Bear's Baby (Bear Heat Book 4) (2 page)

“Pfff!”
Baxter huffed and rolled his eyes as he pushed into the small diner.
Ethan was right, of course. But—where's the fun in that?
Unleashing your bear was fun. Controlling it, not so much.

Baxter went straight up to
the counter and hopped onto a corner stool. He had ditched his
jacket and bow tie, and his sleeves were rolled up. The white shirt
still felt too stiff and constricting, but this was as comfortable as
he could get for now.

“Hey, Nancy,”
he greeted the waitress. “New hairdo. Nice.”

“Thanks.” Nancy
patted her bouffant. “You're looking spiffy yourself. Don't
see you in a shirt much.”

“Yeah. Just attended a
wedding.”

Nancy gave him in
incredulous look. “There's usually lots to eat and drink at a
wedding. Why are you here? Didn't they feed you?”

“Oh they did.”
Baxter laughed. “I ate half the buffet spread all by myself.
But—that was like hours ago. I'm hungry now. My bear wants
his burger, so...”

Nancy shook her head. “You
spoil your bear.” But she came back briskly and poured him a
big cup of coffee. “Here, you look like you need this.”

“I do. Thanks, Nance.”
He took a big gulp and sighed.

“Your burger will be
with you in a few minutes.”

She refilled his cup before
moving off to clear the plates at an empty table. Baxter took
another mouthful of bitter, black coffee and looked around the diner.
He ate at this diner at least three times a week. Dino Diner had
the best and biggest burgers and the strongest coffee in the
universe. The diner was open twenty-four hours, and there was always
a steady stream of customers at all hours of the day and night.

He glanced at his watch. It
was almost midnight. The wedding party had ended a few minutes
before eleven. Some of the cubs were yawning and a few were already
snoozing on their parents' shoulders. Their alpha's mate, Cora, was
pregnant, and Ethan wanted to get her home early so she could have
enough rest. But Cora had insisted on staying till the end. It was,
after all, her best friend's wedding. It had been a great party,
even though it hadn't gone on till the wee hours of the morning.

Baxter drummed his fingers on
the counter and looked around the cozy little diner. A few booths
were occupied, and he saw some familiar faces, regulars like him.

But there was one pretty face
that he had never seen before sitting alone in a corner booth.

Baxter swiveled his stool so
that he was facing her but she didn't seem to notice him. She was
staring out the window, seemingly watching the street but her eyes
wasn't focused on the few cars parked along the street in front of
Dino Diner. She seemed to be seeing something way beyond the quiet
neighborhood.

She had cut her waffle up
into neat, bite-sized pieces and had one honey-smeared piece impaled
on her fork. She raised the fork halfway to her mouth, and muttered
something to herself. Abruptly, she put the fork down and bent to
scribble something on a legal pad that was lying between her plate
and her half-empty coffee cup.

Intrigued, Baxter watched her
repeat this motion a couple of times. The woman would pick up the
fork, open her mouth but before she could take a bite, she'd just
pick up her pen and start scribbling frantically.

Baxter continued staring at
her, amused and fascinated. She was pretty, with short, sassy blond
hair and soulful, blue eyes. She was in a smart, long-sleeved blouse
that flowed over her generous curves fluidly and flatteringly.

Baxter tilted his head so
that he caught a glimpse of her black pumps under the table. She was
wearing a navy blue knee-length skirt and there was a jacket draped
over her briefcase beside her. Baxter raised a brow. She looked
like she had just gotten off work, but if that was so, then the woman
sure worked crazy hours. He continued sizing her up. Mid-thirties,
professional, driven, single. Baxter spied no wedding ring on her
finger.

When Nancy slid the plate of
burger and fries under his nose, Baxter picked up his plate and
coffee cup and walked towards the booth. The woman was still staring
out the window, mumbling and frowning as she scratched out something
on her legal pad.

She jerked her head up when
Baxter put his plate and cup on the table and slid into her booth.
He sat down across the table from her and picked up his burger.

