Read Online Raising The Stakes (Heartwarming Romance) by Karen Rock - Free Book Online Page A

bear?”
    “Button,” she contradicted stubbornly.
    “Do you believe I would willingly harm her?”
    She thought about his hard work this week, laboring during his vacation to make an enclosure that met code.
    “No,” she admitted. “But you will if you feel you have to, and that’s as bad.”
    “Yes,” he agreed, his voice low and level. “It is. So will you save me from doing something I don’t want to do and let me help you pass this test?”
    She blinked at him in surprise. She hadn’t thought of it from his point of view. That he’d want her to succeed as much as she did. They might have different opinions on how best to raise Button, but they both wanted the bear alive. She could get behind that. She eyed Liam. If she wasn’t careful, there was a lot about this man she could support.
    Vivie handed him the laptop and Scooter threw himself across Liam’s boots as if settling in for the evening.
    “I was on question two hundred and sixteen.”
    His scrutinized her over the screen. “How many of those did you get right?”
    “A hundred?”
    He glanced at her wall clock and settled deeper into the chair. “Guess I will have that tea. This is going to be a long night.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    “S TOP CHEWING YOUR NAILS . It’s not hygienic and besides, what will Officer Walsh think about those cuticles?”
    Vivie yanked her finger from her mouth and glanced at the diner’s cat clock. Officer Walsh? Cuticles? Like any of that mattered. Okay. Maybe it did, a bit, she admitted to herself. She’d thought about him way too much lately.
    But Button was most important—and her certification test results. She’d taken it yesterday and had spent a restless night going over every question she knew she’d gotten wrong.
    “And staring at the time won’t make it go faster,” Maggie added, swiping a washcloth in wide circles along the counter.
    Vivie dropped onto a stool and twisted back and forth, her sandals sliding along the metal base. “I know. But the test was hard. If I didn’t pass...”
    Sister Mary waved a squirt bottle of hot sauce. “I put in a good word for you, Vivie. You passed.”
    She smiled at one of her favorite regulars. “Wish I could believe that’s enough.”
    “Of course you passed it,” their waitress, Lauren, reassured her. She patted Vivie on the back as she bustled by, carrying a laden tray one-handed. A family of five let out a cheer when she stooped and passed out shakes and burgers.
    “I’m not sure,” Vivie groaned. In fact, the more she thought things over, the more she was certain she’d failed. Mastering recipes, graduating culinary school had been doable. She was a visual, hands-on person and watching and repeating what she saw got her through. But reading and memorizing... Not her thing. What if she failed Button? “It’ll be midnight in six hours. Maybe they’ll post the results.”
    Maggie broke a daisy from one of the bud vases and tucked it behind Vivie’s ear, smoothing her hair. “I think when they said ‘results Tuesday,’ they meant more like 8:00 a.m., sweetie.”
    Vivie dropped her head to the cool countertop, her heart beating fast. She needed to know. Now. Spending time with Button at the rehab center the past week had made her more protective than ever. And the cub’s excitement when she caught Vivie’s smell, that wriggling body, made her melt.
    Holding Button as she fed her had filled Vivie with peace. Finally, she wasn’t focused on healing herself; she was helping another. If only she hadn’t struggled through her studies. Vivie pictured Liam in her living room until 3:00 a.m. the night before the test. He’d drilled her like a sergeant, not leaving until she’d gotten at least seventy-five percent right. Without him, she wouldn’t have had a prayer, Sister Mary or not.
    He’d done more to help than she’d have ever imagined. Beneath that official, practical, tough persona was a kind, caring man. He didn’t want to hurt Button. Wanted