Page 73 of Bears Behaving Badly
“Don’t care.”
“Well, that’s insane,” she said bluntly. “You should care.”
“I don’t regret sticking you.Withyou, sticking with you, God, sorry.”Smoooooooth!
She giggled a little. “If you’re trying to cheer me up, do better.”
I could hardly do worse. “We’ll find who’s responsible and bounce them into a cage face-first and you’ll be exonerated.”
“We’ll be exonerated,” she corrected with a sniff.
“Sure, but I don’t actually give a ripe shit about public opinion.”
She snorted into her palms. “It’s not just the false accusations. It’s all the cubs who’ve been hurt over this. And the ones whowillbe hurt unless we figure this out. Alone. While hiding. In a closet.”
“Be fair, we also cowered in the NICU and hung out in a grain silo.”
“Point,” she conceded, and shifted in his grasp. “And one of the worst parts of all this is that I’m finding you a gigantic distraction. My primary focus should be Caro and Dev, my secondary keeping Oz safe in Accounting, and…and everything else should be a distant third. Or fourth. Or not on the list at all. But that’s not what’s happening and I can’t… Um. David?”
Too late, he realized he’d been scenting the back of her neck and nuzzling her ear. “Sorry! Sorry.” He tried to take a step back, only to bump up against shelves. “Dammit!”
“Shhhh.”
“Sorry.”God, you’re an idiot. Get your shit together, for the love of… Oh dear God,whatis shedoing?
Wriggling in his arms, that’s what. Twisting and turning while they shuffled back and forth and bumped into things, and then she was facing him and her breasts were pressed up against his chest
oh God oh God oh God oh God oh God oh God…
and she whispered, “This is what I was talking about.”
…oh God oh God oh God…“Sorry, what?”
“I see I’ll have to make you be quiet, you noisy thing,” and then her lips were brushing his, and her clever, clever tongue was slipping past his teeth and he did his very best not to die.
It lasted for an eternity. Or ten seconds. He was never sure, after. All he could think of was her hot, soft mouth, the feel of her lush curves, her scent, the coarse glory of her hair, her low whimper as he pressed against her and wished they were anywhere anywhereanywherebut a closet that smelled like soap and stress.
After an age (or ten seconds), she pulled back. “Sorry,” she murmured into his mouth. “Very inappropriate.”
“Whuh?”
“I know you’re not interested in me like that. I just…You smellwonderful, like linen and cloves and something else that’s just you. I’m sorry.”
“You’re wrong,” he managed, trying very hard not to gasp or unhook her bra.
“No, I’m quite certain. Linen and cloves. And a bit of pepper from your aftershave.”
“No, I mean… Don’t be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“It’s nice of you to let me off the hook. Also, if no one has heard us by now, they never will. I think this might happen a lot around here.”
“Huh?”
“People making out in closets. Ready?”
And with that, Annette wriggled
(JESUS CHRIST)
