Page 64 of Bear In A Bookstore
They were inside the secret room. A man stood near the far wall, chipping at the brick. He turned with a welcoming smile.
“Well, hello! I found it.”
Ben Rowe waved at the bears like this was an everyday occurrence and pointed to the wall. Something gleamed from behind the opening he’d made. Kora’s mouth dropped open.
“Remember I said I thought there was writing done by the Masons down here? Well, if you look at the clue on page 40, it mentions ancient scribe, blah, blah, blah, and the end of that story is that you’ve got buried treasure entombed in your wall. I, ah, hope you don’t mind. I told Allie I was coming down here, and she just rolled her eyes at me and told me to get the hell out of her bakery because I set the oven on fire again—”
“I have buried treasure. In my wall.”
“Yep.”
She turned to look at Desi and realized Fox had shifted into his human form. He ran his hands aggressively through his hair, completely naked. Ben hurriedly pulled his sweatshirt off and tossed it at him. Desi was still in bear form.
She caught his eyes and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I said.” Her fingers glided into his fur. “You’re not just some guy. You’re my friend. You’re my person. It feels like we’ve been together a hell of a lot longer than we’ve known each other .” Wiping her eyes, she turned away and sniffed. “It’s silly and I can’t explain it. But I feel it in my dreams.”
“You don’t need to explain it.”
His voice! She spun back. Desi pulled her into his arms. Her face pressed against his warm, naked chest. His skin rippled beneath her body, parts of him receding into human shape even as he held her. His arms crushed her to him as he kissed the top of her head.
“I’m here for whatever you need, Kora. We’re both making new lives after a big change in our old ones. I want to be here for you in whatever capacity you want me.”
“No, you’re right. Life doesn’t wait.” She looked up at him and traced his strong jaw with her fingers. “Let’s figure it out. Together.”
His lips claimed hers in a crushing, all-consuming kiss.
Ben shouted. “I got it!”
Fox caught something in his hands. A box—a wooden box with gleaming, gilded trim. They all stood there for a moment, stunned.
“Who’s going to open it?”
Kora touched it gingerly. The treasure was in the secret room this entire time? “I have an idea. Let’s bring it upstairs.”
Fox had stepped into the shirt and pulled it around his waist like a skirt with floppy little arms. The neckline ripped, but Ben didn’t seem to mind. He eyed Desi.
“I don’t have another shirt.”
“It’s fine. Go upstairs and find me something.”
Kora thought for a second. “I think I have an apron up there. Oh, there are a couple of tablecloths behind the desk.”
Desi pulled her into his arms as soon as the men left. They hugged for a long time, drawing strength from each other. The best embrace of her life happened inside a dark, old, stuffy room.
“You know,” she whispered against his chest, “since you’re, um, commando and all—”
“Yes?”
“I say we head back to my place and try the armor again.”
Desi picked her up in his strong arms. “Oh, really? For book research, I suppose?”
She looped her arms around his neck, her heart soaring. “Oh, it’s for research, but it has nothing to do with my book.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“She’sroly-poly,brown,goingto be about eighty pounds when she’s grown, and definitely doesn’t look like an Oreo.”
Kora held the wiggly Labrador puppy in her arms and gave her a gentle squeeze against her chest. Her warm, plump body felt so good in her arms, and she didn’t want to let her go. But she kicked and twisted her way to the ground and loped off to take a sloppy drink from her water bowl. She was seven weeks old, and Kora had just brought her home from Fox’s today. Desi had fenced in Kora’s backyard last week, and they’d bought all the lush accessories a puppy would need, including an orthopedic dog bed that cost more than Kora’s.
