Chapter Six #2
Grimes didn’t even flinch. “I don’t get any enjoyment out of reminding you that while you were balls deep inside a blonde with big tits our team was eating bullets.
That’s the whole point, friend.” Friend was laced with bitterness.
“What says that won’t happen again? That you’re getting consumed by Aasia and not making the right decisions? ”
Bear stood, clenching his hands into fists. He was over feeling the need to defend himself. He didn’t even care to explain again that he was drugged that night. It seemed like that small detail didn’t matter because he should have been focused on the mission and not getting laid.
Point taken.
“Whoa, whoa!” Echo stepped in the space between Bear and Grimes. “Grimes? What the fuck, dudes?” Echo said to Sin and Arrow who shrugged. “You going to let them rip each other apart? Can’t I leave you two alone for five minutes?”
“Apparently not,” Bear muttered. He shifted his gaze on Grimes before swiping up the darts.
He had restless energy and he should take it out on the board, and not Grimes.
Hell, he couldn’t fault the man for being pissed.
Bear had dragged himself through the wringer at least a dozen-and-one- times.
As punishment, he hadn’t slept with anyone since that tragic day.
He hadn’t even thought about sex.
Until Aasia.
She could only be described as different. Although he wanted to touch her more than he wanted his next breath, he also wanted to protect her. Be near her to protect her.
He needed to get his thoughts back on track.
Bear threw his darts and got down to the last one.
That was when he saw Aasia and he did a double take to make sure it was definitely her.
The dart missed the target and came within two inches of Echo’s head.
He had fast reflexes. “What the hell, dickhead?” He craned his neck to see who had caught Bear’s eye. “Oh, now I see. Better run.”
“Fuck off.” Bear didn’t even bother apologizing. He experienced a rush of dopamine as he watched her standing in the doorway taking a good, long look around as if she were searching for someone. She wasn’t supposed to be at Oscar’s so what the hell happened tonight?
She made her way to the bar and slid upon a stool, flipping the ends of her long hair over one shoulder. The denim mini skirt with the fringed hem lifted high on her thigh and Bear felt his blood pump faster.
He started to take a step when he caught Grime’s tapered gaze.
“What?” Bear didn’t have patience to deal with the other man.
“Not a damn thing.”
“Good because I’m done being under your microscope,” Bear growled the words.
“Stand down.” There was unmistakable warning in Arrow’s tone.
“I think you both should before you start drawing attention,” Sin said with irritation.
Bear left the back room and circled his way around the high-top tables. He approached her feeling undeniable appreciation. “Change your mind about a game of pool, ma’am?”
~*~
Aasia had been watching the bubbles of her fizzy cocktail when she heard the smooth rumble of Bear’s voice and his shadow fell over her.
She looked up, offering him her best smile, although she didn’t feel it in her bones.
After the night she had she just needed to have a few drinks.
“Sorry, cowboy. I’m not up for kicking your ass tonight. ”
A smile played on his lips. “Confidence. I like that. Care if I have a seat?”
“I don’t mind the company.” In fact, she’d been hoping he hadn’t left Oscar’s.
He straddled the stool, his gaze holding hers while he adjusted his six-foot-something muscular frame. “I thought you were romancing your boyfriend tonight?”
She laughed but didn’t feel anything but disgust that she’d wasted so much time on Bentley. “Boyfriend as in past tense.”
“Really?” He swiped off his hat, whacked it against his thigh as if he were knocking off the dust then dropped it on the seat next to him.
His hair, a thick mass of coal locks with silver around his temples, was a tumbled mess.
Whiskers lined his broad jaw, a little scraggly since she saw him last but nonetheless it didn’t deter from his good looks.
He was a beautiful man. Each move of his arms tested the seams of the long-sleeved shirt.
She guessed it was difficult to find something that fit his broad shoulders.
The sleeves were rolled up, showing off an intricate tattoo that climbed upward and faded into his shoulder.
She knew each line, each complex swirl, of the inked art because every chance she got, she stared at him, never getting enough visual time.
