Bear Pause (BBW / Bear Shifter Romance): A Billionaire Oil Bearons Romance (Bear Fursuits Book 6) (9 page)

“Excuse me,” he said and went past her to remake the bed with military precision. He sat down and patted the spot beside him.

She shook her head, as skittish as that newborn foal. Her eyes were luminous and her face resolute. “I talked to my cousin about you.”

“Which one?” he asked. “You have a pile of cousins, Miss Laura.”

“Zeke.” Her voice was a scratchy whisper.

“What did the major have to say?”

“He said you could be trusted.”

Steve nodded. “That’s why I gave him as a reference. Are you going to trust me?”

“I don’t know. Why did you kiss me?”

“Because I wanted to.” He gestured to his crotch. “Couldn’t you tell?” he teased.

Her eyes widened a little. The vivid blue irises were just a thin circle around her dilated pupils. Steve got up and went towards her. “I knew the first time I saw you. Don’t you feel it too?”

“Feel what?” she asked suspiciously.

“Sparks? Fireworks? The bear bond?” he suggested.

“You know I’m a bear?” She sounded appalled.

“Well, sure. You smell like a bear. Of course I know.”

“I smell?” Her voice was mortified.

“Delicious. Female. Like my mate.” He moved to where she hovered uncertainly by the doorway.

“Oh.”

He kissed her again, holding himself in check. She stiffened, but under his gentle assault her lips softened and she kissed him back. He took his time learning the contours of her mouth before he begged for entrance. She opened reluctantly. He paused to suck lightly on her bottom lip, tasting its fullness, before he slid his tongue softly against hers. Beneath her plaid shirt, her breasts firmed and the nipples poked at him, again.

Steve angled her head so he could better enjoy her warm, spicy taste. He sampled the delicate tissues in front of her teeth and played inside her cheeks. Her own tongue tangled shyly with his for long minutes before he could lure it into his mouth for its own exploration. The feel of her tongue probing was exciting. He wanted to grab that soft muscle and suck hard, but he restrained himself. Laura needed patience. She was uncertain and he knew, without knowing how, that if he rushed her, he would lose her.

Gradually she rested more of her weight against him. He reveled in the feel of all that soft womanliness pressed against his body. He allowed his hands to caress her shoulders. Her own delicious aroma warmed and perfumed his nostrils. He pulled the rich scent into his lungs and hoped he wouldn’t explode in his jeans.

The stood together, necking tenderly for a long time. Someplace a rooster heralded the dawn. Laura seemed to become aware of what they were doing. Well, a tack room was no place for a lady. She pulled away and tried to speak.

“You want me.” It was a question, so he nodded.

She seemed to need more so he spoke. “I sure do.” He gestured to his straining zipper.

She looked at her wrist but it was bare. “What time is it?”

He glanced at his watch. “Four forty-two.”

“The hands will be here at five,” she said panicked.

“They will,” he kept his eyes on her flushed face. “I have to stay until Lance comes. Do you want to go wait for me in my cabin?”

Her throat moved. Her eyes were a little wild, but she nodded.

“It isn’t locked. I’ll be along as soon as Lance gets here.” He pointed to the monitor which showed Star and Hero curled up together in a single grayish lump.

“Okay.” She moved off to retrieve her parka and he saw her go into the foaling stall for another check of Star and Hero. Star raised her head but did not attempt to rise. Laura slipped out, latching the stall door behind her. She disappeared out the door.

Well, now. Was he going to have himself a tryst in ten minutes?

* * *

Steve’s cabin was only two rooms. A bedroom and a bathroom. There was a wooden counter along one wall with a tiny fridge underneath it and a hotplate and a kettle on top. Carlos and Rosa had built it to give their youngest son some privacy to study, not for him to be entirely independent. Like Steve, Ramon had eaten with his parents.

There was an ancient recliner, a small table under the window with two ladder back chairs, and a double bed. Everything was as neat as if Sergeant Holden was momentarily expecting an inspection. Even the quilt on the bed had been spread taut and tucked in. There wasn’t much of Steve in the little room, she thought, as she prowled from the counter to the bed and back again.

He had left a little laptop on the table. And an e-reader charging by the bed. No photos, no personal items. Which made sense since he had shown up with just what could be put in the carrier of a motorcycle. His Harley was a pretty flashy vehicle for a guy out of work. You could buy a good truck for what he had to have paid for that hog. But it didn’t have a lot of space to store things.

