“Good call,” I agreed, trying hard to hide my disappointment as a vision of us swaying together flashed into my mind, my head resting against his chest as he held me close.
Mikey came back to our table carrying two outsized green cocktails.
“Here you go,” he said, placing them carefully down. “I made you a couple of Mikey’s Specials, super-sized just for couples.”
“Oh, but we’re not-” I protested.
“Thanks, Mikey.” Nick raised his glass as a thank you. “And could you bring us two of those pork loins you mentioned?”
“Sure thing.” Mikey nodded and disappeared off in the direction of the kitchen.
“Why did you let him think we’re a couple?” I wailed. “Now I’m going to have everyone gossiping about me.”
“Let them talk,” shrugged Nick. “People will draw their own conclusions, so you might as well let them think what they like. Unless you’re ashamed to be seen with me?”
“No, no. Nothing like that.” I shook my head, stunned that he’d think that could even be a possibility as I sipped on my cocktail.
“Oh. So you’ve got a crush on Mikey, then?”
“Mikey?” I laughed. “I think his boyfriend might have something to say about that.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I guess I’m tired of people saying things about me behind my back. Whoever said that it’s better to be talked about than not, got it wrong. I’d be more than happy if nobody ever said another word about me as long as I live.”
“I can’t imagine what anyone would say about you,” Nick remarked.
“It wasn’t about me so much as-” I bit off the words, not sure I really wanted to go on.
“As what?” Nick prompted. “Or is it who?”
I sighed, taking a large gulp of my drink. “It was my mom. Remember when I told you that she was between jobs?”
“Yes.”
“Well the gap between jobs has been almost a decade now. After dad died, mom had a minor nervous breakdown and she did a few things she wouldn’t normally do. She started shoplifting. Nothing too expensive, just the odd little thing for Tate, but it was enough to get her a criminal record. The judge was pretty lenient because she’d just lost her husband and had two children to care for, but she’s struggled to find work ever since. Nobody wants to hire a thief, even though mom would never steal anything now she’s better.”
I turned my head away, not wanting to see the judgment in his eyes, but he reached out and took my hand.
“Look at me,” he said softly.
I shook my head.
He reached out and gently turned my face towards him. “It’s okay, Jess. What happened wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t your mom’s either. She wasn’t in her right mind and I bet that if she had a better lawyer, she would have escaped a conviction.”
“If we had the money for a lawyer, maybe mom wouldn’t have taken anything.” I tried to joke about it, but even after all this time, I still couldn’t help but feel ashamed. I’d ended up switching schools because I was bullied so badly and even now, I always thought that people would think less of me because of what happened.
Why had I told Nick? It wasn’t as though I’d finished the cocktail. I couldn’t even blame the drink.
A single, solitary tear rolled down my cheek, but before I could wipe it off, Nick reached forward, using his thumb to brush it away. A moment later, he leaned forward and kissed me.
“Am I dreaming?” I breathed when he pulled away.
“Dreaming?” Nick gazed about the room then looked down at himself to pinch his arm. “No, I’m pretty certain we’re both wide awake.”
“Good.”
It was my turn to lean forward and kiss him. Out of the corner of my eye, I vaguely noticed Mikey coming towards our table, two plates in hand, but when he saw what we were doing, he smoothly turned and headed back in the direction of the kitchen.
“Shall we go somewhere a little quieter so we can talk more?” Nick murmured in my ear.
I nodded, not trusting my voice to speak. He pulled out a few bills from his wallet and tossed them on the table, before standing and reaching out to me. I took his hand and followed him out of Mason’s and into the night.
Chapter Eight
I shivered in the cool, night breeze and Nick put his arm around me as he put his arm up to hail a cab. I didn’t hear the address he gave to the driver. I was too focused on the feel of his leg brushing up against mine as he climbed in after me.
My heart was pounding as Nick lightly traced the back of his hand down my cheek.
“I love the feel of your skin,” he whispered. “I’ve wanted to touch you ever since I first saw you. I know I was rude to you when I first came into Tulips, but I was trying to keep things professional. It was the only way I could hide the fact that I thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.”
He bent his head and kissed me again, soft, gentle kisses that were even better than my dreams. If I wasn’t so aware of the cab driver in front of us, I would have pulled his clothes off there and then.
“Did you really think that?” I asked when we finally broke apart.
“Of course.” The puzzled frown on Nick’s face looked genuine. “Why would you doubt it?”
“I don’t know. I guess nobody’s ever said anything like that to me before.”
“Just because they didn’t say it didn’t mean they weren’t thinking it,” Nick told me, drinking me in with his eyes. “You’re gorgeous in every sense of the word.”
He kissed me again and I lost track of where we were. I was tingling with anticipation of the moment when we’d have some privacy and ached to feel him inside me.
At last the cab pulled up outside a large hotel. Nick handed the cab driver a handful of notes, not bothering to wait for the change, and took my hand, leading me through the reception and into the elevator. As the doors started to close, a man quickly jumped in with us, and I giggled when Nick pulled a face at me, making it clear that he’d had plans for the journey up.
