Page 29 of Bear’s True Mate

“Thank you.” I smiled.

The drive back was quiet, but it was a different kind of quiet than the ride there. Warmer somehow. Nolan had his window down, and the salt air blew through the cab. When he pulled into the driveway, he parked on his side. All the way to the right instead of crowding my car.

“Thanks for breakfast,” I said, unbuckling.

“Anytime,” he said, climbing out.

I headed straight inside because lingering felt like too much temptation, and I was inspired to write. I went straight to the desk and opened my laptop. My fingers flew across the keyboard as I tapped out all the things I’d filed away from breakfast about Nolan’s mannerisms. The way he rubbed the back of his neck when he was deflecting. The way he leaned back in a booth like he owned the place. The way his laugh started in his chest before it reached his mouth. My hero was becoming more real with every detail I borrowed from the man next door, and I was too far past caring to stop.

I spent the rest of the day glued to my laptop, lost in the flow of words. It was the best writing day I’d had since arriving here. Nolan was my muse. I’d come to accept that. It was why over the next couple of days I didn’t try to avoid him.

In the evenings, we’d end up on the back porch and watch the sun go down to the sound of the waves together. Sometimes we talked. Sometimes we didn’t need to.

He never brought up Evan. Never pushed for more than I’d already given him. He just showed up and let me decide how things went between us.

My writing was fantastic. The story was almost done. I was both happy and sad about it.

Driftwood Cove had been exactly what I’d wanted and more. It was starting to feel less like a hiding place and more like somewhere I belonged. The café. The beach. The man on the other side of the wall who’d somehow become the safest person I knew.

My phone buzzed, and I knew who it would be without looking.

Evan.

I came home and you’re still gone.

The room shrank to the size of a phone screen.

The phone buzzed again in my hand.

Where did you go? Somewhere you thought I wouldn’t find you, perhaps? I’ll find you, Rose, you know I will.

There was no “I miss you” this time. No pretending he wanted to talk. This was the real Evan. The one underneath the charm. The one who couldn’t stand losing a thing he considered his. The one I was terrified of.

My hands were suddenly shaking so much I almost dropped my phone, and my chest felt tight. For a second, I was back at his place, standing in his kitchen with my back against the counter while he told me all the reasons I couldn’t leave him. Fear powered through me more potent than even in that moment.

I wasn’t there. I was in Driftwood Cove.

How long would it be before Evan found me here, though?

Before I knew what I was doing, I was knocking on Nolan’s front door.

When he answered it, he took one look at my face and motioned for me to come inside.

“What happened?” he asked without hesitation. “Is it that ex of yours?”

I held up my phone and let him read the texts.

His eyes went dark as he read. The air around him grew heavier, and that same strange feeling of something else being here with us returned.

“You’re safe here,” he said. “I promise you that.”

I believed him.

12

NOLAN

Ipromise you that.