The door opened and interrupted her restless thoughts. Even after his sleepless night, the giant framed in the doorway took her breath away. She could do this. No point in trying to have even a pretend marriage if he couldn’t perform. But the thought of taking her clothes off made her quail. That had never gone well for her.

“Hey,” he said his brown eyes twinkling. “I kind of hoped you’d have made the coffee.” He moved towards the counter and began to fill the kettle with water. He set up a French press with two big scoops of coffee. “Okay,” he said turning back to her. “What was it you wanted to tell me?”

She could feel her features heating. He wanted to make coffee and talk? How could she have misread the situation so drastically?

But he was striding the two paces to her and holding her against his heart. It thumped steadily against hers. He smoothed his hands down her back to her bottom and brought them back up to her waist. “I have to be over at the Diego’s in,” he checked his watch, “Thirty-two minutes. We don’t have time for what I want. Just time to talk.” He kissed the top of her head and breathed in deeply. “You going to fire me, Boss?”

Half-an-hour sounded like plenty of time to her. Even a little long. “I didn’t intend to fire you,” she said slowly.

“Good.” He sounded amused. “I’m going to pour the water on the coffee.” He took her hand and pulled her over to the counter. “French press makes sissy coffee,” he said. “But it’s all there is.” He poured the boiling water slowly over the grounds and replaced the stopper. “Three minutes. Okay, if you don’t plan on sacking me, what do you want to say?”

“I need a husband,” she blurted before she lost her courage.

“I know,” he said calmly. “Your grandfather made that a condition of you inheriting this place.”

“Great-grandfather,” she corrected. “If I don’t marry and have a child before I’m thirty-five, I have the ranch only for my life and then it goes to some cousins.”

“The Diegos told me about it. Seem to think it was pretty unfair of old Clive.” He kissed her mouth. “Hang on while I pour us coffee.” He depressed the plunger and then filled two mugs. “I don’t have sugar or cream,” he apologized.

She took her mug. “That’s okay. I’ve drunk enough coffee on the range not to need either.”

He was looking expectantly at her over his mug. She took a sip wanting to delay this awkward moment. It wasn’t as weak as he had suggested it would be.

“I want you to marry me, just temporarily,” she blurted. “Just until we have a baby.”

“You want me to what?” Steve said. He sounded outraged. Or something.

Laura swallowed. “Never mind,” she said turning away. What had made her think this was a good idea?

“Oh, no, sweetheart.” Steve captured her gently and turned her embarrassed face towards his. He kissed her. “This is way too important. Did I hear you right? You want me to marry you? Just until we have a kid?”

He didn’t sound mad anymore. He sounded bemused. Or maybe just plain amused. “I told you why,” she tried again. “I get to keep the ranch if I marry and have a child by the time I turn thirty-five. Otherwise on my death it goes to Piper and Nolan Belington. It wouldn’t be forever.”

Steve’s hands tightened on her arms and then relaxed. He made a noise in his chest that might have been laughter, but his face was grave. “I know about your great-grandfather’s will,” he said slowly. “Are you offering me a stud fee by any chance?”

Laura’s face got hotter, but she maintained eye contact. “I guess so, if you want to put it that way. I could give you an allowance while we were married and a bonus when we have a child. And a lump sum when we divorce.”

“You’ve thought about it a lot?” He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

She nodded against his shirt. His arms squeezed her comfortingly and then he stepped away. “I wouldn’t walk away from my child,” he said. “No way. A child is a forever thing. I’d want to be in my child’s life forever.”

His ‘Forever’ made her heart leap wildly. “So you’ll think about it?”

“Nothing to think about, sweetheart,” he explained. “I know my mind, even if you don’t know yours.”

“I know that I won’t let Piper and Nolan have this property,” Laura said angrily. “I’ve put ten years of my life into it. And now they’re going after the stud too.”

“I can see where that would be annoying,” he said slowly. His brown eyes raked over her body and even though she was wearing one of her heavy wool shirts, she felt naked and her nipples tightened. He smiled slowly. “Do I assume that you were trying out the merchandise in the tack room?”

What a thing to say! “I don’t want to marry a guy who doesn’t want me,” she said stiffly.