I leaned into Nick, holding hands with him as if we were schoolkids, as we counted down the agonizing moments until we were alone. At last, the elevator doors opened on his floor and Nick led me down the corridor to his suite.
“You have no idea how hard it’s been to wait for you,” he growled, kissing me passionately before unlocking the door to his room. Pushing the door open with his foot, I clung to him as we went into his suite, Nick kicking it shut behind us.
Suddenly, he leaned over and scooped me up into his arms, making me yelp in surprise.
“Let’s take this to the bedroom,” he grinned.
I nodded, hardly daring to speak in case it broke the spell or made me wake up. I’d had too many dreams like this to trust that it was really happening, not until I was certain.
Nick carried me through to a room with the largest bed I’d ever seen and carefully placed me down.
“I’ve thought about this moment for far too long,” he murmured, untying the knot at my waist and unwrapping my dress to reveal my lacy, white underwear. I reached up to unbutton his shirt but he pushed my hands away.
“Not yet,” he told me. “Right now, this is all about you.” He pushed my dress out of the way, lightly running his fingers over my abdomen. “Let’s get you out of these clothes.”
I couldn’t believe how strong he was. I guessed that it was a result of his being a shifter, but when he pulled me up, supporting me with one arm as he helped me shake off my dress, it felt as though it was no effort at all for him.
I sat up, Nick cradling the back of my head with one hand to kiss me as he reached round with the other to unhook my bra. I shrugged off the straps as Nick stepped back to admire my body. I could see nothing but love and lust in his eyes and I could feel my nipples hardening with desire.
“You’re even more perfect than I imagined,” he breathed as he reached forward to cup one of my
breasts, gently running his thumb over my nipple, teasing it with slow strokes as he bent forward to kiss me. I arched my back, moaning as I strained towards him, desperate to feel him inside me. I reached up to run my fingers through his hair as my fists clenched and unclenched involuntarily.
He pulled back a little, grinning as he reached down to tuck his fingers into the elastic of my panties, pulling them down in one swift motion. Moving up to kiss me, he gently pushed me back onto the bed as his hand massaged my thigh, getting closer and closer to my groin.
“Oh god, please!” I begged as he stroked the top of my thigh, hinting at pleasures to come, teasing me by lightly brushing against my pussy.
Nick just smiled as he slowly kissed his way down my body, lightly tracing circles with his tongue before moving on to the next spot. By the time he was kneeling between my legs, I was dripping wet and panting with desire. Nobody had ever taken the time to make me feel like this and my body felt as though it was going to explode as Nick kept taking me to the edge of orgasm only to pull back at the last minute until I would have done anything to get him to finish me.
“Please, Nick. I want you. I want you now,” I pleaded, as I sensed him unbuckling his pants. I’d never wanted any man as much as I wanted him in that moment.
“Your wish is my command,” he replied, reaching out to a drawer in his bedside cabinet for a condom.
When he entered me, I reached out to wrap my legs around him, pulling him in as deep as possible. As we moved together, I could feel his passion washing over me in waves. I felt a connection with him that went beyond any physical attraction. It was as though we were bonded on a metaphysical level.
Nick put his arms around me and rolled onto his back so that I was riding him. I could feel him adjusting to me, hitting my G spot as I rocked my hips against him. He clung to my waist, bucking up as he thrust into me over and over, driving me wild until I cried out with the intensity of my orgasm, cumming just as he did.
I collapsed on the bed next to him, Nick putting his arm around me, brushing my hair out of my face with his other hand before gently kissing me.
“You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, Jess,” he told me.
I smiled, but inwardly I was starting to panic at what had just happened. How could I have been so stupid? Sleeping with the boss was the worst possible thing I could ever have done. This wasn’t the beginning of some fairy tale romance. It was the end of my days working at Tulips.
“Should I order room service?” Nick offered. “We left Mason’s rather prematurely and I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
“Thanks, but I really should get home.”
I got up and started pulling my clothes on, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible so that I could sort my head out.
“Let me take you,” Nick said, handing me my dress. “We could grab something to eat on the way.”
“NO!” The last thing I wanted was for him to see where I lived. Once he saw how different our worlds were, that really would be the end of any possibility of a relationship. “I mean, no, it’s okay. You stay here. There’s no point in you going out again just for me. I’ll be fine.”
“Can I get you a cab, at least?”
“Jeez, Nick, can’t you take a hint?” I snapped. “I just want to be alone right now. I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
Tugging the knot tight on my dress, I picked up my clutch and stalked out without another word.
Chapter Nine
“Stupid, Jess. Stupid, stupid, stupid.”
With every step, I became angrier and angrier as I went over the events of the evening in my mind. What had Mikey put in that cocktail? Whatever it was, it had caused me to become temporarily insane. There was no other explanation for what I’d just done.
But Nick kissed you first.
As soon as I had the thought, I dismissed it. It was easy for Nick. He was going to go back to San Diego soon and just because he said he wanted to open a restaurant here, didn’t mean he was actually going to do it. It was probably just a line.
