Shiftr: Swipe Left for Love (Lori) BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Hope Valley BBW Dating App Romance Book 5) (5 page)

“Would you like me to hold her?” Bruno said, holding his arms out. Without stopping to think, Lori passed her over to him. Then she blinked; she should have assumed that he was just being polite, and refused. He laid Nancy against his shoulder, and she settled down immediately, becoming drowsy and placid.

“Thanks,” Lori said, unable to hide the surprise in her voice.

“I miss having a baby sleeping on me, ever since Tad got too big to be picked up,” he said with a grin.

“Where is Tad?”

“Oh, tearing around somewhere.” He pointed at a small boy sprinting across the garden, accompanied by another boy and two girls.

“He’s a lovely boy,” she said. “You’re obviously doing a great job of bringing him up.”

“He’s an easy kid to take care of. He’s always so happy and excited about the world. But it’s not always easy feeling like I need to be his dad and his mom.”

“I understand,” Lori said, wondering what’d happened to Tad’s mother. “I think I’ve always felt the same, even when I was with my ex. He didn’t take an active role in parenting, so I might as well have been by myself.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Bruno said. She shrugged.

“I guess it’s prepared me well for single parenthood.” Bruno nodded, quietly understanding.

“And are you recovering from the accident?”

“I think so,” she said slowly. “I’ve had a few weird moments, but nothing major.”

“As in flashbacks?” She nodded. “It’s like I’m dreaming, but I’m actually awake, watching TV or something. Suddenly, from nowhere, I’ll feel like I’m in the car again, knowing that the engine’s going to blow. My heart starts to pound and I get really overheated. And then I feel crazy emotional.” An intense look came into Bruno’s arctic-blue eyes. It was sympathy, but more than that. It was as if she was describing something that was very familiar to him. Empathy. That’s what it was. He knew exactly how it felt. She gazed at him, lips parted, as a wave of tenderness washed over her. She was desperate to ask what had happened to him. Then she mentally shook herself. He was a firefighter. He was probably used to seeing traumatic things.
But how does he do it?
How does he go home after almost being blown up while cutting two strangers out of a car, and be normal and hang out with his son? He’s so brave.

“It must be tough being a firefighter,” she said, cursing herself at the same time.
No, Lori, being a firefighter is like a walk in the park! Duh. What a dumb comment!

“It can be,” he said. “But I couldn’t do anything else. I think of it as my vocation in life.”

“Did you always want to be a firefighter when you were a kid?” she asked.

“No, I wanted to be a tree surgeon. Which was my career for ten years, actually. I've only been a firefighter for the last four years.”

“Can I ask why?” At her words, his face shut down. His eyes narrowed and his lips hardened into a thin line.

“I guess you could say I developed a passion for it. One day I woke up and just realized that this was what I had to do.”

“I bet Tad loves that his dad is a firefighter?” she said. Bruno laughed.

“You betcha! He's always writing stories about firefighters, and painting pictures of fire engines. And I’m always being dragged into his school to give talks on fire safety and what it's like to be a firefighter. A couple of times a year, we have an open day at the fire station and the kids can come in and look around. They always want to slide down the emergency pole. I think that's why most of them want to follow in my footsteps, to be honest!” They both laughed. Lori noticed that he had a nice, easy-going way about him. When he wasn't speaking, he looked a little dark and brooding. But when he was obviously enjoying the conversation, he kind of came to life. His eyes crinkled at the corners, and he got these little dimples in his cheeks.

“I'm just going to grab a beer from the drinks table. Can I get you one, or –?” he said, trailing off to avoid asking awkward question.

“I’m still breastfeeding,” she said rescuing him. “But I would like a soft drink. I'll come with you for the walk, as I haven't had a good look at the place yet. Shall I take Nancy back?”

“No, she’s as light as a feather,” he said, and she did look very comfortable, fast asleep on his shoulder.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” They walked across the room together.

*

“Do you see what I see?” Lauren sang out to the other girls, inclining her head towards Bruno and Lori.

“Who
is
that?” Kristin said. “I know he's part of the clan, but I never really see him around.”

“That's Bruno. He’s a full-time firefighter, and he has a nine-year-old son, so he doesn't have much time to hang with the other bears.”

“He's very good looking. From a purely objective point of view,” Kristin said.

“He is,” Dina agreed. “He seems like a really nice guy as well, from the little I’ve spoken to him. But there's always something kind of dark and tortured about him. Like, sometimes he drops out of the conversation, and you can see a flash of real pain in his eyes.”

“If the way he saved Lori is any indication of what he gets up to on a daily basis, then that kind of explains it,” Andrea said. Connor walked over with Willow still attached to his chest.

“What are you ladies gossiping about?” He said.

“Uh, what gives you the idea that we’re gossiping?” Lauren said, her voice full of mock outrage. Connor grinned.

“Let me see: number one, you're all staring at the same two people. Number two: you're speaking in that tone that women only have when they’re trying to prevent anybody from outside the group from hearing their conversation. And number three, now I've mentioned it, you all look really guilty. Case in point!” he finished triumphantly. Lauren made a
hmph!
sound.

“Honey, just be grateful that you’re as good looking as you are, and that you’re the father of my child or you’d be a very sorry bear right about now!” she said. He kissed her on the cheek.

“So are you going to enlighten me now?”

“Bruno is single, right?” she said.

“Single, as in he doesn't have a mate. But he’s not looking for one either. He doesn't date.”

“But why?”

“He's been that way ever since he lost his mate five years ago.”

“Wow, that's terrible. Poor guy,” Dina breathed. Connor nodded.

“Yeah, it's really sad. He's never really got over it. But he keeps himself busy with work and caring for Tad.”