“Ah. Well, lucky for you, I want you like an itch that will never go away.” Steve pulled her back into his arms and wrapped her up as if she were infinitely precious. He kissed her and his tongue in her mouth made the room fall away. Her mind spun clean away from what she had been trying to say.

“Were you planning on staying in Colorado?” she asked when he lifted his head.

“Not really. I have a job to go back to,” he admitted.

Her heart sank. Why did she always get it wrong? “Oh. So what made you decide to take this job?”

“I have a desk job these days. Working with horses is like a holiday with pay. But I do have to go back to Chicago eventually.”

“I thought you said you were from Idaho?” she objected.

“That’s where I was raised. My folks have a farm up in the Smokies. I moved to Chicago five months ago.”

“And your boss just let you pick up and go on vacation after four months?” She winced at the skepticism in her voice.

Steve nodded. “I hadn’t had a holiday for over a year before my promotion.” He drank coffee and waited patiently.

Laura thought. Maybe that was better. If she had a long distance husband, no one would wonder if the marriage failed. She gulped coffee, scalded her mouth and set the mug down. Steve was already filling a glass with cold water from the tap.

“Here. Drink some and hold it in your mouth.” He stood over her until she had done as he had instructed.

“Would you consider a marriage of convenience?” she threw the words at him.

“Depends on what you mean,” he drawled.

“Me here, you in Chicago. Just until the property vests in me.”

He smiled at her and her heart flipped over. “What about the baby? We wouldn’t be making any babies if we were a thousand miles apart.”

“You’d have to stay, or at least come back until I got pregnant.”

He looked thoughtful.

“I’d pay you well,” she promised.

He expanded before her eyes, and his face took on a flat, hard aspect she had not seen before. Laura took a hurried step backwards. Steve took a deep breath and let it out again. His face softened.

“No money,” he said firmly, his eyes twinkling again. “I’m no gigolo.” He glanced at his watch. “Tell you what, we’ll start with a date. See how we go. Mr. and Mrs. Diego will be delighted if I bring you to breakfast. Shall we?”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

She felt giddy. Young. Steve wasn’t being businesslike about her proposition. He had invited her to breakfast with the Diegos, which had felt weird but had turned out to just be a comfortable meal with old friends.

Carlos had been inclined to be querulous about Steve calling her to assist Star instead of him, but Rosa had looked pleased. Laura was pretty certain she had kicked Carlos under the table because the foreman had suddenly looked between Steve and Laura and preened his mustaches as if he had done something clever.

She hardly knew what they had talked about at breakfast. Work had been a blur. For the first time in her life she had done her work on autopilot. She just hoped she had got her entries right. Filling out the forms incorrectly would mean she was offering the wrong horses at auction. But Steve had been on her mind all day.

She hadn’t seen him after breakfast. Belatedly remembering that she was commando, she had gone home to shower and brush her teeth. Her day was fully booked with appointments with the forensic accountant suggested by Edgar Thompson, and a tour of the stud scheduled with a new owner. Steve hadn’t been around when she took Mrs. Salter around the stables and let her see Colorado’s Serving in Action. Mrs. Salter wanted to breed her own mare to Action.

In the afternoon, she had spent two hours training three of the yearlings, but neither Steve nor Carlos had been hanging around. Only later did she remember that it was Thursday when Carlos liked to work the three-year-olds with cattle. Since he wanted to get Ranger used to roping, it made sense that he had asked Steve to help.

Ranger was on the large size for a horse from her stables, but she was experimenting with breeding for animals that could pack a hefty cowboy all day and still have something left if there was actually work to do. She had been very pleased with Ranger and his half-sister Cloud. Cloud wasn’t as big as her brother Ranger, but mares usually weren’t.

Ranger was in his fourth year and shaping up well. He had heavy bone and lots of muscle. Since she hoped to breed him, he was still uncut. He was becoming more than a bit of a handful. But if Steve couldn’t handle the stallion, Carlos would get up himself. Carlos might be older than dirt, but he was still the best horseman on the place.

Steve returned with a prancing Ranger around five. Horse and man looked more than pleased with themselves. Ranger wasn’t even tired. Carlos was overseeing the evening muck out, and Steve would have at least an hour between grooming his mount and stable chores before he and Carlos headed to the kitchen.