Bear Essentials (4 page)

“Really?” She beamed. There was no hiding it and she
couldn’t stop, even if some might label it pathetic.

He stroked her back. The touch slow and tender. Hinting at a
side of him she really wanted to get to know. Something buried beneath his
business tycoon exterior.

“I’m giving this bear to a very important lady tonight. We
spend every Valentine’s Day together. I’ll be back to pick you up at seven,
wear something pretty, honey.”

“But I didn’t agree to go out with you.”

She might as well have saved her breath. Granger had spun
her loose and picked up his bear before she got the first word past her frozen
lips. He was halfway across the warehouse before she finished her sentence. He
turned in the doorway and aimed his sharp gaze at her.

“Fine with me. We’ll stay in tonight. Sounds delightful.”
His teeth flashed through a grin at her. “Wear something lacy.”

“Seven sounds great.”

He chuckled at her and flashed her a boyish look. “I had fun
today. Thank you.”

Her jaw dropped an inch as his gratitude echoed in her ears.
It was pure temptation, thinking that he liked coming along with her. Sure, she
dreamed of finding someone that might share her love of giving to the
community, but she really wasn’t expecting reality to deliver a hunk like
Granger. The guy wore designer casual clothing and his sunglasses were worth
more than her jeans. Casting a look around her warehouse with its rough edges,
she shook her head at the contrast.

But that didn’t stop the flood of excitement racing through
her.

All right, she was jumping to conclusions. Hearing more in
his “thank you” than there likely was.

But she still felt a warm glow for the rest of the
afternoon. Concentration was hard to come by as she struggled to be productive.
Instead, she looked at the clock in her office at least a hundred times. The
hours crawled by, tormenting her and giving her plenty of time to chicken out.

He didn’t even have her cell phone number. All she had to do
was refuse to open the door.

Chicken.

But more importantly, she was wasting a golden opportunity.

For what? Hot sex?

You betcha…

Doing the right thing to stay on the moral high ground had
never felt so wrong. Her upbringing seemed to melt in the heat still radiating
from their kiss. She didn’t want to be logical and make a smart choice. In
fact, any sort of behaving properly made her mad. She wanted to be wild and
naughty and honestly, Granger was exactly the sort of man to partner her.
Unless she was just too chicken.

Well, that settled it.

She turned off her computer and stood up. She wasn’t a
little girl anymore. A man had asked her to dinner and she was going to accept
his invitation.

She moved down the hallway toward her apartment, trying to decide
just when her hormones had taken control of her life. Wasn’t it just yesterday
that she was a solid-thinking woman in control of her life? Her mirror showed
her a much different vision. Her face was flushed and her eyes sparkled. The
points of her hard nipples pushed her top out, making her stare in astonishment
at her own reflection. She’d never looked so wanton in her entire life. Maybe
she’d toyed with the idea a few times, but today she felt need flowing through
her like a living force. Desire tingled along her nerve endings as her skin
registered every little sensation, as if a switch had been flipped inside her.

She scoffed at herself. Well, at least she’d chosen a prime
specimen to go into heat over. Granger Webb was drool-worthy, even if her common
sense was ringing a warning bell loud enough to deafen her.

She didn’t have to go out with him.

Roslyn looked at her reflection and reached for an eyeliner
pencil. No, she didn’t, but she was acting like some shrieking maiden. An
amazing hunk of a man had asked her to dinner, why on earth was that so scary?
She knew a few woman who would consider being along on Valentine’s Day
terrifying. Dinner with the office geek was better than sitting in front of the
television drowning your self-pity with double fudge ice cream.

Well, she wasn’t frightened of Granger, just of her current
need to do something completely irresponsible with his incredible body. Her
nipples actually beaded with just the idea of letting herself go with the man.
They peeked over the edge of her bra as she applied her makeup.

Sex wasn’t a completely foreign subject, but it was a rather
unpracticed sport for her lately. She’d just become tired of the need to go out
and funnel energy into a relationship.

Her bears weren’t just a job she left at the end of the day.
They were her creations. Each one was born out of her imagination. Creativity
struck at all hours and hung on.

