“Whatever. It’s not like it is worth anything.” He shoved his fist deep into his pants pockets.
“To me it is. I’m not giving it to you.” Finished discussing the matter, Riley turned to leave as she tossed over her shoulder, “Go home.”
“Riley! Look…look…” Fred hustled around so that he was once again in front of her.
She noticed that the crowd around her was getting really thick. She was sure that every person in town was standing somewhere around her and Fred making a wide circle. She hated to be the center of attention, especially in a situation like this, these people didn’t know her. Her mind ran with various possible thoughts the crowd could have about what they were seeing. None of the thoughts she concocted did she like.
“Go away, Fred.”
“Just let me see the damn thing. For one moment.” His gaze shifted around as if at any moment he was expecting someone to jump out of the crowd on him and pull him away.
Even though Theo had threatened him not to touch her, Fred’s full agitation and the worry lines etched into his face told her there was something more. She recalled other times Fred had looked like this when he lost big at the poker table or some other gambling venture.
“Why do you need to see it? Why the interest? You said yourself it is not worth anything.” Like all her jewelry, he’d taken and pawned. Stuff he bought her in the beginning of the relationship and things he had not. “Tell me what is going on?”
Licking his lips, he then cleared his throat and glanced over his shoulder again. With a cautious step toward her, he lowered his voice. “I owe some people a lot of money—”
“Nothing new about that. I’ve told you to stop gambling and get help.”
“I don’t have time for a lecture, Riley. I was trying to get out, okay. I moved some funds and things. It was going to be a payoff for them and a big win for us—”
Theo growled.
“Me,” Fred quickly rephrased.
Slowly she shook her head from left to right as she stared at the shell of a man before her. She remembered when she first met him, all blond charm and good looks, a 300-watt smile, and laid back. Now she could not stomach the sight of how much he had changed.
“So, I take it these funds have to do with your job. Stupid move.” She knew that meant he was in deep. He worked for corporations, handling and advising them on investments, stocks and a slew of other financial matters. “Still not connecting your story to a pre-school gift.”
“I put the numbers and codes for those accounts inside of it,” he ground out. “If I don’t get them back…in a few days…” His face darkened with fear.
She tried to figure out how he’d done it. Not to mention why he’d used something of hers. “I don’t understand.”
“Those cheap things are hollow inside. I just drilled a whole in the bottom. Look, I just needed the stuff to be safe. I knew we were on the outs. You kept threatening to leave. I’m not dumb, I saw the signs. If you left and someone came looking for it, those codes would be safe with you.” He shrugged. “I just never expected you to leave the state.”
“You are unbelievable.”
“Maybe, but if this thing pays off, I’ll be set for life.” His eyes were bright with a gambler's hopeful glow.
“In jail or dead most likely.”
“Just let me see it…please.”
Sighing, she realized allowing Fred to retrieve the paper was the only way to get this man out of her life for good. Glancing over at Theo who still stood close to her, like a guard, an impressive man compared to her ex.
“Is Jack around?”
Theo’s gaze caressed her face. He didn’t speak for a moment as if he wanted to assure himself she was okay. She appreciated the way he stood by her, protecting, even though she didn’t fear Fred physically.
“I saw his wife earlier, she said he was back from picking up parts and in his shop.”
Guilt weighed heavily on Riley. Her appearance in this town had interrupted Theo and his boys' life, caused a commotion at the festival, thanks to Fred, and kept one of the town members from enjoying the seasonal event. The sooner she left Den County, the better off everyone would be.
“Okay, I’ll go over with Fred—”
“Not by yourself.” Theo declared. Turning, he called to his parents who stood at a distance with his boys. “I’ll be back.”
Riley had met his parents before the kickball game. They had been in the stands cheering with many others. Riley hoped she’d given them a better impression of her earlier and this situation wouldn’t taint their view of her. Why does it matter?
She didn’t know why it mattered so much to her. In a few days she would be gone. But it did. She liked these people in this small county; they had welcomed her and been nice.
The three of them left the fair grounds and moved along main street. Fred kept up insistent chatter about benign things; people he worked with, local news and a new coffee shop that had opened.
Uncaring, she tuned out the man to her right and focused on the silent strength of the man to her left. Theo, like her, remained silent, however, she could not help but compare him to the other man and find Fred lacking.
Theo was not only taller, bigger, in a mountain meets molehill sort of way. But, he had a better character. He was a dedicated father, the people in town spoke highly of him, and he took care of his responsibilities. Unlike Fred who never wanted kids, could care less about his fellow man and took from those things and people he was responsible for. How was I so blind?
But, she’d been caught up in the excitement that always seemed to surround Fred and his friends; pulled away from what she really wanted. A job she loved and someone who loved her, for her. Someone that would make her put down roots and stop wandering.
She knew that was never the guy to her right and the one to her left didn’t belong to her, no matter how her body yearned for him. Or how at home he made her feel.
It was a bit of a hike to the shop, but she was glad Theo didn’t suggest taking the truck. She needed the brisk pace to burn off some of her angst, at Fred and the whole situation.
