Mending the Bear (5 page)

“I’m a guy, so it’s one, and I don’t care
what position we do it in.” He looked across the table to Eve. She was almost
as red as the dried cranberries in the salad.

Aiden and Charlotte chose that moment to
walk over to them with little
Bridgit
in tow. Seemed
like she’d only been born a short while ago and how she’d grown so fast, he
didn’t know.

“Hi Ian,’ Charlotte said.

“How you guys doing? Oh, and by the way
this is Dr. Eve Barclay, the new vet in town.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Eve said. “And who
is this cutie?” she asked, looking at
Bridgit
.

“This is
Bridgit
who will be turning two on Saturday,” Charlotte said.

“Two, wow, that’s exciting,” said Eve.
“Are you having a party?”

Bridgit
nodded.

“Who’s coming to the party?” Aiden asked
her.

She pointed to her parents.

“Who else?” asked
Charlotte.

“Gramps and Kat.”

“And we’re heading to the party store to
buy balloons and hats, isn’t that right,
Bridgit
?”
Charlotte asked.

The little girl nodded.

“Enjoy your meal and the rest of the evening,”
Aiden said.

“Cute little girl,” Eve said after they’d
left. “You have nieces or nephews?”

“Nope, both my brothers are still single,”
Ian said. “How about you?”

“Three nieces and two nephews.”

“Can I get you two any dessert?” Hannah
asked, returning to the table.

“I think I’ll have a slice of chocolate
cake to go,” Ian said.

“Not for me,” Eve said.

“I hope you’ll stop back with Ian for
salmon night on Monday,” Hannah said, clearing away their plates. “He hasn’t
missed one since we started the event.”

“Salmon night?” Eve asked when Hannah
walked away.

“Every Monday Hannah serves salmon as the
special of the day. It’s a huge hit with us.”

“With you?”

He’d never been this one to one with a
human before and he was going to have to watch himself.

“Us regulars,” he said.

“I do like salmon, well, not so much when
I slip on it.”

He winked at her and took the bill off the
table.

“I can pay for my half,” Eve said.

“That would be insulting to me because
this is a date.” He raised his hand, knowing what she was going to say next.

“Date number two is when I bring you here
for the salmon night, so be ready around six on Monday evening. Then all we’ll
need is another date and I can get you horizontal.”

Chapter
Seven

She’d always been a sound sleeper. Even
when her marriage had broken up and she was going through the worst time of her
entire life, she’d managed to get at least six hours of shut eye every night.
However, tonight she found herself sitting at the kitchen table cradling a mug
of warm milk.

She took a sip and pulled a face. Her
mother had often made it for her and her siblings whenever one of them was
sick. She’d hated it as a child and hated it even more now. Skin was forming on
the top of it so she got up, walked to the cupboard, and pulled out a package
of hot chocolate. She dumped that into the mug before the milk got too cold to
dissolve it, and she was left with a lumpy, tepid beverage. She gave it a stir
and then walked back to her bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. She yawned.
She was tired, but her mind was racing with images of Ian.

Had the meal at the Starlight Café been an
actual date?

If it had been, it hadn’t ended in a kiss.
They’d just left the café, saying goodnight to one another, him getting on his
bike, her getting in her car, and then they’d headed off in opposite
directions.

There had been a kiss
before
the date. She put her fingers to her lips. He’d asked her on
another date, well, that was assuming the one tonight had been for real. She
was doing lots of assuming since she’d met Ian.

She took another sip of the hot chocolate.

And then there was his remark about them
getting horizontal. She wasn’t sure that she was ready to date and get back to
the whole having sex thing and she knew why. A guy could sleep with a woman and
not get emotionally involved and attached. It was a physical thing and nothing
else. Just fuck, have some fun, and that’s that.