He was yet another guy looking for a good time while he was away from home. Much as I’d just had the best sex of my life, it was probably nothing special for a shifter. And to think Nick had warned me about Justin when all along, he was the one I’d needed to be careful about.
I was so mad that I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and I found myself on a dark street, heading in the opposite direction to where I needed to be.
“Stupid, Jess.” I couldn’t do anything right tonight.
I turned to go back the way I’d came and almost ran into the man walking behind me.
“Sorry,” I stuttered, trying to move out of his way.
“That’s all right. Give me your purse and we’ll call it quits.”
“What? Are you kidding?”
I gasped as I saw the flash of a knife blade.
“All right, all right. Take it. Just don’t hurt me.” I held my purse out to him, hands trembling, but before he could snatch it away, there was an ear splitting roar.
My jaw dropped as I saw a Kodiak bear rearing up behind the mugger.
“Oh no, man. I didn’t mean nuthin’.” The mugger started to run as Nick roared again, chasing after him for a few paces to make sure that he was really gone.
He padded back to me, shifting just enough to be able to talk to me.
“Are you all right, Jess? Did he hurt you?”
“No. I’m fine,” I assured him, although I couldn’t stop shaking as I gazed after the rapidly disappearing mugger, thinking about how different it might have been if Nick hadn’t have followed me.
“Climb on my back and let me take you home,” Nick offered.
“Honestly, you don’t have to,” I protested, but I could tell that Nick wasn’t going to let me go anywhere by myself, so when he dropped onto all fours to become fully bear again, I pulled myself up onto him and pointed out the way he needed to go.
This evening just kept getting stranger and stranger. I’d never have imagined that I was going to ride home through San Francisco on the back of a Kodiak.
Nick and I didn’t speak as he trotted down the sidewalk while I used the pressure of my knees to let him know which way to go when we reached an intersection. I knew that at some point we were going to have to talk about what happened, if only so that I could get closure, but right now, too much had happened for me to be able to form a coherent sentence.
He’d just saved me from a mugger when I’d stormed out on him. He didn’t have to follow me. The fact that he wanted to make sure I was safe suggested that when he said he cared for me, he meant it, but that couldn’t be true…
…could it?
At last, Nick came to a halt outside my house and I slid off his back.
“Thanks,” I said awkwardly as Nick remained in bear form. “I guess I’ll see you at work tomorrow?”
I leaned forward and kissed the top of his snout. Nick nodded his head and then turned to go back to his hotel.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw next door’s curtains twitching. Much as I hated being talked about, there was no doubt that I’d just given the gossips in the area plenty of material.
Chapter Ten
For the first time since Shelby went away, I was the first person to arrive at the store. I unlocked the door and headed out to the back, pulling out the order book to see what I needed to do for the morning delivery.
Just as I was about to start work on the first bouquet, the phone rang.
“Good morning. Tulips Are Better Than One, Jess speaking. How may I help you?”
“Hey Jess, it’s Shelby.”
“Shelby!” A grin spread over my face at the sound of my boss’ voice. “How are you doing?”
“Great, great. Caleb and I just about to spend a few days in Las Vegas.”
“Las Vegas? Wow. Place a bet on black for me!”
“Will do,” Shelby promised. “Anyway, I just wanted to ask
you if you could take over managing the store for a while.”
“Me?” I frowned. “But Nick’s in charge. Why do you need me to manage the place?”
“Nick’s going to be away for a bit,” Shelby told me.
“No!” I gasped, feeling an icy knot twist in my stomach. After last night, I’d thought he cared about me, yet he hadn’t bothered to mention that he was leaving. If I ever needed a sign about how he was feeling, this was it and it wasn’t a good one. “Where’s he going? When’s he coming back?”
“I’m sorry, Jess, but I couldn’t say,” came the answer. “You’ll still have Matt and Justin with you, so you won’t be on your own, but you’ll have the authority to make any important decisions until I come back.”
“Until you come back?” I echoed. “But what about Nick?”
“Nick will be fine,” Shelby reassured me. “He- What was that Caleb? Oh, sure, honey. It’s just over there. Sorry, Jess. I’m going to have to go.”
“But wait. I still have a few questions-” I babbled.
“You’ll be fine,” Shelby soothed, not realizing it was Nick I wanted to talk about. “You’re more than ready to run the store. Take care!”
I looked at the phone in my hand, desperately restraining the urge to throw it at the wall.
What the hell had just happened?
I pulled my cell out of my bag and dialed Nick’s number, but it went straight to voicemail. I hung up without leaving a message. What was there to say?
“Morning, boss.” Justin strolled cheerfully into the store.
“Boss? So you already heard the news?”
“Yeah, Nick rang this morning. Said he had to leave town in a hurry.”
“Is that right?” I tried to pretend that I didn’t care. “Do you know where he went?”
“Sorry,” Justin shrugged. “Couldn’t say.”
“All right,” I said briskly, trying to cover up how hurt I was. “Well if I’m in charge, then I guess we’d better get to work. These orders aren’t going to make themselves!”
Loving Bear: A BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Love Laid Bear Book 2) Page 6