Doug shook his head at her. "Let's just say that you already know everything you need to know about shifters." Doug drank coffee.
"We should eat some breakfast. I want to get those steps done today. And get the garage door opener replaced." Doug stood and took his mug to the sink and began to pull things out of the fridge.
Well, wasn't she a randy minx getting hot and bothered over a grieving widower? Seven years and he still looked sorrowful. The fierce morning erection had been nothing personal. Which was a shame. Although where the heck could you take a relationship with a werebear?
Here was the first man who made her drool in six years, and he was still mourning his dead wife after seven years. She hoped his Cherry had known what a treasure her husband was. Loyal even beyond death. Which was what she had thought she had with the asshole she had married. How wrong could you be?
Maddie sighed, remembering how devastated she had been to find that after a bare six months Eric had been unfaithful. She had been stupid enough to accept his apology and his offer to start over. By which Eric only meant that he was going to be more careful in future. He hadn't stopped stepping out on her, he'd just become more circumspect. She had been utterly blindsided when he left her for his skinny New York lawyer.
Right on cue, her cell rang. It was Eric, again. Maybe Adam was right, maybe he was stalking her? But surely phone calls and emails begging for some face time weren't stalking? He made no threats. He had nothing she wanted and she intended to give him nothing of hers. She did what she should have done two weeks ago, she blocked Eric's calls.
Doug put two plates of scrambled eggs and sausages on the table. He went to the counter and returned with cutlery and a plate piled with toast. "There's jam," he said.
Madeline got up and found some napkins. She handed him one and sat down. "This is great. I missed dinner and there was nothing I wanted to eat on the plane." She picked up her fork and dug in.
Doug watched Maddie eating. What a woman. She seemed to glow from within. He knew she had been on the red eye from Vegas, and something had to have happened to make her come home a day early. She had found herself locked out and had responded by breaking into her house, only to be confronted by a naked stranger with a gun. And let's not overlook him turning into a bear.
But she sat placidly eating breakfast, not a hair of her shiny red bob out of place. Her black jeans and black tunic looked uncreased and sharp. Her face looked smooth and her makeup was in place, even though she had not had a chance to primp.
St. Clair had always spoken of his kid sister as if she was a hot mess, but this woman was stunning. She radiated health and strength and a sort of interior happiness that was very attractive. Even if she hadn't been the sort of buxom wench a bear liked to get his paws on, he would have found her taking. As it was, he was feeling disloyal to Cherry's memory.
Cherry had been tall and blonde. There had been nothing soft or round about her whipcord strength. She had carried herself with the pride of any West Point graduate, and her mind had been as hard as her muscles. She had stood toe to toe with him in any argument, her wits as sharp as his own.
Because they were in the same year, their romance had been discreet in the extreme. They had never even held hands until after graduation, because they didn't want to risk being accused of any kind of misconduct. He had asked her father's permission to marry her before he ever kissed her. They had been virgins together the night he gave her his ring.
Long time ago now. He was forty and Cherry had been dead for seven years. Exactly as long as they had been married. That didn't include the four years when they were long distance lovers sharing a bed only on their leaves. If I had to do it over. You'd do it the same, bear boy. He heard Cherry's syrupy southern drawl and smiled.
"So what's deal with the bridesmaid dresses?" he heard himself ask.
Maddie laughed. "I'm the maid of honor for my best friend from college. I said I would make the dresses since we're all hard to fit. Lindsey lives in LA. Laurel lives in New York. Jess lives in Omaha. And I live in Portland. So we decided to combine Lindsey's bachelorette party with the dress fitting."
"Didn't go so well?"
"Fittings went well. Dresses are going to be great. I took mine along so they could see how they would look finished. Everybody was happy. Jess was relieved that I hadn't made the dress two sizes smaller even though she swore she would lose her baby weight." Madeline paused.
"So what went wrong?"
"I'm too old to party all night. Three days and I was done. I pretended there was an emergency at the gym and came home a day early. Well sixteen hours early."
"What exactly would a gym related emergency be?"
"Women's shower room shut down by public health," Madeline said proudly.
"What on earth? Why would public health shut down a shower?" Doug was openly laughing.
"Bedbugs."
"Bedbugs?"
"Yeah, pesky little critters. I live in fear. But since I have my exterminator in once a month, I don't think I'm likely to have a problem."
"You lied to your friends." Doug was coldly disapproving.
"I gave my drunken, party animal friends an excuse to bail." She chuckled. "As soon as I mentioned my crisis, Jess announced that she wanted to get back to her baby. Lindsey said she thought she needed to look over a brief before work. And Laurel we poured into a taxi and bought a ticket for.
"I will love those girls till I die, but I will never ever spend an hour in Vegas with them again. I hate to gamble, I'm not much for drinking, and I'd rather play golf than go to a show, and golf's about the only sport I hate."
Doug was still frowning.
"You think I shouldn't have made up a story that let us all go home without quarreling or having to confront Laurel?"
