Loving the Bear (5 page)

She filled the bucket with soap and water and then pushed the mop over the tiled floor.

Lilly left the kitchen and walked along the hallway, seeing the bathroom to her left. She went inside and guessed that Christopher had recently showered. The smell of aftershave lingered in the still moist air, and two bath towels hung over the shower door. She began wiping down the top of the vanity while spotting his boxer shorts sticking out from the laundry hamper. He looked like the boxer sort of guy. She took another peek at them. Blue. She tried to imagine what he looked like wearing them.

She swallowed
, feeling her pussy pull just thinking about it. It had been forever since she’d had these sorts of feelings and sensations. Maybe her body was coming back to life. Her counselor had told her it would happen slowly without her being aware of it because trauma took time to heal. Good news was nothing bad lasted forever.

Lilly picked up the bottle of cologne that sat next to the mirror. She couldn’t resist putting it to her nose and taking in its scent.

“Hey Lilly, I forget to…”

She hadn’t heard him approaching
, and in fright she spilled some of the cologne down the front of her t-shirt and apron.

How embarrassing.

“I’m so sorry. I was just admiring this. Let me pay for the amount that’s been spilled.”

“No, it was
my fault for sneaking up on you. I’m just glad you like it. My brother said it’s the worst thing he’s ever smelled and more likely to turn a woman away than attract one, but for some reason, I’ve always loved it.”

He was just making small talk to be nice. God, what a clumsy idiot she was. Matt had been right.
Lilly ran the tap and put her cleaning rag under it and began dabbing at the cologne. She wasn’t worried about it staining her clothing, but she just needed something to focus on. Her hands began to shake. The hot water intensified the smell of her clumsiness.

It’s okay. I’m not with Matt. I’m not with him.
I’m not going to get hurt for being stupid.

Her hand shook some more and the next thing she knew Christopher was beside her, his hand covering hers. She swallowed. She was so used to Matt striking her when she’d done something dumb that her hand wouldn’t stop shaking despite Christopher having hold of it.

“Lilly, it’s okay. You want to tell me about it?”

She turned to look at him. He had such lovely blue eyes. Kind eyes.

“Tell you what?” she asked.

“Why you seem so nervous all the time?”

She shook her head.

“Okay, but when you do I’ll listen to every single word. I’m pretty good at that.”

“I’ll just get this cleaned up and continue with my work.”

He looked her in the eye.

“I want to kiss you, but I’ve got a feeling you won’t let me. Am I right?”

She wanted him to, but he was right. She wasn’t ready to do that just yet. She shook her head. Lilly didn’t want to hurt him so she had to explain. “It’s not because of you. It’s because of me.”

She could smell and feel his breath on her face. Normally having anyone this close, let alone a man, would have sent
her into a panic, but she sensed that Christopher wasn’t the hurting kind.

He finally let go of her hand and stepped away. He turned and walked out of the bathroom. She wasn’t shaking anymore. Well, not the sort of shaking you did out of fear. More out of frustration. Her body craved a man
touching it in a sexual way. What would it be like to have a man touch you and bring you pleasure and not pain? A man like Christopher?

She shook off that thought and quickly got on with her work. She had the rest of the condo to clean
, and hopefully she wouldn’t be tempted to touch any more of his stuff.

****

Christopher sat down at his desk with every intention of sketching his ideas for the storyboard, but he finally gave up and set the pencil down on top of the paper. Lilly was now vacuuming in the hallway.

She puzzled him.
Intrigued him.
She’d been shaking so bad it was like someone had plunged her into ice cold water. She was scared of something. Not just being touched, but getting physical and being around a man.

Maybe she had been raped at some time in her life and that’s why she was reluctant to be touched and to date. No matter what
the cause, he’d help her heal.

He grabbed the pencil again and squeezed it so tight he almost broke it
, and his knuckles turned white. If a man had raped her and she ever revealed who the asshole was, he’d hunt him down and kill him.

Throwing the pencil down, again, he looked toward the hallway where he could hear Lilly humming a tune.

Being so close to her while they’d been in the bathroom had been the hardest thing he’d ever had to walk away from. He’d been desperate to kiss her. Taste her lips, take in her scent. Wrap his arms around her and hold her close.

He hoped she hadn’t seen or felt his erection. He’d never been that hard, never felt such a strong surge of blood pulsating through every vein and blood vessel in his cock
, like he had about ten minutes ago. He wanted and needed sex.

