Bear, page 4
“That about sums it up,” Hunter said.
“Except for the part where she can’t talk to police about what she knows,” Gauge muttered as he typed on a laptop.
“Y’all have lost your minds,” Roxie breathed.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about The Shadow,” Blade said.
“What you need to understand is he’s a dangerous man who poses a very real threat,” Teddy said.
She blinked, trying to wrap her head around all of this, but no matter how she parsed it in her brain, nothing made sense.
“I know it’s a lot, but you need to think of Chad,” Hunter said.
That got her out of her stupor. She snapped, “He’s all I ever think about.”
Hunter lifted his hands in a placating gesture. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Y’all listen to me and listen good. Even if this is Chad’s father we’re talking about, the man ain’t gonna do shit to him. He’s known about my son since I took him to the beach at Beaverdam Creek and told him I was pregnant. We are not going anywhere. No way on Earth am I uprooting Chad during his senior year of high school. He’s got football and the homecoming dance coming up. Think about Chad? I’ve worked my ass off to give him a happy life, so I’m sure as hell not ripping him from it now.”
She stood up, ready to storm out.
“You’re right. You should stay here and pretend everything is normal,” Teddy said. If he’d said it sarcastically, she’d have kept on walking, but his sincere voice had her turning to face him.
She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “You were the one who said I needed protection.”
“You do, but I have another idea in mind. One that could keep you and Chad safe by sending a message to The Shadow that there’s nothing here for him.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “And just how do you expect to do that without hiding us somewhere?”
“Easy. You and I are getting married.”
Chapter Four
Blade was still laughing at Bear when Roxie backed out of the garage bay as if the hounds of Hell were after her. “Smooth, dude. Real smooth.”
Bear shrugged off Blade’s hand from his shoulder. The idea hadn’t seemed so ridiculous in his mind when he’d come up with it out in the parking lot. In fact, it made perfect sense. If The Shadow believed Roxie had moved on, maybe it’d deter him from seeking her and Chad out. There’d be no reason to try to get Roxie back if that was part of his motive because she’d clearly be off the market. Maybe he’d waited until Chad was closer to being an adult, so he could have the woman back without the day-to-day responsibilities of being a father. A sharp stab of jealousy flared at the thought of her ex wanting her back for any reason at all, which Bear quickly ignored. He didn’t have time to dwell on his feelings for her. Not when her safety was at stake.
Getting married would also address the possibility that it was Chad the psycho was focused on now, because then, he could rest easy knowing the boy had a stepfather in his life.
Yeah, Bear knew his argument for marriage was weak, but the idea of either one of them living alone, unprotected, grated on him. He could not, would not, leave them vulnerable.
Brody’s old truck came roaring down the road. After he jumped out and rushed into the garage, he asked, “What’s the latest news?”
“You mean besides Bear’s utterly unromantic proposal, and Roxie’s cutthroat rejection everyone watched?” Shelby asked with a playful wince.
Bear didn’t find her comment funny in the least.
“We’ve put in a call to McMillan. He said to give him ten minutes to secure a line and he’ll conference us in,” Bear said.
Rick McMillian had been their FBI contact since Colonel had defected. After Shelby and Anna had moved here and Viola had transferred a few months ago to the Little Rock office—all to be closer to the men in their lives—his team was down to bare bones. Carson was still there, but now, McMillan was building an organized crime task force after working on the case involving Roc’s family. He knew all about The Shadow, and unlike the local police, he could provide some help with what had happened today.
“Heather just yelled from the conference room that the call’s coming in,” Blade said.
“I didn’t know you were dating Roxie,” Brody muttered as they walked.
Blade howled again.
“Shut the fuck up,” Bear yelled.
Hunter, Gauge, Axle, Shelby, Roc, and Heather were already waiting in the room when Blade, Brody, and Bear walked in.
“This better be good,” McMillian said the moment the video call connected.
“We were hit today,” Bear started and then relayed all pertinent information concerning both the explosion and Roxie’s connection.
“Do you think he meant for her to be there when the bomb went off?” McMillian asked.
“Not sure, but we can’t rule it out,” Bear said.
“You need to up security around her and the kid, then.”
Damn straight. “Already on it.” Bear just wished Roxie had grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Hunter snickered at Bear’s declaration.
“We live right across the street. I’ll keep an eye on her,” Brody said.
“You have a new baby.” Axle shook his head. “She’s gonna need ’round-the-clock protection anyway.”
“We’ll take shifts,” Hunter said. “There’s enough of us here to take turns without it being a big deal.”
“With the shop damaged, y’all are going to have to reschedule appointments, anyway. Again,” Heather said, rubbing her head.
Roc massaged her shoulders. He had a habit of pulling her into his lap whenever he sat down, so Bear wasn’t surprised to see her perched there now.
“While you guys work out the local details, I’ll see if there’s any chatter on The Shadow we can use,” McMillian said. “I’ll be in touch.”
Bear killed the connection and faced his teammates. “Heather’s right. We need to bump some clients back.”
“We need to hire actual mechanics who aren’t involved in our other business,” Axle said.
