Page 42

I won’t.

Let her decide.

His bear quieted. Wes looked at Kate one last time.

Then he shifted.

The familiar charge moved through him, quick and effortless. The air shimmered around his body, the world altering for the briefest moment before the man was gone and his bear stood in his place.

Kate gasped. She took one quick step backward.

The bear froze. Every instinct that had been driving him toward her since the day she arrived was overridden by one simple need.

Give her time.

Kate stared. Her gaze moved from his paws to the breadth of his shoulders, then higher to his face. Wes could hear her breathing, faster now, and the beat of her heart. She looked toward the place where he had been standing, then back at the bear as though there might still be an explanation hidden somewhere in the grass.

For several seconds neither of them moved. Then Kate swallowed. “Wes?”

His bear dipped his head.

Her eyes widened. “You understand me?”

Another slow nod.

“Oh my God.” The words came out almost soundlessly.

Wes could feel his bear’s impatience beneath the stillness, but for once he did not need reminding to wait. Kate had trusted him enough to come here. The least he could do was give her as long as she needed to decide what happened next.

Her breathing began to slow. The first shock in her face gradually gave way to something else. She looked at him more closely now rather than simply staring at the impossible thing standing in front of her.

Then she took a step forward. His bear’s attention sharpened.

Another step. Kate stopped a few feet away and looked up at him. Even Wes sometimes forgot how large his bear seemed to anyone standing this close. Kate had to tilt her head slightly to meet his eyes. “Can I touch you?”

Joy ran through his bear so quickly that Wes almost laughed inside him. He lowered his head.

Kate reached out. Her fingertips touched the fur above his muzzle first, barely there. She drew them back almost immediately, staring at her own hand before touching him again. This time her palm remained against the side of his face. “You’re warm.” Her voice held wonder now rather than fear.

She moved her fingers carefully through the fur along his cheek, testing its thickness before sliding her hand upward toward one ear. The bear closed his eyes, unable to help himself. Kate smiled. “That feels like you.”

Wes was not entirely sure what she meant, but he understood the emotion beneath it. Beneath the size and fur and everything that ought to have made him unfamiliar, she had found him.

She came closer. Her other hand settled against his shoulder. Kate pressed her palm into the dense fur, then slowly ran it down and back again. She wasn’t hesitating now. She seemed fascinated by the difference between what she had expected and what was beneath her hands.

Wes had hoped she would accept his bear. He had not expected this. Not Kate learning him with her hands as naturally as she had learned the man over coffee and pizza. Not the quiet way she stood close enough for him to feel her warmth through his fur.

His bear remained still, content now to let her touch him.

Kate lifted both hands to his face. For a moment she looked straight into his eyes. Then she leaned forward and rested her forehead against his.

Everything inside Wes went quiet. The orchard seemed quiet too, although he knew it was not. There would still be leaves moving in the breeze and night insects somewhere in the grass. But all Wes noticed was Kate’s forehead against his fur and the slow movement of her fingers along the side of his face.

“This is impossible,” she whispered.

The bear breathed out softly.

Kate drew back just enough to look at him. “But I watched it happen.” Her thumb moved beneath one of his eyes. Then she kissed his forehead.