Bear My Heart: A Small Town Paranormal Romance (7 page)

Dot nodded eagerly.

“Let's see...”
Troy began ticking the names off his fingers. “Big Nuts,
HandJobs and...I Screw Anything.”

“She didn't!”
Dot burst into laughter.

“Oh yes she did. But I
was smart enough not to listen to her.” He grinned and started
driving down the road.

“But you did listen to
her,” Dot said softly.

Troy nodded. “Yes. I
did. When you are loved, you love in return. You no longer live
just for yourself.”

They pulled up in front of a
neat single-story house. Before Troy could say more, the front door
burst open and two impish little boys raced each other to the truck.
Their faces were glowing with excitement.

“Uncle Troy!”
they shouted over each other. “What took you so long?”

“We've been waiting for
ages!”

“You're late!”

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

“Leo, Logan, stop
asking Dot so many questions and let her eat in peace,” Megan
scolded her sons.

“Yes, Mom,” the
boys said together but they grinned cheekily at Dot. The twins had
made Dot sit between them so that “it was fair”. They
both wanted to sit beside her, so that was the only solution.

“Oh, it's okay,”
Dot said. “I like talking to them.”

Leo and Logan giggled as they
tucked into their mashed potato. Leo winked at Troy across the table
and whispered loudly, “Is she your girlfriend, Uncle Troy?”

“Leo!” Megan
narrowed her eyes at her son.

“Uncle Troy had a
girlfriend once,” Logan told Dot, waving his fork in the air.
“We never met her though. She left him a long time ago.”

Megan opened her mouth to
admonish the boys but Troy stopped her by saying smoothly, “Well,
she wasn't Miss Right for me. So she's definitely not Aunt Right for
my favorite nephews.”

“Favorite?” The
twins perked up.

“Who's your favorite?”

“Yeah, me or Logan?
It's me, right?”

“No, I'm Uncle Troy's
favorite nephew!”

Troy laughed. “You're
both my favorite nephews.”

Logan appeared satisfied with
Troy's answer and happily reached for another piece of garlic bread.
But Leo frowned as he worked something out in his head.

“But we're your only
nephews,” Leo said at last.

Troy ruffled Leo's hair and
shot Megan a teasing look. “Maybe...I'll have a niece one
day.”

Megan glared at him and
raised a warning finger. Troy immediately put up both palms in
surrender and zipped his mouth.

As Troy continued joking with
the twins, Megan engaged Dot in conversation. Megan described her
work at the library, and asked Dot if she would be happy to conduct a
writing workshop for the residents.

“We do have a
newsletter, and people have been submitting their works. Some
contribute articles and write-ups, while others submit their short
stories and poems. I know there are quite a few budding writers in
Bear Cove. I've talked to some of the teachers, and we thought it
would be great to invite a writer to give a talk at the library.”
Her hazel eyes shone with hope and enthusiasm. “We're a small
town, but I know the turnout will be great!”

“Oh, I'm not a famous
writer or anything,” Dot said nervously. “I just...”

“We don't want fame.
Fame has nothing to do with anything.” Megan waved a hand.
“You're writing for a few magazines, right? I've read your
stories. They're very good.”

“Thank you,” Dot
murmured. “I...”

“And you
are
famous,” Megan added. “You'll be surprised how many
people look forward to reading the next installment by A. Dot.”
Megan patted Dot's hand. “Don't say no just yet. Think about
it, okay?”

“Okay.”

Logan looked up at Dot and
asked, “Are you coming to talk to my class? Mom came and
talked to the whole class about her work at the library. She even
brought a whole bag of library books with her.”

“Uncle Brandon came to
talk to us too,” Leo said. “He told us all about being a
handyman.”

“Uncle Brandon and
Uncle Troy are Mister Handyman,” Logan informed Dot proudly.
“They built new cabinets for our kitchen and put up the shelves
for Mom.”

“And Uncle Brandon lets
us play with his hammers,” Leo said, giving Troy a pointed
look.

Dot chuckled. “Let me
guess. Uncle Troy won't let you touch them.”

“Who dropped the hammer
repeatedly on the wooden floorboards, until the floor looked like the
surface of the moon?” Troy asked, planting his hands on his
hips. “The floor was covered with pockmarks and craters and
you even made a hole right through a panel.”

“It wasn't me!”
The twins pointed at each other.

“Liar! You dropped the
hammer first!”

“You made the hole!”

“Uncle Brandon didn't
mind,” Leo said defiantly.

“And it was Uncle
Brandon's floor,” his brother added cheerfully.

Troy rubbed his chin. “Maybe
I should have a word with Uncle Brandon.”

“No!” the twins
howled.

“It's all your fault,”
Logan snapped at his brother.

“Don't poke me!”

As Megan settled the boys'
argument, Troy met Dot's eyes across the table. She didn't seem to
mind the noise and the racket the boys were making at all.

She was smiling, and she
looked happy and relaxed. In fact, he had never seen her smile so
much or heard her laugh and chat so happily with anyone before. She
was always keeping to herself, keeping herself apart from the
townspeople.

She felt she didn't belong.
Or maybe she was afraid to belong.

He would show her, just as
his sister and nephews had shown him, that being alone wasn't going
to solve anything.

Dot turned to him and smiled.
Troy felt his heart clench with hope, longing and joy.

He never realized how much
her smile meant to him.

CHAPTER
TWENTY

After dinner, the twins
dragged Dot to the living room and begged her to play 'Snakes and
Ladders' with them.

Megan finished loading the
dishwasher and came out of the kitchen. “It's almost bedtime,
boys, and I think Dot wants to get home for some peace and quiet
after spending such a rowdy evening with you rascals.”

