Reforming the Bear (5 page)

Chapter Five

Liam
couldn’t remember anyone ever referring to him as
nice
.
 
Had he never been a
nice person until now? He knew he’d been on the defensive and moody side since
they’d crash-landed here and he and Danny had lost both their parents. And it
was true that he’d become downright hostile since his brother’s death. And yes,
he knew what they thought––he wasn’t deaf, either. He knew some of the other
shifters referred to him as an asshole.

However,
Lucy thought he was nice. Maybe he’d become that since he’d met her. This human
had already brought out something good in him. Perhaps it had been hiding in
his soul all this time, and been bursting to be set free.

It
was sort of ironic a human was the catalyst for the change. Not that he’d
suddenly start loving them or would ever find it in his heart to forgive the
fucking human for taking Danny from him. That was never going to happen. But
something inside Liam knew Lucy was different.

Lucy
looked over at him and smiled. She had such a pretty one. When she looked at
him it made his heart skip and beat double time. And now that she was sitting
close to him in the truck, his cock took notice too. It strained against the
zipper on his jeans, making the ride home a lot more uncomfortable than the one
to pick her up.

I don’t do human
pussy.

He
recalled the venomous words he’d shouted at Hannah the night she’d accused him
of being the father of her child.

Human
pussy, he was sure, was perfectly okay if you were a human. He was a bear
shifter, though, and only bear shifter pussy would satisfy him. As long as he
remembered that, he and Lucy were going to get on really well while she stayed
in the apartment on his property.

It
was a small place at the back of the garage with a bedroom, bathroom and small
kitchen.

He
glanced at her.
Interior designer.
Wow, was she in for a shock when she walked into his bachelor bear’s den. He hoped
she wasn’t the type to want to makeover everything in sight because he liked
the unkempt,
I know where everything is
look of his pad.

He’d
thought about letting her use the spare bedroom in the house, the one that Sam
would be sleeping in when he came to stay for the week. He hoped to paint it
and put up posters that a seven-year-old would like and appreciate. However,
he’d thought that Lucy might feel more comfortable and at ease in the apartment
and not under his same roof.

Liam
pulled into the driveway by his house.

“It’s
adorable,” said Lucy.

She
was being nice, very nice. He wasn’t much for gardening and the grass needed
cutting, and the window boxes left by the previous owner were now falling apart
and had never seen one flower in the soil. Now, sitting here looking at the
place with his new,
nice
self, he
realized the house screamed,
miserable
bear with a bite just as bad as his roar lives here
.

“I’ll
take your suitcase in for you and as soon as you’re settled I’ll go open the
windows in the apartment and get some air circulating through it.”

She
still had hold of the bag, guarding it like her life depended on it. Dead
parent’s ashes, maybe? She’d robbed a bank and was fleeing to Montana with the
loot?

He
laughed, not realizing he’d done it loud enough for Lucy to hear. She glanced
over at him.

“I
was just thinking about a joke my nephew told me the other day,” said Liam.

Phew,
thank goodness she hadn’t asked him to share it with her because it had been a
lie. He was lousy at telling jokes, and at making them up, downright dreadful.

“You
need any help?” he asked her when she got out of the truck.

“Nope,
I’m fine … finally getting the hang of these crutches.”

She
put the strap of the bag over her neck and followed him up to the front of the
house.

“Good
news is my house is all on one level and so is the apartment, so you won’t need
me to carry you to bed.”

Why
had he mentioned carrying her to bed? Bed, of all things. His cock twitched
just thinking about it and then, oh boy, it felt like he had a baseball bat
stuck in the front of his boxers. Human-caused erection? A first for him, and
it was a good one.

Liam
went ahead of her, so he could open the door and also to hide the obvious bulge
in his jeans. He didn’t want her to think he was also going to rape her. He put
her suitcase down and held her arm as she hobbled over the threshold.

“If
you’d like to sit on the couch, I’ll go open up the apartment and then get you
something to drink.”

“You
don’t have to go to all this trouble.”

“It’s
no problem … really, it isn’t.”

Normally
it would be. Helping out a human, he’d rather run down the street with his head
on fire but there was something about Lucy that made him want to nurture her.
Bears usually only thought that about potential mates and a human definitely
wasn’t in line for that position.

