Page 74 of Choose the Bears

He looked down at his stringy arm and then back at me, squinting.

“Really?”

“Really,” I replied. “If you want to become a big, strong bear…” I dropped the tongs and held up my good hand, forming claws before growling out the next bit. “Gotta eat meat.”

“I want lots of meat!” he told me, looking at the pile of slices with new enthusiasm. “Lots and lots!”

“Start with this lot first,” Ava said, moving to put bread rolls and roast potatoes on their plates, along with some salad. “Mum, did you want some? Mum?”

Hannah blinked, shaking her head as if to dispel a haze.

“What?” She looked the food over as if seeing it for the first time. “Oh, I’ll just have some vegetables.”

“Because you’re vegetarian?” I asked carefully.

“Oh, no.” She waved that idea away with her hand. “But meat is expensive.”

“Not here it's not.” I dumped a bunch of slices on her plate. “You need your strength too if you’re to be the mum of this growing bear here.”

“Yeah, Mum, we need meat!” Kaleb said with a growl.

“OK, OK, I better have some then.”

It was as if a light flicked on inside her, bringing Hannah back to life, but for how long? I’d never know because she helped the kids to fill their plates then. Ava watched her closely the entire time before they moved off to eat their meals and I was forced to deal with the last of the diners. But when they were gone, I was left with two choices.

Scrape together another plate of food from what was left or…?

There really only was one option. Asher making sure I got a plate of food was a lovely gesture, so why weren’t my feet moving? I delayed things for a few minutes, taking the time to pour myself a juice from a jug, but once that was done, I had to move.

The room was humming with the noise of people eating, making pleased sounds that normally I would’ve sucked up. Getting so little validation at home, I loved it when people were happy with me at work. Every smile, every kind word helped heal the wounds Mike left. Right now, I barely paid attention to it. Kyle was about to confess something before Asher walked in, something hard, something difficult to process, and I… wasn’t sure I wanted to know. At the same time I had to know, some part of me that was always on high alert not letting me relax for a second until I did.

The guys looked up as I approached the table, then shoved themselves to their feet, like gentlemen in a Regency romance. Not a frock coat in sight, there was no reason they would do this now. They seemed to realise this, looking at each other sheepishly before sitting back down.

“So you’re done for the day?” Lucas asked, shooting me a sidelong look, and I couldn’t help but stare at the sharp slope of his cheek, that full mouth. I’d lost the ability to look at his lips objectively because I knew exactly how they felt, how he tasted, the little helpless sound of pleasure he made when we kissed. Isat down abruptly, feeling a frantic pulse deep inside me at that memory.

“Unfortunately, no.” I went to draw my plate closer but Kyle picked it up and set it before me, then handed me some fresh cutlery. “Clean up starts as soon as I finish this.”

“We’ve got the dishes.”

Asher was always so abrupt, so intense that he always got my attention, but that stare? It was ten times more powerful now that I was sitting right next to him. There was bravery there, something I frankly envied. He seemed to put every damn part of himself into his gaze without apology, but I was still to discover what exactly that was. Asher almost dared me to do just that.

“Pretty sure you’re paying me?—”

“To help out.” He cut off my self-deprecating bullshit. “It’s what we’re all paid to do here. We… work as a team.”

“OK, I’m not going to fight my boss over who does the dishes.” I poked a roast potato with my fork. “So, did you sort out that urgent issue from before?” I asked Kyle.

“What?”

His confused expression did not bode well. I glanced over at Asher, sure he’d know what I was talking about, because he was the one who interrupted things.

“It was a security issue,” Asher replied. “We strive to protect every single person inside this building from external threats, and there are many. I was forced to pull Kyle and Lucas away from what they were doing to brainstorm ways to neutralise it.”

“Right.” I glanced down at my plate, seeing the food, but not really feeling a need to eat it. “So, did you?”

“Did I what?”

“Neutralise it.”

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