Reforming the Bear

by Vanessa Devereaux

  Liam went ahead of her, so he could open the door and also to hide the obvious bulge in his jeans. He didn’t want her to think he was also going to rape her. He put her suitcase down and held her arm as she hobbled over the threshold.

  “If you’d like to sit on the couch, I’ll go open up the apartment and then get you something to drink.”

  “You don’t have to go to all this trouble.”

  “It’s no problem … really, it isn’t.”

  Normally it would be. Helping out a human, he’d rather run down the street with his head on fire but there was something about Lucy that made him want to nurture her. Bears usually only thought that about potential mates and a human definitely wasn’t in line for that position.

  She sat down, the bag on her lap, and looked around.

  Probably thinking what does the apartment look like if his house looks this bad? Liam thought.

  “I’ll be right back,” said Liam. He walked into the kitchen, opened the drawer by the fridge and sorted through the piles of paper, local burger takeout menus, photos of cars he’d cut out of magazines, rubber bands, pens, paper clips, and finally found the key to the apartment.

  He headed out the back door across the yard and up to the front door. He pushed the key in the lock and then had to shoulder the door to get it to open. He went inside and stopped in his tracks.

  Foolish bear.

  Liam hadn’t thought about what it would be like to come back in here. Some of his buddies had cleaned it out for him because he hadn’t been able to deal with walking into this place knowing that Danny would never live here again. This had been his home. At first he’d been reluctant to offer it to Lucy, but then he’d realized it was now or never to get the place finally cleaned out. Since his brother had died, he’d often stood at the kitchen sink, looked over to the apartment and sworn that he’d seen him inside watching TV, or even outside on the patio tinkering with his bike.

  Liam tried to swallow the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat.

  He had to get this place aired out because he’d promised it to Lucy and the place smelled old and unused, which was exactly what it was.

  Liam froze on the spot, suddenly overcome with a host of emotions. Sadness, anger, regret…

  Move, legs. Move, damn you.

  His hands shook as he took one small step trying not to look at anything that would remind him of his brother, but shit, everything about this place did. He should have insisted they got rid of all the furniture too but at the time he had this stupid notion that it had all been a bad mistake. It wasn’t Danny who’d died. He’d come back here one day and wouldn’t it be awful if Liam had given all his furniture to Goodwill.

  Liam looked at the table by the window and saw Danny sitting opposite him while they played a board game or tried to outwit one another at a card game. Such happy times. Liam walked through to the tiny kitchen and saw his brother standing at the stove making popcorn. He looked out of the window again. Danny was out there. He lifted his hand and waved to Liam. Liam waved back. He knew why this scene was so vivid in his head. It’s the exact thing they’d done on that fateful night the drunk driver had hit him.

  Liam bit his lip. What he wouldn’t give to get a chance to go back in time, right before Danny set off that night. This time around, he’d be armed with the knowledge of what was waiting for him and talk Danny into staying home and playing cards.

  He turned around, unaware he was crying until he tasted salt on his lips. He focused on the carpet by the bathroom. He didn’t know why, but he was suddenly drawn to it and the shiny object embedded in its pile.

  Danny’s chain with his good luck charm was wedged underneath the carpet and baseboard. He’d obviously broken it that night and not been aware it had fallen. He’d ridden without his safety medallion. When the guys had cleaned out the apartment they obviously hadn’t seen it, or maybe had left it and not had the heart to give it to Liam knowing how heartbreaking it would be for him.

  He leaned over and pulled it up, seeing where the chain had snapped. He squeezed his eyes shut and held it safely in his palm. He’d get it fixed and give it to Sam, and that way Danny would always be watching over him and keeping his son safe.

  Everything was built up inside him now. This place and the fact he’d lost his brother and that Danny would never see his son become a fine young bear shifter.

  Liam pressed his back against the wall and slid down it, breaking down like he had when the police had stopped by to inform him that Danny was dead.

  ****

  Lucy hobbled to her feet as one of the crutches fell to the ground.

  “Shit,” she said, balancing on one foot to try while trying to pick it up. Someone was crying. At first she couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, but soon realized it was Liam in the apartment across the way. From the sound of things, his heart was breaking. Whatever had happened to cause a man to cry like that?

  Lucy maneuvered her way out to the kitchen and saw the back door was open. It led to a short path and what was obviously the apartment in question. She hurried over there as best she could. The door was ajar, and she hoped he didn’t mind her going inside and invading what was clearly a private moment for him.

  She found him sitting on the floor in the hallway with, as she’d suspected, tears streaming down his face. Men didn’t cry. Not that they didn’t want to, but they were too damn stubborn to give in to their feelings. She admired that Liam had. This really was a different sort of guy.

  “Whatever’s wrong, Liam?”

  He looked up at her.

  “Nothing. I’m just having a stupid moment.”

  “No such thing as one of those. You want to share it with me?”

  Lucy grimaced as she got down on the floor beside him. Her leg was killing her … but he’d been good enough to help her, so the least she could do was return the favor and see if she could change the tears to laughter.

  “This was my brother’s place,” he said.

  “Your brother who died?”

