Hi, Russ, I sent to him. I waited a few minutes, listening to the chirping birds. When he didn’t respond an hour later, my worsening anxiety forced me to send another message. I’m sorry for chasing you away and ignoring you. I miss you.
“He’s probably at work in a fitness class or something,” I muttered. I tossed the phone back onto the table and returned to my book. Things steamed up, forcing the agent to choose between the professionalism of the job and mutual attraction with the woman in his charge. He tried to keep her at a distance, only to fail as she pressed and pursued him by bringing attention to his arousal.
By the time they finally kissed, I was so engrossed in the book that the world around me ceased to matter.
“Always reading that romanticized feminist bullshit. Don’t you know real men don’t act like that?” Mike’s voice came from behind me and sent my heart into a wild rhythm. I hadn’t heard him approach.
My thoughts turned immediately to the shotgun Russell had been training me to use, and the fact that it was in my bedroom closet. I got up and put the hammock between us.
“Aren’t you glad to see me? I came way out here to this shithole for you.”
“Get out of here, Mike, or I’ll call the cops. I know what you did to my car.”
“Did what to your car? Oh, you mean that pile of shit in your driveway right now? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He made a feint to the left, spun, and caught me on the other side as I made a run for my deck. “Why are you trying to run from me, Daniela? Don’t you miss me?” He nudged me up against the tree and trapped me with his body. I smelled the alcohol on his breath.
“I hate you.”
“You miss me. You know, when the divorce papers came, I couldn’t believe you had the balls to file on me... but I knew you’d never make it on your own. Admit it, chica. You’re not happy here. You want to come home to a real man.”
“I’m happier here than I’ve ever been with you,” I spat at him.
“Who were you fucking Friday night?”
Mike wouldn’t ever own up to damaging my car, but I knew it was him, and I knew he did it because I wasn’t home. I shivered and glanced to the side, wondering if my voice would carry to Russ’ house. Would he hear me if I screamed? Unlikely. Was he even home? The unanswered text messages told me no.
“It’s none of your business where I was.”
“Was it that big fucker with the shotgun? Were you fucking him? I told you, this pussy is mine and—”
Mike reached below my waist as if he meant to cup me between the legs. I didn’t give him a chance to make contact with me. My hand flew out into his nose, a perfect palm-heel strike that caught him off guard. I had Russ to thank for his lessons. After my ex stumbled back, holding his face, I took off across the yard. I ran without looking back over my shoulder, pushing myself to get distance between us. I would have never looked back if not for the roar.
“Ah, fuck, fuck!” Mike screamed.
I whirled around and lost my footing. Without a chance of regaining my balance, I stumbled back and sat hard on the ground. My bear had returned, except this time he wasn’t the placid creature I’d come to admire. He was a growling beast that charged forward through the underbrush, all teeth and ferocious claws.
“Daniela! Do something before it kills me!”
Even if I’d wanted to help, what could I do? I was frozen, too petrified to move. The experts claimed the safest way to end an encounter with a wild bear was to play dead. I hoped they were right.
I heard something ripping, more screams, and the pounding of feet on the ground. Michael must have escaped and left me there to die. I laid there quiet and still, tears streaming down my face. My dad had been right all along. With no hope of making it off the ground and into my house, I laid on the grass with my eyes tightly shut and prayed.
Something warm and dry touched my face, then the heated, warm bulk of a heavily furred body dropped onto the grass beside me. I opened my eyes to find myself face to face with my bear. My heart skipped a beat, and for a moment, I didn’t know whether to scream, cry, or pass out. I ended up holding my breath and waiting for a death by mauling.
“Please don’t kill me.”
The bear responded with a huff of warm air across my cheek, still and nonthreatening. Going as slow as I could, I sat up, hoping and praying the wild animal beside me remained passive. His deep brown eyes never left me as he twisted around and dropped his large head in my lap.