For a woman, for Eve, it was totally
different. She’d never slept with a guy without getting involved and
emotionally attached to him, and she wasn’t sure if that’s what she wanted
right now. As she kept reminding herself, the period of her life right now, was
her
me
time.
A time she’d never had before because she’d married young, and a time she might
never have again, should she find another man who’d she’d fall in love with.
Hopefully, this time the relationship would last forever.

But just like a man, a woman did have
physical needs. She wanted to get horizontal with him all right. But what if
she got hurt again? She’d imagine that he had lots of women to choose from and
she wasn’t foolish enough to think he’d be exclusive to her. When guys broke up
with someone, they usually went a little crazy and slept with lots of women.

Did all this mean she’d turn down the
opportunity to sleep with him should it arise?

Maybe, maybe not.

She set the mug down on the table by the
bed, snapped off the light, and got back under the covers. He sure was cute and
her hormones were doing strange things to her mind and body. She put her hand
under the blankets, quickly finding her clit. She hadn’t even done any
self-pleasuring lately. He’d stirred something up inside her. She spread her
legs, going to work on the nub that now stood erect screaming for attention. She
saw Ian in her mind’s eye, naked in front of her. Yeah, he had the biggest dick
she’d ever seen and he was about to slid it into her.

She cried out, almost not realizing that
the image had brought about one of the best orgasms she’d had in forever.

She bit her lip. Just what would the real
thing be like?

Chapter
Eight

Eve couldn’t believe the number of pets
and their owners who were sitting in the waiting area when she arrived at work
on Monday morning. She’d only been officially opened a week and she’d worried
that maybe business would be slow or that fur baby owners had gone elsewhere
when Ally Herbert had closed down her husband’s practice after he’d been shot
and killed.

She’d worried needlessly because maybe her
problem would now be she’d have too many patients for a one vet practice to
oversee. She might even have to think about hiring more staff if this kept up.

Chloe was talking to a couple of the
ladies who were waiting with dogs.

“Eve, this is your first patient, Barney
and his owner, Lilly Renner.”

“Renner, I met two other
Renners
the other night at the Starlight Café,” Eve said.

“My brother and sister-in-law. They did
mention they’d seen you dinning with Ian.”

“And hello Barney, it’s nice to meet you.”
She offered the Pomeranian her hand to smell and then gently stroked his head.
“You two want to come through to the examination room.”

Lilly led Barney to the back room and
lifted him onto the table.

Eve pulled up his information on the
screen. Six years old and he needed his booster vaccinations.

“So any concerns with Barney or any
changes in his behavior or eating habits? Eve asked as she pulled out her
stethoscope.

“No, he seems to be doing just fine. At
first, he was a little jealous of our new baby, but now he guards him like he’s
a Great Dane and not a lap dog.”

“It does take a dog some time to adjust to
the new family dynamics.”

She paused while she listened to his heart
and lungs. Next she looked into his ears, then his eyes, and finally his teeth.
“Okay, Barney you look great, but now comes the bit all my patients hate. It’s
time to take your temperature.”

Eve lifted his tail and stuck the thermometer
in, making the little dog growl until she removed it.

“There all done little guy and you’re in
top notch health. I’ll just go get the vaccines and we’ll be all done.”

While she was outside the examination
rooms, Eve glanced at Chloe talking to yet more people who’d come into the
office. She was definitely going to need to hire more staff.

She filled the syringes and went back to
find Lilly talking to Barney.

“Do you have any other children besides
the baby?” asked Eve.

“Yes, Kaitlin who’s just started
kindergarten.”

“Is she the Kat that
Bridgit
mentioned?”

“Yes, and I’m guessing it was about the birthday
party.”

Eve gave Barney both shots without him even
realizing it. She’d always been good with needles since she was in vet school.

“Those two are getting overly excited
about that,” Lilly said.

“That’s what being two and five years old
is all about. Well, Barney, you did great and here’s a treat,” Eve said,
pulling a small rawhide bone from the dish on the countertop.

“Okay Barney, let’s get going and relieve
papa bear of his babysitting duties.”

Eve walked them to the front.

