Remembering River’s bookcase, Luke decided to go downstairs and bring it up for her. He had made the bookcase of real, thick wood, so it weighed quite a bit. But Luke had exceptional strength, thanks to his inner bear and his many days of hauling heavy gear while firefighting. He easily lifted the heavy case onto his shoulder and brought it up to River’s third floor apartment. He put it in a vacant area next to the couch, which was really the only spot in River’s tiny apartment where the case would fit. The smooth, honey-colored wood shone brilliantly in the morning sunshine, and Luke admired his work with pleasure.
On a whim, he decided to start putting some of River’s books on the shelves. She would probably want to rearrange them herself in her own particular way, but he thought the bookcase would make a great impression if her first full view of it was with books stacked neatly on its shelves. Luke gathered several of the book stacks from River’s floor and started shelving the books. He shook his head in wonder at the sheer number and variety of books that River owned. Some of the volumes he recognized from his school days. He vaguely remembered reading classics like Moby Dick or Great Expectations. But many of the books he had never heard of before.
When he finished loading the bookshelf, a few stacks of books still remained on the floor. But at least the large shelf held the majority of River’s collection. Luke smiled at the impressive sight of the beautiful handmade, hand carved shelf, loaded with River’s most treasured possessions. Even if he didn’t share her love of reading, at least he had shown her that he appreciated the things that she thought were important.
As Luke surveyed his handiwork, he made the decision not to tell River yet that he was a bear shifter. Things were finally going well between them, and it made more sense to let her get to know him better before gently breaking the news.
Feeling relieved at his choice to postpone revealing his shifter status, Luke cleaned up the small mess he had made from using the coffee machine, and then put his shirt on. He left River’s apartment, locking the door behind him, and headed back to base. He turned the radio up to a country station and rolled the windows down, singing at the top of his lungs and enjoying the almost summery breeze blowing in his face.
When he pulled the SUV into the parking lot in front of the hangar, he saw Trevor hanging out by the front door, oiling some hinges that had been squeaking incessantly for months. With the slowdown in fires, everyone on the crew was looking for ways to fill their time.
“Well, well, well,” Trevor said, his voice taking on the singsong quality it always did when he was about to make fun of someone. “Look who finally decided to return my SUV. Delivering that bookcase must have been a big job, since you were gone all night long.”
“Shut up,” Luke said, hopping out of the SUV and glaring at Trevor. He wished he could think of a wittier retort, but his one mug of coffee was already wearing off, and he was starting to feel the effects of not sleeping enough last night.
“Hey, that’s no way to thank your buddy for letting you borrow his car,” Trevor said, crossing his arms and pretending to be angry.
“Whatever. You’re just jealous because I got some and you didn’t,” Luke said.
Trevor threw back his head and laughed. “Oh, now that’s rich. Let’s add up how many times I’ve ‘gotten some’ over the last several years and compare it to your number. I’m definitely not jealous.”
Luke glared at Trevor. “You’re ruining my good mood.”
Trevor put his hands up in surrender. “Sorry, man. Just giving you a good, old-fashioned ribbing. I take it your plan to win River back with a handcrafted bookshelf worked out pretty well for you.”
“Yeah, it did. I’d venture to say you’re going to be seeing a lot more of River around here now.”
“Good. We need more pretty around these parts. I’m tired of looking at your ugly face all the time.”
Luke rolled his eyes and shoved his way past Trevor, making his way into the main hangar. Hunter and Zach were sitting at two of the sewing machines, making some sort of modifications to their parachutes. Since the Burning Claws Crew didn’t have their own permanent airplane, they used the hangar as a space to fix up damaged gear. Their parachutes tended to take quite a beating, thanks to the frequent landings in the middle of treetops.
Hunter looked up as Luke walked into the room. “Look who’s doing the walk of shame,” he taunted. “Weren’t you wearing that same outfit when you left last night?”
Luke glared at Hunter. “You, too, huh? I already got an earful from Trevor about my extracurricular activities last night. I don’t need you to jump on the bandwagon with him.”
Hunter laughed, but Zach looked up with angry, dark eyes. “Were you with a woman?” Zach asked.
Luke exhaled in frustration. “Here we go again,” he said. “Yes, I was with a woman. Yes, she’s human. No, she doesn’t know that I’m a bear shifter. Any more questions?”
Zach stood up and threw the box of thread he had been holding onto the floor next to him. “This place is getting out of control, with all the human women running around. But I’m sure Ian is going to be fine with this, just like he’s always fine with everything.”
Zach stormed off, leaving Hunter and Luke rolling their eyes behind his back.
“What is his problem?” Luke asked, even though he and Hunter both already knew the answer to the question. Zach strongly opposed allowing any human women into the clan. No one in the clan could pinpoint the exact reason or the exact timing of when it happened, but at some point Zach had taken this stance and refused to back down. It had been a point of contention between Ian, the alpha, and Zach, who was second in command. Ian and Zach were best friends, but lately they constantly fought. Ian gave Zach a lot of leeway, but the rest of the crew had reached the point of exhaustion with Zach’s tirades.
