aware of how huge he was. That and the pine needle scent of his cologne made me way too conscious of the actual man, my brain searching for differences between dream-Asher and real-Asher and not finding any. Instead, I was forced to acknowledge that his question was directed at me. I looked up with a smile, but that faded when I met his gaze, because it felt like he was too close right now.

“Um, I said I’d make the kids animal pancakes and I decided to make bears.” I shrugged. “Guess I was inspired by Kyle’s story time from last night.”

“The Grumpy Bear?” Kaleb perked up. “Love the grumpy bear.”

He was up and out of his chair, holding his hands out like claws, then stomping around, right before Kyle scooped him up and put the boy right back where he was.

“Pretty sure no bear would walk away from honey pancakes. Better eat them up or the big bear will steal them.”

The little boy let out a squeal as Kyle reached for his plate, batting away the man’s hands before munching on the remainder of his pancake.

“Well, someone else needs to eat this one,” I said, pushing my plate away, “because I need to get to work.”

“No.” I blinked, then stared at Asher. “That won’t be possible, Imogen.”

“What?” I patted my pockets with my spare hand, ready to look at my phone and see how much time I had until my shift, when I remembered. Phil smashed my phone before grabbing me, but after the scuffle, I hadn’t bothered to retrieve it. My phone was either crushed into a million pieces or stolen by now. I let out a long sigh, trying not to show how that loss affected me. I was still going to have to pay the rest of the contract off and that couldn’t happen without a job. “Of course it's possible. I have to make money to pay my rent?—”

“Your place was broken into last night.”

Phil might’ve tried to wrench my arm out of its socket, but right now Asher’s words hit like a gut punch.

“What?” I glanced at the others. “But you secured the place.”

“I got a call last night. The door we installed is still in one piece, but the door frame had dry rot. All the locks in the world wouldn’t keep someone out if they kicked it down,” he told me.

“Why?” I didn’t want to know the answer, somehow I knew. “Why? Why would anyone?—?”

“It was Phil.” Asher’s voice sounded like ashes. “I assume he came by to make sure you stayed quiet, didn’t press charges. He was out on bail for…” It was then he remembered we had an audience, the children now sitting there perfectly silent, trying to parse what all of this meant.

“C’mon, kids,” Kyle said. “How about horsey rides back to Mum’s table?”

“Horsey rides!”

Kaleb seemed the most resilient, instantly perking up, but Ava? She put her arm around her brother’s shoulders and steered him out the kitchen door.

“Battering his wife.”

I said the words, feeling saliva pool in my mouth. The police had told me what they could, trying to impress on me the danger the man posed.

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