Page 74 of Bears Behaving Badly
until she was again facing the door, and then she opened said door and stepped out. He was right on her heels; if she got too far ahead, he’d have had his nose on the tiles to follow her backtrail if he could’ve done it with any subtlety.
Luck was with them again; nobody noticed them. Or didn’t give a shit about a panting, disheveled couple who had hidden in a closet to avoid being arrested and then made out for some reason. Annette was probably on to something: thisdidhappen all the time. But even if not, it was all good.
“So you gotta know what I’m thinking,” he said, his pulse rate finally coming down as he walked them back the way they came, through the Stable section of the hospital. The safer way—not that most Shifters would admit it.
“I do, huh?”
Well, some of what he was thinking. He needed to ponder the dichotomy ofNever, obviouslyandI know you’re not interested in me like that, as well as the instant, endless kiss. He foresaw much, much pondering, especially later when he was alone in his bed. He’d ponder until he was shaking and sweaty, but now wasn’t the time, more was the fucking pity.
Oh, you poor idiot, his dead mother mourned.
“David? Your thinking on this?”
“We gotta talk to the investigator your hospital friends told us about. Is there an address on the card Sharon gave you?”
“She didn’t give me the investigator’s business card.”
“Fuck.”
“She gave me his business card plus files on all the missing kids. I stuffed them down the back of my pants when Taryn grabbed us.”
David perked up. “Fuck!” Come to think of it, he had thought her ass felt a little flat in the closet, but he’d been too distracted by her scent and hair and voice and skin and scent to notice.
“You’re cute when you’re tousled and swearing.”
Absurdly, this made him puff up with pleased pride.
Out of your league, his dead mom reminded him.And worse: you’ll be her end. And if she gives you cubs? You’ll be their end, too. As you were mine, son. As you were mine.
He didn’t know what was more irritating: still hearing her voice, or knowing she was right.
Chapter 26
“What do you mean, the bodies are gone?”
“The. Corpses. Ain’t. There. No. More.”
“Stop that,” Annette scolded. “I know it’s been a stressful day, but take it easy on the double negatives.”
Normally at this time of the evening, she’d be plugging in a new alarm clock, padding around in her sushi slippers, and thinking about making another pan of brownies while Pat nagged her about whatever he had decided to nag her about that evening.
Not knocking on a stranger’s door while discussing vanishing corpses with someone who thought the dead bodies were of less import than settling an argument with Dev.
“Look, just tell me I’m right so I can tell that insufferable monster—”
Faintly: “Hey!”
“—that he must never question me on anything pop culture-relatedever again.”
She sighed. “Yes, Pat, technically Jon Snow is ‘boning his auntie’ inGame of Thrones. Why are you discussing inappropriate adult books riddled with incest, treachery, torture, and mass murder with a minor?”
“We’re not. We’re discussing the show riddled with incest, treachery, torture, and mass murder. And it’s because we’re really, really bored.”
“It’s only been three hours!”
“Fine. I’ll drop one of the ‘really’s.’”
Annette made a deliberate effort to loosen her grip on the phone. It was a burner, because David kept a box of them in his trunk for some reason. (And oh, they were going to have a chat aboutthatlater, thank you very much.)
