Bear Meets Girl (11 page)

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Authors: Shelly Laurenston

BOOK: Bear Meets Girl
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“It’s cute.”
“Whatever.”
Jai put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Cella. I promise.”
“She’s just trying to get between me and my kid.”
“And so far she’s failed.”
“Has she?”
“Hey, listen to me, Meghan loves you. She will always love you. And nothing Deirdre does will ever change that.”
“If you believe that, why are you here with me?”
“Because I’m your wacky sidekick?”
“The wacky sidekick with advanced medical degrees who can repair arteries and heart valves?”
“You say tomato ...” When Cella groaned and began to rub her temples, Jai reminded her, “You know this could be a lot worse.”
“They’re trying to match-make me with a cousin, Jai.”
“Not a close cousin.”
“That’s not the point!”
Realizing she wouldn’t calm Cella down with words, Jai pointed at the bear sitting in a chair on the front porch. “Is that him?”
“Yeah. That’s him.”
“He doesn’t look that cranky.” Cella had told Jai the bear was cranky. But he seemed rather pleased with himself sitting there. And he was handsome. A big boy with white hair and black eyes, a Rangers baseball hat sitting on his head.
“Well, he
is
cranky. So wish me luck.”
Jai killed the engine and looked at her. “You want me to go with you?”
“Why else would you be here?”
“My knowledge of the Queens area?”
“Look, I’ve got one shot at this. So I’m asking you as a friend ... don’t let me blow it.”
“Yeah, but are you going to be okay lying to your dad ... ?”
“No, I hate doing that.” Jai had no doubt that Cella adored her father and vice versa. Like Jai and her father, Cella was Butch’s protégée and pride and joy. He loved his sons, but it was his daughter who could do no wrong.
“But,” Cella went on, “once the kid’s on her way to Israel with her dad, I can have it out with Deirdre, and I can tell Dad the truth. Trust me, it’ll be easier to wrangle this difficult bear than it will be to get the family off this matchmaker thing now that they’re all onboard.”
Jai realized her friend was right. “All right. Let’s go. Just remember ... cool and calm.” Two words most Malones didn’t know. “You need this guy’s help, so don’t let him goad you into one of your ‘moments.’ ”
Cella nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
That was all Jai could ask for.
They stepped out of the family’s SUV and walked to the house, stopping at the bottom of the stairs.
“Hi,” Cella said and gave a little wave.
The bear’s head slowly turned, his black-eyed gaze focusing on them. With a lazy smile, he said, “Hi.”
And that’s when Jai saw Cella’s entire body tighten—and not in a good way.
 
