From the pain in her eyes, Zoe knew she spoke the truth. Zoe swallowed another knot of emotion and nodded. "Thanks, Rosie."
"Sure." The bartender patted her on the back and headedfor the exit, though she gave Simon a hard look as she passed him. "Be kind, young man."
He nodded and said, "Always, Rosie," but he looked miserable as he approached Zoe's table.
She downed another shot and took a deep breath as he sat. He didn't look like a man about to deliver good news. Maybe Castellano escaped. Maybe he died but more of his guys were on the loose and Zoe would spend the rest of her life running away. Maybe Tate died. Maybe Simon changed his mind and didn't want a criminal living with him. She gripped the edge of the table until her knuckles ached and tried to brace herself for the worst possible outcome. That seemed to be happening a lot lately.
19
SIMON
It took more courage for Simon to walk into the bar to face Zoe than most things in his past required, even when he'd run into buildings full of guys who wanted him dead. That was nothing compared to the sheer devastation she could wreak with just a few words.
He sat across the table from her, so he could see every inch of her and faced her head-on. And he thanked Rosie for leaving the whiskey on the table so he could get a little liquid courage before he talked to Zoe about staying. Simon folded his hands on the table after two or three shots and took a deep breath. "First of all, Tate is fine. Well, he was fine when I left him. Since Rosie headed that way, I can't be sure."
A hint of a smile crossed her expression and something in Simon's chest eased. He concentrated on the peanut shells on the table, though, and stirred the mess with his finger as he went on. "The game wardens showed up, along with the sheriff and a few other cops, to arrest Castellano and his guys for poaching."
"Poaching?" Zoe sat up, frowning.
"Yep." Simon smiled as he tipped a little more whiskeyinto both of the shot glasses and nudged one towards her. He always found it easier to speak from the heart with a little booze. "What else could they be doing, running around in the forest with a bunch of rifles and camouflage, but illegally hunting? We take that very seriously around here, particularly since Cooper swears up and down he saw them take a shot at a couple of bear cubs."
Zoe shot him a sideways look. "Mick Castellano is an organized crime boss with friends all the way up through the Justice Department and into the Senate. I know that for a fact — I cooked books for all of them. Do you really think any of that will stick?"
Simon smiled. "You don't know our game wardens. Besides, didn't they get Al Capone on tax evasion?" That shadow of a smile reappeared, and her shoulders relaxed a little. Simon knocked his knuckles on the table. "So that's taken care of for now. I made it clear to Castellano that there will be hell to pay if we see a hint of him or his guys around here. He's all busted up anyway. From the car accident."
A giggle escaped and Zoe's green eyes grew wider. "The car accident, or the bear accident?"
His bear liked hearing her giggle, wanted to hear a full body laugh. Wanted to see her let loose with joy. Fling her head back and shout to the world, spin around like a dervish. He wanted to pick her up and spin with her until they were both so dizzy they fell down. He cleared his throat and tried to keep from beaming rainbows at her. "As far as the cops are concerned, it was a one in a million car accident. With some strange claw marks in the roof. That could have come from anywhere."
She rested her chin on her elbow and watched him, and some uncertainty crept back into her expression.
Simon went on before he lost the rest of his courage, or had to search for it in the bottom of the bottle. "And sinceCastellano is out of the way, or mostly out of the way, Tate said that means you can go back to California. If you want."
Zoe went still.
"Only if you want." Simon tried to quiet the bear and his grumbling at the thought of suggesting she leave. "I want you to stay. I want you to stay here with me, at the lodge. Forever. Stay with me."
She didn't speak. The silence stretched.
Simon's heart started to pound. He cleared his throat and spread his hands on the table. "I'll get better wifi. I'm sure there's a way to make sure everything connects. And better generators, so your computers will always work. I'll try that business software you wanted, and if you want to do all the books, I would love it. I would. And if you want nothing to do with the lodge or the business, I'd love that too. Whatever you want, Zoe. Whatever it takes for you to stay, I'll do."
Her forehead wrinkled, and he talked faster, the words tripping over each other until he didn't know if she could even understand him. "I'll show you how to be a bear. How wonderful and freeing it is. We can go fishing at dawn, and running through the meadow in fall when the leaves are turning and the air is crisp. And — and I'll build you a den. A cabin behind the lodge, I know the perfect location. So it'll be just us. No guests, no Ethan or Cooper or the rest of the guys. Just you and I. Just — stay, Zoe. Please stay."
She breathed a little faster, her chin wobbling as she looked at him. Her voice broke. "But what about Tate?"
"What about Tate?" Simon looked at her, struggling to understand. What the hell did he care where the mountain lion went? "Well, he can stay if he wants, or he can go back to California and do what Tate does. If you want him to stay, I'll chain him up in our basement."
A brief smile, despite the way she trembled, and Zoefiddled with the basket of peanuts. "What did you mean when you said I'm your mate? What does that mean?"
He took a deep breath. A dive bar in the middle of the afternoon, shortly after a series of near-death experiences, was not his idea of a place to have a romantic conversation. "My bear recognized you, the first night we met. There's supposed to be one perfect person, in the entire world, for each of us. Sometimes people search their entire lives, looking for that person, and don't find them. So when you walked in with Tate, I almost didn't believe my luck." Simon desperately wanted to touch her, wanted to smooth the worry lines from her forehead.
"Is that why you turned me into a bear? So we would match?" She hesitated as she asked, and started peeling the label off the whiskey bottle.
He couldn't take it anymore and caught her hands in his, tangling their fingers together. "Yes and no. Whether you stayed human or not didn't matter — I loved you exactly as you were, and I love you exactly as you are. I turned you because that was the only way to save you. And I couldn't live without you. I can't live without you. Zoe, the thought of losing you..."
His voice broke and he cleared his throat, frowning fiercely as he leaned on the table and studied her hands. Her wrists were bird delicate under his fingers, all of her fragile in his hands. "I couldn't take it. And this morning, when Castellano's guys were shooting at us at the lodge, all I could think about was you. Where you were, if you were in trouble or afraid or in pain, how fast I could get to you, how many people I needed to kill to keep you safe. You're my air, Zoe. Without you, I can't breathe."
By the time he finished, she was crying. He felt even worse. He made her cry.
