Page 65 of Fearless Bond

“That thing isn’t going anywhere without help,” Jordy said. “Is your father familiar with winter tires and snow chains?”

I snickered. “Not sure.”

“Should we pull them out?”

“Later,” Monty said. “Let them sweat for a bit.”

I glanced at Hawke, who just shrugged.

“Seems like my guys took pity on them,” Laure said from the window. “They’re trying to push them out.”

I walked up to have a look, only to see the sedan skid and slide into a pile of snow on the other side of the road. One of Laure’s bodyguards jumped out of the way at the last second.

Hunter squinted through the window. “Oh damn. Now I can’t get out either. They’re blocking the road.”

“You in a hurry?” Jordy asked. “I can move them out of the way for you.” His tone and expression suggested that his method of “moving” wouldn’t be conventional, and Hawke might protest.

“I’m good for a while,” Hunter said, patting Jordy’s back.

“Can I get some coffee?” Laurel asked. “I’m freezing.”

Barclay tensed. “Um. Of course. I do have coffee, but I’m out of oat milk.”

My friend grimaced. “Oat milk? Eww. Just black, thanks.”

Visibly relaxing, Barclay gave Laure a wide smile. “Coming up. Anyone else want tea or coffee?”

The bears announced their preferences, crowding the coffee machine. Monty’s voice was the loudest. “Do you have those three-color chocolate chip cookies? Where are you buying those?”

“Let’s go start the fire,” I told Laure when he’d gotten his coffee. I tugged him toward the living room.

By the fireplace, Laure sat on the floor and watched me as I peeled stripes of dry bark off a birch log. I piled the thinner logs on top of the pieces of birch bark and lit the fire. It crackled to life, the logs quickly catching from the burning bark. I balanced one thick log on top.

My friend huffed. “I wouldn’t know how to do that.”

“Barclay showed me. It’s easy. Birch bark is a great natural fire starter.”

Leaning back on his hands, Laure gazed at the fire as it engulfed the wood, flames reaching higher.

“You’re really determined to stay with him.”

“Yes. Really.”

He sighed, then glanced through the glass walls to the snowy forest. “It’s a nice place, I guess.”

“Barclay built most of the furniture himself. He’s a woodworker.”

“He left his banker days behind. I read that in the background report.”

“You didn’t have to invade his privacy like that.”

“One, he told me to. And two, I’ve learned the hard way not to trust anyone.”

“Will you finally trust me?”

Maybe it was a low blow from me. Laure winced, but then he sat up and threw an arm around my shoulders. “I’m sorry, Cal. I should have listened to you. But I was so shocked.”

“I’ll admit, my track record with boyfriends isn’t the best.”

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