“Just like the cover.”
She felt her spirits lift some. Bear had a way of doing that for her. “How do you always say the right things?” She rolled her finger around the rim of her glass then tapped it lightly.
“I’ve never been accused of that before. I tend to always say the wrong things.”
“I think you’re blunt and it’s a relief, at least to me. And you’re not afraid of silence.”
“Are you trying to tell me you want me to sit here and keep my mouth closed?” One thick brow lifted over his remarkable green eyes.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. Let me make it clear. Tonight I need you to just be yourself.”
“You two in here together again? People will start talking,” Wendi said as she delivered two full drinks and set them down.
“I didn’t order another?” Aasia said.
“Compliments of…” Wendi searched the crowd and shrugged. “I guess she left already.”
“Do you know who she was?”
“No clue. If you need anything just holler,” Wendi said.
Twirling a tendril of her hair around her knuckle, Aasia watched Wendi take bottles out of box and line them on the shelf. She was technically unemployed now. Maybe she should ask Wendi if Oscar was hiring. Aasia would eventually need to get a job. The mere thought of losing her job made her feel sick. She’d never find something that fed her soul like she had at MedLabOne. She’d have to move out of Fin’s Creek. Where would she go?
“Hey? You okay?”
She shifted to face Bear. “Bentley fired me.”
“What the hell? Care to share how Fletcher’s made the biggest mistake of his life again?”
The top few buttons were left undone on his blue plaid shirt revealing his smooth chest. Her attention kept going to the enticing view. She sucked down the rest of her fruity cocktail in one long slurp before she started on the second, which was significantly stronger. “Oh, just your typical stain on hisreputation stuff. Nothing big. Just some bare feet and an online site.”
“Now you really have my interest fueled.”
She leaned her chin on her hand, looking at him through her lashes. “If I tell you I might have to kill you.” She wagged her brows.
“I always took you for the type who had a hidden freaky side.” That smile showed off a row of pearl-white teeth. “I’m glad to know my instincts are always spot on.”
“Ohh…you think I’m dangerous? I must have made a great impression.” Why did conversation always flow so easily with Bear? Why couldn’t she and Bentley ever talk about things other than work? His work. Well, they wouldn’t be talking about anything, not even the weather, again.
“I’d say count your blessings that you’re free of the mama’s boy. Yet, what are these photos?”
She leaned closer, inhaling his leather and sage scent. “I’ll tell you, but you must tell me a secret so that way we will both have a dog in this fight.”
“Deal.” He pretended to spit on his hand and held it out.
With no hesitation, she laid her palm against his, warm and callused, and a swarm of invisible butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She wondered what those masculine hands would feel like on her unclothed skin and knew he’d leave a mark like a tattoo—forever branded.
His kiss had left her different. More aware. Her body had been in a subconscious state until Bear awakened the hidden parts of her. Bentley had only scratched the surface of her desires and needs, but Bear had the strength to unveil the true Aasia. She was no longer that little girl who feared being abandoned. Protecting herself from anyone getting close, anyone who could upset her equilibrium. In the end, she never cared for Bentley, at least not beyond the care one would give toan acquaintance. He had been in her life because he didn’t upset her world.
Bear did. He upset everything. He tested the locks she’d placed around her heart.
He wasn’t a math equation or a science experiment. There wasn’t a formula she could figure out. There wasn’t a safety net below to catch her if she fell. This new path didn’t come with directions.
Chapter Seven
“Tell me what you’ve done that has Fletcher’s panties in a bundle?”
Embarrassment flooded her cheeks. “I don’t know—”
