Page 25 of The Bear's Forever Mat
But being honest was necessary. “My bear is the holdout.”
Surprise danced across her face. “Oh. He doesn’t like me?”
Cooper hesitated. Honesty sucked. “He’s got a couple concerns. One is that you seem to be just a wee bit afraid of him.”
Amber cursed softly. “I don’t think he’s going to hurt me, but most rational people are scared of creatures that outweigh them by over a thousand pounds. I don’t think the fact that I may be a teeny bit cautious around a massive creature with fangs and claws is unreasonable.”
“I totally agree,” Cooper said. “We’ll work it out.”
She paused. “What’s the other concern?”
“It’s complicated. I need more details.”
Amber wrapped her hands around his shoulders and leaned in close. “Then get details. I’m not going anywhere.”
He kissed her first because he had to. Heneededto, and for a few minutes their worries vanished as they connected perfectly. As he took her lips and gave her 100 percent acknowledgement that she was perfect for him.
That she was who he chose.
Her lips were swollen and she was smiling faintly when he pulled back.“We’ll find a way. This is just a glitch in the system. A bug. A temporary hiccup,” he assured her.
“Of epic proportions,” she said, but she blinked, her gaze clearing to meet his straight on. “I trust you.”
The thrill that went through him was bigger than their problem. “That means everything to me.”
Amber wiped at her eyes before a steely determination firmed her expression. “Okay, bucko. We need to make a list. You talk to that stubborn bear of yours and find out the details, and then we’ll make this happen.”
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11
Amber stared around Cooper’s living room at the supplies gathered in heaps. “I don’t know how I’m going to repay you for getting all of this together so quickly,” she said to Lara.
Her friend waved it off. “You know we’d do anything to help, so stop with the grateful bullshit, and let’s figure out the rest of the details.”
In the far corner of the room, Cooper and his brothers were poring over a set of maps, a lively discussion between them.
Kaylee slipped her arm around Amber and squeezed. “What Lara said. The sooner Cooper’s bear is satisfied, the sooner you officially become family. And while I like being best friends, I’m going to be very happy to have you as a sister-in-law.”
“Ditto.” Lara lifted her gaze to the person who stood in the doorway, knocking on the frame. “Dixon. Did you find more information?”
The lanky wolf shifter sauntered into the room. He gave his Alpha a polite acknowledgement before offering Amber a wink. “My contact says it was definitely Mason he saw. I’ve got the coordinates.”
Thank goodness. Amber pointed him toward the corner where the guys were. “Show them. They’re figuring out the travel logistics.”
She took a deep breath and worked to calm herself.
After a week of sexual bliss, it had been rough to have her dreams dashed so suddenly. But they weren’t without hope—when Cooper’s bear had finally spilled the beans in a way that they could all understand, it had turned out his crypticshe’s got no room for mecomplaint centered around the fact Amber was still looking for her missing brother.
A stab slid through her heart. As wonderful as the possibilities before her were, sadness lingered. For years she’d alternated between sorrow and fear at having lost track of her brother. At not knowing what had happened to her foster parents.
Yet every time she doubted she’d ever discover what had happened to them, hope had crept in. Maybe she was silly to feel so certain that they were all okay, especially after so long, but the sensation remained. That sense deep down that she knew they were out there, somewhere, and that everything was fine.
She needed to sell shares in Optimists “R” Us.
“I need to find Mason. That part has always been true, but now so much more is tangled up in achieving that goal,” Amber said to Kaylee before confessing, “I’m scared. Just a little.”
Kaylee offered an encouraging hug. “I get it. Really, I do. Because this is something that’s important to you, and Cooper, and to your future. It’s important because of your past. But you will make it happen. None of us is going to stop until you get your happily ever after.”