She
sat down, the bag on her lap, and looked around.

Probably
thinking what does the apartment look like if his house looks this bad?
Liam thought.

“I’ll
be right back,” said Liam. He walked into the kitchen, opened the drawer by the
fridge and sorted through the piles of paper, local burger takeout menus, photos
of cars he’d cut out of magazines, rubber bands, pens, paper clips, and finally
found the key to the apartment.

He
headed out the back door across the yard and up to the front door. He pushed
the key in the lock and then had to shoulder the door to get it to open. He
went inside and stopped in his tracks.

Foolish bear.

Liam
hadn’t thought about what it would be like to come back in here. Some of his
buddies had cleaned it out for him because he hadn’t been able to deal with
walking into this place knowing that Danny would never live here again. This
had been his home. At first he’d been reluctant to offer it to Lucy, but then
he’d realized it was now or never to get the place finally cleaned out. Since
his brother had died, he’d often stood at the kitchen sink, looked over to the
apartment and sworn that he’d seen him inside watching TV, or even outside on
the patio tinkering with his bike.

Liam
tried to swallow the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat.

He
had to get this place aired out because he’d promised it to Lucy and the place
smelled old and unused, which was exactly what it was.

Liam
froze on the spot, suddenly overcome with a host of emotions. Sadness, anger,
regret…

Move, legs. Move,
damn you.

His
hands shook as he took one small step trying not to look at anything that would
remind him of his brother, but shit, everything about this place did. He should
have insisted they got rid of all the furniture too but at the time he had this
stupid notion that it had all been a bad mistake. It wasn’t Danny who’d died.
He’d come back here one day and wouldn’t it be awful if Liam had given all his
furniture to Goodwill.

Liam
looked at the table by the window and saw Danny sitting opposite him while they
played a board game or tried to outwit one another at a card game. Such happy
times. Liam walked through to the tiny kitchen and saw his brother standing at
the stove making popcorn.
 
He looked out
of the window again. Danny was out there. He lifted his hand and waved to Liam.
Liam waved back. He knew why this scene was so vivid in his head. It’s the
exact thing they’d done on that fateful night the drunk driver had hit him.

Liam
bit his lip. What he wouldn’t give to get a chance to go back in time, right
before Danny set off that night. This time around, he’d be armed with the
knowledge of what was waiting for him and talk Danny into staying home and
playing cards.

He
turned around, unaware he was crying until he tasted salt on his lips. He
focused on the carpet by the bathroom. He didn’t know why, but he was suddenly
drawn to it and the shiny object embedded in its pile.

 
Danny’s chain with his good luck charm was
wedged underneath the carpet and baseboard. He’d obviously broken it that night
and not been aware it had fallen. He’d ridden without his safety medallion.
When the guys had cleaned out the apartment they obviously hadn’t seen it, or
maybe had left it and not had the heart to give it to Liam knowing how
heartbreaking it would be for him.

He
leaned over and pulled it up, seeing where the chain had snapped. He squeezed
his eyes shut and held it safely in his palm. He’d get it fixed and give it to
Sam, and that way Danny would always be watching over him and keeping his son
safe.

Everything
was built up inside him now. This place and the fact he’d lost his brother and
that Danny would never see his son become a fine young bear shifter.

Liam
pressed his back against the wall and slid down it, breaking down like he had
when the police had stopped by to inform him that Danny was dead.

****

Lucy
hobbled to her feet as one of the crutches fell to the ground.

“Shit,”
she said, balancing on one foot to try while trying to pick it up. Someone was
crying. At first she couldn’t figure out where it was coming from, but soon
realized it was Liam in the apartment across the way. From the sound of things,
his heart was breaking. Whatever had happened to cause a man to cry like that?

Lucy
maneuvered her way out to the kitchen and saw the back door was open. It led to
a short path and what was obviously the apartment in question. She hurried over
there as best she could. The door was ajar, and she hoped he didn’t mind her
going inside and invading what was clearly a private moment for him.

She
found him sitting on the floor in the hallway with, as she’d suspected, tears
streaming down his face. Men didn’t cry. Not that they didn’t want to, but they
were too damn stubborn to give in to their feelings. She admired that Liam had.
This really was a different sort of guy.

“Whatever’s
wrong, Liam?”

