Page 8 of Her Embarrassed Bear Mate

She could still feel Alix's lips on hers.

Their eyes met and Veronica quickly looked away, embarrassed she was caught staring. It was bad enough that she knew what the woman in front of her looked like naked, she didn’t need to be thinking about it now.

Her dad passed the salt around. “So, Trixie, is that short for anything?”

“No, I’m just Trixie,” Trixie replied with a big grin. “And Alix is just Alix.”

The memory made Vanessa smile. There was nothingjustabout Alix.

“I wanted special names for my special girls,” Dianne added, sounding very pleased with herself. The way she looked at Alix was with pure adoration too.

Veronica's stomach clenched. From what she'd seen so far, Dianne seemed like a perfectly okay woman but that didn't stop the fact that this whole thing was weird.

“So how did you two meet?” Jonas asked, diplomatic as always. Inside, he was likely just as angry about this but he was doing a good job not showing it.

“A speed dating event,” Dianne admitted a bit sheepishly.

It took everything Veronica had not to roll her eyes or glare at her dad. Why was he speed dating when the divorce wasn’t even finalised? For that matter, why was he proposing to another woman before the divorce? Him and her mother hadn’t been separated for all that long either.

Levi was less tactful. “Have you told mum about the engagement?”

“Of course,” their dad said. “She’s happy for me.”

This time, Veronica couldn’t hold back her scoff. Knowing their mother, she was anything but happy about this development.

Everyone looked at her and an awkward silence fell over the dining table.

“Some food went down the wrong pipe,” Veronica lied, not wanting to explain why this whole thing was rubbing her up the wrong way.

She knew her brothers wouldn’t believe her but her dad and Dianne bought the excuse. When she accidentally looked Alix in the eye, she saw her own feelings mirrored in them.

Lots of unhappy people around the table then.

Her dad was happily oblivious to the tension around the table and kissed Dianne’s cheek beforeturning his attention back to Veronica and her siblings. “I’m so glad you finally get to meet this lovely lady. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been happy like this. The last few years were not good years, but you know that.”

A hint of guilt welled up in Veronica but it only made her angrier. While she wanted her parents to be happy, she didn’t like that their dad was dissing their mum behind her back. Maybe he didn’t love their mum anymore but Veronica did and it would’ve been nice if he remembered.

Dianne lovingly rubbed his arm. “I know, darling. But upwards and onwards, right? We’re going to make lots of happy memories together.”

Veronica pushed her plate away. She hadn’t been very hungry anyway but now her appetite was totally gone. If she were younger, maybe she would’ve thrown a tantrum but there was no point. She could tell from the way her dad was looking at Dianne, he was totally and utterly smitten.

Whether it was genuine love or just midlife-crisis lovebomb infatuation, that remained to be seen.

Their dad, oblivious to the tension, ate his salad. “Alix, your mum told me you work at a retirement home. What's that like?”

“It’s… a job you need to love to do it,” Alix said with an uncomfortable smile. “But luckily, I love it. I’m good at taking care of people.”

“Veronica is like that too. She’s a paediatric nurse,” her dad bragged. “You two would probably get along well then.”

He had no idea.

Veronica glanced up at Alix and their eyes met. For a moment, all she could see was the woman from last night. The way Alix's eyes had become dark with want, the crook of her very sensitive neck, the relaxed smile she had after she was thoroughly exhausted.

The thoughts made Veronica’s pulse quicken and she quickly looked down.

It was a good thing that nobody knew just how well they got along.

She was grateful when Dianne spoke.

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