Leeward Bear (BBW Shifter Romance) (Fisherbears Book 3)

by Becca Fanning

  “What’s so funny?” Rock looked at her with a mischievous grin on his face. “Laughing about me, I assume?”

  Gemma bit her lip. “Your hair looks cute like that,” she said softly, blushing hotly. Just as she wasn’t used to being complimented, she wasn’t exactly used to doling them out, either. “What do you want to do for breakfast?”

  Rock drove them to a diner a few miles away. It was the kind of greasy spoon place that Gemma avoided, but as soon as she stepped inside she couldn’t deny that something smelled wonderful.

  “This place makes their own bagels,” Rock said, sliding into a booth. “They’re the best, especially when you’re hungover.”

  “I’m not hungover,” Gemma lied. She felt awkward, like all of the magic between them was gone. Even though Rock was still acting the way he’d acted last night, she was confused. She couldn’t figure out what he was doing with her, and she had a feeling she was going to be more than heartbroken at never seeing him again.

  “I am,” Rock admitted. He reached for a glass of water and downed the whole thing in one gulp. Setting it back on the table, he looked at Gemma with a sheepish grin. “So, what do you do?”

  Gemma frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Rock shrugged. “Well, I meant for work,” he said. “But really, you can tell me anything you’d like.”

  Gemma laughed. “Wow, sorry,” she said. “I feel so stupid. I…I don’t really know what you meant by that, I guess.” She bit her lip. “I’m an engineer,” she said. “I work with the highway department, designing bridges and roads.”

  “Wow,” Rock said. “I’m impressed. I totally had you for like, a librarian.”

  Gemma laughed again, more easily this time. “And why is that?”

  Rock shrugged. “Don’t hit me for this,” he teased. “But you’re so beautiful, I wouldn’t have thought an engineer could look like you.”

  Gemma looked down at her feet, blushing madly. “Thank you,” she whispered. “What about you?”

  Rock laughed. “Well, I have a degree in animal husbandry. But right now I’m working for a farm outside of town, helping the owner out with seasonal stuff. He’s getting old, it’s hard for him to use the equipment by himself.”

  Gemma giggled. “I can see that,” she said honestly.

  Silence fell between them as the waitress appeared to take their order. Rock ordered the biggest breakfast they had – four pieces of toast, three eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, scrapple, and a bagel on the side with butter and jelly. Gemma ordered a bowl of cottage cheese with fruit.

  Rock raised his eyebrow. “You got a boyfriend?”

  Gemma flushed crimson red. “Are you kidding?” She covered her hand with her mouth. “Like I’d have slept with you if I had a boyfriend?”

  Rock grinned. He winked at her and Gemma felt a sense of pleasurable calm come over her stomach. “Just checking,” he said, flexing his arms. “I had to make sure there wasn’t any competition.”

  “God,” Gemma muttered. “No, there’s definitely not.”

  “Why?” Rock frowned. “You’re so beautiful, and smart, and fun to be with. I can’t believe no one’s wifed you up by now.”

  Gemma choked on a piece of fruit. Rock waited patiently for her to finish coughing and wiping her mouth. “No,” she repeated. She glanced away. “I’ve never actually had a boyfriend.”

  “What?” Rock laughed. “You can’t be serious.”

  Gemma bit her lip. “I’m totally serious,” she said. Rock glanced at her – this time, his golden eyes penetrated more deeply, looked at her with something like sympathy and affection. Gemma was embarrassed; she hadn’t exactly wanted to disclose that.

  “You were probably too busy getting your degree,” Rock said calmly. He shoved a piece of toast in his mouth. “I get that.”

  Gemma shook her head. She wanted to lie, but something was stopping her. “I mean, no one’s ever asked me,” she said in a huff. “I always wanted a boyfriend, but I’ve never had one. And then…” Gemma paused and had a sip of tea. “When I turned thirty, I didn’t think it was going to happen. So I went to Speculon Labs and picked a good father for Arthur.”

  Rock’s eyes bulged slightly. “I’d love to be the first,” he said with a grin. “An older woman. I like that.”

  Now it was Gemma’s turn to gape. “You’re kidding,” she said softly.

  Rock shook his head. “No ma’am,” he said with a wink. “And since you’re over thirty, I get to call you ma’am,” he added with a roguish grin. “That is, if you don’t mind.”

  Gemma flushed and giggled, much to her surprise. “I just…. Why are you so interested in me?”

  Rock shrugged. “I just had a feeling when I saw you,” he replied. “I had a feeling that we were supposed to be important to each other.”

  --

  When Rock dropped Gemma back at home, she went inside and sat in the kitchen by herself for a long time. She couldn’t believe what had happened – between last night and breakfast, she felt like she was spinning inside of a whirlwind. She’d never felt like this before, and it was the most enjoyable feeling she’d ever experienced.

  Talia knocked on the door a little after noon. She was carrying Arthur in her arms and she had Michael down at her side. “Hey,” Talia called through the screen door. “Have time for a glass of wine?”

  Gemma let her in and scooped Arthur up, hugging her son. “I missed you,” she said to him. “Did you have fun with Michael?”