Jack Ruxpin moved out from under the hood when he spotted them coming up the drive to his shop.
“Hey, Theo, Riley…” He looked to Fred, another town stranger, and gave a curt nod. “What brings you round? Now that I got the parts, I’m making progress, but I still need a little more time.”
Theo shook Jack’s hand and patted him on the back. “Riley needs to get something from her car. For her…friend.”
“Sure, sure. Everything’s still where you left it.” Jack winked at her.
Giving the older man a smile, she said, “I appreciate all you’re doing for me, Jack. I owe you—”
He waved his grease rag as if brushing away her words. “Think nothing of it. I’d much rather be tinkering inside someone’s engine than dunkin’ my head in a barrel of apples.”
Riley didn’t believe that was true; this festival meant something to the people in this town, but she appreciated him trying to make her feel better. “Thanks anyway.”
Moving to the vehicle, she could feel Fred’s anxious body beside her as she stood by the car trying to recall if she’d packed it into the trunk or backseat.
“What happened to your car?” Fred nudged her front fender that was lying beside the car instead of attached to it.
“I went looking for a tree ornament apparently.” Riley moved to the back seat and opened the door. Wiggling out the top box that was wedged in with other boxes and bags, she set it on the ground by her feet. Squatting down, she pulled the flaps back and peered inside.
Fred shuffled his feet beside her. “Is it in there?”
Turning her head to the side, she stared up at him. “Give me a second.” Looking back to the box, she moved some things around. “No, this is books. It must be in the other one.”
“You want me to get it out?” Fred stepped forward.
She noted Theo moving toward the
back of her trunk and leaning on it, Jack beside him.
“I want you to calm down.” She took a deep breath and slid the other box out and set it on top of the first one. Inside was a mixture of items, old cds, photos, hats, and the figurine. Riley lifted the paper wrapped bundle out, the size of her hand, and peeled away the covering. Seeing the colorful ceramic made her think fondly of the little hands that had painted it. At the bottom of the miniature, she noticed a screw sized hole in the bottom that she had missed while hurriedly packing to leave her ex. Inside the hole, she could barely make out the edges of paper. “How did you fit it into such a sma—”
Fred reached in and snatched the item out of the wrapping and her hands before she could finish speaking.
She thought he would shake out what was inside or ask Jack for something to get it, but to her horror Fred raised and threw the object on the ground, smashing it into pieces—a broken ceramic rainbow littered the cement floor of the garage.
“No! You ass!” Riley picked up a piece that landed by her knee. Fred had destroyed so much for her in the one thoughtless act.
Scooping the tightly rolled paper up from the ground with a triumphant smile, Fred looked at her. “It was just a stupid, cheap dust collector.”
Hearing the lack of sympathy in his voice enraged her. Riley launched up from the floor and smacked him, forgetting she still held a piece of the statue in her hand until she saw the blood streaming out of a cut.
Placing his hand on his cheek and removing it to see the crimson fluid on his fingers, Fred’s face pinched into anger. Moving toward her, he ranted, “You bitch! I should—”
“If you touch her I will break your hands off and beat the shit out of you with them.” Theo hadn’t moved. He was still leaning casually against the trunk of her car by Jack. However, those dark intense eyes appeared hard and black as coal as they locked onto Fred waiting for him to move.
A foot away from her, Fred shifted his gaze to the domineering man. She noted Fred’s blue eyes brightening with apprehension and a single shiver shake his tall thin frame. Hiding it quickly, he glanced back at her, his gaze rolling from her face to her feet and he sneered; curling the corner of his lips down.
“I got what I came for. You enjoy your life in this nothing little town.”He took two steps back and squeezed his fist around the paper. He headed past Theo. “If you want her, you can have her. She was a terrible lay anyway.”
“Kiss my ass, Fred, and stay the hell out of my life.” She followed Fred out of the wide garage doors. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him how unbridled her passion was in the arms of a real man—Theo. However, she didn’t want to share something so intimate with her ex. Sharing would mean she cared about Fred’s opinion and she didn’t.
Thankfully, Theo, who came to stand beside her and rested a warm, strong hand on her shoulder, remained silent as well. They both just watched Fred give them a sloppy salute as his quick strides moved in the direction away from town and back toward the main road. The place she hoped a tree had fallen on his car. Immediately she took the thought back, because that would mean he would be trapped in this town for days with her and she just wanted rid of him for good.
“You okay?” He tightened his fingers around the curve of her shoulder.
Taking a moment to lean against him, absorb his strength, she inhaled; claiming his woodsy, musk as her balm. Theo steadied her senses. She didn’t want to analyze why that was. She just accepted it for the moment. “I’m fine. Just fine.”
“That man was a real piece of work. Not sure how someone as sweet as you got mixed up with that insulting ass.” Jack scratched his head as Fred disappeared around the last corner.
“Neither am I. But now it’s over.” She released a heavy sigh and step out from under Theo’s arm. Her body ached with the loss, but she took another step away to firm up her resolve.
