Bear is holding his hand over his camera. “What’s that for?”
He grunts. “I don’t want them looking at you. Fuck, I don’t want anyone looking at you.”
I start to laugh. “I like this whole alpha caveman she’s mine attitude, but if you try peeing on me...”
He laughs then and pulls me against him. “I wouldn’t.”
I smile up at him. “Are you sure?”
He shakes his head. “I promise, I won’t.”
“Wait, did Bear just laugh? Was that Liam James I heard laughing?”
We’re approaching the first floor now, and I know Bear is over it. “All right, guys, that’s enough. Let’s get to work so Dylan can get home to Jenna and Jamie.”
Everyone quiets just as Bear and I step out of the elevator. We walk through the lobby and are stopped by the man we saw last night. He looks at us. “Follow me.”
He leads us through a big open ballroom and then out the back door. Bear’s hand tightens on mine, and I smile up at him. I know he’s worried, and probably the two of us working this case together causes a little problem, but I refuse to let it hold either of us back. We’re going to take care of this, and we’ll work the rest out.
The man opens the door of what looks like another big building. It’s a nice building, albeit nondescript. He lets us walk in and closes the door behind us. There are people everywhere; if I were guessing, I’d say there’s around thirty to forty people easy.
A waitress comes up to Bear and puts a hand on his shoulder. She’s young, way too young to probably even be drinking the alcohol she’s holding on the tray. “What can I get you?”
Bear is about to pull away from the woman when I reach for a drink. “Thanks. We’ll just take these off your hands.” I shove a drink in Bear’s hand. “Here you go, honey.”
With my eyes, I tell him to relax, and he obviously gets the drift because he smiles at the woman. “Thanks, honey. That will be it.... for now.”
I can see him cringe as he says it.
“Fuck, she had to be what, fifteen, sixteen?” Logan says.
“Yep,” I answer him as I act like I’m talking to Bear. “If that.”
“You made it.” I recognize the man’s voice from last night, and I turn to face him.
I just smile like the ditz he thinks I am, and Bear answers him. “We wouldn’t have missed it.”
“So the first hour is just mingling. You’ll see girls come and go. They all have numbers on their pockets. Just keep in mind what you’re wanting. They go fast, and it’s highest bidder.”
Bear tenses beside me, and I rub my hand up and down his chest. Bear grunts. “Got it.”
The man looks at me. “So you’re okay with this, honey? You don’t mind sharing?”
I do my very best to keep my face relaxed, and without missing a beat, I nod. “Of course not. He’s way more man than I can handle. He’ll keep us all happy, won’t you, sugar?” I ask, looking up at Bear with my eyes wide.
The guy leans toward me, and Bear doesn’t even hesitate. He has me pulled into him so quickly I gasp.
The guy looks at Bear before he starts to laugh. “Well, I guess that answers my question. You don’t share her?”
Bear shakes his head. “Never. And I’ll kill any man that tries.”
I laugh as if Bear’s joking, but there’s no way the other man doesn’t see the tick in his jaw. I wave at the man. “We’ll see you later.”
When we get far enough away, I hiss up at Bear, “Are you kidding? You’re going to blow this.”
He’s pulling me now. We’re walking out of the room and down a hallway. “I don’t care, no one is going to—” We get around a corner, and he pushes me against a wall, flattening his body to mine. “No one is going to touch you, Sam. I wasn’t lying. I’ll kill them. I don’t care who they are.”
I shake my head. How is this going to work, us working together? “Oh, Bear.”
As if he can’t control himself, he lifts me up and kisses me deep and thoroughly. I let him, too; there’s no way I can turn him away. My body comes alive as my nipples slide across his chest. I moan loudly, and then there’s Logan. “Uh, guys, we can hear you.”
I try to pull away, but Bear holds me to him. “Fuck off, Logan.”
He turns the mic off, and I do the same.
“You’re done, Sam. I need you to go to the room. Let me handle this.”
My whole body deflates. This is never going to work between us if we can’t even handle this case together. “No.”
“Sam, listen, I can’t put you in this situation, knowing what we know.”