Brody cracked his knuckles. “Can’t run the risk of anybody finding out what we do.”
“You mean besides all the women in your lives?” Shelby asked incredulously.
“Which is why we can’t risk hiring outside people,” Bear said. “Too many people already know the truth.”
“We’re buying the land behind the shop to expand anyway.” Roc rubbed his chin as he talked. “What if instead of building a bigger garage, we build a secure office while fixing the damage to the existing shop?”
“Oh, we could have secret rooms hidden behind false walls for meetings and weapons storage and even a soundproof underground shooting range,” Blade said, sitting up straighter.
“Hold up there, double-oh-seven,” Shelby said, rolling her eyes. “A secured access building is all we need—just something to keep innocent eyes from seeing things they shouldn’t.”
“And an executive rec room with vintage pinball machines,” Blade said.
“Shouldn’t you be planning your honeymoon?” Hunter asked. “You know, something to spend your own money on and not all of ours?”
“Already done.” Blade smiled.
“It’s not a bad idea,” Brody said, nodding his head slowly. “Not the rec room. With the work our garage has done, we could vet some of the best mechanics in the country. Men—”
“And women,” Shelby said, cutting in.
“And women,” Brody amended, “who are so focused on hotrods. They won’t care about the business end of things that happens in the other building.”
“It’s not as if the shop can’t afford to hire help,” Heather said. “After paying all the bills and each partner getting their cut, the accounts are all in the green.”
“Even if they weren’t, it’s not like we need the money from the garage,” Roc said.
“Speak for yourself. I got a new baby at home.” Brody chuckled.
“I can access some plans for secured gun and comm rooms,” Gauge said.
“Yes.” Blade clapped once.
Bear chewed his lip. “Heather, you think you could do some headhunting for qualified mechanics?”
“As long as you don’t get mad that I’ve already been building profiles for just the right time.”
Roc nudged her shoulder, and Bear realized that this was something the two lovebirds had already been planning on bringing up.
“This is as good a time as any,” Brody said.
“Let’s do it.” Bear pushed away from the table he was leaning against with a quick nod. “Brody, you head back to your house and keep an eye on Roxie’s. The rest of you pick a shift to case her place. We’ll meet back here in the morning.”
“Where are you going?” Brody asked Bear.
“Up to my dad’s old farm. There’s something I need to get.”
“You want us to jot you down for detail tomorrow?”
“Nope. I’ll be protecting them from the inside.”
Blade laughed again.
Brody frowned slightly.
Roc shook his head as if Bear had lost his mind.
The others glanced around as if they didn’t know what to say.
Finally, Blade got control of his damn funny bone and asked, “Do you need me to repeat her answer?”
“No.”
“‘Theodore Knight, I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last dickhole in the sea of dickholes.’ Dickhole. Fucking priceless.”
“Next time, you should try asking her and not telling her,” Axle said, wearing a small smile. “It works better that way.”
“How would you know? You’ve been too chickenshit to ask Caitlin.” Shelby gasped. “Oh my God. Did you propose?”
Axle’s smile grew, and the energy in the room shifted. “Yeah. I asked her on the anniversary of the day we met. Never would’ve imagined that meeting some spitfire reporter in a warzone would change my life, but I’m grateful every day for getting that shitty-ass assignment.”
Several of the guys chuckled while others congratulated him.
“We weren’t going to say anything until after your wedding,” he said to Blade. “Caitlin didn’t want to steal any of Anna’s thunder.”
“Bah. She won’t care.”
Bear checked the time on his phone. “I gotta hit the road.”
“Who wants to bet he’ll be sleeping in a tent in Roxie’s backyard?” Gauge asked.
“No way in Hell am I sleeping in a tent,” he said before he left.
Roxie would hear him out, and if not, there was always Plan B.
She wouldn’t like it either.
Chapter Five
Roxie had slept like crapola last night, and it had nothing to do with the nightmare she’d had where she’d been trapped in a Ruby Dixon book filled with hot blue aliens who’d all claimed a mate with everyone but her, so she’d had to live on the cold-ass planet as a spinster while all her Earthling friends got to spend their nights having freaky sex with males hung like horses, sporting clit-tingling spurs. Nope.
Nor did it have anything to do with the bomb her baby daddy hitman might have set off to blow up the local gang of mercenaries. Nuh-uh.
Only one person was responsible for her lack of shuteye. One man, and his seriously effed-up proposal.
You and I are getting married.
I mean, who said stuff like that?
That was not what little girls dreamed about hearing one day.
The coffee finished brewing into her cup, and she added some cream and sugar before taking a fortifying sip.
If she was honest with herself, she had a hard time pretending her irritation had anything to do with childhood dreams of social-media-worthy proposals with cute inspirational quotes. If one of the other guys had asked her, she wouldn’t have taken the suggestion so hard. Suggestion? Ha! Of course, all the other men were taken, not that that was part of the problem, either.
No, it was because the man she’d been drooling over for the last million years had been willing to tie himself to her for all the wrong reasons. Now, if he’d professed his love for her, she might’ve overlooked the caveman-style proposal. Heck, going all alpha could totally be hot, but no such luck.