However,
he wouldn’t rush her, or force her into doing anything she wasn’t sure about, or comfortable with. He didn’t want her to have any regrets when they did finally sleep together. He’d wait. He’d wait forever knowing there was a chance that one day he’d be able to make love to her. When he did, he’d show her what sheer pleasure was all about. She’d never shake from fear again.

Christopher turned around on his stool, pretending he was hard at work
and not daydreaming when Lilly walked back into the living room. She’d now tied her hair up into a ponytail like she had at the café. The tail swung from side to side as she pushed the vacuum across the carpet and Barney chased it. She smiled and laughed at the little dog’s antics.

Christopher
smiled too. She had the most beautiful smile and he hoped he could put more of them on her face. She had dimples in her cheeks and they seemed the perfect partner for the freckles across her nose. She got closer to where he was sitting and then switched off the machine.

“I’m not disturbing you, am I?” she asked.

“Nope, I was just doodling some new ideas.”

She stepped toward the desk and looked at his sketches. “You’re so talented. My daughter would love to see these animals you’ve drawn.”

Daughter…had she just said daughter?

“You’re a mom?”

Lilly nodded. “She’s just turned two.”

Shit, he hadn’t thought that maybe she was married or…

“I’m a single mom, in case you’re wondering.”

“Divorced?”

She nodded.

“What’s your little girl’s name?”

“Katlin.”

So pretty and if she was an
ything like her mother, her looks matched her name.

“If y
ou’re wondering where she is, my mom who lives in Oregon is looking after her while I get settled in here and get some money together so I can afford a babysitter or daycare provider.”

He didn’t know her that well
, but he was guessing she was a great mom to her little girl.

“Which reminds me
, I have some friends who are looking for someone to clean their homes.”

He didn’t but when he made a few phones call to shifters in the group, they
would be
looking for a house cleaner. Maybe he’d start with a call of Aiden. Charlotte was a busy MD and could do with some help.

“That’s great. I appreciate that.”

“I’ll have the names and numbers for you on Saturday night when we get together for Scrabble and pizza.

He hoped he wasn’t being too pushy and that she loved the game and the food.

“Thanks and thanks. And I’ve always loved game night.”

“Oh, and I know this won’t be a fun event and you can say no, but I’m going to Mrs. Nelson’s funeral service on Friday and I don’t want to go alone.”

“You want me to come with you?”

“You can say no,” said Christopher.

“As long as it doesn’t clash with my shift at the café, sure, I’ll come along. I didn’t know her, but I guess as we found her we should be there to pay our respect to her.”

“I’ll let you know the time. A
nd why don’t I sketch something you can give to Katlin from me.”

“Oh, she’d love that. I could tell her a story about it. I do that every night when I call her.”

“Anything she especially likes?”

“Bears, she loves bears.”

He bit his lip. He hoped her mom did too.

Chapter Eight

“I think we should call the police and report whoever this person is that’s taken over my brother’s mind and body,” said Aiden.

“Laugh all you want,” said Christopher.

“So let me see if I have this straight. You’re now are a dog owner. You’re also pursuing a single mom and you haven’t gotten horizontal with her yet?”

Now that his brother had said all that
, it did sound so unChristopher like.

“Just leave him alone. I’m
happy for you, Christopher,” said Charlotte nudging Aiden in the ribs.

He’d finally accepted the invitation
to have dinner with Aiden and his sister-in-law. He’d overlook the cute little slaps on the butt both of them gave one another. The kisses when they didn’t think he was looking. It no longer irritated him because he’d found someone he’d wanted to do all that sort of mushy stuff with. Yeah, he couldn’t wait. Guess it was what finding your mate was all about.

“
I’m excited that she’s a human,” said Charlotte.

Both he and Aiden
gave her a dirty look.

She raised both her hand
s. “Hey, I didn’t mean that quite like it sounded. I’m just thrilled that like your brother you’re smitten with a human and I’ll have something in common with her. I mean especially if she becomes my sister-in-law.”

Aiden burst o
ut laughing. “My brother married and committed to one woman.” Charlotte nudged him again.

“I’ve been a changed man since the incident with Eliza and Linnie,” said Christopher. It had taken a ménage a trios that ended up with him being stabbed
, and his cock bitten, to teach him a valuable lesson. However, if it hadn’t taken place, Aiden would never have met Charlotte. So at least his brother should be eternally grateful for his
former
bad boy ways.

“She’s really nice. I think
you’ll like her when she cleans the house for you,” said Christopher sneaking that piece of information into the conversation.

