Page 77 of Bear
“I do. I think you’re pretty fucking good at setting Cecily on fire.”
“I suppose. Listen, Kareema, I hate to sound like every other person out there but be careful and go slowly. I see the way Tito is looking at you and I see the way you’re looking at him.”
She smiled at me and nodded her head. “Okay, Bear. I’ll be careful. Not only because you asked me nicely but because this means you officially love me.” She batted her long lashes at me and smiled before opening the fridge and grabbing the cheesecake bars.
“That’s not what this means,” I frowned, lowering my brows on my forehead.
“Oh, that’s exactly what it means. You care or else you wouldn’t have given me the big brother warning.”
“You’re okay. I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt,” I admitted. I took the cheesecake bars from her little hands and glared at her, making her straighten up the goofy smile on her face.
“I love you too, Bear. Also, Cecily must have put it on you seriously if you’re acting like this.”
“Like what? How am I acting?” I quizzed.
“Like you have a heart under all that armor. I like it though. It looks good on you.” She grabbed the caramel pound cake and walked ahead of me, leaving me to shake my head at her. If Tito planned to take on Kareema, he was going to have his hands full as a motherfucker.
CECILY
“Yeah, Dad. I can’t wait for you to come home. I’m getting everything ready right now so by the time you get out, all you have to do is slide back into place.” Bear sat in the study after Tito and Kareema took their conversation to the guesthouse, talking to his father while I listened.
I watched his bright copper eyes through the haze of cigar smoke in the room and noticed how he was able to keep an even expression and tone while he lied his ass off. It was a talent, I suppose. He was so damn smooth with it.
“Did Luanne check in with you?” Bear asked. I watched him nod his head then take another pull of the cigar. “Good. She’s pulling her weight for the welcome home party. Okay, I can do that. Yeah, I talked to Cecily…” Bear tossed his narrowed gaze to me, making my stomach clench. “She’ll be there. You know there will be other girls there too,” he pointed out. I noticed the way his jaw flexed and the way the muscles in his neck stiffened.
“I know, Dad. I was just reminding you. Yeah, I’ll extend an invite to your connects. All the soldiers will be there too. Everyone’s just waiting for you to come back home,” Bear flashed a deceptive smile full of venom. I wondered if his father could sense it. He wasn’t a stupid man by any means but he was incredibly arrogant. Arrogance always rivaled stupidity when it came to a battle of wits.
Bear ended the conversation after listening to his father for a few more minutes then he extinguished his cigar. “He won’t let up on having you at the party.” His voice was gruff and annoyed.
“When has your fathereverbacked down?” I asked.
“You’re right. I guess I hoped he was just blowing off steam and he’d come to his fucking senses. That was an empty hope though. I don’t know why I hope anything when it comes to him. He’s a piece of fucking trash.” Bear pushed his fingers through his locs and leaned back in his chair with an exacerbated sigh.
“Because he’s your father and sometimes we hold out hope that our parents will be exactly how we see them in our minds.”
“You’d think I learned my lesson after he killed Hawk.” He stood to his feet, stretching over my head. “Let’s go upstairs. I’m sure you’ll get a text from Kareema about Tito in the morning if she’s still here.”
“What did you say to her when y’all went to get dessert from the kitchen,” I asked as we made our way to the bedroom.
“I told her to be careful,” he said. He stood at the door and let me walk ahead of him. I felt his eyes glued to my ass and I was suddenly aware of the butt plug again. I’d kept it in all through dinner and now I didn’t notice it unless I thought about it. It was still a weird sensation but I didn’t hate it. I was anxious to see what Bear felt like in place of the plug.
“You toldKareemato be careful? You know she’s a wild child.”
“I know. I still want her to be careful though.”
“I can understand that. She tends to leap without looking.”
“I know,” he chuckled. “Tito is going to have his hands full.”
“That’s an understatement.”
My eyes ate up the sight of Bear before me unbuttoning his shirt and revealing his smooth mocha skin. I stared at the hard lines of his muscles as they moved under his tank top. My heart sped up a little pumping blood everywhere. My fingertips tingled when he walked by and I smelled his cologne.
How the hell could one man be so devastatingly gorgeous? I needed answers.
I had to do something to busy myself while he undressed or else I’d be reduced to a puddle on the floor. I pulled my long hair into a loose ponytail then started taking my dress off. “Leave it on,” Bear’s voice sounded from the closet. I didn’t even know he was watching me.
“Leave it on?”