He looked severe. "I don't like lies," he said as if that was the end of the matter.
Well, okay. Not as if we had a relationship happening here.
CHAPTER TWO
Maddie clicked the button on her remote and watched as the garage door smoothly rolled up. This was the best present ever. She had thought so last night when Doug had handed her the remote, and she had thought so when she left for work at five this morning. She had said so in her email to Adam. He had bought her the mechanism as a gift, because she had not thought an electric opener anything but a luxury for a brand new homeowner.
It was a great housewarming present. Adam had allowed her to settle up for the security system which he had ordered in her name , and for the lumber for the deck, as well as the hundred and two bills from Lowe's for everything from switch plates to eavestroughs. And Doug had looked faintly scandalized when she wrote him a check without even checking his addition for the stuff he had picked up. But he had given her his labor for free. And working in the Bomb Disposal Unit, he had frankly been risking his neck for her and everybody else in for years. You couldn't tip a hero, but you sure didn't argue with his addition.
Adam had sent her a shot of Doug in his dress uniform. He had a lot of ribbons and medals in addition to his Distinguished Service Cross. She had been impressed. Very impressed. In his photo, Doug looked flinty and forbidding but hot. Very hot. Not as hot as he did bare naked, but very, very sexy.
The photo of Adam's late wife, Major Cheryl Latham, had been almost as impressive. Cherry had been austerely beautiful. Whippet thin and blonde, she gazed at the camera with clear blue eyes. Her dress uniform was so crowded with medals that they gave her bust a lopsided look. Clearly she had been a hero too. And had died a hero's death in Afghanistan.
Poor Doug. Having your wife blown to smithereens by a suicide bomber was the stuff of nightmares. Who cared if they gave her a bouquet of posthumous ribbons?
If Doug found solace in working on her house from dawn to dusk, she wasn't going to complain. But it was time she bought that soldier a meal. She had the best deck on the block. Doug had been adding planter boxes to the perimeter and built in benches so that she had storage and seating. She had gutters an
d downspouts that didn't leak, a garage door that opened and closed by itself so she could get indoors without getting wet or attacked--though she thought that was just Adam's fussing about Eric.
Doug deserved a steak and all the trimmings. So it was dinner out, because even a great cook couldn't make a dinner out of air. She had to get to a grocery store soon. Maddie keyed in her codes on the door between the garage and the house. She'd had quite a lecture about not leaving that one unsecured.
"It's the leading source of illegal entry in suburban America," Doug told her sternly. "Keep it locked and double check at night."
"Sir, yes, sir," she had responded.
He had taken her sarcasm quite seriously and nodded agreeably at her. She'd be saluting next. Her panties got damp every time she got a glimpse of him bare chested and tanned, hammering away on her porch. "Actually, I'm screwing the boards down. More secure than nails." He was so dominant, and such an Alpha male a woman would spend all her time fighting for air. But what a way to go.
The rear hallway was full of the scent of flowers. Doug stood fully dressed except for his shoes, holding a massive bouquet of flowers in a vase. At least she thought it was massive. It didn't seem big compared to him. He held it at arm's length as though it stank.
"You have an admirer." He sounded pissed. He was repressing his annoyance, but she could tell. He was pissed.
Maddie came and sniffed the flowers delicately. Pink freesias and yellow roses mixed with baby's breath and greenery. Lovely. She plucked the envelope from its little plastic stick. She opened it. Eww. "My ex," she explained.
"What do you want to do with them?" Doug was trying for neutral, but he was jubilant. She knew.
"I'd toss them, but there's an old folks home across from the bar where we're eating dinner. Someone will get a little pleasure from them."
"What did he say?" Doug's demand was hard and flat.
"He wants me to let him take me to lunch."
"Why?"
"That he doesn't say. I think he wants something, but whatever it is, he's out of luck." Maddie took her gym kit straight down the hall to the washing machine.
When she came back the flowers were gone. Lt. Colonel Enright had obviously disposed with them double quick.
"I thought we'd eat on the deck," Doug said. He opened the sliders in the dining room.
Madeline stepped out outside into a paradise. Lush boxes dripped with trailing flowers and the planter boxes Doug had built held hibiscuses in full bloom. Her old gas barbecue was positioned by the steps near to the kitchen sliders. Her kitchen table and two chairs sat in the middle of the deck in front of the dining room and away from the barbecue. A vase with a tea light had been placed in the center of the laid table. Two of her new floral napkins sat by each fork.
"It's beautiful," she said. She moved over to examine the boxes on the railing. Each one held a plastic box that exactly fit its dimensions. "Oh, you built it to fit the made up boxes from the nursery," she said, "That's so clever." She fingered a heart shaped lime green leaf. "Wild yam. It's one of my favorites. Thank you."
"I thought it would give you an instant garden in the spring."
"Great idea. And especially since if I bought seedlings and put them in now, it would be September before they looked like this. Thank you. It's lovely."
He looked pleased. "I'm glad you like it."