He
looked up at her.

“Nothing.
I’m just having a stupid moment.”

“No
such thing as one of those. You want to share it with me?”

Lucy
grimaced as she got down on the floor beside him. Her leg was killing her … but
he’d been good enough to help her, so the least she could do was return the
favor and see if she could change the tears to laughter.

“This
was my brother’s place,” he said.

“Your
brother who died?”

Liam
nodded.

“It’s
the first time I’ve been in here since…”

“Liam,
why didn’t you say? Why did you offer this place to me?”

She
put her hand on his forearm, feeling the taut muscles push against her palm.

“It
had to be done sometime, but I guess I didn’t know it would have this sort of
effect on me.”

“Oh
Liam, how sad for you,” said Lucy, grimacing again as she slid up next to him
and rested her head on his shoulder. She could imagine what pain he was in. If
anything happened to Mike…? Well, it was the reason she’d agreed to do what she
had. She didn’t want any harm coming to her brother.

“I
wasn’t expecting to find this in here.” He opened the palm of his hand and there
sat a medallion on a chain. “It was his ‘keep safe’ charm whenever he rode his
bike, and I thought if he’d worn it…”

He’d still be
alive.
She wanted to say it but didn’t want to add to his pain.

“If
you want to close this place up, I’ll understand. I can go to a motel like I
was planning to do before the whole incident with the car and that trucker,”
she said.

“No,
no … this has to be done. This place has to be aired out sometime or it will
just fall apart.”

He
looked at her. His eyes showed sorrow and pain. He was a beautiful human being
and what she did next totally surprised her. She kissed him.

Chapter Six

He’d
never kissed a human. In fact, he couldn’t remember a time when even a female
shifter had initiated a kiss. But now this human female had done just that, and
he wasn’t pushing her away, wasn’t wiping his mouth and complaining about the
fact that a human had done, in his book, the unthinkable.

Liam
liked the kiss. Oh yes, he was enjoying it more than he’d ever thought. Maybe
he was in need of comforting and that’s why he was letting her continue. Nope …
that wasn’t the reason. He enjoyed her soft lips on his. The way she opened her
mouth, urging and almost encouraging him to do what he was about to do next.

He
pushed his tongue over her bottom lip, tasting the sweetness as he eased it
into her mouth. Liam wrapped his arms around her, feeling her softness and
warmth invading his t-shirt. He took in her scent, smelling once again the
perfume that he’d admired the night before. She was gorgeous, and he suddenly
felt happier.

She
groaned, and not in a good way. He hadn’t been thinking about her injury
because he’d been too lost in the moment. Liam pulled away and she quickly held
her leg.

“Sorry,
did I hurt you?” he asked.

She
shook her head. “And I’m sorry for being so pushy. Kissing you like that.
That’s not usually me.”

“No
reason to apologize. I wouldn’t have let you continue if I wasn’t enjoying it.”

They
sat side by side, both of their backs up against the wall. She held his hand.
It seemed so tiny engulfed in his big bear-like one. Dark pink polish adorned
her nails and a little silver ring sat on her pinkie.

“Would
you like me to redecorate this place for you? Not that I’m saying it should be
changed in any way, but I thought maybe it might help you. And as you won’t
take payment for the car repair or rent, I’d feel better if you’d let me do
something in return.”

If
anyone else had suggested changing anything he might have been angry. Maybe
even thrown them out with his boot up their ass. But now it made sense. He
hadn’t stepped foot in this place for eight years. It smelled musty, cobwebs
were everywhere, and it no longer had Danny’s scent anywhere so it was time to
give it a makeover––and who better than an interior designer to do just that.
Maybe he’d even rent it out and make himself some extra cash for when business
was slow. Or maybe Sam would like it as his hideout when he came to stay. Maybe
Sam would even live in it one day.

Liam
squeezed her hand. “You really don’t have to.”

“I’d
like to.”

It
was her turn to squeeze his hand. “It might take a few days of airing out this
place to make it bearable.”

Did I just use
the word bearable? If only she knew how ironic that was.

“Then
let’s get all the windows opened now and I’ll get some ideas of what I can do
as far as colors for paint,” said Lucy.

“Don’t
overdo things. I don’t mean with the color, but your injury needs to heal.”

