Page 38 of Ash

Laughter.

She heard laughter.

And this time she was sure it was inside her head.

"Who is that?"

Ash's eyes widened.

"You heard my bear."

Her heart skipped a beat inside of her chest. "That... that was your bear."

He nodded. "A great big grumbly brown bear."

She laughed a little. "Grumbly. But he's laughing."

Ash nodded. "He likes you."

She tilted her head to side and regarded the man sitting before her. "He likes me, but... he doesn't like you?"

Ash shrugged. "He tolerates me. We're kind of stuck together."

Suzannah shook her head. This was all so hard to believe. A thought popped up in her head.

"Why does your bear want me to close my eyes?"

She watched as Ash's gaze seemed to turn inward and she recognized the expression from earlier in their conversation. Now, she understood why he'd been quiet and distant from time to time.

Suzannah looked down at their joined hands and saw that his thumb was gently rubbing the back of her hand.

It was almost too much to believe that this man was so gentle with her.

This man with the broadest shoulders she'd ever seen, and a face that she could stare at for days... weeks... the rest of her life, was holding her hand with the kind of gentle warmth that she could easily succumb to.

When he met her gaze again, he had a smile on her face.

"Goodness," she murmured, "you're lovely to look at."

A growl, soft but pronounced, echoed in her head.

Her eyes widened in shock.

"Was that him?"

Ash nodded and laughed, a chest-deep chuckle.

"He likes that you can hear him."

I can tell her that myself.

If Ash hadn't been holding her hand, she might have fallen off of her chair.

She mouthed to herself.I heard that.

With her free hand, she touched her fingertips to her forehead. She was suddenly feeling a little faint.

Before she could look up and explain her feelings to Ash, he was up on his feet and moving around the table. He didn't let go of her hand. He helped her up and a moment later she was seated on his lap.

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