Then she eased back. Barely an inch, but it was enough for her to exhale another sentence. “I’ve made a mess of your shirt.”
“I have others.”
She pulled back farther and her fists eased. Then she wiped her eyes with the palms of her hand. “Um, hold on.”
She didn’t look up at him, but shoved a hand into her jeans pocket. Then she came up with her car fob. The locks clicked open and then a second later, the trunk unlatched. He moved the pan of brownies to the roof of the car before they could topple while she grabbed tissues from the backseat.
“Your go bag,” she said from behind the Kleenex. “It’s in the trunk.”
Right. So he could change his shirt.
He stripped out of the wet tee, folded it into a small square, then unzipped his bag. He moved by rote, his attention fully centered on her though he did not look directly at her. She was blowing her nose and throwing the tissues away. Then she did something else in the backseat of her car, though he had no idea what.
It was busywork. Something to do so that she would not have to look at him. He gave her the privacy to settle herself while he pulled out another T-shirt and pushed the dirty one into its place in the bag. A moment later, he straightened and pulled on the new shirt.
But when his head emerged, it was to see her looking at him with a steady, liquid brown gaze. Her eyes were still rimmed with red, but her expression was wistful and she extended to him a bottle of water. He took it gratefully, opening it with a swift twist, and slugging half the contents. When he finished, she was still watching him. Then she lifted a shoulder in a half shrug.
“I used to imagine what it would be like for you to hold me,” she said.
He frowned. That was not what he’d expected her to say.
“Surely you knew,” she continued. “I had the most horrible crush on you. Back when you visited.”
“You are Vic’s sister. I was staying in your house. I could never make a move on you.”
She sighed. “I know. And you have no idea how much that pissed me off.”
He looked at her and saw nostalgia in her face. It was in the tilt of her head and the swollen fullness of her lips. “I would go to bed and imagine you kissing me. And then I’d pretend all sorts of other things until we finally fell asleep in each other’s arms. Some nights, I would just skip to that part. Others…” She flashed him a quick grin. “Well, other nights, sleep wasn’t the featured activity.”
“I always thought you were beautiful.”
She snorted and brushed a hand across her face. “You never thought that. I heard you talking. You guys were all about big boobs and big butts.” She gestured gruffly to her body. “I’m average at best.”
“That was Vic, and I wasn’t talking about your body.”
She grimaced. “Thanks,” she drawled, clearly not feeling complimented.
“You never let Vic get away with his bullshit. Your mother, our CO, even the cop who pulled him over for speeding—they all let Vic get away with nonsense. I never understood it. But you nailed him for it every time.”
“That’s being smart. It had nothing to do with beauty.”
“In my world, smart is beautiful. The best kind of beauty. But if you want more, I can tell you that I find your body perfect in every way. It’s strong with muscles that know how to work. Your skin is creamy smooth and your breasts are just the right size. I dreamed about you, too. But as with anything I can’t have, I put away those dreams and refused to think about them again.”
She jerked at his words, obviously surprised. “Why can’t you have me? Because I’m Vic’s sister?”
“Because I am a beast.”
He turned away from her then. Zipped up his go bag and pulled it from the trunk. He reached up to close it, but she was there before him, pushing the metal down with a loud slam.
“A beast as in brutal to women? Or a beast like what I saw in the UP?”
“I am a grizzly bear–shifter, and you have no idea what that means.”
She shook her head. “But you guys have wives, right? You had parents, a family.”
“Many shifters mate, and my parents were raised in the shifter community, so they knew the risks.” Then he touched her cheek, turning her to look directly into his eyes. “Why do you think I went to the UP? To a place where there are miles without people.”
“You like the cold?”