Aiden stopped eating. “Wai
t a minute, cleaning our house?”

Christopher nodded. “As well as being a waitress she’s trying to start her own cleaning business. I’ve been phoning around everyone in the group to hire her. So
far I have six customers. I have to say, the wolf shifters were the first to jump at the opportunity. The really do work as a team. Once one does something they all want to help out too, so I think us bear shifters should make a note of it. I thought as Charlotte’s busy at the clinic, she doesn’t need to come home to clean the house. I mean with Lilly taking care of that, Charlotte will have more time to devote to you.”

He knew how to p
lay his big brother and just what strings to pull.

“Okay, you’ve convinced me to give it a try. At least it will give me a chance to check her out if she’s going to be around the group.”

“Yeah, about that. Don’t go scaring her because I think something bad happened to her because she can be a little jumpy at times.”

“And you don’t think finding ou
t that you’re half bear won’t scare the living daylights out of her?” asked Aiden.

“I’m
going to get to know her very well before we get to that conversation.”

****

Lilly wasn’t sure if you still had to wear black to a funeral service. She hadn’t been to one since her mom’s aunt had died and that had to be at least ten years ago. Sliding her clothes along on the rail in the closet, she opted for a navy blue skirt and blouse. She also had some dark blue pantyhose around here somewhere.

She loved that Christopher had given Barney a home. She knew they were both going to have a blast together. Just as she was about to put on her earrings, the doorbell rang. She hadn’t realized the time. She’d hurried home from the café and taken too long in deciding what to wear.

When she opened the door, Christopher stood there looking drop dead gorgeous. She was pretty sure he got better looking each time she saw him. Today he wore dark pants, a white shirt, a dark tie, and completed the look with a black leather jacket.

“You all set?” he asked.

“Just about. Let me grab my purse.”

She threw it over her shoulder and headed outside with him.

“Thanks again for coming along with me because I hated to say no, and I didn’t want to sit there all by myself.”

“I know how that goes.”

He opened the door for her and she slid into the seat. It was beginning to rain when he pulled out of the apartment parking lot and headed to the church.

“I have some good news, I got the job doing the graphics for the video game,” he said.

“That’s great. I’m really happy for you.”

“And I have some good news for you. I’ve found eight customers for you, including my brother and sister-in law.”

She couldn’t believe it. He must be one hell of a salesman.

“Christopher, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. I might be able to quit waitressing and it means I’m one step closer to my goal of having enough money to have Katlin move to Montana.”

“You probably miss her big time.”

“I do, especially when I go home at night. Guess you’re lucky now that you have Barney.”

He pulled into the parking lot.

“Yeah, that’s true but there’s nothing like having someone to talk back to you so you can share your day.”

She wanted that again. A man like Matt had once been in the beginning, but this time around one that wasn’t going to change into a monster. Someone who wasn’t hiding a deep dark secret about himself.

He got out, ran around the
car, and opened back the door for her. “I haven’t got an umbrella so I’ll put my jacket over our heads and let’s make a run for the door.”

****

Lilly knew that Christopher had been upset when they’d left Mrs. Nelson’s funeral service. It had been a moving experience with her son telling the crowd about his mother and her love for Charles Dickens’s books and how she’d read them to him every night. Then two of her nieces had sung Amazing Grace and Lilly had glanced at Christopher and she’d seen a tear running down his cheek. Everything was starting to add up that he was a kind and sensitive person so maybe fortune was finally looking down on her and found her someone to help rebuild her life.

She
didn’t know if she should take along something to Christopher’s place or not for their Saturday night non-date. What went with pizza? In the end, she’d stopped at a liquor store and picked up a bottle of white wine because she knew it wasn’t polite to go empty-handed, and he’d been kind enough to get her all those customers and Katlin would soon be with her again.

Her mother had just purc
hased a web cam and Lilly’s stepfather was setting it up for Sunday night when Lilly called her. She couldn’t wait to see her little girl’s face again.

She headed out of the elevator toward Christopher’s condo. She had to admit, she’d been nervous about tonight, but as she got closer to his front door the tension in her shoulders began to ease away
. She rang the doorbell, smiling when she heard Barney bark and then heard his nails scratching at the door.

Christopher opened it back and the sight of him in his jeans and black sweatshirt took her breath away. The material pulled across his chest and bice
ps, and she guessed he worked out a lot.

“You’d better come in before Barney dis
turbs everyone in the building,” he said.

