Page 8 of Bear In A Bookstore
“It was just drinks and catching up. That’s all.”
“Drinks with your ex is neverjustdrinks, dumbass.”
A low groan bubbled from Dax’s throat. He’d been away from home over six years, with only a short visit or two to break up the time. His longest stretch of three years in one solid deployment had been hard, and it had been the fatal blow to his relationship with Jennifer Stole. Not that they’d been hot and heavy to begin with. They’d satisfied a mutual itch and when it came to testing the relationship’s resiliency, they’d both failed. She’d moved on to someone else and he’d immersed himself in his work.
Being home and in civilian life again was a bit of a struggle, but it was refreshing. Unlike many of his friends who got out and regretted it, Desi was content with his decision to end his military career. He wanted a family, children, and he wanted to be present for them. The desire to start his civilian life was so strong that he’d been looking at property and house plans and thinking about the type of home a family might need. Life didn’t wait for people to get their shit together. He’d seen too much tragedy during his enlistment and time working as a military contractor. He preferred to live for now and not wait until things were perfect to go after what he wanted.
And he wanted the whole package. A woman to warm his bed, to help him build a home. Her belly swollen with his cubs. A long life together. And he wanted it now. Since he’d returned home, the urgency to get on with his life was getting stronger, as if the fates were reminding him that he wasn’t going to live forever.
He’d gone out with the newly single Jennifer to see if the spark was still there. It wasn’t.
“Anyway, I called to tell you that Kora hasn’t signed anything yet. She’ll call you tomorrow.”
She’d reacted to him with a healthy dose of wariness. Not the usual reaction he got from women. Her heart-shaped face appeared in his mind’s eye.
He got the feeling she came from money, considering the amount she was dumping into the bookstore. That, and her jeans and tee shirt had been designer labels. He only knew that because it was the same type of outfit tourists liked to wear around here when they wanted to flash their wealth without being overly obvious. But Kora’s tee shirt had been wrinkled and had a small coffee stain at the neckline. Her jeans were well-worn with a wear mark nearly busting across the right knee. Her leather loafers were scuffed.
Money or not, she wasn’t afraid to get dirty. Her presence captured him the most, though. Her big brown eyes were cautious. Her countenance was soft. Unassuming. Practical.
There were two very different women at play inside Kora Meredith.
He knew almost zero about her, yet somehow, he’d been acutely aware that something was going on inside her bookstore—that she was uncomfortable, upset—by the visitor who’d brought her the black roses. Something inside him said hehadto walk into her store at exactly the moment he’d chosen to.
His bear growled inside him. What would have happened if he’d ignored that little voice and kept on walking? He could have turned left instead of right and never intervened. But he hadn’t because the bear inside him paced and coiled, growled, and had a fit until he’d listened.
“Let me ask you a question.”
“Shoot.” Dax whispered low. The babies had quieted, and Desi found himself whispering too.
“When you first met Allie, did you somehow just know, or feel things for her that you shouldn’t know or feel?”
“Ah, so you’re psychic now?”
Desi huffed a laugh. “Come on, man.”
“No, I get it. It was like alarm bells going off in my head if I thought she was in trouble. Or my chest would ache if I thought she was sad. Like I could read her feelings even though I was miles away.” He paused, then came back with a knowing, surprised sound. ”Ooooh, man. The bookseller?”
“Yes, the bookseller.” Huh.
“Look, once that shit starts, you’re in trouble. I wish you luck. By the way, what are you going to do about dad?”
He had to bring that up now, didn’t he?
“Avoid him until he stops trying to rope me into running the construction business with you.”
Since he’d come home, their father, Rowan, had cornered Desi at every opportunity to lecture him about fully stepping into the family business. Construction was a reasonable profession, and he was proud of the empire his father had built, but it wasn’t for him. Rowan had never been one to take no for an answer.
“How’s that working for you?”
“Not good. He refuses to accept that I’ve been offered military contracts as a civilian that will keep me very busy for a very long time.”
The contracts came with a huge price tag, domestic travel, and lots of perks.
“So, you’re leaving us again, is that it?”
Desi rolled his eyes. “Come on. Not you too. Not necessarily. I’m still considering the offers. I plan to open my security business here in Estes Park, like I originally planned. But I can do contracts on the side.”
“On the side, my ass. You’ll end up leaving again and your nephews will be in high school by the time you get back.” One of the babies began to cry again. “I gotta go.”