Blinking at him, the woman
flipped the page over quickly so that he couldn't read what she had
written. “Excuse me,” she began, glaring at him. “This
booth is taken. Can't you...”

“Yeah, yeah.”
Baxter waved his burger at her and took another bite. “But
you're sitting here alone. This seat here is empty. You're only
taking up one side of the booth. We can share, can't we? Honey,
this booth is big enough for the both of us, don't you think?”

To her credit, she kept her
face straight and her temper in check. “No. This booth isn't
big enough. Get your own booth. There are plenty of empty ones.
And my name isn't Honey.” Her voice was calm, but Baxter saw
the flash of annoyance in her eyes.

She sat back and folded her
arms. Baxter smirked at her, impressed. He had wanted to provoke a
reaction and ruffle her straight, smooth feathers. But it seemed
that he hadn't quite succeeded.

Baxter put down his burger
and slurped his coffee loudly.

“You aren't leaving,”
she said at last.

“Not yet.”

“Mister, I don't want
any trouble and I don't mean to be rude, but I prefer not to share my
booth with a stranger. So, if you'd just...”

“Baxter Sadowski.”

“What?”

“I just told you my
name. Now that you know my name, I'm not a stranger anymore. I know
your name isn't Honey. So why don't you tell me your name and we
can...”

“I bet you think you're
real funny. Well, that rakish grin might work on some women, but
you're going to be wearing your coffee instead of drinking it if you
don't get out of my booth right now.” She smiled sweetly and
leaned forward. Baxter saw that she was getting ready to make good
on her threat.

He grabbed her hand just as
she reached for his coffee cup. They both jerked back at the same
time. And from the look in her eyes, she had felt the same sizzling,
electric shock he had.

She rubbed her wrist and
gulped. “You can keep the booth. I'll go,” she muttered
as she gathered her things.

“No, don't go.”
Baxter's hand shot out to grab her wrist. When she shrank back, he
released her immediately.

“I'm sorry,” he
said. “I'm really sorry. I'm sorry if I offended you. I
just...”

She snatched up her bag.
“I'm getting out of here.”

Baxter surged to his feet.
“No, don't...leave. I'll go. I'll leave. I'll leave you in
peace. I promise. You stay and finish your food, and your work. I
can see that you're working.” He jerked his head at the legal
pad in her hand. “I apologize for being an ass. I didn't mean
to cause you any offense or distress. Please...stay.”

She stared at him in silence
for a beat.

“Stay, please,”
he said, almost begging. “I...I'm sorry. I'll pick up the
tab. I...” He shuffled his big feet, embarrassed, exasperated
and furious at himself.

The irritation and
indignation in her blue eyes subsided as he repeated his apology and
exhaled roughly. Raking a hand through his hair, he blew out another
frustrated breath and said, “I'm sorry for being a jerk. I
just didn't feel like eating alone tonight.”

“Why?”

“Huh?” He looked
up at her unexpected question.

“Why didn't you want to
eat alone tonight?”

“I...” He
swallowed and stuttered, “Ah, what the hell. This is going to
sound stupid, but it's the truth. I just came from a wedding, a
double wedding actually. The party was great...the food, the people,
the dancing...everything was great. I had fun, lots of fun.”
He gestured animatedly with his hands. “But—as I drove
him, I felt, well, kinda empty. Hungry...” He shrugged. “So
I stopped by to grab a burger. I wasn't ready to go home I suppose.
It's just an empty apartment anyway.”

He turned and pointed.
“That's my usual spot. I usually sit at the counter and just
gobble down my meal in a matter of minutes and I'm off. But
tonight...” He could feel his face growing hotter and redder
but he swallowed his embarrassment and his pride. He owed the woman
an explanation for his unforgivable behavior. “I guess I
felt...alone, and I didn't want to be alone. I looked around and I
saw you. And I, um, well, I made an ass and a nuisance of myself and
hijacked your booth. I was out of line. I'm sorry.”

The woman kept her eyes
steady on him, studying him intently as he spoke. Finally, she gave
him a nod and said, “Lindy Meyers.”

Baxter blinked once.
“Pleased to meet you, Lindy,” he said immediately, his
lips curving shyly.

