She pointed across the road and I gazed over at the giant billboard on the side of the office block there. Usually, it featured an ad for some product or other, but right now, the car ad that had been there was being replaced with something completely different. Something I could never have imagined.
On a plain white background was written a simple message:
Abi, I’m a jerk. I love you. Will you be my mate? Nathan xxx
“I didn’t realize there was anything going on between you and Nathan,” remarked Haley, watching me as I struggled to hold back the tears, happy ones this time.
“Neither did I,” I whispered. “Haley, could you lock up here? I have to be somewhere.”
I didn’t wait to hear her reply, as I started running up the road looking for a cab. Just as I spotted one, a familiar car pulled up alongside me.
“Nathan?” I gasped as he leaned over to open the passenger door for me. “I was just coming to find you.”
“I take it you saw my ad?” he asked, as I climbed in next to him.
“I couldn’t miss it,” I replied as he pulled out into the traffic. “It’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me. But there’s so much that doesn’t make sense. Why did you let me walk out on you? Why haven’t you tried to contact me? And did you really mean it when you said you loved me? How could you? You barely know me.”
“I know you better than you think,” Nathan told me. “My bear calls out for you when you’re not around. I’ve been such an idiot to ignore it and treat you the way I did. I can see that now. Can you trust me when I say that I had good reason for everything I did? I want to explain everything to you, but I can’t do it when I’m driving. I want to be able to look you in the eye so you can see that I’m telling the truth when I say that I love you and want to be with you.”
“All right,” I whispered, staring at him as he put his foot down on the gas, speeding out of the city. There was an expression on his face I hadn’t seen before. His usual self-assured nature was tinged with doubt and worry. I didn’t need to look him in the eye to know that he was telling the truth.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that we were heading towards his family’s property. The drive seemed to last an eternity as I couldn’t think of anything to say. Small talk seemed completely inappropriate, but Nathan had asked me to trust him and I desperately wanted to, so I held back my questions, instead gazing at the man I loved, admiring his profile and remembering what it felt like to feel his hands all over my body while he drove me to where we could talk.
Yes, loved. Call me crazy, stupid, foolish, but there was no doubting that I’d fallen head over heels with this infuriating man.
At last, we pulled up outside the cabin where Shelby and Caleb had had their engagement party. Nathan reached out his hand to me and I gladly took it, but instead of leading me inside as I thought he would, he took me down a little path to the side of the cabin and into the forest.
“You know, sometimes I forget how beautiful it is here,” he told me, as he led me into a little clearing by a pool. A small waterfall fed into it and a dragonfly buzzed past us as Nathan sat down by the water, patting the ground beside him for me to join him. “Sometimes it’s easy to take things for granted when they’re right in front of you.”
He took my hand in his, stroking the back of my knuckles with his thumb. “I meant every word I said on that billboard. I’m a jerk. I don’t have any excuses, not any more, not with you. Sometimes I speak without thinking. I have a short temper, I’m stubborn, and my bear can be grumpy. What’s worse, I’m really bad at apologizing, even when I know I’m wrong. I’m not perfect, Abi, not by any stretch of the imagination.
“But I tell you what I am. I’m loyal and I’ll do anything to protect the ones I love. I wasn’t thinking when I said to you that I needed you to leave early. It didn’t even occur to me that for someone who’s been treated as badly as you, you’d think the worst of me. Yes, I really am that dumb sometimes – you can add that to the list of my faults.
“The reason why I took you to a quiet restaurant and then didn’t want anyone to see you leave my condo isn’t because I’m ashamed of you. Quite the opposite. I desperately wanted to show you off to the world, let everyone see how lucky I am to have you by my side. I didn’t want to take the risk of anything happening to you if I did.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I had a strong urge to protect you even before I knew whether you were as serious about me as I am about you,” he explained. “You see, Brooke has been trying to get me back. Apparently, money doesn’t buy happiness after all, but since it’s bought her everything else she’s wanted, she’s not used to rejection. She can be a real bitch when she chooses and she already made it clear to me that she wasn’t happy when I turned down her kind offer of the chance to see her again. If she found out that you were dating me, she’s more than capable of destroying your business just because she can. She has the connections to make sure that no one would ever hire you again. You’d be lucky to run a hot dog stand by the time she finished with you. I didn’t want her to do that to you, not if things weren’t going to work out between us. I knew how I felt about you even before we made love and the way you made me feel the other night just confirmed it.
“I wasn’t lying when I said that I didn’t believe in mates. I didn’t. When Caleb settled down with Shelby, I took it as a sign that there wasn’t anyone out there for me. After all, why should my kid brother get to find someone before I do? If mating was real, I should be married long before him.
“And then I saw you and my world turned upside down. I tried to keep you at arm’s length to protect myself and then I pushed you away to protect you, but all I did is mess things up and you have no idea how sorry I am for hurting you. But I promise you that I love you and I’m yours, if you want me.”
He reached up and gently stroked my cheek with the back of his hand.
“The choice is yours. You’re free to walk away if you want and I won’t try to stop you. I can understand why you wouldn’t want to be with someone like me and if you go, I won’t chase you, I promise.
“But if you choose to be with me, I’ll tell you one thing. I’ll protect you for the rest of my life because you’re mine. I’m never going to hurt you ever again. I-”
I didn’t need to hear any more. I leaned forward and stopped him talking with a kiss.
“Did anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?” I murmured.
Nathan grinned. “All the time.”
He returned my kiss, rolling me back onto the grass.
I’d never made love outside before, but Nathan showed me just how beautiful it could be. I knew that I’d found my happy ever after.
A letter from the author
Thanks so much for reading Healing Bear. I really enjoyed writing about Abi and Nathan. It was great to introduce more characters into the world of Love Laid Bear and start learning more about the Love family – watch this space for more stories about their secrets.
Could you do me a favor and leave a review? Reviews help me make the next book even better! Just visit http://amzn.to/2iPKplr and share your thoughts.
If you want a free book in the Love Laid Bear series, head on over to http://bit.ly/2bsZEkG and grab your copy of Heart Laid Bear.
See you in the next book!
Love, Amber
Have you read the other books in the Love Laid Bear series? Each one is standalone and hot, hot, hot!
Running Bear: When Shelby Robert’s childhood sweetheart, Caleb Love, comes back into her life, can she forgive him for walking out on her all those years ago?
Loving Bear: Jess Bevan loves her work in a floral boutique, but how will she cope when gorgeous but arrogant temporary manager, Nick Ford, takes charge?
Healing Bear: A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Love Laid Bear Book 3) Page 7