Chapter 16 #2
But Brent and the boys? They actually saw me.
Even Chaim and Benjy seemed to, although I suspect it was more for Brent’s sake than anything else.
And that was okay too, I suppose. It was weird, you know?
For most of my life I had to hide away, because I was ashamed of pretty much everything about myself.
Yet here, in this haven for bear shifters, I felt more human than ever before.
“You can come in, Uly,” Brent called out.
Of course he’d know I was here. I stepped around the corner and smiled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
“Momma!” Eddie shouted, then struggled in Brent’s arms to get down.
As soon as his feet hit the floor he rushed over to me and latched onto my leg.
I stood there, staring at the kid who’d accepted me into his life without any reservations.
Intellectually I understood it was because of his mother’s scent being similar to mine, but that didn’t matter.
I bent down and hefted him into my arms, smiling when he buried his face in my neck and breathed deep.
“You smell so good, Momma,” he said, his voice dreamy.
Brent came closer and leaned in. “You do,” he agreed.
My stomach got all fluttery at the sweet words. “Thank you.”
“I have to make a few phone calls,” Brent said. “Will you give me like twenty minutes or so?”
“Sure. We need to go wake up Jack anyway. I want to check their temperatures. Eddie’s seems normal and—wait. What’s normal for a shifter?”
Brent smiled. “We do tend to run hotter, but only after puberty when our healing factor kicks into full.”
“Healing factor? You mean like Wolverine?”
He chuckled. “Not quite that good, but it is similar. Wolves have total immunity to human diseases, while bears have about eighty-five percent. And even if we get sick, it doesn’t last as long. Unless it’s something that overwhelms us.”
“Then the boys should be a normal temperature?”
“Yup. They’re good, normal boys. With a teeny tiny quirk.”
And I found I believed that. They’d been sweet, touchy-feely, and seemed to care about me. Or Mama me. And I loved them already.
“Okay, go make your calls. I’ll take care of the kids.”
“Great. Thanks.” He stood, then took two steps toward the office, then came back. “Oops, damn, I forgot,” he said, a moment before he leaned in and brushed his lips over mine. A jolt went through me as he kissed me, but then his eyes widened and he pulled away. “Oh, crud. I’m so sorry, Uly!”
But I wasn’t. Not in the least. I wrapped my hand around the side of his neck and pulled him down to me, then kissed him back. It was chaste—didn’t want to do anything awkward in front of the kids, after all—and when he stepped away, he touched his lips and looked as though his brain was fried.
“Brent?”
“You… You kissed me.”
“And I’ll do it again later, if you’d like.” I smirked and leaned in closer. “Would you like me to kiss you later, Brent?”
A slow smile spread over his face. “Oh, I’m so very sure I’d enjoy that.”
brENT
I licked my lips again as I picked up the phone.
Kissing Uly was akin to sticking my tongue into an electrical outlet.
He fried my damn brain, and I wanted more of it.
Lots more. It wasn’t even about sex—well, okay, not just about sex.
It was sitting in the great room, a fire roaring to warm us while we continued our conversations with a cup of tea, a couple of sleeping kids, and spending time simply talking to each other.
Although sex would be nice too. Having looked at Uly’s ass, it would be really, really nice.
The kiss had been an accident. I was so comfortable and did it without a second thought. As soon as our lips touched, I knew I’d screwed up, but Uly? He surprised me by deepening the kiss, showing me he enjoyed it. God, I needed to have him.
I shook my head to get rid of the carnal thoughts.
That was impossible. All I could envision was being in bed with Uly, our limbs tangled as we mauled each other’s mouths, mingled our sweat and other bodily fluids, the look on his face when I pushed into him, the sweet whimpers as our bodies rocked together, and the urgency of his cries as he orgasmed.
Fuck, now I was harder than I had been in years. Good to know the ol’ boy still worked.
I pushed down on the thoughts. I had a job to do, and I needed to ensure it got done as soon as possible.
I entered my office and closed the door behind me.
Taking out my phone, I scrolled through the contacts, finding myself grateful that HR entered all employees in our list. I found the one I wanted, then tapped it and sat in my black leather chair to wait.
It didn’t take long before there was an answer.
