Page 32 of Bear In A Boutique
“You need to eat more,” he growled. “You haven’t eaten all day.”
He should go into town and get her a steak. Yeah, a fat, juicy steak from Donatelle’s with a side of potato wedges. Maybe fried chicken, too, just in case she was still hungry.
“Do you want a burger? Chicken strips… pancakes?”
Her mouth was so pretty, her lips full and pink. A dot of marshmallow clung to her lower lip, glinting silver in the firelight. He leaned in. Olive’s fingers tightened around his wrist, those big eyes watching him until they were nose-to-nose.
“I’m not that hungry, Ryker.”
Her eyes widened as he cupped the back of her head, leaned in even closer, and pressed another marshmallow to her lips. Sputtering, Olive pushed his hand away and huffed a short laugh.
“What is with you?”
Ryker jerked back and looked at the handful of marshmallows, then back to her. What was he doing? He got up and threw the treats into the woods. Running a hand through his hair, he gave himself a second before moving his log farther away from Olive and sitting down. The fire was completely between them now, but if he didn’t get a hold of himself, it wouldn’t be enough of a barrier to keep him from her.
A bitter taste rose in his mouth.
Time to redirect, again.
“What’s with the camper van?”
“Oh, ah. I don’t know. I just wanted to try it out.”
Her voice wavered too much for that to be the full truth. Feeling more like himself now, he leaned his elbows on his knees and watched as firelight danced on her face.
“Want to be a van lifer and travel the country?”
“No, it’s not that. I—are we really going to spill our life stories to each other?”
Sitting straighter, she brought the blanket beneath her chin and pulled it tight.
“Does your life story involve living in a van?”
A stricken look crossed her face and he wished he could take the question back. He’d touched a nerve. The cellphone in her lap chimed and she hastily freed a hand from the blanket to pickit up, then looked at the screen, and slammed the phone back down.
She was shutting down. He felt it in the air. The entire atmosphere between them had changed. Had she gotten another nasty text message? Or was she pulling away from him?
“Thank you for being honest with me about your future plans, Ryker, and for not leading me on. We should be friends. Just friends.”
His abdomen clenched as if she’d gut-punched him. What did he expect? He was the one who shut down any chance of a relationship.
She collected her beer bottles and phone and stood. “I’m going to call it a night.”
His bear stirred with a low growl. Ryker pressed a hand below his ribs and willed the beast to settle. But the animal within wasn’t listening. He pressurized Ryker’s insides as if forcing him to pay attention. His grizzly wasn’t taking ‘friends’ for an answer.
It wanted so much more.
He clenched his core and resisted the urge to grab Olive into his arms and carry her into the woods. There was a time when it was acceptable for a shifter to do just that and claim his mate. That wasn’t the case anymore, but his bear didn’t care about propriety. His claws came out, one razor tip poking him with a jab, jab, jab against the inside of his breastbone.
Ryker willed the beast to stop.
The bear poked him harder. He winced with a hiss and crossed his arm over his middle at the burning sting.
The fire cracked and popped, sending a spray of embers into the air. Sweat beaded his hairline from the pressure building inside him. His bear got cranky sometimes, but this behavior was new, and it had everything to do with Olive.
“I’ll wait for the fire to go out. Sleep well.”
He watched as she got into the van and closed the door. A few minutes later, the curtains closed over the window, and the interior light went out.
