The Steel Bear: A BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Highland Brothers)

by Clarke, Meredith

  “Mila,” he finally managed to whisper.

  “Shh.” She placed a finger over his lips.

  “What are you doing here?” His eyes closed as her hands explored the planes of his chest. Her touch was magic.

  “Don’t you know?” She kissed his chest, stopping to draw hot circles with her tongue.

  He shook his head. His body was coming to life under her touch. “No.”

  “It’s me, Crawford.” She slipped her hands around his back. “I’m the one.”

  Crawford sat upright, tossing the covers off the bed. Fuck. What in the hell kind of dream was that? He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to pull the dream back to the center of his focus.

  It was fuzzy, but he could feel her pressed against him. He could see every inch of her skin. His heart beat faster. He saw the look in her eye for the first time. It was the one that greeted him every morning in the office. Why didn’t he recognize it until now? This woman was completely in love with him.

  * * *

  Mila

  The next morning Mila waited in the Highland kitchen. She would have hopped in her car and driven back to Seattle with the contract if only Crawford had signed the damn thing before they went to bed last night. She didn’t know if there was possibly a more humiliating way to face your boss over a cup of coffee than after you had thrown yourself at him, panty-less, after you’d just redesigned his building.

  If he fired her, she would understand. She had crossed every imaginable boss-assistant line in existence.

  She waited at the kitchen bar for Crawford to emerge for the morning. She had a pen resting on top of the contract. All he had to do was sign and she would be out of here.

  She took a sip of the coffee she had brewed. Maybe this could be a good thing. She could say she’d kissed him. She had her chance and now she knew he wasn’t interested. No more daydreaming and plotting. No more scheming. It was decided. She would bury this crush and move on. The first thing she would do after delivering the contract was update her resume.

  She held the mug between her hands. At a new firm she could start over. She could wipe this crush from her memory bank. It was the best plan. The best way to extract herself from utter humiliation.

  She wandered to the library and opened the drawers in search of a pad of paper. She sat at the desk and began crafting her resignation letter.

  She walked back to the kitchen. Crawford was standing next to the coffee pot.

  “Good morning.” He smiled.

  “Good morning.” She forced a grin. She wasn’t going to act differently, even though her insides turned to puddles of mush when he looked at her.

  “What’s that?” He pointed to the folded notice in her hands.

  She cleared her throat. “I’ve decided to hand in my notice.” She stepped forward, shoving the letter into his hand.”

  “What?” He shook his head. “Don’t do that. I don’t want it.” He tried to give it back to her.

  “I won’t leave of course until you have a proper replacement. I hope you’ll give me a reference.”

  “Mila, if this is about last night. I think we just need to take a breath.”

  “Yeah. You already said that.” She pulled her shoulders back.

  “I won’t accept it.” He shook his head. “No. You can’t just go like that.” He stormed past her, ripping the letter and throwing the scraps into the fireplace.

  “I’ll write another one in email,” she stated. “I’ll send it to human resources. You’ll have to accept it.”

  “No. You’re not leaving because of something stupid I did.” He paced in front of the fireplace, but she questioned whether he was talking to her. “No.”

  “Crawford, I think we both know last night made it clear that it’s time for me to move on from Highland Agency.” She didn’t expect the sting of tears to hit the corners of her eyes. But they were there, nonetheless, burning the tips of her lashes with fresh salt.

  “But it’s not.” His eyes became frantic. “You haven’t even given me a chance.”

  She walked past the couch, nearing him. “What do you mean?”

  “You can’t leave yet.”

  “Well, I am. So, please sign the contract and then I can drive it to the board for you. Hide out here until you have the perfect design. We won’t have to see each other again.”

  She saw a smile creep over his gorgeous, edible lips. The lips she now knew always tasted like red wine.

  “I think I need to review the contract before you take it.”

  “But you already read it last night.” Her hands flew to her hips.

  He shrugged. “I need to be sure.”

  “Crawford, I…” She wasn’t that brave. She might have given her notice, and she might have thrown herself on the man last night, but she couldn’t force him to sign the contract. She’d just have to finish her coffee and wait him out.

  8

  Crawford

  He tried to tell himself it had only been a dream, but when he awoke this morning his bear was aching for her. He thought he would crawl out of his skin if he didn’t touch her. He didn’t know how it had happened, but Mila had turned his world upside down. And now before he could figure out what everything meant, she was ready to leave.

  He wasn’t going to let that happen. He had to know if she was the woman. He had heard about bears dreaming about their mates. He wasn’t ready to say that the dream was a vision, but it sure as hell felt like it.

  He had to know if somehow in all this craziness he had his mate within his grasp.

  If somehow the woman he had been searching for had been next to him all along.

  He chuckled as he watched her sulk on the couch.

  “When does this have to be delivered?” He held up the contract from the board.

  “If we don’t have it in their hands by five o’clock tomorrow all terms all null and void.”

  “Hmm.” He folded it in thirds, and shoved it behind the family photos scattered across the mantle.

  “What are you doing? I thought you said you would review it.” She rose from the couch.

