Page 44 of Caught Bear Handed
It wasn’t the only picture of Amelia, of course.She was the star of the show, and everyone would want a flipbook’s worth of images of her.There were tons of comments under each one.
“Oh, shit.”I clapped my hand over my mouth.
Beau looked up from his laptop.“What happened?”
I could barely form words.“I’m in this picture with Amelia.”
His mouth dropped, and he was all animal as he rose from the chair and stalked over to the couch.He settled on the other side of me, and Gigi picked up her head to see what had her dad so upset.
I tapped the picture on the tablet.
“It’s kinda blurry,” he rationalized.“And you’re in disguise.”
“Right, but it’s still me.”I was pretty sure my wolf was about to make an appearance.I willed her to stay inside me as I hit the link to view the comments.
Beau put his hand on my arm, reading over my shoulder.I’m pretty sure neither of us took a breath as I scanned the entire thread twice, making sure my name didn’t emerge from the shadows.
“They didn’t figure it out.”Still, it wasn’t time to let our guard down.“Yet.Nothing gets by these superfans.”
“I need to let Barrett know,” Beau said with a growl as he rose.“And I plan to recommend you don’t get sent undercover.”
ChapterSixteen
Beau
My eyes snapped open and I groaned when I was greeted by the gray-blue light just before sunrise.Kayla often joked about the four o’clock morning meeting, but I could confirm since we’d started sharing a bed that I’d attended more of them than she had.
She was sound asleep beside me.The only hints of what we’d done just hours before were her wild hair splayed across the pillow, and her bare shoulder.
It took everything I had not to roll over and take her into my arms.To kiss her—to coax her sleepy body into a place to pleasure me.
Who the hell was I kidding?I was simply looking for a distraction.
I sighed and put my hands behind my head as I stared out the window.The mountains were barely visible in the low light.
The thing that had woken me wasn’t new.It followed me everywhere I went.Usually, I thought it made me work harder, be better, do more.But now, it felt destructive.
I was restless.
At least with the cookout, we’d had something to look forward to.A plan.Now, with it in our rearview mirror, it felt like we were in nothing but a holding pattern.
The first time we went on lockdown—I couldn’t believe I was thinking of it that way.How many people would pay good money to spend this much time with Kayla Mitchell?Myself included.There was no one I’d rather be trapped with—fuck, there it was again.This woman was my mate, and she’d granted me an all-access pass to her beautiful body, but we were trapped all the same.The last thing I wanted was for the two of us to start resenting each other because we’d been kept from our normal lives.
We had such a brief taste of what normal could be like together at the cookout.I wanted to see her thriving.This wasn’t a selfish wish.I could see she was struggling.The long looks out the window, the frowns at various screens.
There was only so long we could stay in limbo.This wasn’t good for either of us.
Gigi trotted into the room and put her paws on the side of the mattress.Once we made eye contact, I could kiss any hope of going back to sleep goodbye.
To make sure I knew what she had in mind, she placed a paw on my arm.The good thing about dogs was they didn’t let their parents wallow in their own fucking pity party, or sleep past sunrise.
I pressed my finger to my lips, asking her to be quiet while I got dressed, not to wake Kayla.Although I knew Kayla would be game for a sunrise Gigi walk, I wanted to let her sleep.
Maybe I just needed to think.Figure out how I could solve this case.
Gigi backed off, understanding the assignment.I was really happy that my dog loved Kayla.
Because I did too.