“Hi,” I whispered softly. Unable to believe my luck, I stroked my palm down his dark fur. His unbelievably warm coat was coarser than expected. “Were you trying to help me?”
I didn’t expect an answer from him, but his intelligent eyes reminded me of rich, warm cocoa. It jarred a memory in my mind.
“If I go inside to get you a snack, will you stay here?”
I had a friend in college who later went on to veterinary school. She told me animals could feel love and tenderness more than they could understand the spoken word. My attempt to convey my affection for him appeared to work; the bear removed his head from my thigh and wandered to my hammock. When I returned with my offerings of pecans and cold salmon from the fridge, I discovered my visitor had made himself at home.
“Thank you for running him away. I bet he won’t come back again after that scare.” If not for my four-legged defender, I would have called the police and reported Michael, but I was afraid he’d weave some story about a dangerous animal to them, too. People in these parts tended to shoot first and ask questions later when an animal was involved in a dispute.
I didn’t know the first thing about bears beyond what Google told me regarding their diet. Cautiously, I extended the glass bowl of pecans toward him with one hand and a plate of fish with the other. He leaned over and ate directly out of the bowl.
“They’re all yours. Go ahead,” I coaxed him when he stopped to peer up at me. “I worried about you. I worried so much when you didn’t come back.” Why did it feel like he could understand me?
In my mind, I drew a half a dozen outlandish conclusions, but out of them all, only one made sense. Maybe he was a pet someone had raised from a cub and released again. If that was the case, his behavior would make sense and explain why he sought human interaction. Because I’d fed him, he took Michael’s aggression as a threat and protected me.
That had to be it.
My bear didn’t leave until after dinner. I cooked in the kitchen while he lounged outside, then I split the helpings and offered half in a mixing bowl. Thirty minutes after he trundled away out of sight, my cell phone rang with a call from Russ.
“Daniela? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
“What made you think something was wrong?”
“I... well, I laid down to read on the sofa when I came back from the gym and fell asleep all afternoon, you know. Funny thing. Woke up to a couple of messages you sent hours ago and just had this bad feeling.”
I nudged the phone between my ear and shoulder to hold it in place while I filled the dishwasher. “Nope. Everything’s fine now.” Fine because of my bear. A sudden rush of emotion brought stinging tears to my eyes. I held back the sniffle and smiled. “Missed you.”
“If you’d like me to... If you’re feeling up to company this evening, just say the word.”
“Word,” I whispered into the phone.
“I’ll see you soon.”
The phone rang again after I hung up. My sister’s name popped up in the caller ID window along with a selfie I took last year during a visit to Austin to see her. I made the three-hour drive as often as I could.
“Hey, sis. Feeling better today?” I didn’t answer her calls yesterday and only replied to a text with a vague inference that I was ill.
“No,” I replied before launching into a summary of the recent events, beginning with my return home Saturday and ending with my rescue by bear.
“Are you kidding me? You’re not going to call the cops on that asshole because
you’re afraid they’re going to shoot some rabid bear? Daniela, it could have eaten you!”
Normally I was the one to talk sense into my younger sister, but the role reversal was sobering. “But he didn’t. I swear, it was like... like he understood me.”
“Sweetie, forget about the damn bear. You need to report Mike to the police so they can arrest his stalker ass.”
I knew she was right, but I couldn’t do it. Michael would spin his lies, and by the time he finished talking, the cops would think he’d rescued me from a deadly mauling and saved me. I didn’t want to leave it up to chance; I couldn’t risk my fuzzy friend’s life.
“Daniela? You still there?”
A set of powerful headlights shone through the living room window. I parted the curtains for a look into the driveway to confirm it was Russ before I sprang to the door and opened it. He waved to me as he approached. “Russ is here. I better go.”
“When do I get to meet Mr. Tall, Dark, and Sexy Marine Guy?”
“Army not Marines, and when you actually bring your ass down here.”