“This
will be perfect for me. I can sit and take my mind off my leg while I
brainstorm ideas.”

“You’re
sure?”

“I’m
positive.”

****

She
was digging herself in deeper and deeper. Saying she was an interior designer
was one thing but posing as one took things to a whole new level of deception.
However, her motives weren’t mischievous in any way. She wanted to help him
redo the apartment and hopefully take away some of the lingering pain of his
brother’s accident and the constant reminder that he’d once lived there.

Liam
was sweet, and the kiss…? Well, if it hadn’t been for her darn leg giving out
when he’d pulled her toward him, she was pretty sure they’d be horizontal by
now. Maybe when her leg healed that might be the case. She was sticking around
here for a while, so they had some time to work on it.

She
drew the line at getting involved though. That wouldn’t be fair to either one
of them, because once the trouble with Mike blew over she’d be heading back
home. No hearts broken for either of them.

 
Lucy watched as he pried open the bedroom
window, giving it a good shove before it finally yielded to the pressure.
Already this place was starting to smell better and lighter as the sunlight
poured into the room when he opened the drapes back all the way.

“I
have some spare bedding at my place I can bring over to you,” he said.

“That
would be great. And if you have a duster? I can clean the cobwebs.”

“Nope,
you won’t do anything of the sort. You’re here to sit and heal. Come back over
to my place and we’ll get something to eat and you can watch TV while I go to
work. Sorry I won’t be much company for the rest of the day, but a customer is
picking a car up tomorrow and I still have a few things to tune up.”

“Okay,
but let me at least do something besides watch TV.”

“You
any good with a needle and thread?”

“Well,
I can’t make clothes from scratch, but I’ve been known to make the odd craft or
two.”

“I
have a couple pairs of jeans that need repairing. I’d throw them away but
they’re comfortable and ideal for when I work on the cars.”

“Sure,
I can do that.”

****

How
could he have forgotten that Sam was stopping by after school and they’d be going
out for pizza? With all the drama of finding Lucy and then bringing her to his
place, it had gone clean out of his mind. It wasn’t until he was working in the
garage and saw Hannah’s car pulling up that he remembered.

Sam
now visited him a couple of times a week. Once on a Saturday or Sunday for a
few hours, and once during the week where the two of them would go out and grab
a bite to eat. Last week it had been hamburgers, but this week Sam had
requested pizza.
 
Hannah usually just
dropped him off, but this time she turned off the ignition and got out of the
car and walked with him.

They
hadn’t gotten off to a good start when they’d first met. Well, what guy would
like a woman who’d accused him of getting her pregnant when he was completely
innocent? He’d also called her a few bad things when she’d decided to leave and
take Sam away from him. And then of course, there was the small issue of her
being a human.
 
However, she was also the
woman who’d conceived and given birth to Sam, which meant she couldn’t be all that
bad. He knew he wasn’t her favorite shifter, but gradually they were learning
to tolerate one another … if only for Sam’s sake.

Sam
ran toward him. He was pretty sure his nephew was growing during the intervals
between their visits. He was going to be big and strong like his dad had been.
The tight bear hug he gave Liam confirmed it. Now that he was shifting, he’d
soon outpace his human classmates at school.

“Hey,
buddy, have you been good at school this week?”

“Yes!
I got a B on my spelling test.”

“You
did well. I’m so proud of you.” Liam gave him a hug.

“He’s
really getting along well at school now,” said Hannah. “And thank you for
taking the time to practice spelling all the words with him. I think the extra
coaching is helping him.”

Liam
nodded. He didn’t want to let on, but he hadn’t been the best speller at school
and was actually learning along with Sam when they studied together.

“Bear
told me you were the hero of the night,” said Hannah.

Liam
shrugged his shoulders. “Just happened to be in the right place at the right
time.”

“Liam,
if you could show me where…”

Liam
turned and Hannah looked Lucy’s way as she hobbled out into the garage.

Hannah
looked back at him.

“Hannah,
this is Lucy Hunt. She’s the young lady I found on the road last night.”

“Rescued,
more like,” said Lucy.

“Lucy,
this is Hannah Morrison, Sam’s mom … and this is Sam, my nephew.”

“I’m
pleased to meet you,” said Hannah. “Can you say hello, Sam?” asked Hannah.

