Page 22 of Bear In A Bookstore
“Could have been.”
It made sense, but his intuition said it was more than that.
Kora hugged herself. He wanted to pull her into his arms and soothe her fear. It was an odd compulsion, not that she’d allow it anyway. She led him to the front porch and pointed out a small security camera in the overhang. “It doesn’t work properly. It’s an old model so it’s probably obsolete by now.”
“My dad built every house on this street about twenty years ago. If that’s the original security system, then yes, it’s very obsolete.”
She grimaced. “The realtor said the subscription with the security company would be transferred into my name when I bought the house. I haven’t spoken with the company yet, but I did get a bill.”
“Show me the rest of what you’ve got.”
They walked to the back, where another of the same type of camera was fitted near the back porch. He followed her inside and immediately noticed three deadbolts had been added to the front door. Three more on the back door. There were sensors on all the windows and at the egress windows for the basement. Inside the house, he checked the sensors and found most of them broken. Not only was half the system not functional, but she also had no way of monitoring her security cameras in real-time, relying instead on the company for footage.
“You need property motion sensors, remote dimmers, updated front and rear entry cameras, and a home base for monitoring in real-time.”
As he walked through the house, he realized it was seriously lacking in anything personal. No photos, knick-knacks, or personal items anywhere. Just sterile looking furniture and a slightly disheveled desk inside a shallow alcove with a large tri-paneled window. Heading that way, he startled at a figure standing next to her desk.
“Sorry, should have warned you.”
“What the hell is this?”
A full set of medieval looking armor on a mannequin rod sat beside her desk. The metal-gloved hands held a sword. Curious, Desi tapped the weapon with his fingers
“I got him at an auction. It’s a replica. The sword is hard plastic.”
“You know, if you were lonely, you could have just gotten a cat.”
She smiled and looked at her feet. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun with a silk scarf around the knot. An oversized sweatshirt fell off one shoulder, revealing the smoothness of her bare skin and no bra strap . . .
“I’m allergic.”
Desi turned to face her, slipping his hands into his pockets as the urge to touch her climbed over him. Inside him, his bear growled with a low rumble. He moved closer to her, his gaze trailing the line of her jaw, her neck, and the delicate curve of her collarbone. She smelled like vanilla and coffee. Kora tipped her chin up slightly to look him full in the face. Her mouth fell into a line, her body softening as if suddenly aware that she wanted to touch him too. Or be touched.
“I hope you’re not allergic to bears.”
Clenching his fingers into fists, he tried to force himself to stop moving toward her, but in the next blink, they were inches apart. Her pretty face was looking up at him and his hands itched to slide over her smooth back.
Her chest rose and fell hard. “I don’t know. I’ve never been up close to one.”
You’re about to be, sweetheart. “Do you want to be?”
Her nostrils flared, her body swaying slightly toward him. His heart jumped with anticipation of feeling her body against his. His arms ached with the phantom weight of her wrapped inside them.
Something was happening between them, and it was happening fast.
Kora scratched her eyebrow and took a step back. “Listen, um . . . I’m not staying in Estes Park. I took a two-year break from work to get the bookstore up and running, and then I’m selling and going back to L.A. I don’t want any misunderstandings, you know?”
His stomach flipped. She wasn’t staying? That explained the bare bones interior of her home.
He thought about the sum of things he knew about her so far and realized there were a lot of missing pieces. He heard what she was saying loud and clear, but it didn’t stop his bear from growing more and more agitated with desire. It wanted her.Hewanted her.
She was making it clear that she was returning to L.A., which meant she wasn’t the one.
No matter what this pull was between them, Kora wasn’t the one for him. They stared at each other for a moment. Disappointment rose by increments, flooding him with an odd sensation—almost like he’d lost something important. He wasn’t one to insert himself where he wasn’t wanted, so that was that.
“There’s no reason you can’t make a few friends while you’re here, right?”
“I can definitely have friends. I really appreciate you helping with the deer, friend. I didn’t know who else to call.”
