The man is gorgeous. And he’s clearly into me.
How odd that Bear finding me felt like a dream, and now my nightmares have brought us together.
5
BEAR
Ihad no idea how wonderful it was to be needed.
I've always helped my family, of course, or the town. If my cousins have the money to throw at a problem but not the practical know-how, my brothers and I have always stepped up, and I've usually been first.
This feels different.
She begins to whimper several more times over the course of the night, thrashing and muttering. As soon as I feel her muscles tense, I stroke her back, murmuring sweet things in her ear to quiet her before she starts screaming. Maybe she subconsciously knows she’s not alone, since it only ever takes about a minute for her breathing to smooth out again, drifting back into peaceful sleep.
At some point I fall asleep. When I wake, light is streaming around the edges of the curtain, and Joy is gone.
I bolt upright, then relax when I hear movement and a cupboard door shut in the kitchen. The faint smell of coffee wafts up to the second floor.
How do I handle this situation? I'm pretty sure that Joy has feelings for me. I definitely have feelings for her – ahuge, completely unfamiliar whirlwind of them that I've never experienced before. But how can I tell her this when she is literally stranded in the middle of nowhere with me? The last thing I want to do is make her feel trapped.
I lumber downstairs to find Joy pouring me a coffee. "Good morning!” She studies my face, which is probably blank. “Are bears grouchy before they have their coffee?"
"Not when they walk into the room and see a smile like yours."
Holy shit. Did I actually just say that?
Her face lights up, then she hands me a mug. Her hand rests on my bicep. "Thank you for taking care of me last night."
Damn, I love the way her eyes glow as she looks up at me.
"I’m sorry about the screaming – sometimes I wake up with my throat totally raw. Carl often stomps on the floor to snap me out of it. Sometimes if he’s super exhausted from work, he wears ear plugs so he doesn’t hear me."
"He can't be bothered to come downstairs and check on his own sister?" I growl.
"Mmm. I guess it gets old after a while. And he has to work in the morning, right?” She frowns. “There was one time he had a date stay over, and apparently my screaming made her leave in the middle of the night. So, I mean, I can't blame him."
I sure can.
I sip the coffee, then set it on the counter. "That’s really good. Look, for what it's worth, taking care of you…just feels right, I guess."
Her expression grows cloudy.
“Shit. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to say that you need anyone to take care of you. I mean, you’re an independent woman and all that. But if I’m here and I can help, I want to. If that’s okay with you, of course.”
Her luscious lips melt into a warm smile. “I’ve always wanted to be independent. And I am, with just a little help from my brother. It was easier for us to buy a house together. But…” Her fingers walk up my arm to stroke my beard. “I really like the idea of you and I taking care of each other.”
Her hand jerks away. “Oh! I mean, in a light way. Just fun, you know? I don’t expect?—”
My palms grab her perky round ass, pulling her entire body tightly to mine. “Just shut up and kiss me already, sugar.”
I love the way her lashes flutter as she looks up at me. Love the way she stares at my mouth, hesitating for a split second. Then she stretches up, her hands slipping around the back of my neck and her eyes falling closed as our lips touch for the first time.
Magic. This beautiful, sweet girl is magic.
My energy surges, my heart racing as her mouth opens to invite me in. This is not a tentative first kiss. It’s as if our entire bodies melt together. Her soft breasts flatten against my chest, and I swear she’s pressing her ass into my hands. My cock is instantly hard as rock, cramped in my jeans. Hopefully she doesn’t notice.
Joy releases a soft sigh against my lips as my hand slips inside the back of her shirt to caress her skin. “You like it when I touch you?”