“For you, but I doubt the same is true for him… With those codes, he’s playing with the wrong people’s money. I don’t see it ending well.” Theo was no longer touching her, but his dark gaze still held her as he glanced along her body as if ensure himself she was unharmed. “If the bastard ever contacts you again, while you’re here, or after… You let me know.”
The deep timber of his voice assured her he was serious. Heat infused her body and made her fingers and toes tingle. This strong man protected what was his, and somehow he’d included her under that umbrella and she was awed. No one but her family had ever done that.
Unable to speak because of the emotion welling up in her throat, she just nodded and turned to Jack. Swallowing hard, she took a fortifying breath and said, “Jack, sorry I brought all this commotion to your shop.”
“Think nothing of it.” He waved it away. “Give me until sometime tomorrow and we’ll see where things sit with your car.”
“Thanks.” She gave him a quick hug and then turned to head back to the fairgrounds.
Behind her, she could hear Theo and Jack talking, but within minutes, she found her walk accompanied by Theo’s long strides. The imposing man beside her remained silent and she was glad. There were too many thoughts running in her head, things she needed to think about and things she should be thinking about tumbled in her mind. When she got to her parents house, she would be switching her cell service immediately. It sickened her to know all this time she had thought she had the upper hand and was running away from Fred, he’d known her whereabouts at all times. Fred was now out of her life for good.
She let out a long slow steady breath. It was time for her to get focused on what she wanted for her life. Tomorrow she would be leaving this town, back onto the pathway of her future, which just left her tonight.
Chapter Nine
“I love you, little bears.” Theo kissed both his boys on the crown as they headed up the stairs one by one in front of Riley.
“Night, Papa-Bear,” they chorused together as they stifled yawns with their small hands.
He glanced at Riley. “Thanks for reading to them again. I know you’ve had a rough day as well.”
This was his only reference to the asshole, Fred, all day. Riley hadn’t seemed to want to discuss it, so he left it alone.
“Being with them makes it all go away.” She gave him a smile, the corners of it still faltered a little, he assumed from the stress of the day she was trying to deny.
“I’ll be back shortly.” He backed up toward the kitchen, unsure why he’d told her that he’d be returning soon. Over the past four days, she was always asleep and locked tight inside the guestroom when he returned—for both of their good.
“Okay.” She gave him a dainty finger wave as she followed the boys up to their room.
There was nothing more needed to be said, or that he could come up with to stall the moment, so he turned and went into the kitchen to the back door.
Outside he stood in the shadows of his back porch like he did since Riley came to stay with them, and removed his clothing. He needed this run tonight more than any other. This afternoon he’d been so pissed at the audacity of Riley’s ex touching her for any reason, especially in anger, that he wanted to kill the man. To shift and tear his teeth into the bastard and not stop until he had drug the man through the woods and off a cliff that led into a deep ravine. Even now, rage still laced his veins.
He needed this run. Needed to put some space between him and Riley, because his desire for her was at an almost unbearable level. The drive to protect her against another man ignited his desire to claim and mark her as his. However she wasn’t his. Would never be his. Most likely, she would be leaving tomorrow and never returning. He couldn’t risk giving her the second bite; it would bind her to him. He’d made an error in letting his bear take over the last time and sinking his teeth into her, now that one bite had caused them to mind-link during sex—normally not happening until after the second. He could only imagine what would happen if he marked her again.
One more night. All he needed to do was to make it through this
night and his life would go back to normal and he could forget her.
Liar.
Exhaling loud, he shifted. Feeling the sting and pull in his bones and muscles was a welcomed sensation. He loved being in bear form, at times more than he liked being in human form. He took a moment to drag in the cool night air into his lungs; smelling the rich earth, the animals, and insects that moved in the night.
Immediately, he lumbered to his favorite redwood and pressed his back against it, moving up and down, giving himself a good scratch. The rough bark digging deep into his back was enjoyable, but not satisfying. The itch that he most wanted scratched, the one place that disturbed him more than any other, was in another area of his body. He knew only one person could satisfy it.
His mind taunted him, showing him images of he and Riley having sex. His mind recalled how it felt to take her, deep and hard. Feeling her tight wetness submit and coat his dick. His groan shook his body.
Riley was not for him. He needed to leave her alone.
Dropping back on all fours, his mood lower than it had been moments before, he raced off into the woods. Determined not only to check the security of his property but to stay away until he knew he had himself under control.
It will be a long run.
~YH~
“Good night, little ones.” Riley rose from the chair that sat against the wall in between the twins’ beds. They were fast asleep and had been before she’d gotten more than two pages into the book. With all the games, activities, and excitement of the festival in town they were wiped out like every night this week.
Tomorrow would be more of the same for the townspeople. Most likely her last day in Den. After today’s events with Fred, she just wanted to give Theo and his boys back the serenity of their life before she’d encroached upon it.
Leaving the room, she closed the door firmly behind her. Going downstairs, she straightened up the kitchen. Normally she would rush to her room and to bed before Theo returned from his security walk around the property—keeping away from the windows.
Bear's Gold (Erotic Shifter Fairy Tales) Page 9
