Chapter 4
BEXLEY
We were in the middle of closing down the kitchen for the night, and I couldn’t focus on a damn thing. My bear paced so hard inside me that it felt like claws dragged along the inside of my ribs. Every time I tried to steady my breathing, agitation slammed through me.
The storm raging outside didn’t help. Thunder cracked against the restaurant windows, and the lights flickered overhead several times. It had blown in fast enough to make everyone in Timber Ridge take notice.
Another rumble vibrated the floor, and my bear shoved against my skin, roaring about Rowan being alone in unfamiliar territory.
I gripped the edge of the prep table, trying to ground myself. It didn’t help. I could barely stand being this far from Rowan.
Peppa’s gaze snapped to me from the expo line, her lioness flashing in her eyes. “If you don’t go check on her, your bear is going to take the whole kitchen down with him.”
I froze. “I’m not done—”
“Bexley.” She pointed toward the door, as if she were directing her son Cyrus to a time-out. “Go. Before you tear the stove in half.”
Aero snorted behind me. “And your station will be safe with me if you can’t make it in tomorrow.”
I grabbed my jacket, muttering a curse as another lightning flash lit up the sky when I pushed out the back door. Cold rain slapped my face the second I stepped outside. The parking lot was already a slick sheet of water, and the sky had turned an ugly kind of gray that promised trouble.
I climbed into my truck, slammed the door, and gunned the engine. My polar was close to the surface, urging me forward as I headed toward the cottage Rowan’s grandmother had called home when she was alive.
The wipers barely kept up, and tree branches bowed dangerously over the road. Visibility was down to thirty feet at best, but I still drove ten over the speed limit.
Every minute I wasn’t with Rowan felt wrong.
By the time I turned onto the gravel road leading to her grandmother’s cottage, the rain hammered the roof of the truck as the storm howled around me.
As I parked behind her rental car, the porch light flickered, then went completely dark. “Shit.”
I killed the engine and was out of the truck before the headlights even faded. Rain pelted my shoulders, soaking through my jacket in seconds. My boots pounded against the steps as I took them two at a time. I lifted my fist and knocked, my pulse thundering louder in my ears than the storm.
The door jerked open, and every coherent thought I had disintegrated. Rowan stood there, wrapped in nothing but a towel, her eyes wide as she stared up at me.
Heat slammed through me so violently I had to brace a hand on the doorframe just to stay upright. My bear nearly took my skin with him in an attempt to lunge forward.
“Bexley?” she whispered, breathless and confused.
The storm howled behind me, rain slashing sideways across the porch, but all I could see was her bare legs, her damp hair curling over her shoulders, and the droplets clinging to her collarbone.
I forced my voice into something human. “Storm’s bad. We check on new folks in weather like this.”
It barely sounded convincing, even to me, but her expression eased, as though she was too overwhelmed to question what I said.
“Do you know if my grandmother had a generator?” she asked, hugging the towel tighter around herself.
The motion drew my eyes down instinctively, and my cock got painfully hard.
Before I could answer, thunder cracked so loudly that it rattled the porch boards. Rowan gasped and stumbled back.
I caught her instantly, my hand closing around her upper arm. Electricity shot up my arm, powerful enough to drag a quick breath from my lungs. Her lips parted on a tiny inhale, confirmation she’d felt the jolt too.
I forced myself to let her go before I forgot every line I wasn’t supposed to cross. “I don’t think she did, but I know how to light the fireplace.”
Rowan looked like she wanted to protest. She even opened her mouth, the hand not holding the towel in a death grip lifting slightly, but thunder rolled again and shook the cottage.
She flinched and whispered, “Okay.”
I stepped inside and kicked the door shut behind me as another blast of wind made the windows tremble. “I’ll keep the fire going. Check the place. Make sure you’re warm and safe.”
“A fire sounds great.” She turned toward the bedroom. “I’ll be back in a second.”
I forced myself to look away from her. I couldn’t think about that towel dropping to the floor so she could put something on.
My gaze snagged on the tiny couch pushed against the wall beneath the window.
It was barely big enough for someone half my size.
My knees would hang over the edge by a mile, but I was determined to stay the night.
Convincing my mate of that without scaring her off meant proving my worth first.
