Bear The Burn (Firebear Brides 1) (5 page)

“That this was my home. That I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “But enough about me. Tell me, Miss Rossum, what are you running from?”

“Do I have to be running from something? Can’t I be running
toward
something?”

“The only thing you could be running toward right now is me, in this scenario. And as much as I wouldn’t mind that one bit, I get the feeling that this is not the only reason you’re here.”

Tiana rolled her eyes playfully, trying and failing to hide her pleasure from the conversation. He was a sharp guy, not just a dumb pile of meat. It was unfair that he kept getting better by the minute and she felt like she was making a bigger fool out of herself just as quickly.

The sun was slowly setting over the patch of forest and the towering mountains in the distance, filling the kitchen with an orange glow. It might have needed a bunch of work and there was certainly a lot to do, but it somehow felt homey. Safe. Like no one was going to come and break a window, at least.

“I needed a breather. I’ve been running my own business, a bakery, for years now and I seem to be running into more trouble with it every year. It’s not that I don’t love my job. I do. But I can’t trust people there and it seems like every good deed gets punished.”

She felt her shoulders sagging and as soon as she reminded herself to stop feeling sorry for herself, she felt a strong hand squeezing her shoulder. Looking over at Royce, he had this look of understanding in his slate gray eyes that made her stomach twist up in all kinds of happy knots. Those eyes were filled with mystery and she couldn’t wait to unravel what was going on behind them, even if she was just as likely to jump up and run from her problems again.

“I get it. It’s tough, breaking through. And it’s even harder finding people who share your passion, who get where you’re coming from. I had a great team in Boston, but life led me down another direction and I’m glad for it. If it hadn’t, we wouldn’t be here, enjoying one another’s company,” he said, a surprisingly soft note to his deep, masculine voice.

Tiana took a stuttering breath, nodding her head meekly. Few things could shut her up, but Royce Hamilton had a presence about him that made her feel like she could maybe relax around him. Maybe she wouldn’t have to be so goddamn wound up all the time, constantly expecting the sky to fall around her ears like she had in Dallas.

“But you haven’t really answered my question. I know you told me that it was an inheritance issue that made you put up the ad, but what is it exactly?” she asked, plucking a glazed carrot off the plate and popping it in her mouth.

It tasted like heaven. She had never been great at savory dishes, but Royce had them down pat. Even in comparison to the hearty, juicy cooking of Texas, this man knew what he was doing with a frying pan and some seasoning. One of the many intriguing things about him.

Royce chuckled, a deep, rumbling noise that licked at her ears. “It’s my uncle. He was the last remaining one from the ‘old guard’ who still lived in Idaho. My mom moved me and my brothers out of here after my dad passed away. She wasn’t a shifter and she had four young sons to take care of on her own all of a sudden. I think it was too much for her. Anyway, my uncle made a point about wanting to give the lands back to the younger generation, but with some caveats. All four of us need to get married. And at least two of us need to have children before a year has passed. So we’re on a bit of a schedule.”

Tiana cocked a brow at that, looking at Royce in surprise.

The hits just keep on coming, don’t they?

“So you thought the most reasonable way to take care of the problem is to get a mail-order bride?”

“Well, I have you now, don’t I? Not such a shitty plan after all,” Royce grinned, finishing off his plate.

“You don’t have me yet, mister!” Tiana laughed, relishing the fact that she could feel so at ease around him already. “But okay, fine. So it might work out for you. But what do your brothers think?”

“Ah. Well, you see, that is a slightly bigger issue,” Royce said, slumping back in the chair with a frown crossing his masculine, attractive face.

Only now did she notice that he had a slight dip in his nose and that he had dimples. The few days of stubble he had made him look rugged and seasoned, but most definitely at the prime of his life. When before, she’d only managed to concentrate on his shape, now she could see the strength in those muscles, the wiry knots underneath his skin that spoke of conditioning unlike anything Tiana could even imagine.

He was
strong
. And powerful. A man at the peak of his physical fitness, which considering he was a werebear, was a serious thing to throw around. She almost missed his next comment because she was so busy ogling at the enticing curve of his neck and the way his Adam’s apple moved when he talked.

“They don’t know.”

“I see you’ve thought all of this through,” she teased good-naturedly.

“I figured I’d fix one problem before I tackle the next,” he said, smirking.

His gray eyes stopped on her and it felt like the air got sucked out of the room all of a sudden. For a second, time stood still around Tiana and she felt like a fish out of water under his intense gaze. He definitely knew how to catch a girl’s attention and imagination.

“Yeah?” she croaked, grabbing for her wine glass again to down another sip. “And what’s your current plan of attack then? If I am a problem to be
solved
I imagine you have it all figured out already.”

Royce broke the tension by grinning and shaking his head. He stood up and plucked both of their plates up, moving them to the sink.

“
Tsk, tsk
. Don’t you know that a bear never reveals his hand?”

“I think you’re mixing metaphors here,” she laughed.

“As long as they do the trick,” he said casually, grabbing a glass from the drying rack and finding a bottle of whiskey in the kitchen cupboard.

Watching him move was pure poetry. He had the easy gait of a predator, but the power of a tank. Picturing him on top of her, his rough hands grabbing at her sides while he bottomed out into her, was so easy that the lump she’d been fighting in her throat pretty much lodged itself in place and left her speechless.

