Truly, Madly, Whiskey(31)

“It was hilarious, but come on. Bear might have a huge heart, but I cannot see him testing any waters. He’s more of a dive-in-headfirst-and-come-up-for-air-later kind of guy. There’s no way that man is going without.”

Emotions Crystal didn’t recognize pulled at her. Gemma was right. Bear was a dive-in-headfirst kind of guy. He could have any woman he wanted, and he definitely came across as too sexual to go without. The man emitted testosterone like cologne. Of course Gemma would think they were mattress bumping. Guilt wound through Crystal. Gemma deserved to know the truth about why they weren’t playing bone the biker, but she wasn’t ready to share her secret yet. Not on the heels of telling Bear. She could only handle one monumental confession at a time.

“Can we please not talk about Bear’s sexual proclivities?” She took Harley from Gemma. “Do you mind if I keep her in the office? I have a cat box and everything she needs in the car.”

“Of course. Hey.” Gemma touched her arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I thought you were pulling the wool over my eyes. Honestly, I thought you and Bear had been hooking up for a long time. I never imagined that you hadn’t been.”

“You didn’t upset me. I was just surprised that you thought we’d been hooking up. I would have told you if I’d boned the biker.” Her typical snarkiness felt wrong when tied to sleeping with Bear. The truth was, if she didn’t have the past she had, she probably would have jumped in the sack with Bear a long time ago, and she probably would have told Gemma.

She quickly added, “He’s different than we thought, Gem. But then again, aren’t we all? I’m going to put Harley in the office and get her stuff so I have time to change. I thought I’d be Pocahontas princess today.”

“The sexiest Pocahontas ever,” Gemma called after her.

As she headed toward the office, her mind slid down a dark path that led directly to a pool of awful thoughts about Bear and other women. She closed the office door behind her and sat on a chair with Harley in her lap. Anyone who knew Bear wouldn’t believe he’d go without sex.

Would he?

The kitty purred loudly. It figured Bear’s kitten had a monstrous engine. She looked down at the sweet, cuddly girl. He’d never give her away if he didn’t know he could still be part of her life. She pressed a kiss to Harley’s head, pushing away the fleeting worry.

For months Bear had been right there with her, even when she’d pushed him away. She thought about the night at Woody’s, and the worried look in his eyes when she’d pulled away from their kiss. She could still feel his arms around her when he’d held her last night, could still hear his voice when he’d told her the truth and asked for flashing lights instead of lying about what he was capable of doing—or not doing.

Bear told her he hadn’t been with another woman since the first week they’d met, and as astonishing as it might seem, she believed him.





Chapter Seven





BEAR HELD BIG Mama and peered over Dixie’s shoulder, reviewing the accounting spreadsheets from last month for Whiskey Automotive and trying like hell to keep thoughts of Crystal’s attack from consuming him. But they were as present as the f*cking numbers on the computer screen.

“Earth to Bear.” Dixie waved her hand in front of his face.

“Yeah. Sorry.” He shoved those dark thoughts away and tried to focus on Dixie.

“Where were you all morning?”

“The bar. Bullet couldn’t make it in time to get today’s delivery.” Bullet had called him shortly after he’d left Crystal. He’d had business in the next town over and had forgotten about the delivery. Bear had taken the delivery and then his father had shown up and wanted to discuss the expansion. He’d had to rush through the repairs he was slated to work on, skip lunch, and he still had to tell a customer their car would be done Monday morning instead of today. He hated letting customers down.

“I’ve been working on some of our suppliers. I think I can bring them down by a percent or two.” She navigated to next year’s budget. “Which will help for next year. When we had the building inspected, the guy said we’d need a new roof in the next five or six years. Next year it’ll be five years, so I’ve budgeted for that.”

When he’d taken over running the shop, it was barely turning a profit. But Bear was a master at networking and negotiations, and Dixie had an incredible knack for finances and business. Together they’d expanded their clientele beyond the biker community, which was where his uncle had found his niche. They were turning nice profits every month, but he was stretched to his limit time-wise. He had no idea where his father had gotten it in his head that he’d have time to manage the bar expansion.

Then again, his father had never worried about Bear’s time. He took for granted that Bear would make it happen, the way Bear always had. He could hardly blame his father for his own inability to put up boundaries.

“I was thinking,” Dixie added. “Maybe it’s time to redo the kitchen in the apartment.”

“Is Quincy complaining?”

“No, but we always said we’d make it nicer when we could. And now we can.”

He’d completely forgotten about both the inspector’s suggestion and the kitchen, but as always, Dixie kept them on target. “Dix, do you like what you do here at the shop?”