Maddie wandered around and admired everything. Two brothers had taught her that men liked to have their efforts praised. Don't we all? She lifted the top of one of the benches. It was empty inside, perfectly clean and perfectly dry.
"It's beautifully made," she said. "Really nice joins." She stroked the wood which was sanded smooth. "I love these hinges that prevent the lid from closing. I have to find some stuff to keep in here."
"Stuff gets found," Doug said in his gravelly voice. "Hungry?"
"Is there food?"
"Steak and potatoes and green beans. Some of that spring mix stuff."
"Wow. This is such a treat. Thank you. Let me wash my hands."
Doug watched Madeline whisk herself off to her room. He was getting used to this. He enjoyed the look of admiration in her eyes. He liked having her come home and appreciate the things he had done. It felt weird, as though he was thawing out after a long winter. He forced himself to remember that he was just the handyman. St. Clair would kill him if he thought he was sniffing after his little sister.
Little sister had showered again. Her red hair was wet and combed. Her gym clothes had been replaced with a flirty little sundress made of some crisp pale blue fabric printed with little—carrots. Carrots? Yup, itty bitty orange carrots. Thick straps held up a bodice that crisscrossed and emphasized her magnificent bosom without revealing a lick of cleavage. The hem of the full skirt played with her dimpled knees. White sandals complemented her sturdy feet with their teal colored nails.
She looked good enough to eat. Or at least lick all over. He had to stop thinking about that. It was wrong on so many levels. Cherry had made it plain, that was so not going to happen. He had figured that pleasing himself at his mate's expense was the opposite of making love. But guys talked about it. Which meant exactly nothing, because guys talked a lot of crap about sex.
Down boy. He poured her a glass of the big red he had bought to go with the steaks and handed it to her.
"Yum. Thank you. You're spoiling me. I can't thank you enough." Maddie sat down at the table. "I need to buy some furniture," she said. "This is another whole room. I love it out here."
They ate in the shadows cast by the big oak tree in the back yard. The steaks were perfect, the baked potatoes fluffy, the green beans were a tad crunchy. But the salad was fine, the vinaigrette just the way she liked it, tart and spicy. Helped that she'd made it. Too bad he'd forgotten about dessert.
"I don't know how to thank you," Maddie said as she started to take the plates indoors. "You're fixing up my place, and coming home to dinner is wonderful. How can I ever repay you?"
Doug leaned back and swirled the wine in his glass. "Well, I could use a wrangler this weekend. Want to go see my brothers get married?"
Maddie set the plates back down and resumed her seat. "Run that past me again."
"If I show up in Wisconsin with a date," he said, "My family will settle down and concentrate on having fun and running Will and Jack's pitiful lives. They’ll leave me alone.
"How about it? Three lovely days in beautiful, exotic Wesheno, all expenses paid, and at least two major feasts at the Wesheno Community Center." He pulled his phone out and checked something. "Catering by the Culinary Class at Shawano Regional High and the Ancestral Bear Clan elders. If you miss that, you'll always regret it."
Maddie laughed. "But won't your family think it's weird that you're bringing a perfect stranger to a family event?"
"Perfect yes. Stranger no. St. Clair's been any number of times to my place in Hanover. My folks have known him for more than two decades."
Maddie was torn. She knew she was becoming too attached to the pleasant fantasy of going to work and coming home to Doug and home improvements and supper. It was like being married. Only Eric had never fixed anything in their condo, or done more towards dinner than ordering in. But this was like the way she had thought marriage would be.
There had been no repeat of a naked man in her kitchen, but lots of half-naked man, stripped to the waist and glistening with his labor. It was her problem if she couldn't get the thought of his hard ass and harder cock out of her mind. But maybe a little more proximity might do the trick?
Doug had set her hormones on fire from the moment she had met him, and although he didn't appear to reciprocate, he also didn't seem like Adam's beau. Buddy, yes, but not lover. "Are you two-spirited?" she heard herself ask. No way was she going to be his beard.
Doug shook his head. "No. Your brother and I are just old schoolmates. I just want my family to stop worrying about my mental health, and focus on the brides and grooms. Will you at least think about it
?"
"Next weekend? I don't know. I just took off and left my staff last week. What exactly would I have to do?"
"Lots of smiling. Lots of meeting strangers. I've never met any of Hannah and Martha's clan. Heck, Hannah's barely met any of them. Will says the cabins where we'll be staying are in the middle of woodland with a pretty little lake. Might be some dancing. Probably lot of talking. My Uncle Vanya has insisted on coming."
"Your Uncle Vanya?"
"Head of my mom's side of the family." He shook his head. "My mom has spent a month explaining to Van that there will be no alcohol whatsoever at this shindig. Wesheno is part of the Menominee Reserve and it's dry. He seems to feel that Will and Jack can't be married without vodka or him. Mom's had to call up my cousin Roman to keep him under control."
Maddie laughed. "Roman's his son?"
Bear Fursuits Books 1-4: Bear Fursuits Page 21