God, Tiana, you’re in so much trouble,
she thought, putting her cool hand on her cheeks to try and will herself to stop blushing all the time.

There was a hint of danger in the air. Unlike when the perps had broken into her bakery in Dallas, this time the threat seemed real. But it wasn’t to her health, or her livelihood. It was to her heart.

She hadn’t been in a relationship for years, by her own choice. There were only so many failed stories she could tell, and after the third man who ended up disappearing because she had her own thing to do—or something else to occasionally pay attention to other than him—she’d given up on the hope of finding a man strong enough to stand by her side. With Royce, she had to wonder if she was strong enough to stand next to
him
. She hadn’t expected the tables to turn on her quite like that.

“Come on,” he beckoned, appearing by her side with a glass of whiskey in his hand.

He’d also conjured up a fleece blanket from somewhere, and his hand was reached out for her. Instinctively, she took it and stood up, suppressing the yelp of surprise that raised to her lips when their skin touched. There was that electricity again that she’d convinced herself was all in her mind before. But it wasn’t, was it? Every time they touched, it was like a surge of energy went through her, making her toes curl and her heart beat twice as fast.

She followed him like an obedient puppy dog, trying to figure out whether she liked that or not. Opening the porch door, they were greeted to the most perfect view of the sunset Tiana could imagine. Royce set them up in two chairs, kicking back comfortably, and draped the blanket so it was over both of them. The day had been hellishly hot—for Idaho standards anyway—but as soon as the sun dropped it would get far colder.

Snuggling up to him like that, close but not
too
close, was nice. She cradled her wine glass and Royce chuckled, throwing his arm over her shoulders. Protesting was the furthest thing from her mind.

“Welcome to Idaho. I hope you enjoy your stay, Tiana,” he said.

I hope so too.
 

CHAPTER SIX

Tiana

Tiana woke up the next morning having slept better than she had in years. She stretched lazily, enjoying the feeling of the crisp covers and the relatively cool air in comparison to mid-summer Dallas. The room she was in had one of those big, arching ceilings that seemed to be impossibly high, which made the room airy and lovely. The sun was shining through the open curtains and she could hear birds singing.

After a while of tossing and turning, attempting in vain to get Royce out of her head, she got up and dressed. Opting for a summer dress with big red posies on emerald green, which looked great against her skin, she hopped down the stairs barefooted. She was tying up her hair in a loose bun when she entered the kitchen and saw her flawless man cooking eggs and bacon and pancakes, all the while being completely shirtless.

Perfect,
her treacherous mind whispered.

“Morning,” she quipped, scooting up to Royce and picking a crispy slice of bacon off the plate and taking a bite out of it.

“Morning, gorgeous,” he greeted her, giving her a quick once-over.

Tiana was happy to see that he apparently approved of what he saw. It made her feel giddy inside, and rationally speaking, that should have made her take a big step back. But there was something about that man that made her want to get closer to him, if he would let her, and so far it seemed to be going well. Half of her was sounding the sirens and telling her to run—like she always did—and the other half threatened that if she ran now, she’d never be able to stop. She wasn’t sure which part of herself she believed more.

But only one of those options let her spend some time with Royce, so she was sort of partial to that one.

“So what’s the plan today?” she asked, brushing aside the compliment, but storing it for later scrutiny.

“I figured we could grab some breakfast and then I need to get back to my chores. Lots to do around here,” he said, shrugging nonchalantly.

“Yeah? Can I help?”

“You sure you want to get your hands dirty, honey?” he asked, and that Boston accent came on so thick that Tiana couldn’t help but laugh.

She was used to cowboys starting to drawl all of a sudden when trying to get some sort of a point across, but it was so much more fun coming from a Bostonian. She had to wonder how he didn’t choke on that no-R lifestyle.

“Yes, sir,” she quipped, giving him a lazy salute. “Show me a hammer and I will nail something down.”

“Keep up that attitude and you’ll nail me down,” he laughed.

“Isn’t that the whole point?” she queried, tossing him a playful grin.

Great. Now you’re flirting. You’re getting yourself into five different kinds of trouble, missy,
she told herself, but the smile was still perched on her lips.

They ate quickly. The coffee he had made was dark as tar and exactly as it was supposed to be. After that, Tiana got dressed in a hurry and accompanied Royce out to the barn, where she’d caught him working the day before. He showed her what he had been toiling away with, trying to secure some of the roof beams on the old building, and she took to the work easily. Having lived and worked through at least three location changes with her bakery, she was pretty adept with manual labor and didn’t shy back an inch.

The stress melted off of her with the work. Royce was a fun companion, not just to look at, but to talk to as well. He had an easy sort of humor about him, even if he tried to throw a jab here and there, and she usually fell right for them. But he wasn’t malicious and everything he fronted he could back up—a rare quality in a man, Tiana knew. When the afternoon finally rolled around, cutting through the suffocating heat of the morning, Tiana was finding herself well and truly smitten.

He’d never even bothered to put on a shirt and he’d gotten no objections from Tiana for that. She liked watching his strong, chiseled body move and flex as they lugged up supplies and pulled up the thick beams on a rigged-up pulley system. Sweat drenched him and honestly, she’d never seen a man look quite as sexy. He was such a damn distraction that she kept mentally checking out, trying to work through her frustration with the power of imagination.