“You’re next patient is Shane who needs
his puppy shots. And this is Lucy Ahern, another friend of mine.”

“Okay Lucy and Shane, through to the back
we go.”

****

“You look tired,” said Chloe as she and Eve
sat eating their lunch in the backroom.

“Yeah, and it’s only Monday at 1 p.m. How
did my practice grow so fast?”

“Connections,” Chloe said. “Ian’s been
spreading the word, Hannah too, and not to mention Brady Walsh.”

“I’m hearing a lot about Brady Walsh,” Eve
said.

“Probably because he’s building most of
the new construction going on around town.”

“Ah, the new townhouse construction where
I turn onto the main road to get to my place.”

“Lucy’s been designing the interior and
they’re wonderful if you’re thinking about buying instead of renting. Ash and I
live in one of the houses on the other side of the townhouse lot because we
needed a yard for when Sophie gets older. In fact, I’d love for you to come to
dinner one night so you can take a look for yourself.”

 
Eve
smiled. If Chloe didn’t make it as a vet, which she was pretty sure she would,
she’d make one hell of a salesperson. “I’d love to do that. So do you all know
one another in Kalispell or what? I knew it was a smaller community, but I
wasn’t aware it was that small.”

Chloe didn’t respond. “Most of the people
have grown up here and they’re close knit,” she finally said. “They were really
kind to me when I first came here.”

“So you’re not from Kalispell?”

Chloe shook her head. “From Texas.”

“And what brought you here?”

“It’s sort of a long story, and how about
I tell you some other time?”

Eve saw Chloe put the rest of her sandwich
away before she stood. “I better get back to the reception area because your
afternoon patients will be arriving.” She began to walk away.

“Chloe?”

“Yes?” she said, turning around.

“Would you like to train to be my
assistant? I’m going to need a few with this many patients.”

“I’d love that.”

“Okay, how about you start doing some
training with me next week?”

“That’s great. Thank you so much, Eve.”

****

“You’re the talk of the shifter
community,” Liam said. “But this time for a different reason. You want to hand
me that spanner?”

Ian reached into the tray, pulled out what
Liam needed and handed it to him.

“I’m sure it’s me and Eve eating at
Starlight,” Ian said.

“That would be it. So what do you think of
dating a human?”

Ian knew he was treading on dangerous
territory here because he didn’t want to insult either him or Lucy.

“She seems intelligent. Easy to tease.”

“Oh yeah, humans, well, at least the
females are fun to use their own words and viewpoints against them.”

“Do you think Danny would have married
Hannah had he lived?”

Liam stopped working and looked over at
him. “I think he would have done the right thing and made a family for her and
Sam.”

“Danny was a great guy. I still miss him
like crazy.”

“Yeah, you and me both.”

He could see tears forming in Liam’s eyes.
Ian could imagine what it must have been like to lose him and how he’d feel if
something like that happened to Cade or Trey.

“Speaking of which, I think you should get
to know Sam better. He’s getting to be so much like Danny in looks and
personality it’s uncanny. How about the three of us going running together one
of these days?”

“I’d like that.”

“I’ll warn you Sam is also a strong bear
like Danny was and I can’t keep up with him most of the time. I must be getting
old or something.”

Ian laughed. “Are you going to Salmon
Night at Starlight?”

“Not this week,
it’s
Lucy’s brother’s birthday and we’re treating him to a night out in Missoula
with his kids. I did hear you have a date for the night.”

Could a bear keep anything a secret?
Probably not. Could a bear keep his paws off of a hot date? Probably not. Sex
with a human. Guess Liam was the right person to ask about that.

“Anything I should know about human women
in the sex department?”

Liam stopped working again and wiped his
hand across his forehead, leaving a grease track in its center.

“You’re going to do the deed?”

Ian shrugged. “I might. Now I don’t have a
mate I’ve been jerking off like you wouldn’t believe.”

“You’ll need condoms.”

