Bear Naked (Halle Shifters) (5 page)

“Ready.” She slid her arm through his and grabbed her purse. “Ryan?”

“Yeah?”

For just a moment, she looked terribly sad. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

She locked her door before answering. “Do you know why none of my relationships have ever worked in the past?”

“Because you always leave before they do.” She glanced at him, obviously startled, as he led her to his car. “It’s not rocket science, SG.”

She blew her curls out of her eyes as she settled in the passenger seat. “You’re such a smart ass.”

He laughed as he settled into the driver’s seat. “Better a smart ass than a dumb ass.”

She glanced at him sideways. “But first you have to be smart, or you’re just an ass.”

“Oh, ouch.” He put his hand to his chest. “You wound me.”

Laughing reluctantly, Glory put on her seat belt. “Do I smell Chinese food?”

“Yup.”

“But I thought…” She trailed off, biting her lip.

“What?”
Oh, God. Don’t tell me I screwed up on the first date.

“Nothing.” But she turned to look out the passenger side window rather than at him.

“I wanted us to be alone, so I arranged a surprise. Was I wrong?”

She looked back at him, her gaze speculative. “No, maybe not.”

Thank fuck. Because he’d have to ditch the food in the nearest trash can if she’d said yes, and he really liked Kung Pao chicken. “Then let’s get this party started.”

The mysterious smile that crossed her face scared the shit out of him, but it was too late now. He just hoped things went the way he’d planned, because he didn’t think he could survive it if his idea set him back to square one with her.

There was only one real place in town worthy of a first date: Noah’s, the best restaurant in town. So that was what she dressed for, expecting spaghetti carbonara and good wine, despite the fact that he’d said the date would be casual.

So of course, that wasn’t where Ryan had planned to take her, because Ryan rarely did what she expected. She should have known.

Hell. She should have worn sneakers.

“The park?” Glory shivered, glad she’d chosen to dress in her good black jeans and not the teeny skirt she’d originally intended. It was cold out, the sky that bright, pale blue that you only saw at the tail end of winter.

Ryan glanced down at her, amused. “You want to run into my family?”

Glory winced. The Bunsun-Williams clan was loud, boisterous and very much a part of Ryan’s life. She’d watched Tabby and Cyn struggle with the overwhelming family. None of the girls were used to having that kind of loving dynamic in their lives, and the adjustment was an ongoing process that sometimes left them exhausted. The Bunsun-Williamses had “accidentally” intruded on more than one of Julian and Cyn’s dates in the past. So perhaps having a picnic wasn’t such a bad idea after all. “Good point.”

“Just so you know, I can’t cook.” Ryan grinned. “I can’t boil water without setting something on fire, so unless you can cook we’ll be eating a hell of a lot of takeout.”

Glory took the hand he offered when her heeled boots sunk into the grass. Spring was definitely coming if the ground had started to thaw enough for that. “You think so, huh?” He was assuming an awful lot if he thought she was going to cook for him.

He chuckled. “Ask Bunny about the time I tried to barbecue. He still screams like a little girl when I mention pork chops.”

She helped him set up the blanket on the ground. “I thought barbecue was bred into the bone with guys, like football and setting farts on fire.”

He stared at her for a moment. “Farts on fire?”

She shrugged. She’d seen more than one butt burn when her brother was younger.

“Yeah. Not this guy.” He settled her on the blanket, taking a seat next to her. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I set water on fire.” He opened the basket and pulled out a bottle of wine. “My cousins played hockey with the leftovers.”

She sputtered a laugh and began helping him unpack their dinner. The smell of Chinese food filled the air. She opened one of the boxes as he took the other. “Mm, General Tso’s chicken. How’d you know that’s my favorite?”

“A certain little Wolf told me.” He handed her some chopsticks, using his own pair to dig out what smelled like Kung Pao chicken. “Dig in.”

She did, moaning as the spicy-sweet flavor exploded on her tongue. “’S good.”

He poured two glasses of wine, handing her one. “I want something from you.” He laughed when she glared at him. “That too, but, no. I want you to ask me anything.”

She blinked, confused. “Anything?”

He nodded, licking sauce off the end of his chopstick. “We’ve danced around each other quite a bit, but…” He sighed. “We haven’t tried to get to know each other, not the way mates should.”

Glory grimaced. Most of that was her fault. He’d been trying so hard to get close to her, even leaving her those presents, but she couldn’t help the way she reacted to Ryan. The man scared the piss out of her. No one she’d ever met had ever held the power to hurt her quite so badly, but Ryan Williams could without even trying. Already she couldn’t imagine him not bopping into the shop, smiling and chasing her around her piercing station.

What would she do if he left?

“No. Don’t feel bad.” He put his hand on hers, his blue eyes going brown for an instant as his Bear peeked out at her. “
Don’t
feel bad. I should have known why you kept pushing me away.”

“Oh really? Like I go around telling people I have abandonment issues.” Glory rolled her eyes.

He used his chopsticks to pick up a bit of General Tso’s and held it to her lips. “I still should have known.”

“I hate to tell you this, but you aren’t Super Bear.” She laughed. “Hell, even Super Bear didn’t know, okay?”

“Then I want to know. Tell me everything.”

Glory sighed. “Wonderful first date topic. You really know how to show a girl a good time.”

He froze, his expression stricken before it closed off. “You’re right. We should keep things light—”

She covered his lips with her finger. “Damn it. Don’t look like that.” She pouted at him. “How long have we known each other?”

“Close to a year.”

From the wary way he answered she was willing to bet he knew down to the day, but didn’t want to seem like a stalker. Which he totally was. “You said you wanted me to ask you anything, but the truth is you want the same.” He nodded, still wary. “Then do it. Ask. I’ll tell you if you go too far.”