  “We have plenty of time to get this back to the city. How about some breakfast?” He saw her eyes light up. She had to be hungry. He hadn’t offered her anything since she arrived last night.

  He felt the hesitation in her response. “All right. Food does sound good.”

  “I can make a mean omelet. How about that?”

  “With bacon?” she asked.

  “Is there any other kind?” He started opening cabinets until he found the omelet pan stashed under the stove.

  “Not in my book.” She settled on the barstool. He felt her eyes on his back.

  Crawford began to stir milk and butter into the eggs as he whisked them in a frenzy. Within minutes he served hot cheese and bacon omelets on two plates.

  Mila took a bite, her lips smiling as she chewed. “This is amazing. Better than Fancy’s Diner.”

  “Wow. That’s a compliment. Isn’t that your favorite spot?” He took a bite to taste his masterpiece.

  She looked at him. “I-I, yes. It is. I didn’t know you knew that.” Her gaze fell back to her plate.

  “Sure. You get breakfast from there every Wednesday. And sometimes on Fridays,” he added.

  “I guess I do.” She reached for her coffee.

  Realizing her cup was empty Crawford brought a freshly brewed pot to the bar. “How about a refill?”

  She giggled and he felt warmth spread through his chest. “This is a first.”

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “It’s usually the other way around. I don’t think you’ve ever gotten coffee for me before.”

  “I guess I haven’t.” He placed the carafe on the counter.

  There was an ease between them he hadn’t noticed before. Mila was someone he had spent almost an entire year with, but he felt like he was seeing the real woman for the first time.

  “Well.” She sighed. “As soon as
the contract is signed I’ll drive back and we can work on finding the next girl to fetch your coffee. All right?”

  Before he could respond, she stood from the stool and began cleaning the kitchen. She ran the faucet, clanged the pots and pans, and loaded the dishwasher. She was avoiding him.

  As she bent over the sink and the rack to load the plates, Crawford’s eyes traveled over the swell of her bottom, down her legs to her feet. He hadn’t noticed it until now, but she was wearing high heels. He swallowed hard, knowing his bear was growing impatient.

  * * *

  Mila

  She didn’t know what else to do, but make herself useful in the kitchen. She was used to helping Crawford in the office. This felt like the natural state of things. She soaped the pans before wedging them in the dishwasher.

  It felt as if he were watching her. But she focused on the dishes. She had given him her notice, and for some strange reason he was rejecting it. It didn’t matter. He had rejected her last night. She couldn’t stay. Today she needed to say goodbye to him and start healing her heart.

  He was probably acting nice and sweet because he felt guilty. Her last boyfriend had done the same exact thing. The morning after their breakup, he offered to fix her computer. He told her he wanted to make sure she was ok without him. It was more of an insult than anything. She had slammed the door in his face.

  Crawford didn’t look guilty though. He looked happy. His eyes sparkled with that look he had when a great idea had hit him.

  “Did you come up with anything else for the drawing?” she asked.

  “Not yet. But your modifications made a huge difference. I think I know what I need to do next.”

  She wiped the counter, scrubbing the grease splatters from the bacon pan. “Good.”

  “What do you think about going for a hike?” Crawford was behind her, nearly touching her back when she spun into him.

  “A hike?” She made the mistake of looking into his eyes. They were dark with mischief.

  “Yeah. I gave you the house tour last night. Want to see the property? There are trails, a lake, the garden, and there is a hunting cabin. You don’t want to drive home without seeing all of it.”

  “Another cabin at the cabin?” It sounded silly saying it.

  “It’s a place my brothers and I like to hang out sometimes. It’s rustic. What do you say?”

  Her teeth sank into her bottom lip. “I don’t have the proper hiking wardrobe.” She pointed at her high heels.

  “Ahh. Right. Let me see if I can find something for you. Be right back.”

  Crawford disappeared from the kitchen. She heard him slamming drawers and closet doors before he emerged at the bottom of the staircase.

  He offered her a set of clothes. “I know this isn’t your usual style, but I think it will work.”

  She examined what he had brought her. Another T-shirt, a flannel button-up shirt, and a pair of pajama pants. None of this was going to fit.

  “And shoes?” she asked.

  “I could carry you?” he suggested.

  Mila felt the blush on her cheeks. “No way.” Next to Crawford she felt petite and feminine, but she wasn’t about to test his weight-lifting abilities on a hiking trail.

  “Oh wait!” He held up a finger. “There’s a chance my mom left a pair of running shoes here over the holidays.”

  He dashed to the garage and returned holding a pair of sneakers. “I think these will work.”

  Mila took the shoes. “I will try it all on. Be right back.”

  She climbed the stairs, trying not to analyze why Crawford was suddenly trying so hard to keep her at Highland House.

  The edges of her heart wanted there to be a reason. The kisses they shared. The touches over the drawing board. The new way they had met each other. But the deeper recesses of her heart told her she was being foolish. If the man hadn’t noticed her all year, one night wasn’t going to change shit.

  She trotted to the guestroom and assembled an outfit out of what he had given her.

