Bear-ly A Hero (Bear Claw Security 2) (5 page)

He’d clearly seen this not just once, but maybe a few times. She looked at him sideways, making sure he didn’t catch her watching. It was so weird seeing this huge, tatted guy that could crush men with his bare hands getting all riled up over Darcy and Wickham.

“Ugh, Wickham’s such a little bitch,” Limes said, settling back on the couch with a growl. “Dude’s gotta go.”

“He gets it in the end,” she said.

“Not enough he doesn’t,” Limes said. “If I were Darcy, I would have shot him.”

She let out a choked laugh at that, shocked by the intensity in his words. “Wow.”

Limes shrugged. “Some things are not okay. If someone ran off with my sister…”

“You have a sister to worry about?” she asked.

His eyes flicked to her, and for a moment, he looked completely taken aback. He blinked. “No. I meant hypothetically.”

“Oh,” she said. “I thought that was maybe who you watched this with.”

He shrugged.

She bit the inside of her cheek gently. There was something he wasn’t telling her. Was there a girl? An ex he’d watched these DVDs with?

She hated she felt a little bit jealous at that. She had no right to. Limes was just a bodyguard. An annoying one at that. And even though they were having fun watching the movie, it didn’t change that he still scared her a little inside.

He was still a man, and as soon as possible, she’d have nothing more to do with him. Men didn’t know how to do anything but hurt things, and they couldn’t be trusted or kept around.

Especially men like him. Big. Attractive. Even though she was trying so hard not to see him that way.

The alpha female wolf in her was starting to growl.

She hated when that happened. Generally, she was fine single and alone, away from her pack. But sometimes, her wolf interfered, whining and making her crave and need things she could never have.

She wrapped her arms around herself and continued to watch the movie.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, looking over at her.

“Nothing,” she said. “I think maybe I’m ready to hit the sack. Got work tomorrow.”

“Okay.” He stood when she stood and walked with her into the kitchen. “You want a snack before bed?”

“You’re trying to make me fat.” She frowned.

“Nah,” he said. “Just trying to keep your strength up.” He pulled a package of cookies out of the grocery bags.

“Right, because cookies are
so
full of nutrients,” she said.

He looked at the ingredients. “Hey, look, protein!”

“Like two grams,” she said.

“Have some.” He poured some on a plate.

Before she could protest, she found herself on a stool, waiting as he poured a glass of milk and pushed the plate of cookies toward her.

She took one, trying not to look up at those interesting green eyes. She’d never seen any like them. So green they almost seemed to be glowing.

His intense expression didn’t help.

She ate a cookie, trying not to think about the way her body was starting to react to him. On one hand, she still felt afraid. But on the other, as she started to trust him, the wolf inside her that had been so long without a male was starting to howl.

It was impossible to ignore his masculine presence.

She swallowed the cookie and grabbed another.

“That’s it,” he said, joining her on a stool next to her and shoving a cookie in his mouth.

Her eyes wandered over his hands, deft and beautiful and strong. His arms so large and defined.

His chest.

Ugh, this was such a bad idea. This was why she’d wanted to avoid big, attractive men.

Big because they scared her. Attractive because they made the animal in her want to take over and do something stupid.

Limes was quiet, but then his eyes met hers, almost as if he could tell what she was thinking.

The air grew thick between them, until Jamie felt she could barely breathe.

Then Limes stood abruptly, shoving away the plate. He walked to the milk, put it back in the fridge, and then shoved his hands in his pockets and paced in the kitchen. “I… I better go to bed.”

She raised an eyebrow, her eyes widening in shock. “Is something wrong?”

He looked genuinely perturbed. She couldn’t have that effect on a man, could she? Had something else happened?

But when he looked at her, she saw heat in his eyes and knew. He felt it, too. The need for a mate. The thing happening between them.

He ran a hand over his short hair and let out a hoarse breath. “I’m going to head to bed. Gotta be up tomorrow.” He walked to the door, checked the lock, and then walked down the hall to his room. Then he returned with something he set at the bottom of the door. “Motion sensor,” he said. “So I’ll know if the door moves. Don’t open it without getting me.”

“Okay,” she said, thinking the little device was genius. She’d hired the right man after all.

And then he strode off, his big back disappearing down the hall as she reached for another cookie.

It didn’t taste good, not compared to what she really wanted in her mouth.

Even the way he’d left to keep anything from happening between them, the way he was protecting them both from anything more.

