The Bear Essentials (Siren Publishing: The Stormy Glenn ManLove Collection) (10 page)

Casey sat on the side of the bed as Rob got up and dressed. He felt his face flush as he watched the man tuck his cock into his jeans and button them up. Commando was a good look on the man. The image of Rob walking around with no underwear on was probably going to stay with Casey for the rest of the day.

By the time Rob held a hand out to him, Casey was ready to say to hell with it and crawl back into bed with the man. The only thing that kept him from stripping off his clothes was the knowledge that they needed every penny they could earn if they planned to get out on their own as soon as possible.

Casey’s jaw dropped when they reached the bottom of the stairs and Rob’s mother held out a breakfast burrito to both of them. “Thank you.”

Maggie smiled. “You’ll need something filling for work, and as good as your honey buns are, they won’t give you the energy you need to work a full shift at the bakery.”

“How’d you know?”

“I worked at a bakery when I was in high school. I remember how it was.”

Casey grinned because he just couldn’t not smile. Maggie Colton was turning out to be a wonderful woman. She seemed to accept everything about Casey and—besides Rob—he hadn’t really experienced that before.

On a whim, Casey leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to Maggie’s cheek. “Thank you.”

The twinkle in the woman’s light-brown eyes said she understood that Casey was thanking her for more than the breakfast burrito. “You’re more than welcome, honey. Now, you’d better get going or you’ll be late for work.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Casey couldn’t keep from beaming as he swung his bag over his shoulder and followed Rob out to the man’s truck. His day was starting off with a bang. It was certainly starting off better than any day he could remember in the past.

When Rob pulled the truck up in front of the bakery a few minutes later, Casey was just finishing up the burrito Maggie had given him. “This is really good,” he said between bites. “Does your mom make these a lot?”

Rob grinned as he rested his hands on the steering wheel. “Oh, she’s made them before. She’s just never met us at the bottom of the stairs at
oh my god it’s early
. She made us fend for ourselves that early in the morning.”

Casey chuckled. “Maybe she likes me more.”

Rob winked. “I know I do.”

Casey felt the heat in his face as he ducked his head. He was pretty sure he could light up a city block. He wasn’t used to getting compliments. Getting smacked around was more his usual. This would take some time to get used to.

Casey bit his bottom lip as he looked toward the front of the bakery. He tightened his fingers around the strap of his bag. “I have to go in.”

He really didn’t want to.

“What time do you get off work, cub?”

“Two,” Casey replied as he glanced back to Rob.

“Hmm.” Rob frowned. “I’ll be at work until five.”

Casey reached over and laid his hand on Rob’s wrist. “I can get home on my own, Rob. I’ve been doing it for ages.”

When Rob’s lips pressed into a thin line, Casey got the distinct feeling he shouldn’t have said that. Considering the first time they ever met Casey was running scared, Rob might have a point. But still…

“Do you have a better solution?” Casey was willing to hear it. Compromise was something he was well acquainted with. He had been compromising his entire life.

Rob’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, making it crackle. “Would you be offended if I asked my mother to pick you up?”

“No.” He liked Maggie. “But I don’t want to be a bother either.”

“You could never be a bother, cub.” Rob grabbed Casey’s hand gave it a gentle squeeze. “Besides, my mother likes you, remember?”

Casey wrapped his hand around the muscled arm closest to him and leaned his head against Rob’s shoulder. “Just not as much as you like me, right?”

“No one likes you as much as I do, cub.”

One simple statement and Rob made everything inside of Casey warm and wanted. Casey rubbed his cheek against Rob’s sleeve as he whispered, “That’s an amazing talent you have there, Mr. Bear.”

“What talent?”

Casey grinned as he scooted back across the seat and opened the door. He slid out and onto his feet before turning back to wink at Rob as he lifted the strap of his bag to his shoulder. “I’ll tell you tonight when I see you.”

He could see Rob shaking his head, chuckling, as he closed the door and stepped back onto the sidewalk. Casey stood there as Rob drove away, watching until the taillights of the truck faded from view before turning and walking to the door of the bakery.

He loved working at the bakery, cooking in a place that always smelled of fresh bread and pastries. When things weren’t busy, his boss gave him leave to try new recipes and let his baking imagination go wild. If what he created was edible, they served it in the bakery. If not, Casey kept trying.

For the first time since he took the job of sweeping up after close of business when he was fifteen years old, Casey didn’t want to go to work. His imagination ran wild with the things he and Rob could do together…if Rob didn’t have to go to work, too.

Things were going to get a lot better when they were living together and could sleep in each other’s arms all night long. One night just wasn’t enough. Casey couldn’t really remember a night beyond last night when he didn’t sleep with one eye open.

Maybe that was why he had such a hard time going to work? The previous night had been spectacular, and that didn’t even include the sex. That had been earth shattering. But the sense of safety and peace that Casey derived from being wrapped in Rob’s arms all night long wasn’t something he had ever experienced, and he didn’t want to give it up.

He was terrified something was going to take this away from him.

Casey closed his eyes for a moment, his hands clenched so hard that his nails dug into the palms of his hands. He needed to get a hold of himself. Rob was strong enough for the both of them. The man wouldn’t let Casey go easily. He’d fight for him, for what they could have together.

Casey was not in this alone.

After taking a deep breath, Casey opened his eyes and unlocked the bakery door. He relocked the door once he stepped inside and shut the door behind him. He turned on the lights and then headed over to push the on button on the two-pot coffeemaker. It would have been filled the previous night so he just needed to get it started.

