“It’s 2016, Bear,” she calls as she climbs the stairs. “I know what many things are.”

“Jesus Christ,” I groan into my hands. “We need to check her browser history and then put parental locks on her computer.”

“We can do that.”

I peek at him through my fingers. He’s shuffling nervously, still standing in the entryway. “You’re an idiot.”

He nods, like he’s been expecting this.

“But so am I.”

He nods, and then his eyes widen, and he shakes his head furiously. “No, it’s not—you didn’t do anything wrong.”

I drop my hands onto the table. “Well. Let’s not go that far. I’m pretty sure I’m as culpable in all this as you are.”

“But I’m the one that—”

“Otter.”

He sighs. “Bear.”

“I love you.”

His lips twitch. “Yeah?”

“Like, so much.”

“That’s… that’s good.”

“I think so too. So here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to keep on loving you, even when you say stupid things. Because chances are, I’m going to say stupid things, and you’re going to love me anyway, right?”

“Right,” he says promptly.

“And you’re going to take that contract, and I’ll go to the appointment with Megan.”

He shakes his head. “Already called and had the date moved.”

“You did?”

He shrugs. “I’m good at what I do. They want me. They’ll wait. And this is more important.”

“Wow. That… should not have turned me on as much as it did. Your overinflated sense of self is apparently a kink of mine. Talk dirty to me.”

“They bent over backwards to accommodate me,” he says, taking a step toward me.

“I’m going to bend over backwards to accommodate you,” I say with a leer.

He huffs out a laugh. “That didn’t sound as sexy as you think it did.”

“Still worked, didn’t it?”

“How so?”

“You’ve got that look on your face.”

“And what look is that?”

“The one where you love me so much that you’re having all these feelings inside and you’re not sure which one to grasp on to first.”

“That right?”

“It is,” I say smugly.

“Funny, that.”

“Say something else that sounds egotistical.”

He’s standing right next to the table, towering over me, looking more relaxed than he had when he came home. “I’m highly sought after in my field because there’s really no one better than me.”

“Wow. Okay, I was kidding at first. But I’m actually getting turned on right now.”

He rubs a big hand up my arm and shoulder, fingers curling around my neck as his thumb brushes over my cheek. “I’m sorry. For earlier.”

“Me too,” I say, turning my face to kiss his palm.

“I didn’t mean that.”

“I know.”

“I told her that.”

“I know that too.”