Cella’s eyes narrowed. “How are you?” she asked, walking up one of the steps and resting her hand on the railing.
“I’m doing great. And you?”
“Good.”
He took a deep breath like he was just enjoying the fresh Queens air this Sunday morning, his gaze looking around before he moved back to her. “So what can I do for you?”
When Cella didn’t answer, Jai moved a little closer. “We need a favor.”
“A little favor or a big favor?”
“Well ...”
He swung long legs off the banister and rested his elbows on his knees. “Why don’t you both come closer and tell me what you need? I’d be more than happy to help you out.”
Jai took another step, but Cella swung out her free arm and placed it against the other rail, preventing Jai from going anywhere. She waited a second for her friend to get the message. Then Cella walked up the steps herself, stopping at the top.
“You seem in a better mood today,” she observed.
He gave a little laugh. “I know. I know. I can be a dick sometimes. I try not to be, but I can’t help myself. I just get so ... uptight.” He looked Cella over from head to toe and back again. “Maybe I just need something to relax me.”
Before Cella could respond to that little bit of not-too-subtle innuendo, the bear’s cell phone went off.
He growled a little, looked at the caller ID, and grimaced. “I gotta take this. Be right back.”
He walked to the front door, but looked back at her before going in. “Don’t go anywhere.” With a wink, he stepped into the house and closed the door.
“Why are you so tense?” Jai asked her, following her up the steps until she reached the porch.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, stop it. You’re going to put him off. I thought you wanted his help.”
“I do but ...”
“But ... what?”
Cella shook her head. “I don’t know. He’s just acting weird.”
“In what way?”
Cella almost laughed. That was so Jai. She loved to talk shit out. To analyze. Without any of the Malones realizing it at first, it was good to have the Davises as part of their family. They were the rational to the Malones’ irrational.
“Look, the guy I met the last couple of times was a total uptight fussy-jeans. He looked like a mass murderer but underneath the scowl and barely tolerant nature was this ... this ... Boy Scout.”
“And this guy?”
“Smiles too much and seems like the kind of Boy Scout who would help an old lady across the street so that he could chuck her back and let her get hit by a truck.”
“Why don’t you just say you don’t know how to deal with a nice guy?”
“I know I don’t know how to deal with a nice guy. That’s why I’ve been torturing the man every time I’ve seen him. But I don’t feel like torturing him at the moment. I feel like shooting him in the head.”
“Do you ever have small emotions, Cella? Little ones? That don’t involve either sex or death?”
“I’m a tiger. I’m either fucking or killing something. I can’t be all sitting up in a tree, lounging like
you
people.”
“Mountain lions don’t just sit in trees and lounge. We’re looking for our next meal.”
“Hey.”
Cella looked over at the far end of the porch. The bear, now without his Rangers hat and his hair combed off his face, stood on the outside of the banister, watching her and Jai.
“What are you doing?” Cella asked him.
“Enjoying the beauty of the day. And you?”
Cella glanced back at Jai and her friend gave a small shake of her head. She didn’t like this anymore, either.
“Where’s your hat?” Cella asked.
“My hat?”
“Yeah. The one you were wearing two minutes ago?
That
hat?”
“Oh. My hat. Yeah, uhhhh ...”
The front door opened and the bear—you know, the one that had just come from around the house—walked out, offensive Rangers hat back in place, so that there were now
two
bears. Two exact copies.
“So ... where were ...” The second bear stopped, glanced over at the other end of the porch and the lookalike bear standing there. When he looked back at Cella and Jai, he grinned and said, “I can explain this—”
“What’s going on?” another, more cranky voice, said from behind her.
Cella looked over her shoulder and she felt nothing but relief at seeing that searing scowl, those ancient jeans, and a goddamn
Islanders
hat on his head. The Rangers? Really? At least her bear understood loyalty.
“I said”—the bear she’d woken up naked with stepped closer, a bag of groceries in his hand—“what the hell’s going on?”
“Can’t we just come visit our brother?”
“Not and live to tell about it. No.”
“Can you believe the way he treats us?” the one with the Rangers cap asked Cella. “Born just a few minutes apart and he never has any time for us. Isn’t that unfair?”
“You never mentioned all that,” Cella observed, “when you were pretending to
be
him.”
Crush threw his bag of groceries down, his scowl turning worse, his big body vibrating. “
You’re still doing that?
” he bellowed.
Cella laughed and walked up the stairs. She could feel Jai’s hand swipe past her T-shirt, just missing her, as she made a wild grab to stop her.
“You guys,” Cella teased. “Did you do that to a lot of girls? Pretending to be each other?”
“We were kids,” the one with the hat explained, still grinning. “We didn’t know any better.”
“Well you know what?” Cella asked, stepping close to him. “I’m an adult. And I still don’t know any better.”
Then Cella punched the smug bastard in the face.
Crush only had a split second to laugh before Chazz was over the banister, landing on the porch. Crush shot up the stairs, ready to beat his brothers to death before he let either one hurt Malone. But Chazz grabbed a bleeding, roaring Gray and yanked him back.
“Dude,” Chazz said, eyes wide, “I know her.”
“What?”
“I know her. She plays on the Carnivores. That’s ... that’s Bare Knuckles Malone.” They both gazed at the She-tiger. “You were just hit in the face by fuckin’ Cella Malone!”
Crush’s eyes crossed. His brothers were such idiots. And how did Chazz know Malone on sight? Probably oozed his way into the team locker room, the bastard.
Chazz desperately searched the pockets of his jeans and Windbreaker jacket until he pulled out a marker. “Could you sign my arm?” He held the marker out to her.
“My chest. Can you sign my chest?” Blood pouring down his face, Gray grinned at Chazz. “I can’t wait for Marcie to see this.”
“Marcie?”
“His wife,” Crush explained to Malone. “Gray didn’t mention her?”
Malone pointed an accusing finger at his brothers. “You were hitting on me while your
wi fe
was sitting at home, waiting for you to come back?”
Crush doubted all that.
“What she doesn’t know ...”
Malone pulled her fist back again, but Chazz held up his hands. “Wait, wait. Hit me.”
Crush blinked. “You
want
her to hit you?”
“She’s
Bare Knuckles Malone,
dude!”
Crush leaned forward and said next to Malone’s ear, “Please tell me I wasn’t this bad with your dad.”
“You were, but you were really adorable about it. This is just annoying.”
“Wait a minute.” Gray stood straight, swiping blood from his nose. “What is
she
doing here with”—his brother eyed him with contempt—“
you
?”
“I’m his girlfriend,” Malone said.
Crush sighed. “Are we here again?”
“Don’t start.”
“You?” Gray and Chazz said together. “
You
?”
“You’re dating Marcella Malone?” And Chazz didn’t bother to hide his disgust. “How is that even possible?”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“We thought you were still a virgin.”
Crush went to hit Gray, but Malone stepped in front of him, managing to hold him back without doing much of anything.
Wanting his brothers to go, Crush asked, “Don’t you have wives and children to get home to? I’d hate to think you’re only making
me
miserable today.”
Gray smirked. “Aren’t you going to ask why we’re here?”
“I know why you’re here and you can tell her no.”
“We all know she doesn’t take no for an answer.”
“That, and the eventual liver damage she’s well on her way to experiencing, is not my fuckin’ problem. Now get out.”
Chazz threw up his hands and started to walk around them, but Gray snatched the marker from him and asked Malone, “Do you think I can still get your—”

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