“Frankly, I'm not that
pleased to meet you,” Lindy said. “But I believe you.”

Baxter bit his tongue. He
deserved the rebuke. He waited in silence. He didn't want to say
anything that might be construed as arrogant or rude. He had been
stupid and rude enough. He didn't want Lindy to hate him. Somehow
that was important to him. He didn't know why.

“I believe that you
didn't set out to offend me. But you thought that you could charm me
with that dashing smile and handsome face. A single lady eating
alone at a small diner late at night.” Lindy smirked. “Yeah,
she probably doesn't have a life or a man.” She put up a hand
when he started to protest. “Don't deny it. I know that's
what you were thinking. Just pour on the charm, chat her up and get
into her pants. That's the plan.”

Baxter gasped. “No!”

She gave a derisive snort and
raised her cup coolly to her lips.

“No! No, no and no!”
Baxter looked insulted and horrified. “Is that what you think
I thought? I never thought such thoughts! And if you think that I
thought you're easy, you thought wrong. What I thought was that
you're thinking some deep thoughts about deep thinking which I
thought...”

Lindy choked on her coffee.
“Okay, okay,” she said, coughing and laughing. “I
get what you're saying. I think.”

Baxter handed her a paper
napkin but remained standing at the side of the booth. He wasn't
going to sit down if she didn't want him to. He wasn't going to make
the same mistake. Hell, he didn't want to make any mistake with this
woman. They had started off on the wrong foot. His fault. He would
behave himself and show her that he wasn't a boor and a brute.

Lindy studied him as she
dabbed her mouth with the napkin. With a slight smile, she sat back
and picked up her fork.

“Are you going to
finish your burger, Baxter?”

His eyes darted to the
half-eaten burger on his plate. “I should go,” he
mumbled even though he didn't want to go. But he didn't want to
annoy and anger her any more than he already had.

“No, don't go,”
Lindy said, taking a bite of her waffle.

His brows shot up and she
laughed at his shocked, befuddled expression. She had a lovely
laugh, clear, bright and childlike in its purity and honesty.

“Have a seat. You're
welcome to share my booth, Baxter. Finish your burger, and I'll
finish my waffle. They serve damn good waffles and burgers here.
It's a sin not to finish them,” she stated.

Baxter found his tongue at
last. “Yes, M'am!” He grinned and darted back into the
booth.

He took a humongous bite of
his burger and stared at the buxom beauty in front of him, almost
unable to believe his luck.

Lindy was beautiful, with
sharp, intelligent blue eyes and a quick, rapier wit. She remained
calm and collected and deflected him easily when he was being as
asshat.

Lindy Meyers was cool as a
cucumber, hot as hell. Baxter was hooked. He wanted to know this
woman better.

She was a dream.

Baxter's grin broadened as he
chomped heartily on his burger.

Maybe his luck was changing.

Maybe he was a lucky bear
after all.

CHAPTER
THREE

Lindy Meyers watched Baxter
fold his broad, towering frame into the booth. With an impish grin,
he proceeded to polish off the rest of his burger.

“So, what do you do,
Baxter?” she asked, sliding her legal pad into her briefcase.
Her notes were confidential, and she didn't want him to see them.
She had worked till about eight o'clock in her office. When she
looked up, the sky was dark and her stomach was growling. She had
missed dinner again. She had been driving home when she saw that
this little diner was still open. Unable to ignore the grumbling and
nagging of her stomach, she'd parked her car and hurried into Dino
Diner for a very late dinner.

She had lugged her briefcase
with her, so that she could work while she ate. She'd had a burger,
the same burger that Baxter was eating right now and a milk shake.
The satisfying meal had fired something in her brain, and she had
pulled out a legal pad to jot down her theories. She wasn't sure how
long she had been sitting there, muttering and scribbling, but when
that nice waitress came and asked if she would like some fresh
waffles and coffee, she had said yes. She worked better, thought
clearer with food. And she was just working through another of her
theories when this brash, bold, handsome dude inserted himself into
her booth and hit on her.