Barney jumped almost up to her waist as she stepped into the hallway.

“I picked up some wine.” She handed it to him.

“That’s great. Come on through and I’ll ju
st reheat the pizza because I got it while I was running errands and thought it would stay warm, but it hasn’t.”

She followed behind him into the kitchen w
here the smell of tomatoes and herbs hung in the air.

“Hope you like pizza with everything on it,” said Christopher slipping it into the oven.

“I do and I’m starving.”

“Good thing I got the extra-large. You want to eat in the living room on the couch while we play Scrabble
?”

“Sounds like fun. And I hope you’re not a Scrabble champion or anything like that because I’ve only played maybe five or six times in my entire life.”

He uncorked the wine. “I won’t brag, but I’m pretty good. Our dad was the best. He came up with words Aiden, that’s my big brother, and I didn’t think existed, but sure enough when we checked in the dictionary, there they were.”

“Is your dad still alive?” asked Lilly leaning her butt against the
countertop.

Christopher shook his head
. “We miss him. He was a great man.”

“And your mother?”

He reached up in the cupboard for two wine glasses.

“She died when I was a baby.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“How about you?”
You mentioned your mom was looking after your daughter. Is your dad still around.”

“No, he left when I was young. Haven’t heard from him since.”

“Geez, what a loser…I’m sorry, I…”

Lilly raised her hand. “That’s pretty much what
my mom and I think of him too. However, she met a wonderful man named Bob about ten years ago and married him.”

“Any siblings?”

Lilly shook her head as Christopher handed her a glass and poured some wine. He poured some into his own glass.

“Let’s toast to new beginnings for both of us. You and your cleaning business, me and my video games.”

They clinked glasses and looked at one another. There was an uncomfortable silence after they finished sipping, and neither of them said anything but continued eyeing one another.

“I’ll check on the pizza
, so if you want to grab those plates and napkins and take them into the living room, I’ll be with you shortly.”

Thank goodness
he had something to do because she was pretty sure she was blushing. She carried the plates into the other room and saw that Christopher had already set up the Scrabble board. She turned to see him bringing in the pizza. He sat it down on the coffee table.

“Go ahead and help yourself and I’ll
bring the wine bottle.”

Lilly sat and took a slice of pizza. It looked more than delicious.
Her stomach rumbled.

“Before I forget,
I have the sketches of the bears for Katlin,” he said.

He’d remembered her name. He lifted up a large sheet of paper with the most adorable bears sketched
upon it. He handed it to her. Lilly wiped her fingers on the napkin and then took it from him.

“Christopher, this is so cute. She’s going to love it. Did I tell you she has this teddy bear that’s
almost falling to bits, but she won’t let us wash it and she won’t sleep without it being tucked up beside her?”

“Yeah, bears are very cute and ideal to take to bed.”

“I guess. I wish I had something just as soothing when I can’t sleep.”

“We’ll have to think of something. Maybe you need a bear too.”

Lilly laughed. “Yeah, something soft and cuddly.”

Christopher looked at her over the top of the wine glass. Those eyes were so gorgeous and the way he looked at her, well, she knew it was stupid
, but it was almost as if he could read her mind.

She took a sip of wine herself, feeling more relaxed by
the minute. How lucky she was that Christopher had come to her rescue that day.

“So you want to play Scrabble?” he asked.

****

Christopher couldn’t help but watch her every little move. The way she flicked her hair back over her shoulder after she’d leaned forward to put the Scrabble tiles on the stand. The way her fingers moved as she lined up the letters. The way she licked her lips when she was deep in concentration.

He so wanted to take her to his bed tonight. Every night for that matter, and be the cuddly bear that would help her get to sleep. His cock twitched as she slid back on the couch and her nipples showed through the t-shirt she was wearing. He wanted to touch them, taste them, and most of all, suck them.

“It’s your turn.”

Her voice jarred him out of that train of thought. He inched forward on the chair, cursing when his erection rubbed against his jeans. He’d had one every time he’d been with her and not being able to relieve it had been a nightmare. He’d never been celibate for this long.

Aiden had been right. However, he knew the sex thing
would happen, hopefully sooner than later. He’d already planned ahead and purchased a box of condoms. Lilly would be his first human which meant he’d have to wear one. That was the only part of sex with a human he wasn’t looking forward to. He loved the feel of a pussy brushing over his cock and he couldn’t wait to enjoy Lilly squeezing him as he took her to paradise.