Dropping her eyeliner, she stood back to consider her
reflection in the full-length closet-door mirror. There was nothing wrong with
her body! In fact, she didn’t want to look like a runway model. She was curvy
and maybe even buxom, but Granger Webb had seemed to enjoy her bottom.

Maybe the big problem was her own lack of confidence. If she
failed to believe in herself, she couldn’t expect anyone else to either. She
decided one thing right then. She was going to dinner with Granger. Period. Her
feminine pride demanded it. There had to be a law in the cosmos that said no
woman gave up on herself. She’d just been a little distracted lately, that was
all.

The plain cotton panties she’d put on made her frown. If she
was stepping out with a man like Granger, it was time to open up the top drawer
of her dresser.

A naughty smile curved her lips as she marched into her
bedroom and did exactly that. Neatly folded next to her plain cotton underwear
was a selection of satin and lace sets that she’d bought just to indulge her
feminine fantasies. Tags still hung from them.

They’d never seen the light of day. A giggle shook her as
she stepped into the high-cut bottoms. Things like these were made for
moonlight, not sunshine!

Her nipples tightened again as she looked at her reflection.
Heat flared up in her belly again as she stared at the ultra-feminine creature
looking back at her. Dressing to be undressed by a man brought a new level to
the need surging through her bloodstream. There was a part of her that quivered
with the idea of ending up beneath that strong male body.

But there was another part of her that rose to the challenge
of attracting such a prime male into her embrace. Both emotions were a
primitive expression of her gender. A female who wanted to be just what she
was, not conforming to any image her society attempted to foster on her.

Right or wrong didn’t enter into the equation. Instead, it
was a clash of needs that fused her cells into one common purpose.

* * * * *

Roslyn was waiting for him. Granger frowned at the sight of
her standing outside her warehouse. It seemed unsafe and it rubbed his temper.
But the courage she displayed by not hiding behind her door made his cock itch.

One side of his mouth twisted up. Women often chased him. In
fact, he’d become so accustomed to having a woman whenever he wanted one that
he hadn’t even considered stopping to pick up some flowers for her.

A woman like Roslyn deserved fresh flowers. Granger had no
idea where that thought came from, but he was completely certain of it as he
stepped out of his car.

Her dress flowed to just below her knees and had just enough
fabric to tease him about the curves hidden under it. His stomach actually
knotted as he noticed her hair. Every time he’d seen her, it had been pulled
into twin tails on her head, sort of like dog ears. Tonight, it cascaded over
her shoulders in tiny curls. She had two little combs keeping it out of her
face.

His fingers itched to pull those pieces of plastic out. He
was suddenly mad that he’d promised to take her out. An urge to keep her hidden
away ate at him as he pictured those ringlets spread out on the surface of his
bed. He didn’t want to share her, not even for a few hours.

But he grinned as he opened the passenger door for her.

“I forgot the flowers, but I’ll try to remember the rest of
the gentlemanly code.”

His words hit her as funny, but also sweet. She could almost
picture him in a bow tie, standing there with his hands on the door, waiting
for her to sit down. The sports car was low and she was grateful for the longer
length of her dress as she swung her legs into the vehicle.

He shut the door the second she tucked her heels under the
dashboard, almost like he was closing a trap around her. A look of boyish glee
decorated his face when he swung into the driver’s seat and cast a glance at
her.

“The bear isn’t for my girlfriend.” His face dared her to
ask who it was for. Her curiosity begged her to take the bait, but she raised a
shoulder and shrugged instead. A soft snort was her answer as Granger slid the
key into the ignition and turned the engine over.

“You’re a tough woman.”

Roslyn laughed at him. “Maybe I just want to avoid being
predictable.”

He cut her a glance before aiming his attention at the road.
He piloted the car into the flow of traffic with a practiced hand.

“It’s for my mom.”

Disappointment hit her. She struggled to avoid it, but felt
his words punching a hole in the bubble of delight surrounding her heart. Not
the mother excuse. She heard it day in and day out as guys tried to sweet-talk
their way to the front of her waiting list by using the word mom. A mother was
a gift, not someone to use to get your way.