“When you move out of the place called Quickdraw I’ll come visit you. Until then, you’re on your own. What the hell is it with this state and the dumb town names?”
“As if a town called Atropos is any better,” I teased. Texas seemed to have something with stealing names from mythology and other countries. Paris, Texas. Athens. Sparta. Corpus Christi.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, love ya, sis. Come visit soon.”
“Love you, too. Maybe this weekend.”
I disconnected the call and smiled up at my man. “Hey, you.”
“Hey.” His gaze flickered toward the cellphone in my hand. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“No. I was just chatting with my sister and stuff. Come on in.”
Russ offered out a long, paper-wrapped box tied with blue ribbon and leaned in for a kiss. His lips against mine washed away the final vestiges of my horrendous day. I didn’t need a gift, only him.
“You certainly know how to greet a girl.”
“Only my favorite girl, darlin’.” His grin made me melt, sending a jolt of heat straight to my gut. “Gonna look inside?”
Ripping into the paper like a kid at Christmas revealed a box full of chocolates from a local candy shop. My favorite sweets were nestled in pretty gold and silver foil wrappers.
“I can’t believe you brought me two dozen of these. Eat a few with me.”
“I bought ‘em for you.”
I plucked one of the chocolate, pecan, and caramel clusters from the box and touched the delicious morsels to his lower lip until he took the bait. “I want to apologize to you for how I behaved the other day... it’s not your fault.”
“You had every right to feel down, Daniela. That no-good bastard defaced your property and... well, those aren’t the kind of things you call a lady. He better hope I don’t catch him sniffing around here again.”
“Again?” I paused in nibbling a chocolate to stare at him.
Russ grunted and went to the fridge to pour himself a glass of sweet tea. “I punched him in your driveway,” he reminded me gently. “And I’ll kick his ass again the next time I see him.”
“Russ... He came by again. Today.” Although I was certain I’d regret telling Russ, I told him about my encounter with Michael. His expression changed, undergoing rapid transitions between angry and neutral.
“Really though, baby, be honest with me. Are you all right? Why didn’t you call me?”
“I’m fine. I was terrified for a little bit, and not just of Mike...” A bite of gooey chocolate and caramel gave me an excuse to be silent.
“You should have called the cops, sweetheart.”
“I didn’t want a hunt put out on the bear.”
Russ shook his head. “I’m sure the bear can take care of himself. Call the police,” he coaxed me, reminding me of my sister’s plea. If she phoned my parents and relayed the story of what I told her, I was toast.
“You sound like Marta,” I grumbled.
“She’s your sister, right? You haven’t said much about her. What’s she like?”
“Well, she looks just like me but a little taller, skinnier, and prettier—”
“Prettier because she’s skinnier?” he asked, raising his brows.
“Well, yeah.”
“How many damn times do I have to say you’re gorgeous, Daniela. Don’t you dare think otherwise for a second just ‘cause you got... a little more of you to love.”
I stared across the counter at him, unable to take my disbelieving eyes off his straight face. It wasn’t the sincerity in his words that threw me off balance — it was the corny line. “There’s going to be a lot more to love after finishing these chocolates,” I quipped.
His big grin spread a little wider. “Nothing wrong with that.” He fed me another chocolate.
“You have no idea how great it feels to have a guy who loves to eat as much as I do.” I grinned and nibbled his fingers playfully. “Come on. Let’s go start up a movie.” I finally bought a sofa when I passed by a yard sale in town.
With our candies in hand, I dragged Russ into the newly decorated living room. He wasn’t impressed by my tiny loveseat, and his furrowed brow made me burst into a fit of giggles.
“All this space and you have this teensy couch.”
“Hey! It was almost free!” Looking around my living room, I couldn’t argue with his observation. “To be honest with you, all my rooms are like this. Ian’s charging me a pittance for how much square footage I have in here. I use the third bedroom for storing my appliance boxes and stuff in case I have to move again.”