  By tying the flannel shirt around her waist, she could keep the pajama pants up. The drawstring wasn’t long enough to tie it securely. The waistband kept hanging off her hips.

  She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was long and loose over her shoulders. Other than the powder and lipgloss in her purse, she was makeup-free. It didn’t matter anymore anyway, she told herself.

  She trudged down the stairs. She needed to get this over with. The longer she was around Crawford, the more her heart was going to hurt.

  9

  Crawford

  He waited by the fireplace, creating a circle in front of the hearth. This was fucking insane. He had lost his damn mind. But suddenly things were coming into focus. Things he had never seen before. He kicked himself.

  Mila was beautiful. Her body was fucking amazing. She was smart. She could recognize design flaws like a seasoned expert. And she had been in love with him for a year.

  He picked up a log and tossed it on the low embers. The fire struggled to weave through the wood. He stoked it with the fire poker.

  He would just keep her here long enough to sort things out. He had to know if she really was the one. His bear was anxious to taste and feel her, but he knew things weren’t that simple. He wasn’t about to break a girl’s heart just to satisfy his bear’s primal needs.

  He kept a hiking pack in his closet. He jogged up the stairs. Mila’s door was closed.

  He pulled the backpack from the shelf. Before he left the room, he stopped in front of his dresser. There was the chance things could get heated quickly like they did last night. He tucked a row of condoms in the bag before heading downstairs to load up on water, power bars, and a few other cabin necessities.

  He heard soft footsteps on the staircase and looked up to see Mila fully dressed in the clothes he had given her.

  “Nice.” He laughed. They were loose and way too big for her, but she looked cute. Adorable.

  “Don’t make fun. I can’t hike in the heels.” She glared.

  “Come on. You’ll love it.” He led her through the garage, and into the backyard. They passed the garden and stepped on to the trail.

  He stopped after a few minutes to check on her. She was keeping up with his pace. “You doing ok?” he asked.

  “Of course.” She grinned. “This is nothing compared to my salsa class.”

  “Salsa class?” He held a branch to the side for her to walk past him.

  “Yes. Salsa. Thursday nights my friends and I go to salsa class where we learn dance steps, and then usually after class a whole group goes out dancing.”

  “Really? I didn’t know you danced. Sounds like fun.”

  “It is. And it’s an intense workout. But it’s fun. Energizing.”

  He smiled. He pictured her hips swaying to the beat of a salsa drum. Her body moving in rhythm as her bottom rocked to the music. Damn. He swallowed hard. It was the only thing he could think about. God, he needed to know how her body moved.

  They were still fifteen minutes from the cabin. Crawford paused by a tree and reached in his backpack for his water bottle. He had packed a second for Mila.

  “Water?” he offered.

  “Sure.” She accepted the stainless steel bottle and took a sip. A drop slid from her lips and rolled over her chin.

  Crawford reached forward, absorbing the droplet on his finger before it trickled along her throat.

  Mila’s eyes flashed to his. He could hear her pulse quicken. His bear was tuned in to her every movement.

  “We’re almost there.” He cleared his throat. He shoved his bottle in the pack. “It’s just a little farther this way.”

  They started on the trail again.

  “Have you ever tried salsa?” she asked.

  “No. I don’t have much time for anything other than work. We’ve taken on so many projects this year.”

  “You must do something outside of the office for fun. Do you have a way to de-stress?”
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  He almost laughed. “Yeah. You could say I have my outlets.”

  He could see the rugged outline of the chimney peeking through the trees.

  “Oh wow,” Mila whispered.

  “We’re here.”

  “It looks like something in an old movie. It’s perfect. I can tell you designed it.”

  “You can?” He fished the key from his pocket and unlocked the door. It creaked open.

  “Of course I can.” She smiled, stepping past him.

  It was a simple cottage. He, Hudson, and Striker wanted a safe house on the property where they could keep an eye on things, be free to transform into their true forms, and escape from the rest of the family when the holidays got too crazy. They deemed it the ultimate man cave.

  There was a set of bunk beds lined along one wall, a double bed against the other, and a small sofa in the center of the room. In the corner was a table Crawford had made during college. It had become a permanent fixture.

  “Sorry it’s so cold in here.” Crawford noticed Mila was rubbing her arms to keep warm.

  “It’s fine. This place is cute.” She looked around. “Small, but cute.”

  “I won’t tell my brothers you said that.” He placed the backpack on the table and looked for kindling he had packed. “I’ll get it warm in here in just a second.”

  There was a stash of logs in the bin. He stacked them in the fireplace, arranged the bits of kindling, and lit the tendrils with a match. In minutes the kindling had lit the rest of the logs. The cabin began to glow with new warmth.

  “How long have you had this place?” Mila sat on the sofa, watching him work.

  “We used to camp here in tents when we were kids.” He rose from the floor. “Then as we got older we decided we might as well build something a little more substantial. The three of us did it together.” He knocked on the wall. “It’s solid.”

  She unwrapped the flannel shirt from her waist. “Any chance you have a bathroom in this palace?”

  “Oh yeah. I added one a few years ago.” He pulled back a pocket door in the wall, to reveal the addition.