After the machine started percolating, Casey walked toward the back of the bakery, dropping his bag down on the floor behind the counter as he went. His first order of business was to check the backboard near the employee restroom. Marge left all her instructions there. If she had anything special she wanted Casey to do, that was where she’d place the note.

As he stepped into the backroom where the actual baking was done, a noise by the hallway leading to the backdoor caught his attention. Casey swallowed hard a sliver of fear raced up his spine. Even though he had the morning shift, it wasn’t totally unheard of for Marge to come in and make a surprise visit. She liked to keep on top of things at the bakery.

Casey prayed it was Marge.

He grabbed a rolling pin off the counter and held it tightly with both hands as he crept toward the small hallway that led to the back of the bakery. The only things back there was the cold storage, dry storage, employee bathroom, and the door that led to the small alley behind the building. Casey so didn’t want to go back there, but he knew if he didn’t find out what had made that noise, he’d stew about it until he chewed off every last fingernail.

Knowing he didn’t have a lot of other choices, Casey tightened his grip on the rolling pin and crept around the corner to the entrance of the hallway. Step by cautious step, Casey made his way to the back door.

Nothing.

He couldn’t see anything out of place and he hadn’t heard another sound, so maybe it was just his overactive imagination. It wouldn’t be the first time he thought he heard something when nothing was there.

Casey’s attention was caught by a can of evaporated milk sitting in the middle of the floor by the back door. There were several stacked on the counter closest to the door. Casey rolled his eyes as he placed the can back on the stack. He was making monsters out of rolling cans.

Casey dropped the rolling pin onto the counter and then pushed a hand through his hair as he made his way back into the baking area. He grabbed the ingredients he would need to start making the fresh honey buns the bakery had become famous for—it helped that they were smack dab in the middle of bear central—and poured them into the large industrial mixer.

Casey went to turn the mixer on when he heard another noise from the back of the bakery. He swallowed hard, knowing that this time it couldn’t be his overactive imagination. Wishing he hadn’t left the rolling pin on the counter by the back door, Casey stepped to the entrance to the hallway.

He took one look at the evaporated milk cans stacked neatly on the floor in the middle of the walkway, the rolling pin balanced precariously on the top two cans, and screamed as he spun around and raced for the front of the shop.

Honey buns be damned, he was done!

Rob knew he had still had a smile as wide as the Mississippi River on his face when he pulled up back in front of the house, but he couldn’t seem to make it go away. And he kind of wondered why he was even worried about it.

He was happy.

It was as simple as that. He had thought he’d have a few more years before he met his mate but now that he had, he couldn’t imagine a life without Casey. Twenty-four hours was all it took for Rob to know he didn’t even want to try.

The hours between now and when he got home to see Casey’s sweet face seemed impossible to handle, but Rob knew he needed to, just as Casey did. While he knew his parents would let them stay at the house until they got on their feet, Rob wanted to have a place with Casey that was just theirs. Their house. Their rules. Their nude cuddling on the couch.

Rob couldn’t wait.

Rob turned off the motor and opened his door. As he started to climb out of the truck, something on the passenger side floorboard caught his eyes. Rob leaned back into the vehicle and stretched out until he could grab it.

It was the book Casey put all of his handwritten recipes in. Rob wasn’t real sure if Casey needed it for work or not, but the man had obviously been taking it with him.

Rob grinned as he jumped back in the truck and shut the door. He started the engine and then pulled out of the driveway. This was the perfect excuse to go back and get the kiss he should have gotten when he dropped Casey off. Casey had slid out of the truck too fast.

Who needed a couple of extra hours of sleep anyway?

The lights were on when he pulled back up in front of the bakery. Rob wasn’t sure exactly what Casey did at the bakery so early in the morning, but he hoped it involved honey buns. He turned off the engine, grabbed the recipe book, and climbed out of the truck.

He noticed that other lights up and down the street were starting to come on, the small strip of stores coming to life. He knew from experience that over the next couple of hours, the entire area would be waking, some heading off to work, others getting ready for the day.

There was something to be said for being up this early in the morning. It was quiet, almost as if the air held its breath to see how people were going to start their day.

Rob peered through the glass window as he knocked on the door. The lights were on and he could see the entire front room of the bakery. While there were a few items in the glass cabinets, it didn’t look like Casey had filled them with the rest of the donuts and cookies and pastries.

Maybe that was why Rob couldn’t spot Casey?

Maybe he was in the backroom baking?

Rob knocked a little harder.

After about five minutes and several loud knocks, Rob started to grow worried. He moved along the edge of the front windows, bending down to look under the colorful letters and graphics painted on the glass so he could see farther into the room.

Except for the empty cabinets, the place looked ready to open. Rob could even see steam rising up from the filled coffee pots across the room.

There was just no Casey.

Knowing he was going to get in a shitload of trouble, Rob grabbed the door handle and turned it until the lock popped and the door swung open. “Casey? Cub?” he called out as he listened for any indication of where his mate might be.

Apprehension was a funny thing. It had the ability to freeze someone in their steps and steal their breath away. It also had the ability to spur them on and make their heart race a million times per second.

Rob felt like his heart was going to pound right out of his chest as he headed toward the back of the store. He spotted Casey’s bag on the floor as he hurried by and tossed the recipe book in that direction. He was glad it didn’t break apart when it hit the floor just in front of the bag. Casey would have his head.

Rob started calling out Casey’s name as he searched the rest of the bakery. It took less than a minute to search the place, front to back. There was no sign of Casey. The cans of evaporated milk all over the floor by the back door didn’t reassure Rob that everything was okay.