“Rubber prisons,” Ian said. He knew it was
the only thing that shifters hated about human partners.

“You have to wear them,” Liam said.

Guess he’d be buying some on his way to
pick up Eve just in case things progressed to that stage.

“Anything else?”

“I think you need to experience it without
me giving you any preconceived notions,” Liam said.

****

Eve had tried not to think about her
dinner date with Ian, but it was impossible. As the hands of the clock made
their way close to the number six, butterflies made their appearance in her
stomach. She’d worked later than she’d planned and had asked Ian to pick her up
at the practice so she didn’t have to go all the way home.

She’d changed out of her dog hair laden
pants and put on a black skirt and red blouse. Her cell phone rang just as she
was applying her lip gloss.

“Hello,” Eve said.

“Are you ready for our second date?”

She wasn’t going to argue with him about
this not being yet another date.

“I will be in about five minutes.”

“I’m outside and my motorbike awaits,” Ian
said.

“Then it will wait there a long time.”

“Hey, this is a proper date tonight and it
would seem weird for us to take separate transportation,” Ian said.

“Okay, then how about you leave your bike
here and I’ll drive us to the café and then drop you back here after we’ve
eaten?”

“Is that the way it has to be?” Eve asked.

“Afraid so.”

“Okay, I guess you win, but I am going to
get you on that bike one way or another.”

“In your dreams.”

Next thing she knew he’d gone off the line
and was knocking on the glass pane at the front door. She walked toward it and
let him in.

She almost wanted to whistle when he
stepped inside. Tonight his sexy body was adorned with jeans, a white t-shirt,
and a blue denim jacket. His sunglasses rested up on his head and that bear
earring dangling from his left ear twinkled, and he smelled like…

I guess how she hoped heaven would.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Nope.”

“But you said five minutes and that’s up.”

“I would have been if some guy hadn’t
called and insisted I ride on his bike.”

He smiled, flashing those pearly whites at
her. “You look ready to me.”

“I have to get my purse and jacket.”

“I’ll be looking at the photos of your
patients while I wait.”

****

Ian couldn’t take his eyes off of Eve’s
thighs as she drove them toward the Starlight Café. Good thing it was less than
ten minutes away or he might have done something stupid like reach across to
her side of the car and caress them.

She glanced at him as if she could read
what was going on in his head.

“You look like you’re up to no good,” she
said.

“Mind reader, are you?”

“Sometimes, yes. It stops me from getting
bitten in my line of work.”

He wondered if her sixth sense around animals
included bears. What would she do if she saw his bear half come out? Being a
vet, she probably wouldn’t be scared.

Eve pulled into the parking lot at the
Starlight Café. As was always on a Monday night, the parking lot was packed. Ian
hadn’t missed one of these evenings since Hannah had started them shortly after
she’d married Bear.

He placed his hand on the small of Eve’s
back and guided her toward the door. He stepped ahead and opened it to the
sound of constant chit-chat and the delightful smell of salmon roasting out
back.

Ian had called ahead and reserved a table
by the window, his favorite spot where he could chat with his fellow bear
shifters and catch up on the news.

Hannah waved to him as he guided Eve over
to the table. He sat and then spotted something he hadn’t counted on. Joanne
was dinning with Max. Why hadn’t they started a no cougar policy at Starlight?

She looked over at him and gave him a half
smile. Max turned around and glared at him.

“Going to throw some more furniture?” he
said.

“Not tonight, maybe tomorrow.”

Eve looked around and then back at Ian.

“What was that about?”

“That’s the asshole who ran off with my
mate.”

“Your mate?”

“My girlfriend.”

He’d wanted Joanne to see him with someone
else to let her know he’d moved on, yeah, make her jealous, but now he was face
to face with them, the whole thing made his blood boil.

“She’s very pretty,” Eve said.

Ian chose not to answer. Celia, another
bear shifter who’d started working at Hannah’s as their Monday night waitress,
walked over to the table.