  Arthur beamed. The afternoon sunlight did a beautiful job of catching his golden-brown eyes. “Fun!” Arthur chirped. Gemma set him down and he toddled away, with Michael in tow. Even though the two of them should have looked like brothers, Gemma couldn’t help but notice how much bigger her son was. I’ve got to stop giving him that processed food, she thought to herself with a frown. He’s going to be huge by the time he starts school.

  Talia poured two big glasses of wine and handed one to Gemma. She raised her eyebrows and kicked her feet up on the table. “They kept me up all night,” she said, raising her eyebrows. “Arthur kept talking about what he was going to name the rabbit.”

  Gemma laughed. “Can you believe that guy gave him a bunny? How cute is that?”

  Talia shook her head. “No way would I let Michael keep something like that around,” she said softly. “Forget it. I don’t want a live animal in the house. I have two kids. That’s enough for me.”

  Gemma took a sip of wine. An uneasy, uncomfortable feeling began to sink over her stomach and she couldn’t explain why.

  “So who was that guy, anyway?” Talia had a critical look on her face. “He looked like he wandered in from a barnyard somewhere.”

  Gemma blushed. “His name is Rock,” she said. “I know,” she added, before Talia could comment. She held up her hands in the air. “I know it sounds ridiculous. But he’s actually really sweet. He helped me clean up, he spent the night, we went to breakfast.”

  “Shut the front door,” Talia said. She stared. “You actually had sex?”

  “Shut up,” Gemma mumbled. She swirled her wine around in the glass and took a long sip. “I mean, yeah, we did. It was nice,” she added, blushing hotly as a memory of Rock’s tongue between her legs swirled up to the top of her brain. “I mean, I like him. I want to see him again.”

  “Good luck,” Talia said in a snide voice. “You know you probably won’t though, right?”

  Gemma frowned. “Why not?”

  “Men don’t date the girls they fuck on a one-night stand,” Talia said smoothly, as if she knew everything. “I mean, come on. It was fun, Gemma, and you said he was a sweet guy. But he’s not looking for a relationship. He wouldn’t dare try to have sex with you if that’s what he wanted.” She sighed, like she was exhausted by giving advice. “I mean, that’s just how men are.”

  Gemma looked puzzled. “We went out to breakfast,” she added in a helpful voice. “He told me he wanted to be my first boyfriend.”

  “Oh m
y god, Gemma, you didn’t actually tell him that you’ve never been with someone, did you?” Talia rolled her eyes. “He’s never going to want anything to do with a virgin who doesn’t have any experience! You never should have said that!”

  “Well, I didn’t want to lie,” Gemma said. Her stomach twisted into knots and she set the glass of wine down on the counter. “He really did seem like he liked me.”

  “You were a cute, easy piece of ass,” Talia said in the same infuriatingly casual tone. “Of course he liked you.” She smirked. “But really, at least you lost your v-card now. Now maybe you can get a real boyfriend.”

  Gemma frowned. “I want Rock,” she said softly. “I really like him, Tals.”

  Talia shook her head. “That isn’t how things work,” she said. She looked deeply into Gemma’s eyes. “I mean, men don’t work like that. They want you to play the game,” she added. “They want you to act like you don’t need them, it makes things more fun. You can’t be too desperate, Gem, that’s why no one ever liked you before. And you know that’s not going to help with Stone, or whatever his name is.”

  “Rock,” Gemma corrected. “He seemed like a real gentleman. He even texted me when he got home, look,” she said, holding up her phone. Talia wasn’t even looking. Gemma sighed and put it back in her lap. “Maybe you’re right,” Gemma mused. “I mean, maybe it was just a fun night and I need to get over it.”

  “If you really want to meet someone incredible, I have the perfect guy,” Talia said. She grinned wickedly. “He’s a friend of Tony’s. His name is Matty, and you’ll love him.”

  Gemma frowned. “I don’t want to meet anyone else,” she said in a sulky tone. “I’m not interested in dating just to date. I only want to date someone I have a real connection with.”

  “You’ll have a real connection with Matty,” Talia promised. “He’s divorced, he’s a single dad, he’s tons of fun. He loves Jimmy Buffet, aren’t guys who love him fun?”

  Gemma bit her lip. “I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t like being set up, Tals. You know that.”

  “Well you can’t sit around and mope about that hunk,” Talia said in a callous voice. “You know he’s never going to call you, seriously. He just wanted to fuck you. I mean, he might try to booty call you every now and then. But no guy wants to date the girl who gave it up on the first night.”

  Gemma shrank down in her seat. “I thought you told me that I had to lose my virginity,” she said in a grumpy voice. “What’s wrong with doing that with the guy I want to date?”

  Talia laughed. “Because,” she said simply. “You just don’t. Trust me, Gem. This guy isn’t interested in being a daddy to Arthur. He just wants some pussy every now and then.”