“Aww, Mom...”
Logan looked up and gave Megan his best puppy-dog eyes. “Just
one game. Please! We're not tired. Dot's not tired too.” He
glanced hopefully at Dot.

“I'm not tired,”
Dot answered. “And I haven't played 'Snakes and Ladders' in
ages. I'd love to play a game—if it's okay with your mom.”

Megan beamed and hunkered
down between her sons. “All right. Let's set this up.”

They all sprawled on the
living room carpet and a lively, noisy game of 'Snakes and Ladders'
began.

Dot sat beside Troy on the
carpet and their shoulders touched briefly. His arm brushed against
hers when he reached out to roll the dice and move his token, and it
sent a sizzle of pure heat and desire through her body.

Dot stole a glance at Troy as
he joked with his sister and nephews. His handsome features crinkled
with humor and happiness, and his powerful body radiated raw,
masculine strength and a magnetic, animal heat.

She had noticed him the very
first day she arrived in Bear Cove. And she had been unnerved by
her own reaction to him. She could see that Troy was ruggedly
handsome, tall and muscular but the attraction wasn't just physical.
Her gut told her she could trust this man but she knew it was far
safer not to trust anyone.

But maybe she was no longer
guarding her life. She was guarding her heart.

She might be falling in love.

Troy was sweet, sexy and very
desirable. It wasn't just his sex appeal. It was everything about
him.

He was a man who cared for
his family. He was loving, protective and gentle. He restrained his
immense strength as he roughhoused with his two rambunctious nephews.
He was a fun, funny uncle to the boys. He'd put aside his own
problems and stepped up when his sister needed him. He made sure the
twins had a good male role model in their lives, and his sister's
house was always filled with love and laughter.

Dot watched Troy rub his
hands in an exaggerated fashion and let out a wicked cackle whenever
one of the twins landed on a snake head.

“I think Uncle Troy's
doing it on purpose,” Leo whispered to his brother. “He's
making us lose.”

“Let's get him,”
Logan whispered back.

Troy pretended not to notice
the twins sneaking behind him. Giggling and shushing each other,
they tiptoed up to him and pounced.

Troy growled and pretended to
bite them as they climbed onto his back and tried to wrestle him to
the ground. Dot smiled as she watched the mischievous twins gang up
on their uncle.

They're so lucky to have each
other, she thought. She wished she had a sibling.

The twins fought and
squabbled, and there was ribbing and rivalry but there was also
friendship, camaraderie and love. They teased and challenged each
other and pushed each other to be better. They had each other's back
and they cheered for each other.

Dot observed the same
dynamics between Megan and Troy. Megan was down on all fours beside
her brother, advancing on the two squealing boys like a she-bear. It
was the twins versus their mom and uncle, and the adults were
winning.

“Dot! Dot, help us!”
Logan shrieked.

“Dot's on our team!”
Leo declared and scampered to her side. His brother followed suit
and grinned triumphantly. “We're going to win now, Uncle Troy.
It's three against two.”

“We'll see about that,”
Troy deadpanned and winked at Dot.

Dot couldn't help laughing.
They were all on their hands and knees, crawling around a
half-forgotten game of 'Snakes and Ladders'. It was crazy and fun,
and she suddenly realized that this was what family was about.

Through the crazy times, the
bad times, the fun times, they would be here for each other.

Troy had moved to Bear Cove
for Megan and the boys. And Megan had invited her to dinner for
Troy.

Dot took a deep breath and
let out a very convincing growl. Troy looked impressed and Megan
laughed delightedly.

“We'll get Mom!”
Logan and Leo crowed, and together they jumped into their mother's
arms. Megan grabbed them and started smothering them with kisses.
“Help!” they yelled, laughing and squirming. “No
kisses! Mom!”

Dot glanced from the giggling
trio to Troy. Troy was looking at her with curiosity and amusement
but she caught the predatory gleam in his eye. Dot gulped and
hesitated.

“Look out, Dot!”
Leo yelled and pointed at Troy. “He's coming for you!”

Too late.

Dot found herself being
tumbled to the carpet. After much panting and rolling and growling,
she finally pinned Troy to the ground.

Looking up, she saw Leo and
Logan sitting on their mother's legs. Megan's eyes were bright with
laughter as she grabbed a tissue and raised it as a white flag.

“Yay! We win!”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE

Dot didn't pull away when
Troy held her hand as he drove her home. Instead, she sighed and
laced her fingers through his.

She had enjoyed herself so
much this evening. Megan had looked both delighted and embarrassed
when Dot thanked her profusely for the lovely dinner. She kept
insisting that it was just a simple family dinner, but it was so much
more to Dot.

For the first time in so
long, Dot allowed herself to dream and want. She wanted a life like
this, where family dinners were just ordinary, everyday affairs.

Many people had a life like
this. She had a right to live a happy, peaceful, ordinary life, just
like everyone else. Right?

Dot laced her fingers tightly
through Troy's and gripped his large, calloused hand. His hand was
warm, solid and assuring. She didn't want to let go. She wanted to
hold on to him, to this moment, forever.

Troy parked his truck in
front of her house and walked her to her door. She was still holding
his hand as she unlocked her door.

They stood facing each other
for a moment, the silence charged with heat and tension. Dot saw the
desire in Troy's deep, blue eyes and her eyes lingered on his lips.

With a low growl, Troy cupped
her nape with his huge, rough hand and tilted her face up to him.
His mouth covered hers and he didn't leash his hunger and lust this
time. He kissed her deeply, hungrily, letting her know exactly how
much he wanted her.

Dot grabbed his collar and
pulled him to her. The kiss was searing and demanding, and she
wanted more. With her hands and mouth, she
demanded
he give
her more.