Page 20 of Protecting Mr. Fine

I shrugged. “I mean, usually, when someone is asking you to invest in their business, they have a business plan and an estimated rate of return. Do you have that?”

The sound of Bear slowly blowing air out through his nose made me bite my upper lip to keep a straight face. I didn’t dare turn to see his colossal eye roll.

“No, but like… I could. I could totally get that for you.”

I knew I shouldn’t have egged him on, but I hadn’t been able to help myself. Now, it was time to crawl it back. “I don’t think my public relations people would be okay with me getting involved in a CBD business. But good luck. Running your own business sounds like alotof work, but I’m sure you’ll be great at it.”

Since JK was currently employed as a lawn care technician for a weed-killing chemical company, I’d put fifty-fifty odds on which environmental hazard would be more optimal for his health between the two options, and I wouldn’t have put much money on his longevity in either one.

The crowd watching the game shouted in response to a play, andthe sudden sound made me jump out of my skin and clutch my chest. I tried to hide my racing heart and shaking hands, but I was sure at least one person in the room had noticed my response and wasn’t thrilled about it.

I turned away from JK to find someone else to talk to so I could avoid another attempt at a business investment. “So, ah, Pearl… tell me how things are going at the salon? Did you ever convince Ke’An to start using that new product line you were telling me about?”

“Omigosh,yes. And it’s amazing. I was hoping while you’re here, you’d let me style you up with it and post a few pics. Maybe just a blowout? It would mean a lot and could really get me some exposure with how great this stuff is. We could run up there right now, in fact, while the salon’s closed, and you wouldn’t even have to?—”

I didn’t even need to look at Bear to know he was growling silently in disapproval.

“I don’t know… I was kind of hoping to just chill out here today…”

She started forking her fingers into my hair and moving it here and there. “Wait till you see how sleek it is after I use the smoothing infusion. It would just shine under the stage lights like you wouldn’t believe. Zee… this stuff is amazing, and it’s all paraben- and tetrasodium-free. I would never put your beautiful hair at risk; you know I wouldn’t. Your image is important, and this company takes its image just as seriously as you do. That’s why I knew right away you’d be the perfect person to use it on. The conditioning serum will do wonders for these ends, too, and the cleansing system is exactly what you need to keep your color from fading out between visits.”

I blinked at her. “I don’t color my hair.”

She snorted. “Right. Anyway, the cleansing system has these special nanotechnics that do some special stuff that’s too complicated to explain right now. But the result speaks for itself.”

Aunt Rinny walked up and grabbed my wrist and yanked me up. “Sorry, Pearl, Gran needs Zane in the kitchen. C’mon.”

I nearly tripped over the corner of the coffee table as sheyanked me away from all the people shouting at the television. When we got into the kitchen, Gran was nowhere to be found.

The familiar sound of Bear’s quiet footsteps trailed behind me, and I caught a whiff of his scent, which had always been a strange mix of pine trees and Red Hots cinnamon candies. Some days, it was mostly pine, and some days, it was all Red Hots, but no matter when or where I caught a whiff of it, I always knew it wasn’t anyone other than Ryan Galloway. My grumpy, protective Bear.

Instead of explaining where Gran was, Rinny glanced over my shoulder and spoke directly to Bear. “For the love of all that’s holy, Ryan, take him upstairs before someone asks him for money again.”

I let out a breath. “It’s fine. I can handle it.”

“It’s not fine,” she snapped, surprising me. “Gran and I wait for you to have time for a visit, and then what nonsense do you have to put up with? The nonsens-iest. I warned everyone to keep their cool, but did they listen? No. And I can tell you’re doing your best to be polite, just like you’ve always been, but that’s outside of enough. You’re exhausted, Zane Michael, and I declare it’s nap time for silly boys.” She finished with a tease, using a phrase I hadn’t heard in a million years. “Now, git. You can come back down when it’s time for supper.”

She shot a look at Bear again as if he was the decider of all things. Unfortunately, I was too tired to remind anyone that hewasn’t, so I let him press a hand against my lower back and nudge me toward the back stairs. Before we disappeared through the doorway, Uncle Bart came in for another beer. “Oh, hey, I wanted to ask Zee a question about?—”

“Nope,” Rinny said. “He has a headache. Save your questions for later. Mark and Coot are coming over for a bonfire and bringing Coot’s mandolin. If they don’t monopolize Zane’s time asking him to play with them, you can ask him your question then.”

I smiled to myself. Rinny and Scooter “Coot” MacNamy had been sweet on each other for about a million years. He was a dedicated long-haul trucker, which was the only reason she’d neveragreed to marry him. He was also the best damned mandolin player I’d ever come across in all my years playing with professional musicians. I’d offered him a job playing with me more than once, and he refused every time. “I’m not much of a people person, Zane,” he’d said. “The thought of those crowds makes my stomach feel like it might sneak outta my ass without warning.”

Knowing he was coming over later to play music out by the fire reminded me why I loved being here… and helped me forget about all the other bullshit.

As soon as I entered my old bedroom, I felt my shoulders drop. “You don’t have to stay,” I told Bear, knowing it was pointless to dismiss him.

He shot me a look. I tried not to notice how intense his dark eyes were when they landed on me. “You want me to sit in the hall?”

I groaned.No,I thought,I want you to wrap your arms around me like you did last night and remind me that I’m an actual human being, not a walking ATM and sales tool.Make me feel like me again.

I couldn’t say any of that, obviously. I relied on Bear too much as it was.

“Fine,” I said instead. “You can stay, but I’m actually going to nap, so you’ll be bored to tears.”

“I’m never bored when we’re here. I get to snoop through all your shit while you sleep.” Bear grinned and bounced his eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes and kicked off my shoes before pulling back the faded blue-and-yellow quilt to reveal yellow checkered sheets that were so wash-worn the checkers weren’t even discernible anymore. “There’s hardly much shit to snoop anymore.”

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