Even that made him more attractive.

He had tattoos and was familiar with
Pride and Prejudice
. Yes, the wolf in her wanted him bad.

She grabbed another cookie and ate it angrily. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.

L
imes knew now
why he didn’t do fieldwork. It was boring, and people were stupid, and he hated being around them. All except Jamie.

But sitting here watching her do her job as an IT supervisor was freaking painful.

He hated the way she deferred to everyone, even the pervs who clearly had crashed their computers with viruses they’d downloaded from porn, leers plain on their face as they asked her to take a look at what happened.

Limes stayed neutral but intimidating, keeping his legs up on the edge of her desk as he sat on a rolling chair, glaring at anyone who came in.

He could tell irritation was building in her as well.

She looked good in her professional gear, wearing a white button-up shirt that showed off her awesome breasts, her curvy body seemingly ill suited to the sharp lines of her black jacket and skirt in a way that made him just want to rip them off of her.

And he wasn’t the only one, based on all the appreciative glances she’d been getting.

She had her hair pulled back into a tight bun, leaving her face open and beautiful. She wore only light makeup, her skin looking great with very little enhancement. She had beautiful almond eyes that turned up slightly at the end, and her nose did just a bit as well. And then there were those lips, full, luscious.

But right now, he was only a bodyguard. He shouldn’t be thinking those thoughts.

But it was hard not to when he was either bored to death or in a murderous rage over the way other men were gawking at her.

Men were jerks as far as he was concerned, and the men who worked here were clearly no exception.

The worst were the men from the sales department. She worked for a fairly large company that sold property management software, and there was a never-ending supply of douche-bros she had to deal with and placate.

He was mollified slightly by the little eye rolls he noticed when the men were gone or the sarcastic replies that went over their heads. It was nice she was putting up at least somewhat of a fight against them.

Then the door opened, and Limes let out an internal groan. This one had been in earlier. He had slicked-back, medium-blond hair and a face that could only be considered extremely punch-able.

He sent Limes a nervous, resentful glare, then ran a hand over his hair as he turned to Jamie.

Jamie flashed Limes a warning glance as she turned to her employer with a smile.

This was the boss’ son, Milo, and he came in here too much. Once was too much for Limes, but twice was way over the top.

“I need to see you, Jamie. In my office.”

She sighed and clicked on her computer. “My schedule’s tight until lunch. Do you want me to move something?”

The man frowned for a second and then went back to shit-eating obsequiousness. “No, it’s fine. You can see me at lunch if you want.”

Limes’s whole body tightened at that, and he sat up, looking over at Jamie.

“I’m taking Jamie to lunch,” he declared.

“And who are you?” Milo asked.

Limes pinned him with a glare that would usually make any man wither, but the man just stared back.

Interesting. Limes wanted to investigate this guy. With his
fists
.

“I’m hired by Jamie, and she can tell you what I’m doing here if she wants.”

“You shouldn’t be bringing people into the office,” Milo said with a sneer.

“I cleared it with HR,” Jamie explained in a somewhat firm voice. “I wasn’t aware I had to clear it with the head of sales.”

Limes was proud of her for that, if nothing else. It was a small boundary but at least something to push this asshole back.

“I want to see you today,” Milo reiterated, and Limes noticed his hands balled into fists at his sides. “At the end of the day if I have to. Without him.” He jerked a thumb at Limes.

She clicked through her schedule with a sigh. “All right. End of day. I’ll see you then.”

Milo pulled a hard smile and then left, and Limes glared at his stupid, suited back as he went back into the sea of cubicles behind him, probably to ride someone else’s ass.

“What does he need to meet with you about?” Limes asked.

“It’s nothing,” she said. “No big deal. He just likes to rant and feel like the boss.”

That seemed like the end of it, but Limes wasn’t done.

Jealousy had been pricking at him all day. He saw the way the men looked at her as they walked by her office, how they checked her out when she wasn’t looking, the things they whispered behind their hands.

He hadn’t felt this protective of a woman since… well, in a long time. But this was different because he also was realizing he wanted Jamie.

Wanted to unbutton that staid shirt and pull off her jacket, pin her arms over her head, and take her right there on the desk.

So did that make him as bad as any of the men out there?

He guessed not, because the feeling seemed to be mutual. Last night, she’d given him a look full of so much bare, hungry craving that he’d had to excuse himself before something could happen between them.