I crossed the room to crouch in front of the hearth and coaxed a spark into flame, feeding it carefully until warmth and light flickered across the room.
When Rowan padded out of the bedroom, she was dressed in layers. Her pretty eyes filled with relief when she glanced at the fire. “It’s a good thing you stopped by. I probably would’ve burned the place down if I tried doing that myself.”
The thought of anything bad happening to her filled me with dread. “I’ll give you my number. Whenever you need a fire lit, I’m your man.”
The alternative meaning of my words didn’t hit me until Rowan giggled. I just shrugged because that was sure as fuck true, too. My little human mate didn’t know she’d only ever feel desire with me yet, but that didn’t make it any less true.
Rowan settled on the rug near the fire, tucking her legs beneath her as the flames cast a warm glow over her skin. I forced myself to sit a safe distance away on the couch to help me resist the temptation she presented.
For a minute, neither of us spoke. Then she cleared her throat softly. “Thank you for coming by.”
I’d done it for me more than her, but I couldn’t explain that yet. “Nobody should be alone in a storm like this.”
“Yeah.” Her fingers toyed with the hem of her sleeve. “Today was a lot. Everything feels strange. Like my whole life tilted sideways.”
I wanted to touch her, but I kept my hands locked on my knees. “I’m sure. Lots of big changes.”
“It doesn’t feel real.” She looked into the fire, her thick lashes catching the light. “I didn’t really know my grandmother, but suddenly, I’m surrounded by memories I never had a chance to make.”
I leaned forward a little. “You’re handling it better than most would.”
“I don’t know about that.” She gave me a shy smile that set my pulse thundering. “What about you? What brought you to Timber Ridge?”
I picked the answer that didn’t risk exposing the world she wasn’t ready to know yet. “Chicago wasn’t right for me anymore.”
Her head tilted. “You made the change from the big city to here?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed before explaining how I followed Peppa here from the restaurant where we’d first worked together.
“That makes sense,” she murmured. “I’m from New York, so big city life is all I know.”
“It was the same for me when I got to Timber Ridge, yet I adjusted quicker than I expected.” But I’d happily follow Rowan to New York if that was where she wanted to live.
Another crash of thunder shook the cottage. Rowan startled again, scooting instinctively closer to the fire. My bear shoved hard at my ribs, wanting to wrap around her to keep her warm and safe. I exhaled slowly through my nose and kept him on a tight leash.
There was still no power and no sign it was coming back anytime soon, giving me the perfect excuse to suggest, “If it’s okay, I’ll stay on the couch tonight. Storm’s not letting up.”
Her brows arched. “I don’t think you’ll fit.”
“I’ve slept in worse spots.” As a polar bear wedged between tree roots in an ice storm, for one.
She hesitated, then nodded. “Okay. Just for the night.”
“Of course,” I agreed even though my bear snarled that it wasn’t nearly enough time with her.
Rowan stood and padded toward the bedroom, casting one last look at me before disappearing behind the door. My whole body strained after her, but I stayed put, lowering myself onto the couch even though every spring groaned under me in protest.
My legs hung off the side at an awkward angle, and my shoulders were too wide for the cushions. But my discomfort didn’t matter as long as she felt safe.
I stared at the ceiling, listening to the storm and the soft sounds of Rowan moving around the bedroom. My bear pawed restlessly at my insides, wanting to be even closer to her.
I didn’t know how long I lay there before I heard the door creak open.
“Bexley?” Her voice was sleepy.
I sat up instantly. “Yeah?”
She stepped out, wrapped in an oversized sweater, rubbing her arms. “Sorry. I didn’t want to bother you, but it’s freezing in there.”
“You’re not bothering me.” I glanced out the window above the couch. “Looks like the temperature dropped, and the rain has turned into snow. You’ll be warmer out here by the fire.”
While Rowan took the blankets from the bed, I braved the cold to grab extras from my truck.
She hovered, watching me arrange a nest on the floor near the fire. Then she whispered, “What about you? You’re going to freeze on that couch.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Her gaze darted between it, me, and the fire. “We could both sleep on the floor. For warmth.”
My bear nearly flipped the couch over in approval.
I swallowed hard. “If you want.”
Her cheeks warmed in the firelight. “I do.”
Even with the storm battering the cottage and the power off, everything was right in my world because I spent the rest of the night next to my mate.