  Liam nodded.

  “It’s the first time I’ve been in here since…”

  “Liam, why didn’t you say? Why did you offer this place to me?”

  She put her hand on his forearm, feeling the taut muscles push against her palm.

  “It had to be done sometime, but I guess I didn’t know it would have this sort of effect on me.”

  “Oh Liam, how sad for you,” said Lucy, grimacing again as she slid up next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. She could imagine what pain he was in. If anything happened to Mike…? Well, it was the reason she’d agreed to do what she had. She didn’t want any harm coming to her brother.

  “I wasn’t expecting to find this in here.” He opened the palm of his hand and there sat a medallion on a chain. “It was his ‘keep safe’ charm whenever he rode his bike, and I thought if he’d worn it…”

  He’d still be alive. She wanted to say it but didn’t want to add to his pain.

  “If you want to close this place up, I’ll understand. I can go to a motel like I was planning to do before the whole incident with the car and that trucker,” she said.

  “No, no … this has to be done. This place has to be aired out sometime or it will just fall apart.”

  He looked at her. His eyes showed sorrow and pain. He was a beautiful human being and what she did next totally surprised her. She kissed him.

  Chapter Six

  He’d never kissed a human. In fact, he couldn’t remember a time when even a female shifter had initiated a kiss. But now this human female had done just that, and he wasn’t pushing her away, wasn’t wiping his mouth and complaining about the fact that a human had done, in his book, the unthinkable.

  Liam liked the kiss. Oh yes, he was enjoying it more than he’d ever thought. Maybe he was in need of comforting and that’s why he was letting her continue. Nope … that wasn’t the reason. He enjoyed her soft lips on his. The way she opened her mouth, urging and
almost encouraging him to do what he was about to do next.

  He pushed his tongue over her bottom lip, tasting the sweetness as he eased it into her mouth. Liam wrapped his arms around her, feeling her softness and warmth invading his t-shirt. He took in her scent, smelling once again the perfume that he’d admired the night before. She was gorgeous, and he suddenly felt happier.

  She groaned, and not in a good way. He hadn’t been thinking about her injury because he’d been too lost in the moment. Liam pulled away and she quickly held her leg.

  “Sorry, did I hurt you?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “And I’m sorry for being so pushy. Kissing you like that. That’s not usually me.”

  “No reason to apologize. I wouldn’t have let you continue if I wasn’t enjoying it.”

  They sat side by side, both of their backs up against the wall. She held his hand. It seemed so tiny engulfed in his big bear-like one. Dark pink polish adorned her nails and a little silver ring sat on her pinkie.

  “Would you like me to redecorate this place for you? Not that I’m saying it should be changed in any way, but I thought maybe it might help you. And as you won’t take payment for the car repair or rent, I’d feel better if you’d let me do something in return.”

  If anyone else had suggested changing anything he might have been angry. Maybe even thrown them out with his boot up their ass. But now it made sense. He hadn’t stepped foot in this place for eight years. It smelled musty, cobwebs were everywhere, and it no longer had Danny’s scent anywhere so it was time to give it a makeover––and who better than an interior designer to do just that. Maybe he’d even rent it out and make himself some extra cash for when business was slow. Or maybe Sam would like it as his hideout when he came to stay. Maybe Sam would even live in it one day.

  Liam squeezed her hand. “You really don’t have to.”

  “I’d like to.”

  It was her turn to squeeze his hand. “It might take a few days of airing out this place to make it bearable.”

  Did I just use the word bearable? If only she knew how ironic that was.

  “Then let’s get all the windows opened now and I’ll get some ideas of what I can do as far as colors for paint,” said Lucy.

  “Don’t overdo things. I don’t mean with the color, but your injury needs to heal.”

  “This will be perfect for me. I can sit and take my mind off my leg while I brainstorm ideas.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I’m positive.”

  ****

  She was digging herself in deeper and deeper. Saying she was an interior designer was one thing but posing as one took things to a whole new level of deception. However, her motives weren’t mischievous in any way. She wanted to help him redo the apartment and hopefully take away some of the lingering pain of his brother’s accident and the constant reminder that he’d once lived there.

  Liam was sweet, and the kiss…? Well, if it hadn’t been for her darn leg giving out when he’d pulled her toward him, she was pretty sure they’d be horizontal by now. Maybe when her leg healed that might be the case. She was sticking around here for a while, so they had some time to work on it.

  She drew the line at getting involved though. That wouldn’t be fair to either one of them, because once the trouble with Mike blew over she’d be heading back home. No hearts broken for either of them.

  Lucy watched as he pried open the bedroom window, giving it a good shove before it finally yielded to the pressure. Already this place was starting to smell better and lighter as the sunlight poured into the room when he opened the drapes back all the way.

  “I have some spare bedding at my place I can bring over to you,” he said.

  “That would be great. And if you have a duster? I can clean the cobwebs.”

  “Nope, you won’t do anything of the sort. You’re here to sit and heal. Come back over to my place and we’ll get something to eat and you can watch TV while I go to work. Sorry I won’t be much company for the rest of the day, but a customer is picking a car up tomorrow and I still have a few things to tune up.”

