Bearly Falling

by Ally Summers

  I drove to the cabin and parked behind her Jeep to unload the lumber.

  I looked up when the screen door squeaked open.

  “Good morning.” I smiled.

  “I didn’t think you would actually come back.” She folded her arms over her chest. It was hard not to notice how soft and round her breasts were. My cock ached to touch her.

  I hauled the two-by-fours into my arms. “I said I would.”

  “It makes no sense.” She blocked my entrance at the top of the stairs.

  “You think you have me figured out. And it’s just driving you crazy that you don’t.” I winked as she moved just enough that I could step onto the porch with the lumber.

  I saw the blush on her cheeks. It made her look even prettier. I chuckled, knowing how easy it was to get under her skin.

  “Why are you doing this? I’m not selling you this property. I don’t want a development here. My uncle would never have allowed it.”

  I dropped the first stack of wood in a pile. “I’m here to help you with your porch. We don’t have to talk business.”

  “I know what you’re trying to do, Oliver. It’s not going to work.”

  I walked toward her, taking wide steps. She inhaled when I stopped inches from her.

  “And what’s that?” I looked in her eyes.

  “It’s not going to work.”

  I’d never met a more stubborn woman in my life. I was completely fascinated by her. “Seems like you’re trying to imply something.”

  The pulse in her neck quickened. I had an effect on her, whether it was my voice, or the closeness of my body. There was something between us. Something that kept pulling us together, no matter how hard she pushed me away. She had no idea what she was doing to me.

  “I’m not implying anything,” she huffed. “This plan to get on my good side isn’t going to work. You can’t play me.”

  The more she taunted me, the more I wanted to prove her wrong. I could play her. I could play her rough and slow. I could kiss her until she was breathless. I could lick her until she begged for me to take her. I could claim the hell out of this woman—all she had to do was say the words.

  “Right now, I’m only trying to fix your railing. Should I be trying for more?”

  “Oh my God.” She swatted at my chest and I let out a deep laugh.

  “Too much?” I jogged down the stairs and toward the truck to collect more supplies for the repair.

  “Don’t you have companies to destroy? Board meetings to attend in Denver? Something better to do than this?”

  “Is that what you think of Hawthorne Global? That we are destructive?”

  “Well aren’t you?”

  I hauled a tool box on the porch. “We give people jobs. We pull companies out of the pit of bankruptcy. We save people’s careers with merger after merger.” I looked at her. “Contrary to what you think of me, I’m not some kind of evil corporate playboy.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what to think about you.”

  “I hope I can change that.” I said it as honestly and plainly as I could.

  “Unless you are willing to drop the offer, I don’t think you can.”

  I sighed. “I’m going to get to work on this.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  I didn’t have to turn around to know she had gone back in the house. The slam of the screen door said it all.

  Eight

  Savannah

  By the third morning, I didn’t know why Oliver was back. When he took off yesterday, I couldn’t have been more straight forward that I didn’t need his help anymore. As hard as it was to look in his green eyes and tell him to leave, I had done just that. I needed space from him. I couldn’t spend another day locked up inside while he worked shirtless within view. All it did was make me think of all the dirty and kinky things we could do out here away from the world. I had spent most of yesterday trying to avoid glimpses of his sculpted body. Trying to scold myself for wanting him to bang more than that hammer into the railing. God, I was losing it.

  I looked out of the kitchen window to see his ridiculously expensive truck park in the driveway. The truck bed was full of equipment.

  I sighed. Why was he back?

  Did he like the constant torture? Did he think he could actually break down my defenses with those smoldering stares of his? He had to know that in the end, when he was done with his projects I still wasn’t going to sell off one square inch of this property. It was mine. I was never going to let it fall into Hawthorne hands.

  I met him on the porch. “You’re back, again? Yesterday wasn’t discouraging enough?”

  He grinned, extending a hot cup of coffee. “I brought Aubey’s for you.”