“Who cares what Zach’s problem is? I want to hear more about what’s going on with you and River,” Hunter said, and narrowed his eyes. “I’m assuming you mated with her?”
Luke nodded.
“Bonded?” Hunter asked.
Luke nodded again, and Hunter fist pumped the air.
“Yes!” Hunter said, his voice jubilant. “That’s so awesome. Zach can get over his whiny self. I remember you telling me you thought maybe you didn’t even have a lifemate, and look at you now! Bonded to a hottie like River.”
“Yeah, well, I’m really excited about it, but I’m also terrified of how River is going to take the news that I’m a bear shifter.”
Hunter’s face grew serious. “Did you try to explain bonding to her?”
Luke shook his head no. “I have no idea how I could explain it without explaining the whole shifter thing. And I want to get to know her better before telling her I’m a shifter.”
Hunter frowned. “Just don’t wait too long to tell her. You know how it goes. The longer they go without knowing, the more they feel like you’ve betrayed their trust by not telling them.”
“I know,” Luke said. “I’ll tell her soon. But we just managed to get past the whole situation where she didn’t even want to talk to me, so I want to give her a little bit of time before dropping more bombshells on her.”
Hunter shrugged. “You know what’s best, man. When is she going to come meet the crew? Riley is going to be so excited to have her around more often—she can’t say enough good things about River.”
“Hopefully tonight. I’m going to drive over to the library where she’s working and see if I can get her to agree to come have dinner here. Are we barbequing again tonight?”
“Of course. Gotta take advantage of this unusually warm weather. I thought that monsoon last night would have driven the temperatures down some, but it seems like it had no effect. This is the warmest November I’ve seen in a long time.”
“Yeah, I agree. I hope we don’t have any more fires this season. I’m tired.”
“You mean you’re old,” Hunter said, laughing at his own jab.
“Very funny,” Luke s
aid. “I’m going to go shower and then go back to town. If nothing else, at least it’ll give me a chance to get away from all of you assholes.”
Luke headed for the bunkhouse, leaving Hunter to continue laughing.
After showering and changing, Luke headed to the library. There were quite a few cars in the parking lot, and when he entered the building, he was surprised to hear the sounds of children laughing and screeching. River was sitting at the front desk, reading a book.
“Hard at work, I see,” Luke said.
River looked up at him and grinned. “Hey, it’s for book club, so it counts as work. What brings you in to the library today? Had it been too long since you saw me? Or are you actually interested in finding a book to read?”
“Very funny,” Luke said. “I actually stopped by to see if you want to come out to base tonight for dinner. We barbeque almost every night, and we always have a really good time. I’d love to introduce you to the rest of the crew. Riley will be there, so you’ll know someone else besides me, too.”
“I’d love to,” River said, her face lighting up. “Are you sure you’re not embarrassed to be seen with a geeky librarian.”
Luke leaned over the counter and gave River a quick kiss. “Why would I be embarrassed to be seen with the most beautiful woman in the world?”
River blushed, but she was saved from replying by another loud outburst of children’s screams.
Luke raised an eyebrow. “I thought libraries were supposed to be quiet,” he said.
River shrugged. “Usually, they are. But we have lots of community programming and storytimes for kids. They tend to get pretty excited. Right now we’ve got someone from the zoo in there giving a lecture on reptiles. Sounds like it’s going over pretty well.”
“It does sound like it,” Luke agreed, glancing warily in the direction from which the screeching had come.”
“Hey! I just had an awesome idea,” River said. “What if you came and did a talk for the kids about fighting wildfires? I bet they would love that. Especially the part about jumping out of airplanes.”
Luke made a face. “I’m not good with kids,” he said, and River’s face fell. Her disappointed expression made Luke feel badly. Maybe he should try to do a short lecture for the kids. How bad could it be? If it meant that much to River, he would do it.
“Okay, okay,” he said in response to River’s pouty look. “I’ll do it, as long as my boss approves of the idea. He’s not big on us getting involved in public speaking type things about our job.”
River raised an eyebrow. “It’s just a bunch of kids. It’s not like you’re going to be addressing the city council or anything.”
“I know. I’ll ask my boss,” Luke said, giving River what he hoped was an encouraging smile. He couldn’t explain to her that the reason his boss, Ian, didn’t like his crew members to address the public was that the more involved they were in the community, the higher their chances of being exposed as shifters. But the library program would just be kids. Hopefully Ian would be okay with that.
Luke leaned over to give River another kiss. Her lips were so soft and warm, and he could hardly wait for his next chance to really kiss her.
“I’m going to go get some supplies for woodworking, so I’ll let you get back to work,” he said. “Do you want me to pick you up tonight, or do you want to drive out there yourself?”
“Text me the address and I’ll drive out,” River said. “That way I have my car and I can easily leave for work in the morning if I end up staying over.”
Luke grinned. “Why would you be staying over?” he teased.
River pretended to throw her book at him. “Get out of here,” she said. “I’ve got work to do.”
Luke did as he was told, but couldn’t resist sticking his tongue out at River as he walked out the front door. He loved the way they teased each other. River could definitely give as good as she got, which was a good quality to have for anyone who spent time hanging around Luke’s clan.