  “Okay, but let me at least do something besides watch TV.”

  “You any good with a needle and thread?”

  “Well, I can’t make clothes from scratch, but I’ve been known to make the odd craft or two.”

  “I have a couple pairs of jeans that need repairing. I’d throw them away but they’re comfortable and ideal for when I work on the cars.”

  “Sure, I can do that.”

  ****

  How could he have forgotten that Sam was stopping by after school and they’d be going out for pizza? With all the drama of finding Lucy and then bringing her to his place, it had gone clean out of his mind. It wasn’t until he was working in the garage and saw Hannah’s car pulling up that he remembered.

  Sam now visited him a couple of times a week. Once on a Saturday or Sunday for a few hours, and once during the week where the two of them would go out and grab a bite to eat. Last week it had been hamburgers, but this week Sam had requested pizza. Hannah usually just dropped him off, but this time she turned off the ignition and got out of the car and walked with him.

  They hadn’t gotten off to a good start when they’d first met. Well, what guy would like a woman who’d accused him of getting her pregnant when he was completely innocent? He’d also called her a few bad things when she’d decided to leave and take Sam away from him. And then of course, there was the small issue of her being a human. However, she was also the woman who’d conceived and given birth to Sam, which meant she couldn’t be all that bad. He knew he wasn’t her favorite shifter, but gradually they were learning to tolerate one another … if only for Sam’s sake.

  Sam ran toward him. He was pretty sure his nephew was growing during the intervals between their visits. He was going to be big and strong like his dad had been. The tight bear hug he gave Liam confirmed it. Now that he was shifting, he’d soon outpace his human classmates at school.

  “Hey, buddy, have you been good at school this week?”

  “Yes! I got a B on my spelling test.”

  “You did well. I’m so proud of you.” Liam gave him a hug.

  “He’s really getting along well at school now,” said Hannah. “And thank you for taking the time to practice spelling all the words with him. I think the extra coaching is helping him.”

  Liam nodded. He didn’t want to let on, but he hadn’t been the best speller at school and was actually learning along with Sam when they studied together.

  “Bear told me you were the hero of the night,” said Hannah.

  Liam shrugged his shoulders. “Just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

  “Liam, if you could show me where…”

  Liam turned and Hannah looked Lucy’s way as she hobbled out into the garage.

  Hannah looked back at him.

  “Hannah, this is Lucy Hunt. She’s the young lady I found on the road last night.”

  “Rescued, more like,” said Lucy.

  “Lucy, this is Hannah Morrison, Sam’s mom … and this is Sam, my nephew.”

  “I’m pleased to meet you,” said Hannah. “Can you say hello, Sam?” asked Hannah.

  “Hi, Lucy,” said Sam.

  “Nice to meet you, Sam. Your uncle showed me a photo of you, and I have to say you’re a lot more handsome in person.”

  “Are you a bear?” asked Sam.

  “Sam, what have you been told about asking questions like that?” said Hannah.

  Hannah glanced over at Liam. Shit, he’d need to have a word with him if he was going to hang around with Lucy.

  “Sorry,” said Sam.

  “No, Sam, I’m not a bear, but I like them. In fact, I still have my teddy bear from when I was a baby.”

  Liam was relieved at her response. She’d probably thought that question was typical of someone Sam’s age or that he was goofing around.

  “Lucy’s going to be staying in the ap
artment out back while her leg mends,” said Liam.

  “Really?” said Hannah. She lifted both her eyebrows and Liam knew what it meant when a human did that. They were reading far too much into the meaning of what he’d just revealed. Liam was simply doing what anyone else, human or shifter, would do. However, he couldn’t argue his case in front of Lucy or she might take offence.

  “I need to get on my way because I have the last fitting for my wedding dress. Sam, you promise to be good and I’ll back at seven. Nice to have met you, Lucy, and I’ll probably see you around as I’m often here dropping off Sam.”

  “Nice to have met you too.”

  “Bye,” said Sam, waving to Hannah as she drove away.

  “What was it you wanted to ask me?” Liam asked Lucy.

  “I found some drapes and I was wondering if you had a washing machine.”

  “Sure do … but let me do that. You should be sitting down healing that leg.”

  “Does it hurt?” asked Sam.

  “Yeah, now and then,” said Lucy.

  “If you leave the drapes in my kitchen I’ll put them in the machine and then you go and watch TV or read. Once I’m done with this car, you want to join Sam and me when we go to the pizza parlor?”

  “Pizza? I have to say, I love pizza … so if I’m not intruding on your time together, I’d love to.”

  Liam smiled and Lucy turned and walked away. He put his arm around Sam.

  “Remember what your mom, Bear and I have told you? You never just ask someone straight out if they’re a bear. You know not everyone’s a shifter and it could get us into trouble.”

  “I forgot.”

  “I know it’s easy to do but you have to be careful … we all have to depend on one another to keep our secret. Now that you’re one of us you’re included in that. Okay?”

  Sam nodded.

  “You want to pass me some tools while I finish up on this car?”

  “Sure.”

  They walked back to the car and Liam raised the hood.