“Good God in Heaven, mother, how did you know that?”
“Word gets around.”
“To New York? Are you and Flint’s mother secretly conspiring here?”
“Oh, that’s a great idea!” her mother said happily, with no sarcasm whatsoever. “Do you have her number?”
“No! She doesn’t have a phone! She’s a bear, she lives in a treehouse! With no phone service!” Coral hung up in exasperation.
Flint was laughing at her.
“A treehouse?” he said.
“She makes me crazy,” Coral grumbled. “Hey, why are we pulling up in front of your house?’
“You’re spending the night.”
“I am not! I demand you take me home!”
“It’s not safe. So, no.”
He got out, walked around, and opened her door for her.
“I can sling you over my shoulder and carry you in, if that’s what it takes.”
“You big, macho jerk! Stupid bear!”
“Stubborn wolf. Do I need to pull you out of the car? I’m not taking no for an answer.” He stood there, looming over her. It was starting to rain, little sprinkles pattering on the car’s windshield, and big dark clouds bunched overhead in the night sky promised another mini tropical gale.
Scowling, she scrambled out of the car and followed him inside, where he led her to the living room.
“This is ridiculous,” she said, sinking into an obscenely comfortable overstuffed leather couch. “I didn’t bring a change of clothes, either. And by the way I’m still mad at you.”
“I’ll get you a nightshirt to sleep in.”
The air was chilling again with the evening rainstorm. Flint walked over to the flagstone fireplace and started building a fire. The room had been decorated with a masculine touch, with dark cherry wood bookcases, a collection of antique guns displayed on the wall, and dark leather furniture.
She was alone under the same roof with Flint McCoy. That never ended well. Or it ended very well, depending on how you looked at it.
Still, she thought, leaning back into the couch’s yielding softness, after meeting Flint’s family and seeing how he interacted with them, she couldn’t believe he was up to anything nefarious.
She’d been teetering between wondering if he was somehow involved with the shifter disappearances and thinking that he must be there to investigate them. Now she was leaning strongly towards thinking that he was there to investigate. A man who loved his family as much as he did wouldn’t tear another family apart by kidnapping someone, would he?
“Try this brandy,” Flint said, handing her a crystal snifter. She took a sip, and tried not to moan aloud at the delicious sensation of warmth that spread through her.
He settled down next to her and took a sip of brandy from his own glass. She could feel his body heat radiating from him, and that smell of male musk tickled her nostrils. She drew it in slowly, savoring it.
“How often do you come back to Blue Moon Junction?” she asked him.
“Not often enough, according to my family. On holidays, and usually for a few weeks over the summer. I travel a lot for my business. So what are your plans after you leave Blue Moon Junction?” he asked.
“I guess go back to New York, work on a big newspaper. I don’t know. What about you?”
“I don’t know. Originally I was sure I’d go back to Seattle, but I do miss being close to my family. They’re asking me to stay here.”
Coral felt a sharp tug of longing. Was he hinting? What did he want her to say?
“They’re wonderful,” she said. “I can understand how you’d want to stay close to them. “
She took another sip of brandy and shuddered in pleasure. “Mmmm,” she murmured. “Delicious.”
Flint set down his cup of brandy.
“Do you know what it does to me when you do that?” he demanded.
“Do what?” she asked innocently.
“The way you look when you’re drinking that brandy…I’m actually jealous of a glass of liquor right now. I want you to look at me like that.”
The fire crackled and popped, and she felt a wave of warmth sweeping over her. She squirmed in her seat and tugged at the neckline of her shirt. “Is it hot in here?” she murmured. She set down her glass of brandy next to his.
“Is it? Maybe we should get some of those clothes off of you,” he growled. Before she could protest he’d pulled her to him and bent down, claiming her mouth in a devouring kiss.
She found herself kissing back, pressing against him. She couldn’t help herself; she loved the feeling of his strong, muscular body. She’d always felt so big and ungainly next to her dates. She should have realized the solution long ago: date a bear.
He wrapped his arms around her, crushing her up against him, and she found herself flattened against the wall with his tongue swirling around hers in an intimate duet.