  My fingertips brushed over his when I reached for the cup. A shiver ran along my arm and straight to my core. Shit. It didn’t seem to bother him. Maybe the man really was made from stone. Nothing seemed to upset him.

  I sat in the rocking chair at the end of the porch. The coffee tasted good. It always did.

  Oliver joined me. Today he had on a white T-shirt and jeans. I knew it wouldn’t be long before the shirt would be dangled over a post. I tried to look in front of me. The birds flew from branch to branch while a pair of squirrels chased each other around a tree.

  “It really is peaceful out here,” he commented.

  “It is. It’s why I’m not willing to give it up. I need the quiet.” I hadn’t meant to let that last part slip. I felt as if I had shared something with him I didn’t want to.

  “You do?” He turned toward me with interested eyes.

  “Forget I said that part.”

  “Oh no. I can’t forget something like that. Tell me why a pretty girl like you wants out of the city and wants to live all alone in the woods. Doesn’t seem like the safest scenario in my opinion.”

  He wasn’t wrong, but I couldn’t admit that. I still hadn’t convinced myself to unlock the gun cabinet upstairs in the hallway. Uncle Seton had stocked it with hunting rifles.

  “I need a break. That’s all. And I’m not afraid to be here. I’m not far from Promise Lake.”

  “There’s not far. And then there is this.” His eyes bore into mine. “Why? What are you hiding from, Savi?”

  My eyes widened. “Are we on nickname terms now? Should I start calling you Ollie?”

  He chuckled. “You are excellent at avoiding questions. About as good as my brother in a board meeting. But maybe you’ve noticed, I’m not one to give up.” His tone softened. “What has you out here? All alone. With no one to take care of you.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek. I didn’t know why I opened up. Why I started talking. Why I spilled my soul to a man I sincerely hated. He stood for everything I couldn’t stand. And yet, I was so drawn to him, I couldn’t stop myself.

  “I had to get out of the city. I need a reset. Have you ever had a moment like that?” I studied the green in his eyes. I sighed. “Of course not. You’re a Hawthorne. You wouldn’t need a reset.”

  “Hey.” His hand landed on my wrist. “Everyone needs a reset. What brought on yours?”

  I took a deep breath. “I was injured. And no amount of rehab could ever get me back to a hundred percent.” I couldn’t look at him. I didn’t feel whole anymore without being able to skate. I was afraid if I told Oliver, he wouldn’t look at me the same way either. That somehow he would think I was less of a woman. That the injury defined me. It had already taken away so much

  “What happened, Savi? What kind of injury?”

  “Skating.”

  “Like ice skating?”

  I nodded. “Yes. I skated in college, but I didn’t want a full-blown professional career. I realized I could skate a lot longer if I cut back the training and focused on teaching instead.”

  “Sounds like a smart move.”

  “I thought it was.” My eyes drifted back to the pair of squirrels.

  “Keep going,” he encouraged.

  “So I started my o
wn teaching studio, but on ice.” I smiled. “I loved it. How it felt to work with the kids. To coach them. To see them blossom into beautiful skaters.” I paused. “I was booked solid. I thought I needed to expand, to make more money. So I hired other teachers and then I began to buy into an ice rink so that I owned my own space.”

  “You are fearless aren’t you?” he said with amazement.

  “Maybe I’m stupid. I didn’t count on anything going wrong.”

  He watched me, waiting for me to continue.

  “And then the injury happened. I had surgery on my knee. I had torn ligaments and a shredded meniscus. But my knee was never the same again. I can’t support all my weight to land on it. It’s just not safe.” A tear welled on my bottom lashes. “I couldn’t imagine trying to teach something I couldn’t do anymore.” My words were softer and softer.

  “What happened?”

  “I was so far invested in the business, I couldn’t abandon the other instructors. But once the parents found out I couldn’t skate they started pulling their kids. It was a domino effect. I lost all the revenue in four months and couldn’t make the payment on the rink’s lease.”

  My eyes flashed to his. This was the part I had wanted to tell him. I had wanted to yell and scream and shout how much it had hurt me.