“Really,” she droned. She felt mortified that here she and Bentley were on the off-again-on-again roller coaster. Well, she retired the ol’ loopty-loop and never again would she put herself in that position. “Our chapter is done. This time for good.”
“That’s a shame.” His grin deepened as he leaned forward, planting his elbows on the polished mahogany counter. “You are better than a chapter. You’re the whole damn book in my opinion.”
She raised a brow. “If I’m a book what would be my title?”
“Rise Stronger.”
“Intriguing.”
“Just like the cover.”
She felt her spirits lift some. Bear had a way of doing that for her. “How do you always say the right things?” She rolled her finger around the rim of her glass then tapped it lightly.
“I’ve never been accused of that before. I tend to always say the wrong things.”
“I think you’re blunt and it’s a relief, at least to me. And you’re not afraid of silence.”
“Are you trying to tell me you want me to sit here and keep my mouth closed?” One thick brow lifted over his remarkable green eyes.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. Let me make it clear. Tonight I need you to just be yourself.”
“You two in here together again? People will start talking,” Wendi said as she delivered two full drinks and set them down.
“I didn’t order another?” Aasia said.
“Compliments of…” Wendi searched the crowd and shrugged. “I guess she left already.”
“Do you know who she was?”
“No clue. If you need anything just holler,” Wendi said.
Twirling a tendril of her hair around her knuckle, Aasia watched Wendi take bottles out of box and line them on the shelf.
She was technically unemployed now. Maybe she should ask Wendi if Oscar was hiring.
Aasia would eventually need to get a job.
The mere thought of losing her job made her feel sick.
She’d never find something that fed her soul like she had at MedLabOne.
She’d have to move out of Fin’s Creek. Where would she go?
“Hey? You okay?”
She shifted to face Bear. “Bentley fired me.”
“What the hell? Care to share how Fletcher’s made the biggest mistake of his life again?”
The top few buttons were left undone on his blue plaid shirt revealing his smooth chest. Her attention kept going to the enticing view.
She sucked down the rest of her fruity cocktail in one long slurp before she started on the second, which was significantly stronger.
“Oh, just your typical stain on his reputation stuff. Nothing big. Just some bare feet and an online site.”
“Now you really have my interest fueled.”
She leaned her chin on her hand, looking at him through her lashes. “If I tell you I might have to kill you.” She wagged her brows.
“I always took you for the type who had a hidden freaky side.” That smile showed off a row of pearl-white teeth. “I’m glad to know my instincts are always spot on.”
“Ohh…you think I’m dangerous? I must have made a great impression.” Why did conversation always flow so easily with Bear? Why couldn’t she and Bentley ever talk about things other than work? His work. Well, they wouldn’t be talking about anything, not even the weather, again.
“I’d say count your blessings that you’re free of the mama’s boy. Yet, what are these photos?”
She leaned closer, inhaling his leather and sage scent. “I’ll tell you, but you must tell me a secret so that way we will both have a dog in this fight.”
“Deal.” He pretended to spit on his hand and held it out.
With no hesitation, she laid her palm against his, warm and callused, and a swarm of invisible butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She wondered what those masculine hands would feel like on her unclothed skin and knew he’d leave a mark like a tattoo—forever branded.
His kiss had left her different. More aware.
Her body had been in a subconscious state until Bear awakened the hidden parts of her.
Bentley had only scratched the surface of her desires and needs, but Bear had the strength to unveil the true Aasia.
She was no longer that little girl who feared being abandoned.
Protecting herself from anyone getting close, anyone who could upset her equilibrium.
In the end, she never cared for Bentley, at least not beyond the care one would give to an acquaintance.
He had been in her life because he didn’t upset her world.
Bear did. He upset everything. He tested the locks she’d placed around her heart.
He wasn’t a math equation or a science experiment. There wasn’t a formula she could figure out. There wasn’t a safety net below to catch her if she fell. This new path didn’t come with directions.