Bear Trapped (Bear Creek Grizzlies #5)

43. Epilogue

She couldn’t breathe even after they walked out of the courthouse, uncomfortable in a borrowed skirt suit and other clothes that were probably more expensive than anything she’d ever owned. Lauren concentrated on not toppling over like a baby deer in the high-heeled shoes that apparently went with the suit, and gripped Finn’s hand so hard she lost feeling in her fingers.

He squeezed back, apparently undisturbed by her trying to crush his joints, and leaned closer to whisper, “You did good.”

The tall, perpetually annoyed-looking lawyer who apparently worked for Grumpy Simon and agreed to represent her against his better judgment grunted. “It’s a good outcome. Although next time, you should just disclose your working relationships before you jump bail, Ms. Tucker.”

Finn cleared his throat and the lawyer rolled his eyes, pulling a set of papers from his leather case. “My apologies. Mrs . Bordelon. Try not to commit any felonies, either of you.”

With that, he turned and strode off, already talking on his cell phone. Lauren would have squealed if she hadn’t been too stunned to both walk and process information at the same time. Talking was completely beyond her ability.

Finn looked a little sheepish as he held up the papers. “I had him do the name change, since you said… You did want to change your name, right? I thought that was what you said, but you were hollerin’ a lot and you just kept telling me to go back to…”

He laughed when she smacked his shoulder, her face burning with embarrassment as he came perilously close to just announcing that he liked to ask her random things in the middle of all sorts of sexy activities. Apparently she’d startled him before with questions so he decided turnabout was fair play, and chose the moment right before she came to ask her important things. Especially since she’d agree to anything if it meant he wouldn’t stop whatever it was he’d been doing to make her all limp and sweaty in the first place.

She would have given him a piece of her mind— quietly , though, so no one would overhear—when a rough voice said, “Well, aren’t you two a sight.”

Lauren froze, every inch of her going cold. Shotgun.

Finn tensed but it didn’t show in his face. “Glad to see you filed the right paperwork. Good thing we got all that cleared up.”

The shorter man’s lip curled briefly, before going back to smiling benignly. He looked even more out of place than she felt in a suit and tie, although a bulge on one side of his belt made it clear he still carried a firearm. Even more frightening than him on his own. Lauren didn’t dare look away, although she definitely didn’t want to meet his cruel gaze.

“Yeah. Now hold up your end of the deal.”

Lauren’s heart beat faster. Finn had a plan, or at least an idea how to deal with the man he’d known for years, but she didn’t trust Shotgun not to have some kind of double cross planned. Like he would give a signal and it would all go away and a bunch of his scary cops would run out to handcuff her and drag her off to jail again for trying to blackmail him. At least the lawyer was confident all the charges against her had actually been dropped, and there wasn’t anything irregular that concerned him. It didn’t meant Shotgun wouldn’t come up with new charges, even though Finn didn’t think it was likely.

“…just like I told you.”

Her attention snapped back to reality as Finn squeezed her hand, and she realized he’d been talking the whole time she envisioned a worst-case scenario. Shotgun’s eyes narrowed and he folded his arms over his chest, but he didn’t shout curses at them. He sucked on his teeth and scowled as he looked away, then back at the two of them. Lauren’s hand trembled as she brushed the hair out of her face, and his attention snapped to her fingers.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me.” Shotgun rolled his eyes as he gestured at Finn’s left hand, busy holding hers but still visible. “Fucking married? Jesus Tap-dancing Christ, you’re the lamest fucker…”

Finn didn’t even release her hand as he drew his right arm back and punched the other man so hard he fell backward like in the cartoons, landing with a thump on the ground. She stared, clapping both hands over her mouth, and whipped around to look at Finn. “You’re going to get arrested.”

“No, I’m not,” he said under his breath. He picked Shotgun up by the front of his shirt, setting the other man on his feet and growling some kind of warning so low Lauren couldn’t hear. Whatever he said, it left Shotgun pale and apparently not caring about the blood gushing from his nose.

Another dude showed up out of nowhere, walking aggressively like he was going to make a big deal out of it, and Lauren braced for the rest of the day to go to hell. At least she had the lawyer’s phone number in the fancy smart phone Finn got her, to call him back to help. He would be able to get there quickly, and apparently Kira and Ethan were having lunch in a cafe nearby, so she could call for their help too, and…

She blinked as Finn said cheerfully, “Go fuck yourself, buddy,” as the new guy helped Shotgun stand up on his own.

Shotgun blew his nose into a handkerchief, leaving a bloody gross mess, and focused on Finn through watery eyes. “What the fuck are you wearing?”

The chain around his neck had slipped from under his shirt, the pendant visible as the sunlight caught it. Lauren’s cheeks burned. Just because she’d made the joke, Finn went all in. But that didn’t mean he’d want anyone else to know what it meant. She wouldn’t take it personally.

“LTB,” Finn said calmly. He even held up the pendant shaped like a bear paw so the other man got a good look.

“What the fuck does that stand for?” The new man didn’t seem even half as friendly as Shotgun, which wasn’t that much to start with. “Loser Tripping Balls?”

“Clever,” Finn said. “But no.”

“My initials,” she blurted out, so at least he wouldn’t have to lie. “Lauren Tucker Bordelon.”

It worked out better than she thought at first.

Shotgun made a fake gagging noise, although it could have been genuine as he dealt with his bloody nose. Finn put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, saying calmly, “Also stands for Lauren’s Teddy Bear. Now fuck off, you jealous assholes.”