  “One day I had a notice that the bank was taking the rink back. I tried to negotiate. I begged for an extension, but all I got was a cold no.”

  “Wait. Who was the bank?”

  I bit my lip. I had waited for this moment. But now that it was here I wasn’t as anxious to slap him with it. I had wanted him to feel my wrath. To know my pain.

  “Hawthorne Financial,” I replied.

  “Shit,” he muttered. “No wonder you’re pissed at me all the time.”

  I didn’t know how to answer. Did he see me as a bitter woman, engrossed in my own misery? I didn’t want to be that person. Not around him.

  “The business completely folded. I lost everything. After months of rehab and fighting my way back from injury, I lost everything.” I faced him. “And that’s when I found out I inherited Uncle Seton’s land.” I cleared my throat. The tears were gone.

  “He gave me the cabin and the land for a reason. And it happened at this time in my life when I needed it most. It wasn’t so I could sell it off to you and your brothers.” I realized how harsh it sounded. “He didn’t leave it to me so Hawthorne Global could profit off me one more time.”

  “Savi, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you were hurt. I’m sorry about teaching. I’m sorry about the bank.”

  “Don’t.” I shook my head.

  “I can call the bank president right now. Just say the word. I can get the ice rink back for you.”

  I shook my head. “Don’t pretend like you care. I know you’re here for the land. You want all of this.”

  “That’s not entirely true.”

  I laughed. I wiped the tear that escaped with the pad of my thumb. “I’m not stupid. The coffee. The railing. The stone walkway. It’s all just one big seductive move to get what you want.”

  He was faster than I could have imagined. Oliver pulled me from my chair, shaking my shoulders with his giant hands.

  “What I want has nothing to do with Hawthorne Global,” he growled. “Or land.”

  “It doesn’t?” I whispered.

  He shook his head. “No. What I want is you.”

  His mouth descended over mine and I moaned in protest as he planted a fiery kiss on my lips. I wiggled and squirmed, but he was strong. He bit at my lips, urging me to part my mouth and as I did, his tongue plunged inside, twining along mine. I sighed, unable to resist his moves. His tongue. His kiss.

  I melted into his arms as he pulled me against his solid body. I felt the hardness of his cock penetrating through his jeans. A jolt of excitement shot through me. Holy hell, he was built everywhere.

  His hands cascaded through my hair. I grabbed his neck, climbing up his body. My leg thrown against his hip as he lifted me to his waist.

  “This is a bad idea,” I gasped.

  He gripped my bottom as he staggered inside. “I disagree.”

  “I don’t think we agree on anything.”

  “Yes we do.” He sucked at my lips and I kissed him harder. He had the most delicious, firm lips of any man I’d ever kissed.

  He lowered me to the couch. His fingers curled under my shirt and I was as anxious as he was to rid each other of any trace of clothing. My hands landed on the button of his jeans. I tugged at it while cooperating with one arm and then the other so my shirt was on the floor.

  I was glad I had chosen to wear my pink lacey bra this morning. It was the sexiest one I owned and it seemed to work a little magic on Oliver. He traced over the edge of the lace, stopping to circle my nipple through the fabric. I groaned when he pinched until I was a hardened peak.

  He growled, shoving the lace under my nipple and lashing over it with the heated swirl of his tongue.

  “Oh God,” I whispered to the ceiling.

  He broke free and the cool air grazed over the sensitive nub. I was breathless. I was on fire. I looked in his eyes. I didn’t know how we had gotten here, but I didn’t want to go back. I only wanted to go forward.

  Nine

  Oliver

  She was the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen. Her tits were like perfect peaks of rose and pink. I licked my lips, wanting more. Needing more than just a grazing taste of her skin. I wanted honey.

  She glowed with the haze of lust. She wanted it too. My bear had awakened and Savannah was the reason he was finally alive. I hated her pain. I hated what she had been through. But I could fix it. I could bring her so much pleasure and happiness.