“Hi,
Lucy,” said Sam.

“Nice
to meet you, Sam. Your uncle showed me a photo of you, and I have to say you’re
a lot more handsome in person.”

“Are
you a bear?” asked Sam.

“Sam,
what have you been told about asking questions like that?” said Hannah.

Hannah
glanced over at Liam.
Shit
, he’d need
to have a word with him if he was going to hang around with Lucy.

“Sorry,”
said Sam.

“No,
Sam, I’m not a bear, but I like them. In fact, I still have my teddy bear from
when I was a baby.”

Liam
was relieved at her response. She’d probably thought that question was typical
of someone Sam’s age or that he was goofing around.

“Lucy’s
going to be staying in the apartment out back while her leg mends,” said Liam.

“Really?”
said Hannah. She lifted both her eyebrows and Liam knew what it meant when a
human did that. They were reading far too much into the meaning of what he’d
just revealed. Liam was simply doing what anyone else, human or shifter, would
do. However, he couldn’t argue his case in front of Lucy or she might take
offence.

“I
need to get on my way because I have the last fitting for my wedding dress.
Sam, you promise to be good and I’ll back at seven. Nice to have met you, Lucy,
and I’ll probably see you around as I’m often here dropping off Sam.”

“Nice
to have met you too.”
“Bye,” said Sam, waving to Hannah as she drove away.

“What
was it you wanted to ask me?” Liam asked Lucy.

“I
found some drapes and I was wondering if you had a washing machine.”

“Sure
do … but let me do that. You should be sitting down healing that leg.”

“Does
it hurt?” asked Sam.

“Yeah,
now and then,” said Lucy.

“If
you leave the drapes in my kitchen I’ll put them in the machine and then you go
and watch TV or read. Once I’m done with this car, you want to join Sam and me
when we go to the pizza parlor?”

“Pizza?
I have to say, I love pizza … so if I’m not intruding on your time together,
I’d love to.”

Liam
smiled and Lucy turned and walked away. He put his arm around Sam.

“Remember
what your mom, Bear and I have told you? You never just ask someone straight
out if they’re a bear. You know not everyone’s a shifter and it could get us
into trouble.”

“I
forgot.”

“I
know it’s easy to do but you have to be careful … we all have to depend on one
another to keep our secret. Now that you’re one of us you’re included in that.
Okay?”

Sam
nodded.

 
“You want to pass me some tools while I finish
up on this car?”

“Sure.”

They
walked back to the car and Liam raised the hood.

“You
getting excited about the wedding and giving your mom away?”

“I
don’t understand … if I give her away, will she still be my momma?”

“Sure
she will. It’s just a term that’s used when someone, usually the bride’s father,
walks her down the aisle and hands her over to her groom.”

“That’s
Bear.”

“Sure
is. And remember, at the weekend we’re going with him to try on our suits.”

Bear
had chosen his cousin Ash as his best man, and Charlotte’s husband Aiden was
going to be an usher. Hannah had picked Charlotte as her bridesmaid and the Renners’
niece Kaitlin, who was Sam’s favorite pal, was going to be flower girl. Liam
had only expected to be given an invitation but they’d chosen him to read
something during the service. Probably more for Sam’s sake than Liam’s … but
still, it meant a lot to him to be included.

“Can’t
I wear my shorts and t-shirt?” asked Sam.

“Nope,
you have to look the part. And
you
, you’re
going to look so handsome.”

Liam
smiled, wondering what Danny would think. How proud he’d be of his son standing
in as father of the bride. In fact, he’d get the good luck medallion mended and
cleaned so Sam would wear it on the big day.

“You
want to hand me the wrench?” asked Liam.

Sam
instinctively knew what it was without ever having to be told. Liam guessed he
got that from his dad. Just like Liam was good with cars, Danny could fix a
bike everyone else had given up on.

“Will
I fix cars like you when I need to make a living?”

He
looked at Sam. That’s the last thing he wanted for Danny’s son. Sam was going
to do so much more. He was going to university. Hell, he might even become a
doctor like Bear. “Nope. You’re going to work with your brain.”

“But
that will hurt me.”

Liam
burst out laughing. “You’re going to use it when you go to university. You’re
going to solve all the world’s problems. You’re going to find a cure for every
illness known to man.”