“You’re lucky I don’t put your stupid ass in jail,” Shotgun muttered, then turned and stormed off. His little buddy followed on his heels, although he paused long enough to flip them off over his shoulder.

Lauren leaned on Finn, hugging his arm to her chest. “You didn’t have to tell them.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” He glanced down at her, pulling out his phone. “Maybe Kira will bring us some cupcakes to celebrate before we head back to the Lodge.”

She’d also learned he had a hell of a sweet tooth, no matter what time of day it was or what kind of sweet was offered. He literally ate honey out of the jar if there was nothing else around. He texted something to Kira, then started to wander in the direction of where Ethan and Kira were. Lauren kept up without letting go of him, focusing more on not tripping instead of what she said. “Well, isn’t it embarrassing to admit what it actually stands for?”

He stopped in his tracks. “Embarrassing? Why the hell would I be embarrassed to be yours?”

Her face caught fire and she shrank back a little from instinct, even knowing his incredulity wasn’t anger. Lauren cleared her throat and shrugged, not brave enough to look him full in the face. “I don’t know.”

Finn made a rusty sound and caught her face, though he didn’t force her to look at him. “Babe, there is no part of me that would ever be embarrassed to be your teddy bear. I want the world to know.”

“Sure,” she said, not looking at him. Everyone said things like that, but they didn’t mean it. Not really.

He exhaled in a gust, his head tilted back like he was just exhausted , and she braced for more bad news. She loved him, she trusted him, but there was that little seed of doubt… It was too perfect. He was too perfect, everything was going too well. Something would ruin it. It hadn’t been Shotgun or her charges, like she’d feared, but that just meant she’d be disappointed and heartbroken when…

“ I am Lauren’s teddy bear ,” Finn bellowed, loudly enough she jumped back. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted even more. “I love this woman! She’s the best thing that ever happened to me!”

Lauren’s whole face burned and she pulled on his arm, wanting to laugh and cry and hide her face when she noticed more than a few people glancing over. A couple smiled, a few shook their heads, but most ignored him. She almost couldn’t talk with her heart in her throat. “You’re being crazy, come on. Please…”

He turned and hugged her tight, lifting her off her feet. “Listen to me, Lauren. There is nothing in this world that could possibly ever— ever —make me embarrassed to be with you. You could turn into a worm and I would carry you around in my pocket and feed you…whatever worms eat. I would build you a house made of—dirt, I guess, and take care of you forever and tell everyone I met how psyched I am to have a worm as a girlfriend.”

For once she couldn’t process his logic. How would she turn into a worm? Her face was buried in his shoulder, so her voice came out kind of muffled. “Do people actually turn into worms? Is that possible?”

Finn paused, then said, “I don’t think so.”

He went silent as they both pondered, and Lauren started to think maybe they were meant for each other after all, if he didn’t mind the wild random thoughts that popped up and distracted her.

“How sweet,” someone said, laughing, and Lauren looked up to find Kira and Ethan there, carrying coffee and what looked like a pastry box. Ethan rolled his eyes as he sipped his drink, but Kira smiled and handed over another travel cup. “I take it everything went well? No teddy bears were harmed in the course of your court date?”

“Nope,” Finn said. He focused on the box instead of the extra drink, and jerked his chin in its direction. “What did you guys get?”

Ethan snorted. “Almond croissants, mille feuille , danishes, couple of other things. Not a single one is for you. All for Lauren, to celebrate her well-deserved freedom.”

Lauren still didn’t know how she’d gotten so lucky to fall in with not just Finn but everyone around him. Despite some of the other guys being a little loud and scary, and the matriarch Zoe being the fierce kind of mama bear that normally made Lauren quake in her tennis shoes, everyone at the Lodge had been warm and welcoming. So welcoming she’d been terrified of putting a foot wrong and ruining everything for her and for Finn.

Ethan kept giving Finn a hard time, holding the pastries out of reach like some kind of jerky older brother, and Finn kept jumping to try and get it like a jerky kid brother, and Kira gave up and linked her arm through Lauren’s. They walked toward the big truck that would carry them a couple hours back to the Lodge, then Finn would no doubt want to do all the things he’d whispered would be good to celebrate both her name change and getting the charges dismissed.

Lauren Tucker Bordelon. She didn’t mind leaving plain old Lauren Tucker in the past. She deserved happiness and a supportive man and a safe home and everything she hadn’t had as a kid. Lauren’s vision blurred as she listened to Finn holler about how Ethan better hand over a fucking croissant right now and she couldn’t help but smile. Even with him turning into a bear and having a shady past, she thanked the universe every day their paths crossed in the forest.

She smiled as the two men got close to actually wrestling, and Finn muttered something about going to the goddamn bakery himself and getting three boxes of sweets. Lauren’s Teddy Bear. The heirloom ring still felt strange on her finger, but grew more and more right every day. He was her teddy bear forever and ever.

She’d gone into the woods looking for Bigfoot and found a teddy bear. Life worked in such mysterious ways. She made a mental note to suggest another Bigfoot expedition with Finn once the weather warmed up. They could fix up the old cabin, since apparently Simon had bought it and she just never knew, and cuddle up in front of the fire without anyone interrupting them. Even better.

Lauren laughed and rescued the pastry box as the guys wrestled on the way into the truck, and she got ready to chow down in the back seat whether Finn got any treats or not. She didn’t know what to do with herself now that her charges were dropped, but the future was wide open. She couldn’t wait to see what came next.

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