“Want us to tell them to fuck off?” Carter teases. He’s the jokester of the two of them, I’ve noticed.
“Can you do that?” I kind of like that option.
“If you want.” He shrugs, willing to give it a go.
“No, it’s fine.” I shake my head. I follow them both out of the kitchen to see two young uniformed police officers standing in the living room.
“Is something wrong?” I blurt out. I silently pray it’s not Bear.
“No, ma’am. We’re sorry to startle you, but we’re actually here to do a wellness check on you,” one says.
“You were involved in a hit and run,” the other cop says. His name badge reads Cooper. With everything going on, I’d all but forgotten about that.
“Yes,” I get out. I listen as he tells me the driver is fine and asks me what had happened. He’d been knocked unconscious.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t really see who hit the car. It all happened so fast,” I lie. They seem to think I had someone come pick me up after the driver Mark was rushed to the hospital. “I'm happy he’s okay.”
“If you remember anything else—” Cooper hands me his card.
“Thank you.” I take it from him.
We all turn when the front door opens and Bear steps through. I fight not to burst into tears or run over and hug him. I will myself to keep my feet planted to the ground. I’m playing it cool. At least I’m trying to.
“Holy shit. Are you Bear Chan?” Cooper asks, his eyes wide with excitement.
“Yeah,” Bear responds. “Everything okay, Honey?”
“Yes.” I give him a smile. “They came to check on me about the accident I was in today.”
“I can’t believe I’m in Bear Chan’s house.” Both of the officers start to fangirl over Bear.
I can see the strain in every line of his muscles as he signs autographs for both of them. You can’t tell from him standing here that hours ago he was both stabbed and shot. The long sleeve shirt he has on is covering it. He looks pretty damn good for someone who had rained down hell on the two men who’d kidnapped me.
“Thank you for coming by and checking on my woman, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to be alone with her. It’s been a long day for her, and I’m sure she needs some rest.”
“Yeah, sorry. Sure.”
“We’ll show them out,” Jero and Carter say, ushering them both out the door.
The sound of the front door closing is loud, but silence quickly follows. Bear and I stand there for a long moment. I’m unsure of what he’s feeling based on his expression. He still won’t meet my eyes.
Does he hate me now? He had to kill a man for me today. He might have killed two for all I know. No one has ever done anything like that for me before. I’d been so scared until I heard and saw him.
Once he was there, I knew that he would never allow anyone to hurt me. But instead of worrying about myself, it quickly turned into me worrying that something bad was going to happen to him because of me.
“Bear.” I whisper his name. “Please look at me.” I sob. He closes the space between us but doesn’t touch me. He reaches out to cup my cheeks but stops.
“Don’t cry.” I can see the anguish on his face. “I’m sorry.” His eyes finally meet mine.
“You won’t touch me.”
“Do you want me to touch you?”
“Yes! I want you to touch me. I’ve wanted you to touch me from the first moment I laid my eyes on you. I—” He cuts me off, his mouth finally coming down onto mine. I melt into him as he lifts me off my feet with a grunt, reminding me that he’s hurt. “Bear, your wounds.”
“Don’t care.” He drops down on the sofa with me in his arms and kisses me again.
“I care,” I get out between kisses. I push on his chest as I lean back. I’m in his lap straddling him. “How are you hard right now?” I say with a laugh. I didn’t know a person could laugh and cry all at once, but here I am.
“You’re on my lap. I always want you. Doesn't matter what’s going on.”
“You really still want me?” I tentatively put my hand over his shoulder where I believe he was shot. I can feel a bandage under his shirt.
“Always want you,” he grunts.
“Are you in pain?”
“I’m used to pain.”
“I don’t want you to be used to pain, Bear.” I brush my mouth against him, knowing this still isn’t over. Far from it. My phone starts to go off again. “Oh God!” How the heck did I forget? “I was supposed to meet Agent Roberts today. He wants to move me back to LA.”