  “It doesn’t change anything,” she insisted, shirking the jeans over her hips and down the flesh of her thighs.

  “It changes everything,” I argued. I threw her jeans across the room. “I’ll prove it to you.”

  I kissed her navel, inhaling her scent, reveling in the citrus aroma of her lotion. She smelled like summer. My fingers hooked the thin straps of her panties. I brought them only an inch or two down so I could take my time kissing and teasing her. She rolled her hips forward.

  Her scent was undeniably intoxicating. She was calling to my bear. Begging him to take her.

  Her arms lifted overhead. She was so damn beautiful. I wanted to remember this moment. The moment I tasted my mate for the first time.

  I growled with irritation when my phone vibrated in my back pocket.

  Savi’s eyes opened wide. “Do you need to get that?” Her voice was breathy.

  “No.”

  I rolled the panties down another inch. She groaned, jutting upward. She was soaking wet. I ran my fingers over the fabric, feeling her dew through the lace. I groaned. I didn’t know how to take it slow when all my senses were on Savi overload.

  My phone vibrated again. “Damn it.” I reached in my pocket to turn it off, but the ringing continued. I pulled it out to see who it was.

  “I have to get this,” I explained. I didn’t want her to move, but it had been days since I had heard from Grayson. He wasn’t exactly taking anyone’s calls these days. He had been hiding out in Promise Lake. “I’m sorry. It will just take a second. Don’t move.”

  “Grayson,” I answered.

  “I need an update on the new parcel you’re negotiating. Clarence said you had an angle with the girl who owns it. Is it done?”

  I shook my head. Fuck. “Can I call you back? I’m in the middle of something.”

  I tried to turn, but it was too late. The earpiece volume had been turned up loud enough that Savi heard enough. There was anger in her eyes. She scrambled to cover herself, pulling the pink panties up and folding the lace over her tight nipples. Damn it.

  I knew the moment was lost. I stepped back from the couch in defeat.

  “What’s more important than this deal?” Grayson demanded.

  “Nothing.” I hung my head. “I don’t have a lot
of reception where I am. I need to call you back.”

  “I can hear you fine.”

  “Grayson,” I pressed. “I’ll call you back.”

  I hung up, sliding the phone into my back pocket. “I’m sorry, Savi. I shouldn’t have taken that call. I haven’t heard from my brother in a while. I couldn’t be sure it wasn’t urgent.”

  “It sure sounded urgent.” She threaded her arms through the sleeves in her shirt. “Urgent that you let him know whether you’ve sealed the deal.” She used air quotes.

  “That’s not what this was about.” I pointed to the couch. It was far more important. How could I tell her about my bear?

  “I knew what I was doing kissing you. I knew we weren’t going to be on the same side of the fence.” She didn’t sound as mad as she looked.

  “Then why did you go along with it?”

  “Because for a minute, I wanted to pretend that something like this was possible. That a guy like you could give and not take.” She lowered her eyes. “That you weren’t the man I thought you were. That you could surprise me by being unprecedented. That maybe sex with you would be enough to make me forget.”

  The pain ripped through my chest. I had crushed her without meaning to.

  “Savi, just let me—”

  She held up her hand. “It’s Savannah. And I won’t let myself have that kind of hope again. I think you should go.”

  “No. I’m not leaving like this. You don’t understand. I want to make it right. The ice rink. The land deal. All of it.”

  “Go.” There was fire in her eyes.

  “Shit,” I muttered. “All right.” I looped the T-shirt over my head. I didn’t bother collecting my tools.

  I fought the instinct to stay and fight. To stand my ground and protect what was between us. Instead, I gave her what she wanted. I started the engine and peeled out of the driveway.

  Ten

  Savannah

  I felt stupid. I knew better than to let the insanely hot kisses of Oliver Hawthorne send me into a depression, but they did. I clutched a glass of wine, sitting on the porch. I rocked back and forth, going over what happened this morning. I had already replayed it a hundred times. It was possible I’d go over it a hundred more times.