“You mean it?”

“Have I ever said something I didn’t mean?”

“I refuse to answer that on the grounds that I may be incinerated.” He popped a bite of General Tso’s in her mouth when she opened it to reply. “All right. Back and forth?”

She tilted her head. “You mean, I ask you something, then you ask me?”

“One for one, with the caveat that we can say no with no hard feelings.”

She thought about that for a moment, but she couldn’t see a downside. “That’s fair.”

He held out his hand. “It’s a deal, then.” She smiled and took his hand, ready to shake, but instead he tugged her forward and planted a soft kiss on her mouth. “Go ahead, sweetheart. Ask me something.”

She licked her lips, the spice from his dinner mingling with the sweetness of hers. “Um.” Her brain had completely blanked out at the touch of his lips.

He gave her that smug, knowing smile that made her want to beat him with a sledgehammer…or ride him like a pony. She hadn’t decided yet. “What’s wrong? Bear got your tongue?”

The sledgehammer was winning. “What’s it like having to call Alex boss? You know—” she leaned in closer and ran her finger down his arm, “—having to do
every little thing
he tells you to.”

“Do I want to know what’s going through your head, or should I just assume it’s dirty and try not to picture it?” He shuddered when she wagged her brows. “Ugh. Really?” He grimaced. “I’d rather…” His gaze went dreamy. “Oh. Cyn is
your
boss. Can I picture—”

She hit him. Hard.

“All righty then.” Ryan rubbed his chest absently, ignoring Glory as she shook the pain out of her hand. His chest was a lot harder than she’d thought. “First off, I don’t call Bunny boss. I call his dad boss, remember? Bunny doesn’t own the business. Besides, odds are good it will be Eric who becomes the owner of Bunsun Exteriors. Bunny wants to run the East Coast operations, but our home base is still in Oregon.” He picked up her sore hand and kissed it.

“But didn’t Alex say they might be moving it here?”

Ryan nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t know if the whole business will, or just the family.”

“I can’t see one going without the other.” She took another bite of food.

“True. Maybe they will move out here, but either way Alex and I will be staying here, where you and Cyn are.” He smiled. “My turn. Tell me about your family.”

“I have two sisters and a brother. Hope disappeared when I was sixteen. Temperance is my older brother—”

“Temperance? Poor bastard. Who names their son that?”

“My asshole dad, who wanted us all named after virtues. Faith is my younger sister. She should be about Heather’s age.”

“Speaking of which, Heather is working out, right? She’s been really happy coming into the shop.”

Glory grinned. “That kid is going to own her own shop someday. She’s really good, Ryan, and she’s scary-smart. I’m glad Cyn offered her a job.”

“Me too, no matter what Eric says. I’ve never seen her so happy before, and she’s coming out of her shell a little more every day.” He kissed her hand again. “Thank you for that.”

She blushed. “I haven’t done anything.”

“You’ve done more than you know.” He picked up his carton and began eating again. “Your turn.”

She bit her lip and asked the one thing that she’d always wondered about. “Why me?”

“Besides the fact that your scent fills my head, your voice sends shivers down my spine and your smile makes the sun shine?”

“I…guess.” Oh, he was
good
.

Ryan kissed her again. “I like you, more than you know. You’re funny, brave, smart and beautiful and you’re not afraid to fight for your loved ones. You’re not perfect—” for a second she almost felt insulted, “—but I like your quirks just as much as your strengths.”

“Fine.” She bit her lip, unbearably touched. “You get a second date.”

Ryan just smiled and fed her another bite of food.

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to thank you.”

“For what?” Ryan was watching her, his blue eyes blending with the brown of his Bear.

“The presents.”

Ryan’s stillness frightened her, but his question terrified her. “What presents?”

Glory took a deep breath. “Shit. You didn’t leave me champagne and roses this morning, did you?”

“No.” And his blue eyes were now completely brown, fangs peeking out from under his lip. “I didn’t.”

“Then who did?” Because now she was creeped the hell out. Someone had been watching her closely enough to figure out what her favorite things were without her knowing about it.

Worse, her shifter boyfriend, who was constantly around her apartment, hadn’t noticed.

Chapter Four

Ryan opened the front door of his apartment the next morning and stopped dead in his tracks. “Shit.”

Bunny held up a sack of donuts. “Good morning, Ryan.”

No one should look that fucking cheerful that early in the morning. Ryan wanted to maul him just for the grin.

Julian breezed past him holding a huge box of coffee. “Good morning, lover boy.”

Ryan whimpered. Not him, too. Julian might live only because he had the coffee.

“So.” Bunny’s grin got impossibly wider. “How’d it go?”

“Yeah, did you express your undying love?” Julian put his hand to his chest and fluttered his lashes.

There was not enough coffee in the world. “Hell. You’re going to make me talk about my feelings, aren’t you?”

Bunny started setting out the donuts while Julian poured three cups of coffee. “Yup. We might even curl our hair and wax our legs.”

Ryan whimpered and shut the door. “Can’t I just go to work?”

“Nope.” Bunny handed him a jelly-filled donut. “Spill.”

“Yeah, did you mate her?” Julian’s wicked expression would have looked more adult if he didn’t have a ring of powdered sugar around his mouth.

Nothing says “I’m sexy” like appearing as if you’ve just blown the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
“No.” He’d walked her to her door like a gentleman, refusing to give in to the howling of his Bear. He’d sat outside her apartment building, guarding her until the wee hours of the morning. He hadn’t scented anything strange around her apartment, but that didn’t mean whoever had left those presents wasn’t around. “But she told me I’m getting a second date.”

“Huh. For Glory that’s practically a proposal of marriage.” Julian fixed his coffee, adding enough sugar to send a six-year-old into orbit. “So things went well?”