She’d always been the one wanting more from him. After they’d had wild hot sex, that’d become painfully clear…
He held her to his chest. Just wrapped her into his arms and hugged her. It was comforting and sweet and everything she’d never imagined there could be after mind-blowing sex. She didn’t know how long they lay there like this. She just knew she never wanted to let go of him.
“I’ve wanted you for so long,” she murmured. “I thought you didn’t want me.” She silently winced at sounding a little pathetic. What was he supposed to say to that? He’d either let her down gently or crush her still erratically beating heart. She needed to get control of her emotions before she opened her big, fat mouth and professed her undying love for him.
His soft snore was a relief. Maybe he hadn’t heard.
Tracing along a tattoo on his chest, Roxie thought of what to do next. She wanted to stay in his bed, wake up with him, have a few more rounds of hot sex, eat breakfast together, cuddle on the couch…
With that thought, she knew she couldn’t stay. She wanted Teddy. Completely. She’d been clear in her attraction, and until tonight—after several rounds of drinks—he hadn’t shown interest. If he wanted more, then he needed to make the next move. She wasn’t into playing games or anything, and hell, he didn’t even have to meet her halfway.
But he needed to show real interest in the harsh light of day.
She slipped out of his bed and quietly got dressed. At least the walk of shame happened under the cover of darkness.
Her bed felt cold all night.
The coffee was brewing late that morning when her doorbell rang. A rush of giddiness propelled her to the door as she tied her robe. She opened it to find a delivery guy standing there with a bouquet of flowers.
“Your tire’s looking a little low,” the young man said.
Suppressing a gasp, she thanked him without looking at her car and took the flowers to the living room. She inhaled the beautiful arrangement. Unable to hide a smile, she opened the card.
Can’t wait to see you again.
She squealed like a dang teenager. “Me, too, Teddy.”
Before she changed her mind, threw on some clothes and light makeup. It was a weekday, so he’d probably be at the shop, and from what that kid had just said, she might need her tire looked at. Yes, it was a flimsy excuse. No, she didn’t care.
Keys in hand, she hopped into her car and headed to the garage. Her heart beat in double time when she saw Teddy’s motorcycle parked out front. She smoothed her hair down as she walked into the front of the shop. Music and power tools filled the air.
Roc scowled at her. The new guy, Gauge, glanced her way as he rolled out from underneath a car.
“Hey, doll. Whatcha need?” Blade asked. The man was a notorious flirt, but there was only one man here she wanted.
“My tire’s low. Where’s Teddy?”
“Not sure you wanna talk to him. He had a bitch of a day yesterday, and he’s grumpier than normal. Has a massive hangover.”
She grinned. “I think I can manage.”
“Bear,” Blade yelled over his shoulder. “Gotta visitor.”
When Teddy stepped around a vehicle raised on a lift, she bit her lip. Jeez, the man was a hunk. She couldn’t believe she’d been all over him last night.
As he walked over, Blade went back to whatever he was doing before.
“Yeah?” Teddy asked, standing several feet from her, staring at her like he always did.
Like they just hadn’t been screwing each other’s brains out only hours ago.
Her smile faltered. He probably didn’t want his coworkers to know about his private life. She glanced around the shop, but no one paid them any attention. She took a step closer to him.
“I, er, got a special delivery this morning.”
He blinked.
She waited.
No words came.
What the hell?
“Um, and the guy told me my tire looks low.”
He nodded once and checked his watch. “Gonna be a bit before we can get to it,” he said as if she was any other customer. “Brody can give you a ride back to your house.”
Unable to help herself, she took a step forward. “What’s wrong with you?” she whispered. “If you don’t want—”
“Nothing.” He frowned, rubbing his head. “Sorry. Got so drunk last night, don’t even remember driving home.”
He’d been drinking, yes, but it wasn’t like he’d been stumbling around. Maybe he was one of those guys who was able to hide the effects of alcohol better than most. She opened her mouth to set him straight, but Colonel called out for him.
“Sorry. We’re in the middle of taking an engine out.” He looked over his shoulder and called for Brody. Without another word, Teddy walked off.
Just left her standing there.
“Mom, where’s my hoodie?” Chad called out, startling Roxie out of her crappy memory. She almost dropped her dang coffee cup when she set it on the counter.
“It’s in the dryer, but it’s gonna be eighty today.”
Chad stepped into the kitchen and rubbed a hand through his light brown hair. Hair that looked just like his father’s. The only physical trait her boy had inherited from her was her eye color. Where his father’s were hazel, Chad’s were blue.
“How warm is it right now?” he asked as he got out a package of Pop-Tarts.
“Son, you have a phone that will tell you whatever you ask it.”
“It’s in my room.” He put one in the toaster and started munching on the other without heating it up.
Roxie checked the weather app on hers and told him the temperature. “So you’re not gonna need it.”
“Thanks.” He kissed her cheek, and Roxie melted at her boy’s affection. “How’d the car ride?”
“Like I didn’t have to pray every time I mashed on the brakes.”