  Gemma swallowed. Her stomach was hurting so much that she felt like she was going to be sick. Talia’s advice was hurtful but Gemma had to believe that her sister knew what she was doing. Talia had dated dozens of guys, married one, got divorced, and now she had a new boyfriend that she was crazy about. It didn’t matter that the kinds of guys Talia dated weren’t the kinds of guys that Gemma liked; Gemma had to figure that Talia must know what she was talking about. After all, she was the one with all of the experience. Gemma started feeling more embarrassed than ever when she remembered their conversations in the diner and the shy way she’d acted in bed. It was obvious that she’d never been with a guy; Rock must have just been humoring her because he wanted to have sex.

  Gemma felt more embarrassed than ever by the time they were done talking. It was her fault; she’d fallen for all of Rock’s bullshit and lies. She decided that tomorrow, she’d start over and forget all about Rock. She’d delete his number, wash the sheets, and get ready to meet someone and “play the game,” as Talia had put it.

  Later, after Talia had taken Michael home, Rock texted Gemma “Good night, sweet girl.” Gemma stared at the screen for a long time, her mouth feeling dry and sticky. She closed her eyes, desperately hoping for what she felt to be a good idea. But nothing came.

  Gemma turned her phone off and climbed into bed.

  Chapter Three

  The next day, Gemma wasn’t feeling much better about her situation. Even though she felt good about taking Talia’s advice and ignoring Rock, her stomach ached whenever she thought of him and his gorgeous golden eyes. A guy like that couldn’t be bad, right? She thought to herself as she bustled around the house, cleaning up. Except Talia said he was, and I have to listen to her….

  To make matters worse, Arthur was in one hell of a bad mood. He spent the entire morning screaming and fussing at the top of his lungs. No matter what Gemma did, Arthur wouldn’t calm down. He was behaving more badly in one morning than he had in his entire life, and Gemma couldn’t figure out what was the matter.

  “Are you hurting?” Gemma asked, staring at her son as he cried and banged his tiny fists against the floor. “Are you in pain?”

  Arthur stopped crying for a moment. Snot bubbled out of his nose and Gemma reached forward with a tissue to wipe it away. Arthur bit her – hard! – and she yanked her hand away, looking wounded.

  “Behave,” Gemma said in strict voice as the doorbell rang. “Mommy will be right back.”

  As she walked to the door, she hoped that Rock would be there. Unfortunately, it was Talia. She was dressed to the nines and in the company of two smarmy-looking guys in their late thirties. Gemma felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

  “Gem, this is Tony,” Talia beamed, shoving the taller of the guys forward. “He’s my new boyfriend, remember? I told you about him the other day!”

  “Right,” Gemma said cautiously. They shook hands and Tony winked at her. Gemma felt her stomach twist and knot over itself. “Hi, Tony.”

  “And this is Matty,” Talia chirped. She shoved the other guy forward. He was tan, with dark hair greased into curls on the top of his head and dark brown eyes. Stubble lined his oddly pale lips and Gemma could see a black tattoo snaking around his wrist. “Matty couldn’t wait to meet you, Gem,” Talia said with a knowing look. “I told him all about you.”

  Gemma flushed and bit her lip. “Hi,” she said nervously. Before she could react, Matty grabbed her hand and brought it up towards his lips. She couldn’t help but twitch as he pressed his mouth down on the back of her hand.

  “Mmm, you smell good enough to eat,” Matty said. He winked at Gemma and she felt her stomach twist again. “This is a real honey, Talia!”

  Talia smiled. “I knew you’d like my sister,” she said, obviously pleased with herself. “Get dressed and call the babysitter,” she said to Gemma. “We’re going out!”

  Gemma eyed Matty and Tony. “Tals, can I talk to you for a second?”

  Matty made a faux-pouty face. ”Tals, can I talk to you for a second?” Matty repeated in a high-pitched voice that Gemma guessed was an unpleasant mockery of her own. “Come on, Gemma,” Matty said in his normal voice. “Don’t be such a bitch. Come out with me and your sister!”

  Gemma glared at him. “Now, Talia,” she said firmly.

  “Now, Talia,” Tony echoed. He and Matty cracked up, high-fiving each other on Gemma’s porch.

  “You boys stay here,” Talia said with a flirtatious smile. “We’ll be right back.”

  As soon as they were inside, Talia’s smile vanished and she looked murderously angry. “Gemma, what the fuck is your problem?” Talia hissed. “Matty likes you! He wants to go out with you! What the fuck is with you?”

  “Matty doesn’t know anything about me,” Gemma argued. “And I don’t like him!”

  “Don’t be so picky,” Talia snorted. “You can’t afford to be picky Gem. You’re thirty-two.”

  Gemma sagged her shoulders. “I really don’t feel like going out,” she said softly. “I mean, I’d rather stay here with Arthur.”

  Talia rolled her eyes and dragged Gemma back towards the master bedroom. “Gemma, you’re going to wrinkle up and dry out if you keep staying at home with a two-year-old,” she snapped. “Come on, get dr
essed.”

  Thirty minutes later, Talia and Gemma were crammed into the backseat of Tony’s subcompact car, on the way to a club on the outskirts of town. Talia talked to the guys as they drove, chattering and chirping at every interesting bit of scenery they passed. Gemma stared at her phone, silently wishing for Rock to text her.

  “Here we are,” Tony said in a grand voice. He’d pulled into the parking lot of a divey-looking bar covered in red brick. “You ladies like?”