“You okay?” She dragged her eyes down his body, lingering on the erection he had no chance of hiding. “Hard evening?”
He stepped into the boutique and turned the lock on the door. She had a badass reputation as a girl who was into tough guys. Bear wondered if he hadn’t been aggressive enough with his playful banter. Tonight he’d step it up and give her what she seemed to find attractive in other guys. Or at least what she used to. He hadn’t heard her talk about any other guys in months, and his gut told him it was because she was totally, one hundred percent into him. He just needed to get past whatever was holding her back.
“Baby, you have no idea what you do to me.” He walked forward, backing her up until she hit the costumes hanging on a rack. “I’m not sure how I feel about you dressing like this in public.”
“You have no say in how I dress.”
He gathered her in his arms, and she squirmed.
“What are you doing?”
“More than eight months, baby.” His hands moved down her back to the dip at the base of her spine. “That’s a long damn time to be thinking about you the way I think about you.”
“Then don’t,” she challenged.
He touched his lips to her cheek, feeling her heart hammering against his. “What are you waiting for, Crystal? You know I want you. I know you want me.”
“What I know,” she said in a firm voice, “is if you move your hands an inch lower, my knee is going to put a permanent end to your ability to have a hard anything.”
“What’s wrong, baby?” he asked softly. “What scares you so much that you have to toy with me?”
She clutched his chest, the color draining from her face. “Bear, please stop.”
He stepped back, shocked by the conflicting emotions staring back at him, and fought the urge to pull her back into his arms and protect her. From himself?
“Crystal, you know I’d never really force myself on you. I was just playing around.”
She rolled her eyes, scoffing as she walked away. “No shit.”
“So, what’s wrong? Shit, babe. The last thing I want to do is scare you.”
“Your chick meter is off. I’m not scared. I’m just not in the mood for this. It’s been a long day, and it’s not nearly over.”
“Christ.” He let out a relieved breath. “You scared the piss out of me.”
“Sure it was piss?” She glanced at his jeans and raised her brows. He’d gone soft at the fear he’d thought he’d seen in her eyes. “Looks like we took care of that mighty sword of yours.”
“Not quite the way I had envisioned,” he mumbled.
Chapter Three
“REALLY, BEAR. I can drop you at your place before I go to the fabric shop.” Crystal started the car, feeling more in control than she had inside the shop. She hated the way she’d frozen up when things had gotten hot between them. She wanted him. After putting herself through three years of therapy, dealing with not only the trauma of the attack, but the bullshit with her mother and the loss of her father, she was sure she could handle anything. She’d dated other guys since she’d left college without issue. Why did it have to be different with the only guy she wanted to be close to? It pissed her off that her past still owned a piece of her, and she needed to get over it before Bear got fed up and walked away for good.
“I have to go to the store anyway.” He flashed one of his smiles. “We might as well go together.”
“You need to go to the fabric store?” she said flatly, knowing he was bullshitting her. She realized her car smelled different, cleaner. The seats were shiny, the dashboard dust free. “Did you clean my car?”
“Detailed it,” he said casually, as if he did this type of thing every day. For all she knew, he did. “Changed your oil, topped off your fluids. You really need to do those things every three thousand miles.” He touched the doll hanging from her rearview mirror. “I dusted off this, too, even though I’m a little worried that it’s a voodoo doll.”
She wasn’t about to tell him it was a worry doll that she loved more than life itself.
“Bear.” She couldn’t suppress her smile about the voodoo doll as she drove toward the store. “You really need to stop acting like you have to take care of me. I appreciate you handling the inspection, which I’m paying you for, by the way. But you don’t have to do all these things for me. I already like who you are.” Even if I have a hard time showing it.
“I know you do,” he said, as cocky as ever.
Why is that such a turn-on?
“I didn’t do it to get your attention. Shit, six three, two thirty.” He flexed his biceps and winked. “You’re sitting next to Peaceful Harbor gold, baby. I’ve got your attention.”
She couldn’t suppress a laugh. “That you do, and probably half the women in this town.”
“Only half?”
He kept her laughing the whole way to the fabric store, and it was just what she needed. It really had been a long day. They’d hosted three parties, and one of the mothers was just about the most obnoxious woman on earth. She’d pushed her daughter toward pink frilly outfits for the first half hour, when all the little cutie had wanted was to dress up as a skateboard princess. Gemma realized Crystal was going to strangle the wench, and she’d calmly suggested the woman head down to Jazzy Joe’s for coffee. The rest of her day hadn’t been much better. Plus, she’d spent the morning overthinking everything about her relationship with Bear, which was probably why she’d freaked out when she’d really been dying to kiss him.
She parked in front of the fabric store. There were some things that just didn’t fit in the world as Crystal knew it, and Bear Whiskey clad in a tight black T-shirt that said Whiskey Bro’s across his massive chest, a pair of snug, low-slung black jeans, and leather boots strutting into Jennilyn’s Fabric was on the top of the list.
She pulled her list from her bag as his eyes coasted over the store. What was he thinking, coming with her? That was dedication she could not ignore. The epitome of commitment.
That is Bear.
My Bear?
She toyed with that as he draped his arm over her shoulder. She wondered what had taken him so long. She’d expected him to do it the second she’d stepped from the car, but he was probably in shock that they were actually going to a fabric store. She smiled to herself as he leaned closer and rubbed his nose along her cheek.
“Can I help you?” she asked with a laugh.
“You smell like jelly beans, and I happen to have a thing for sugary goodness.”
“You can’t seriously have that good a sense of smell.”