There were two bedrooms upstairs across the hall from one another. I had one fixed up like a guest room in case my sister decided to swing into town, and the one downstairs held all of the boxes leftover from my new appliances.
“Sweetheart, why don’t you splurge a little and get yourself some nice things. I know somebody who works on the sales floor at Ashley’s. She’ll cut you an amazing deal—”
“We are not using your amazing connections.”
“And why the hell not?” he demanded.
Indeed. Why the hell not? My brow creased as we settled into place. “Fuck it. Give her a call. I should have insurance claims money left over after I pay the deductible for my car repairs.”
“Great, I’ll let Roxella know that we’ll be—”
My phone rang with an incoming call from my mother and father. I didn’t get a chance to say a word in greeting.
“Why are you not calling the police, Daniela? The man is crazy. He could return and do anything. Call the police right this moment.”
“Mama, please.” I sighed into the phone. “I know Marta made it sound worse than it is, but I’m fine. I have a shotgun and I will fill him full of holes if he comes back again.”
“You have a gun now, querida? Where did you get a gun? Daniela, I don’t know if you should be alone in that house right now.”
“But I’m not alone, Mama. Russ is here. Besides, my vehicle is trashed and I can’t go anywhere right now without a car.”
My dad didn’t waste a second. In the span of a heartbeat, he barked his own questions into the phone. “Who the hell is Russ and why should I trust him to keep you safe? Who is he?”
I was going to wring Marta’s neck.
“I should have killed that bastard Michael when he first laid his hands on you,” my father raged into the phone. He was beyond the edge of reason now. “Who is this Russ?”
“Papa, relax. Russ is my neighbor and he’s an Army vet, okay? He’s been teaching me to shoot and...” I peeked over at Russ’ amused expression. “We’re dating.”
That shut both my parents up quickly. I could hear them in the background though, speaking rapid-fire Spanish to one another. It sounded muffled, so I guessed one of them — likely my mother — had a hand over the receiver.
“When were you planning to tell us you were
dating someone, mija?”
“Soon, Mom. I was planning on telling you soon, but I’m not sixteen years old anymore.” I rolled my eyes and swatted Russell’s arm when he chuckled at my expense. As loud as my folks were talking, he could probably overhear their end of the conversation.
My father returned to the line. “We planned to come visit for your birthday anyway this weekend, but we’ll meet this Russ person, too.”
“Can’t wait,” I chirped back. If I sounded anything less than thrilled, they’d both take off work and come to see me by the ass crack of dawn instead. “See you then. Love you both.” After ending the call, I shook my head and turned to face Russ. He promptly burst out laughing.
My parents would love him. Of that, I had no doubt whatsoever. I knew they would because... I was beginning to love him, too.
Chapter Six
~Daniela~
To ease some of my stress, Russ had a friend down at the fire department come to tow my car into Houston while he drove me to work the next day. He promised me he’d found a body shop with reasonable prices, owned by an old friend of his from the Army. Apparently, the guy retired and opened a business at the start of the year. It was booming, but he promised to squeeze me in.
My boss peeked in on me during my scheduled lunch hour and helped herself to a visitor seat while sipping her Starbucks.
“I’m glad you came back today, Daniela.”
“Me, too. I feel silly for laying around so long over something so stupid. A car can be fixed, you know?” I’d already told her the full truth, unable to lie to Laura for long. She was a good woman, and had been an even greater friend over the past couple of years since I first came to work for her.
“Are you going to need a ride home?” Laura asked. “I’m going up to Huntsville to visit my daughter and grandkids this evening. She needs me to babysit. I don’t mind swinging by your area.”
“Oh no, my boyfriend is coming back by to get me.”
The older woman raised one steel gray brow. “A boyfriend, huh? What happened to ‘I never want another man again?’” she asked, much to my embarrassment.
The Right to Bear Arms: BBW Military Paranormal Romance (Wild Operatives, #1) Page 6