He wasn’t worried about River. She was going to be just fine.
He was worried about telling everyone that they couldn’t mention shifting tonight. He knew his crew wasn’t going to be pleased to have to be on their guard tonight, but he wasn’t ready to explain shifting to River quite yet.
Things were going too well to throw that complication into the mix.
Chapter Eight
That night, River pulled nervously into the parking lot in front of the large hangar that her phone’s GPS told her was the location Luke had given her. She took a deep breath and asked herself why in the world she had told Luke to let her drive herself here. The idea had been good in theory, but now she realized that she had to enter the building alone, without Luke’s arm to hold onto. She considered texting Luke and telling him to come out to get her, but she didn’t want to look like a total coward. She felt her hands getting clammy at the thought of meeting everyone. Luke talked about his crew like they were family, and she got the feeling that part of her job was to impress them.
River had never felt like the impressive type, but she had brought one secret weapon with her—the four leftover pies that she had bought for yesterday’s book club that never happened due to the rainstorm. Although they were a day old now, the pies would still be delicious. Who could dislike her when she showed up with such sugary goodness?
River took a deep breath and got out of her Jeep. She grabbed the large canvas bag that she was using to carry the pie boxes, and then made her way to what appeared to be the front door. She knocked, and waited for several long moments without a response. Maybe this wasn’t the front door. No one had marked it as any sort of main entrance. She knocked again, harder and louder this time. If she didn’t get an answer, at least she’d have an excuse to text Luke to come get her.
Just as she pulled out her cell phone to send Luke a text, the door flung open. A tall, dark-haired man with dancing green eyes stood behind the door. River recognized him as the friend Luke had been with the few times she’d run into them at Riley’s pie shop.
“No one ever knocks at this door,” the man said, looking amused. “You must be River. I’m Trevor, Luke’s best friend. But don’t tell Hunter I said that.”
“Don’t tell Hunter you said what?” came a voice from behind Trevor. Another tall man appeared behind Trevor. He had the same dark hair and green eyes as Trevor.
“Nothing,” Trevor said, giving River a mischievous wink.
“Dude, I heard you. Just accept that Luke is never going to love you as much as he loves me. We have a truly special bromance,” the man said, and then turned to look at River. “I’m Hunter, Luke’s real best friend. I’m sure he’s told you that already, though?”
River shifted her weight from one foot to another and held up her large canvas bag. “Um…I brought pie?” she said, smiling sweetly up at the two men and avoiding Hunter’s question.
Trevor burst out laughing. “Well played, River. You’re going to fit in just fine around here.”
Luke walked up at that moment, and gave both Trevor and Hunter a warning glare. Then he walked up and kissed River softly. She shuddered slightly with delight as his lips touched hers. A now familiar feeling of warmth shot from his body to hers. She had no idea how she could be so connected to someone that her body physically responded so strongly every single time he touched her, but that’s exactly the kind of connection she had with Luke.
“Hey, babe,” Luke said. “Did you find the place okay?”
River nodded. “Yup, easy peasy. Finding the front door was harder than finding the place itself.”
“Yeah there’s not really a front door. We mostly hang out back behind the hangar anyways. I guess I should have told you that. I’m just so used to it that it seems so obvious to me. I see you’ve already met Trevor and Hunter. We should get away from them as quickly as possible and go meet the more normal members of the crew.” Luke managed to keep a completely straight face as he said this, and Trevor and Hunter
both threw back their heads and laughed.
“Right, like any of us are normal,” Trevor said.
River grinned as Luke took her hand and led her toward the back of the hangar. She finally started to relax as they went through a back door and headed for a grassy area with a picnic table and a grill. Several more people were gathered there, including Riley.
“Riley, look who I brought,” Luke called out. Riley looked up and squealed, then ran over to give River a big bear hug. River could hear Riley’s drink sloshing around in the red Solo cup she was holding.
“I’m so glad you’re here!” Riley said. “It’s nice to have another woman around. These men can get out of control sometimes. Come here, come meet Charlotte.”
Riley grabbed River’s hand to pull her away from Luke and lead her toward the only other woman in the group—a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty who was also holding a red Solo cup.
“Charlotte, this is River, Luke’s girl. River, this is Charlotte. She’s with Ian, the crew boss. He’s the taller guy over there by the grill.”
River extended her hand to Charlotte. “Nice to meet you,” she said.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Charlotte said, giving River’s hand a warm shake. “Please, tell me you like wine. Riley and I have a thing for red wine. None of the guys like to drink it, so we keep it all for ourselves.”
“I do love a good glass of red,” River said with a smile.
“Excellent. Let me grab you a cup,” Charlotte said. She set down her own plastic cup and went to grab another one for River.
Riley grinned and gestured to the Solo cup in her hand, which River suddenly realized was full of red wine. “As you can see, we like our wine glasses fancy,” Riley said.
Charlotte came back and handed River a cup of wine. “Cheers, ladies,” she said, and they all tapped their cups together.
Fire Bear Shifters: The Complete Series Page 23