Page 56 of Bad Blood Bear

Chapter 24

They drove back to the compound, listening to soft country music and holding hands, not talking much. Lissa seemed tired, and Tank was lost in thought.

He’d been happy tonight. He’d almost forgotten what that felt like.

He pulled into the clearing and parked, but he didn’t move to get out of the truck. He didn’t want this day to end, but he wasn’t sure how to prolong it. At least, not the way he wanted.

Lissa smiled at him, her eyes shining in the dark. “I had a wonderful time today. Thank you for taking me shopping. And on a date.”

She was wearing the new pink jacket, and she looked fucking adorable in it. He wondered when the last time was she’d been allowed to have something frivolous and girly.

He wanted to fill her life with frivolous, girly things.

But he couldn’t do that. She deserved a real mate, not a broken bear still bonded to someone else.

“I wish I could give you more,” he said impulsively. “You deserve this all the time. You deserve a real mate. Not someone like me.”

She was quiet for a moment, still holding his hand. Hers was warm and soft and felt so good in his.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with you,” she said.

He huffed out a mirthless laugh. “You don’t know yet what a mating bond is like,” he said. “Losing that tore up my bear so bad, and I don’t know if we could ever mate again.”

Lissa caressed his fingers softly. “I know you had that special bond with Angie,” she said. “But not every relationship has to be forever. I always knew, with my boyfriends, that one of us would move on sooner or later.” She stroked his arm slowly. “But it’s nice to have someone to be with. Someone to care about, to hold at night and make you feel like you’re not alone. Couldn’t we be that?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe we could try.”

He leaned in slowly and kissed her. Like the first time their lips had touched, it was magic, warming his heart, filling him with sweetness and desire at the same time.

Her mouth opened to his, and he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and deepened the kiss. Why had he been depriving them both of this for so long? It felt right; it felt like what they should be doing.

Maybe Lissa was right. Just because they couldn’t have a true bond, that didn’t mean it couldn’t be good.

He broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers. “Can I tell you a secret?” he murmured.

“Yes.”

“All evening I’ve been thinking about that blue lace underwear. And imagining what it looks like on you. And every time I do, it gives me a boner.”

She giggled, and nipped his lower lip the way she’d done the very first time she kissed him, in the diner. With the same results. Instant desire.

“Want to see it?” she asked.

“Hell yeah,” he said. “I really, really do.”

“Then you better ask me inside, Big Bear.”

“Okay,” he said. “Would you like to come inside?”

“Why yes,” she said primly, and then promptly nibbled on his bottom lip again.

Damn.

He opened his truck door. “This is still a date, so stay there.”

He walked around to her side of the truck to get her door for her. The shopping would be safe in the cargo compartment of his truck, for the moment.

“Be careful with your heels,” he said, wrapping his arm around her waist. “The ground is pretty uneven here.”