“Mr. Lockhart? Is everything okay? There’s not something wrong with Uly, is there?” came Jamie’s panicked voice that was rising in pitch.
“No, everything is fine with Uly and there’s nothing wrong. I was hoping we could talk.”
“Has one of us done something wrong?”
Man, being the boss sucked, because people always assumed they’d done something to mess up and you were about to lower the hammer on them.
“No one has done anything wrong,” I promised.
“I would like to talk to you about Uly, but it’s not anything where there is something that isn’t right.
However, being his closest relative, I wanted to have a conversation with you about…
. Um. I’d like to talk to you about seeing Uly in the future. Is that acceptable to you?”
He was quiet for so long I thought he’d disconnected the call.
“I’m sorry, did you say you wanted to see my brother? Outside of work?”
“Well, I… Yes, that’s what I said. I wanted to ensure it was okay with you.”
He chuckled, then called out to Deb, who rushed in from wherever she’d been.
“What’s up?”
“Mr. Lockhart is asking permission to see Uly in a non-work kind of way.”
“He what?”
I sat listening to them discuss it. Deb seemed oddly excited about the prospect, which made me happy. Finally Jamie came back.
“Mr. Lockhart, my brother is a big boy. If he wants to see you—”
“I don’t want to see him. I want to date him.” I coughed to cover my nervousness. “I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding. I want to date your brother.”
“And why are you asking me?”
Damn you, Chaim. You’re the one who told me to ask.
If you’re fucking with me…. “I want to know what he likes. What are his favorite foods? What can I do to really wow him? I was hoping you could give me some pointers.” I sighed.
“I’ll be honest, I haven’t had a date or anything else since Jenna, my late wife, died.
So it’s been more than a few years. I’m rusty and out of practice, not that I was ever really in practice.
For the most part, it was a lot more theory than anything else.
Jenna was the one who led me through the trials and tribulations.
She always teased if she’d left me to my own devices we would never have gotten past hello. ”
“Are you saying you’re socially inept?” Deb asked, her voice akin to a smirk.
Of course I was. Always had been. “I won’t deny it.
I’m okay in the boardroom, but personal interactions always confuse me, because I never know what people want.
Yes, I can make a decision and steamroll ahead with it, but there will always be that niggle in the back of my head that I made the wrong choice. I don’t want to do that with Uly.”
“I understand,” Jamie said. “Uly is very special. He likes to be needed, because he never felt that way before. Our parents, his bosses, pretty much everyone in his life—me included—were forever protecting him. He doesn’t need that now.
What he needs is to be shown he can be an equal partner to someone.
To prove to them he’s not incompetent or useless, as he’s always thought. ”
“He isn’t,” I assured them. “Uly has one of the most giving natures of anyone I know. He made my boys feel safe with just his presence alone. They opened up to him in a way they haven’t with anyone—even me.”
“He has that air about him. People can feel relaxed in his presence. When I spoke with Uncle Dom about Uly working at the coffee shop he told me he hated letting him go. He tried to think of things he could do to keep him there, because Uly was unique. Yes, he constantly messed up, but people always forgave him due to his style that put them at ease.”
Yes, that was how I’d felt that day. He calmed my anger about the money, helped me to think my way through and listen when he said something.
“He protected so many jobs, just because I listened to him.”
“He’s not dumb.”
“What? No, I never said he was!” I blurted out.
“Not you. The people around us, the ones outside of our family, have always picked on Uly. Made him feel less than he had the potential for. Even our parents, who we know love us, insisted that his problems were cute. They weren’t something that needed to be looked at, just accepted. That was no help at all to Uly.”
“Will you be okay with me dating Uly?” I recalled that kiss and hungered for another. “I mean, will it be an issue?”
“Honestly? I do have a problem with it. He’s your employee. I don’t want him feeling pressured to do something he might not want.”
And that made perfect sense to me. Uly needed to know that I wanted him because of who he was, not because he was a conquest.
“That is a sound concern. I guarantee you, this isn’t going to be an issue as he’s not working for the company directly.
He wants to stay and take care of the boys.
He says it’ll give him practice for when the two of you have yours.
And congratulations, by the way. I will work hard to keep Uly safe and grounded,” I promised. “Now, can you tell me what he likes?”
“Mr. Lockhart, I would be proud to.”