“I’m wounded.”

Roslyn choked slightly before casting wide eyes at her
companion.

Granger shot her a glance that was full of mischief. “I am.
You hit hard. The bear is for my mom. She loves your stuff. Wouldn’t name a
single other gift that she wanted for Valentine’s Day. It’s her birthday too.”

It was tempting to believe him. She really wanted to because
that swirling mist that had surround them while they kissed clung to her mind
with just how good it would be to trust him.

That was a mighty big gamble, though.

“So, you spend Valentine’s Day with your mom?” She sounded
incredulous, but didn’t care. She needed to know if he was that great of a guy.
No jerk would give up the chance to get some nookie to spend time with his mom.
Valentine’s Day was all about romance for the girls and sex for the boys.

“Yup. I’m a free man due to a past relationship partner not
understanding that I don’t stand up my mom on her birthday.”

“That’s too cool.”

He cast her a look. “You think so? I haven’t met many women
that do. Not when the day in question happens to be Valentine’s Day.”

“You’re dating the wrong kind of women.” Twisting her hands
in her skirt, she tried to back off telling him how to run his life. “I mean, I
think it’s really neat.”

“I guess you hear the mom excuse a lot.”

She squirmed in her seat as he pegged her. He chuckled at
her expense. Pushing her lips into a pout, she glared at his easy assessment of
her motives.

“Do you just pick people apart for fun or is it a mode of
operation?” Crossing her arms over her chest, she shot him a fuming glare. “If
so, turn it off, mister big businessman.”

“Only if you agree to leave your doubting Thomas attitude
off as well.”

A tinkle of amusement escaped her lips as she found herself
enchanted by his response. “Deal. Providing the bear is really for your mother.
I’m sick of listening to guys try that line on me in the interest of promoting
their sex lives.”

She really was. Sure, there was nothing wrong with a guy
buying his girlfriend a handmade creation; it was the deception part that she
was fed up with. That, and the jealousy of knowing there were men on the planet
who would go to such lengths for a woman. Lord knew she’d never been on the
receiving end of so much attention. That attitude just made her look bitter,
but at least she wasn’t lying to herself.

“You’ll see for yourself.” Another smooth turn of the wheel
and they changed direction, cutting through traffic. “My mom’s waiting for us.”

“You’re really taking me to meet your mother?”

Granger cut her a glance that was hard to read before he
returned his attention to the road. “Yes. It’s Valentine’s Day, isn’t it?”

She was stunned. Shock vibrated through her as her face
turned red with shame. Somehow, being hot for the man was misplaced when he was
taking her to dinner with his mother. But it also touched her heart. A shaft of
molten heat speared through her.

“Why? I mean, why would you take me to meet your mother? We
just met.” It made her feel all warm and fuzzy. Honored in a way that no guy
from her past had ever managed to do.

He turned the car into a parking space and cut the engine.
The interior light flickered on as he turned to consider her. The look on his
face humbled her. Reaching across the car, he cupped her chin, his fingers
gently holding her head as he angled his head to fit his mouth against hers.
The kiss was hard, but slow. Pleasure curled her toes as he lingered over her
mouth, tasting her lower lip with his tongue before his hand pulled her chin
down to allow him a deeper taste.

His breathing was harsh when he broke the kiss. “That’s
why.” His tone matched the determination flickering in his gaze. Passion drew
his features tight as his attention lingered on her lips. Nervousness made her
jumpy, unable to sit still as a hundred impulses raced through her body. All of
them centered on the growing need to jump into the vortex of swirling sensation
Granger unleashed inside her. His fingers tightened for a fraction of a moment
as one eyebrow rose in response to her squirming.

“I don’t get it either, but I know one thing, Roslyn. You
are not like any woman I’ve ever met. It bothers me that you think I might be
like any of the other customers who lie to you. That bear is for my mother.” He
released her chin and flashed her a grin. “I guess I need you to think I’m a
worthwhile sort of guy. Today was…” His voice trailed. “It was just surprising
in a way that I’m not sure I understand. You managed to shove me back in
contact with a part of life that I’d just forgotten about. That makes you one
special lady.”