“Maybe he needs some encouragement to get out there and meet some nice curvy ladies,” Lauren said. Connor nodded again.

“The guys and I have been saying the same thing, but he's just not interested. He says that he and Tad are a family unit and that's all he needs.”

“Perhaps you should suggest that he puts a profile on Shiftr. At least then he can see who’s out there and it might help him realize what he's missing,” Kristin said. Connor sighed.

“I have thought about it. But he just closes down when I mention the prospect of dating, so it's not easy. You're right though. He deserves to find his perfect match, and it's the duty of our clan to help him do that.”

“Speaking of Shiftr, maybe it's time we let somebody else into the secret, don't you think?” Lauren said once he’d left, directing her question at Andrea.

“That has crossed my mind, more than once,” Andrea replied. “I just didn't want to rush my sister into anything she wasn't ready for. But I feel like she's recovering well from her divorce, and it would do her good to start dating again. Her ex-husband treated her like crap, and made her feel like she was worthless. I'm sure she’ll get a huge confidence boost from the flood of emails she’s bound to get when she posts a profile.”

“And maybe if we and the bears get those two onto the app at the same time, they’ll be able to find out if they’re compatible?” Lauren said. Andrea frowned.

“I am so grateful to him for saving her and Nancy, and he’s obviously a great guy. But he seems kind of damaged. I feel like Lori has had enough darkness in her life. I'd rather see her with somebody chilled out and happy-go-lucky.”

“I see your point,” Dina said. “And in that case, there are plenty of other guys in the clan who'd be low-maintenance mates.”

“Maybe she and Timo would be good together. I can actually see them getting on pretty well,” Melissa said. Melissa and Timo had dated unsuccessfully for a little while, without her even knowing that he was a bear shifter, before he broke it off with her, saying that he knew they weren't fated to be together.

“Perhaps,” Andrea agreed. “It'll be fun to see what the app comes up with anyway.”

“When shall we tell her about it?” Melissa said, almost jumping up and down in excitement.

“Maybe tomorrow afternoon? I’ll just need a little time to have her approved by Tamika first. Are you ladies all free to come over for tea?” Andrea said.

“Yes!” They all said.

“I’ll need to think of a way of easing her into the shifter secret though. The poor thing has had enough shocks lately.”

The girls all went to get food, piling their plates high from the buffet. They helped themselves to cheeseburgers, fries, chilidogs, chicken wings, onion rings, nachos and quesadillas. They all had a rule that they'd eat exactly what they wanted on festival days. There was no point only half enjoying yourself at times like that.

The lovely afternoon turned into a golden evening, but the early summer air was still a little chilly. The band came in from the garden and set up in the corner of the hall. Little by little, shyly at first, people started dancing. The kids joined in too, and it was soon a riot of fun. Dina took her baby home, as he was still so tiny, but Lauren and Lori put their kids in the nursery, so they could relax and dance a little. The music was upbeat at first, with the band playing unexpected covers of pop songs in a swing jazz style. It was really fun and unusual, and everyone was having a great time. After a while, the tempo slowed, and the melodies turned back to swing jazz, as a singer took to the stage. She had a beautiful, velvety voice, which lent the evening an air of old-school romance. Dr Harley arrived late, as he'd been on call all day but when he walked into the room, he took one look at Melissa and pulled her into his arms on the dancefloor. Roman led Kristin onto the dancefloor too. They were both good dancers, and they looked great together, he so tall and lithe, and she such a statuesque, auburn-haired beauty. Lori saw Magnus gazing at Andrea with smoldering eyes from across the room.

“Go and dance with him,” she said.

“No way! I'm not leaving you here by yourself,” Andrea said. “I'll just go and tell him to hang out with us here.” Before Lori could object, she was off.

Lori lost track of them for a moment, abandoning herself to the beauty of the music and the elegance and happiness of the dancers. When she next looked up, Andrea was coming towards her with Magnus’s hand in her left hand, and another guy’s in her right.

“Niall was just saying that he’d love to dance. He used to have ballroom lessons when he was a kid. Can you believe that?” Andrea said.
I can’t,
Lori thought to herself, looking up at the solidly built guy. Niall grinned at her.

“Lori, might I have the pleasure of this dance?” he said.

He led her onto the dancefloor, and, as soon as he started to move, she saw how wrong she’d been about him. He was a very good dancer – amazingly light on his feet for such a big guy.

“You’re really good! I feel so clumsy compared to you!” she exclaimed. “How long did you have lessons for?”

“Oh, about five years,” he said with a bashful smile. “Logan and I used to go together. You should see him move; he’s way better than me.”

As the tempo changed to a waltz, he began to spin her around the floor.

“Wait! I don’t know what to do!” she said breathlessly.

“Just come with me,” he said. “You’re so light, I could probably lift you right off your feet!” She stared at him in disbelief. Rob used to say she was like a sack of potatoes. When she used to sit on his lap in the early days of their relationship, he used to make out that she was crushing him. Which he’d thought was really funny, but made her spirit shatter into little pieces. The way Niall was holding her did make her feel light, and at one point, both her feet lifted right off the ground.

“Are you sure you haven’t had classes?” Niall said.

“Yes,” she replied, flushed and pleased. Niall was a nice, polite, attractive guy. She found herself wondering what he’d be like as a boyfriend.
Probably really nice and considerate.
He didn’t have that fire in his eyes that always drew her to guys that were completely wrong for her, but he felt kind of homely. She imagined him chopping wood at the weekends, and hunting deer for food.
What would it be like to be with someone normal, who didn’t stir up my emotions by treating me badly?
she thought. As the song ended, Niall spun her around one final time. The couple behind her also performed some kind of finale, and she collided with a solid, unyielding body. She jolted away from it, feeling a weird kind of buzz.