He needed to work on drawing her stalker out soon. A couple notes weren’t much to go off of.

He scanned the office again, cocking his head as he thought about whether any of the men he’d seen so far could be possible perps.

“The boss, what does he usually say when you meet?”

She was avoiding his eyes. “No big deal. Just employee stuff.”

He pulled down the shades in her office so no one could look in and came around the front of her desk, intimidating her with his height. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Look, you’re my bodyguard, but this is none of your business. Sometimes he’s a little… weird… but he’d never do anything really bad.”

“Define bad,” Limes ordered in a tight voice.

“Something that would require a bodyguard,” she said, shrugging.

“I’m coming to that meeting,” Limes asserted.

“You can’t,” she said. “You heard him.” She sighed and ran a hand over her still tightly pulled back hair. “Look, Limes, I did hire you, and I appreciate you coming with me. But I’m only doing it because work allows it, and if the boss’ son doesn’t want you in our meeting so we can discuss something confidential, then I’m not going against it.”

“You work with a bunch of pervs,” he said.

“That’s just men,” she said, sounding tired even though they weren’t even halfway through the day. “They’re just jerks.”

“Hey, not all of them. Just most,” Limes quipped, taking his seat again. “I meant it about taking you to lunch, though.”

“That’s nice, but I usually just order in,” she said.

“Oh, come on. How do you stand it without a break?” he asked. “Cooped up in this office with a bunch of whining pervs.”

A knock sounded on the office door, and Limes groaned as it opened. A man with dark, stylishly messy hair poked his head in.

“Jamie? Something’s wrong with my desktop again.” He winked at her. “Want to come look at it?”

Ugh.
Limes cracked his knuckles and stood. “I’ll take a look.”

The man turned his attention to Limes and visibly paled. “Um, that’s okay.”

“Nah,” Limes said, swinging an arm around the man and pulling him out of the office. “I’m pretty good at IT myself.”

“You aren’t affiliated with the company,” the man spat as they stopped at his desk, pretty close to Jamie’s office so Limes could still keep an eye on her.

He pulled this other man into his cubicle and grabbed him by the collar, jerking him up into his face. “I know exactly what you’re doing, you little jackass. So cut that shit out before I give you a virus that sends that porn you love so much all over the office, via
your
email.”

“You can’t do that.”

Limes’s eyes darkened. “Oh, I can do so much more.” He released the other man. “Now I suggest you run a virus checker, as you damn well know how to do, and stop getting your rocks off by making the cute IT girl look at your smut.”

The man pushed away, flushing red, but quickly sat at his desk.

Limes hoped at least a few other men in the cubicles had heard him.

The urge to start punishing each and every one of them was irresistible.

At least it would be if he didn’t have Jamie to watch out for.

As he went back to her office, he looked over at Milo’s, seeing the other man moving around inside.

He didn’t like the way he looked at Jamie. He had a feeling there was history there that she wasn’t telling him. He didn’t like that either.

He would be at that meeting, even if that guy didn’t know it.

He walked back into Jamie’s office and propped his legs up again, ignoring her irritated look.

J
amie was more
than ready for lunch by the time noon rolled around. She’d agreed to let Limes take her out, mainly to get him to stop giving the death glare to all her co-workers.

True, some of them were sexist pigs, but she’d been getting along with them fine, and if she had to bow and scrape a bit to do it, so what?

She liked her job. It paid well, had good hours and benefits, and gave her time to pursue the things she liked to do when she was at home in the evenings.

She didn’t want him screwing that up when he didn’t understand how things worked.

They walked together in silence out into the sun and then in the direction of Limes’s truck. She was getting better at getting into it, kind of swinging herself up and in.

Limes gave her a smile of approval as he started it up. “How do you like the truck?”

“It’s growing on me,” she said. “I sort of like being this high off the ground.”

“Me, too,” he said with a wink. “Then again, I imagine it’s a new experience for you.” He drove them to a nearby taco truck, and after they ordered, they went to sit on a park bench.

They ate in silence for a moment, Limes easily consuming three times the food she ever could, and then he spoke up.

“I don’t like how they treat you… how you
let
them treat you.”

“Not all of us are like you, Limes,” she said. “Able to run over everything in your path.” He was a bit like his truck, giant and able to mow over anything in his way. She was more like a lawn mower; she had to be careful not to break her blades.

He seemed to sense the direction of her thoughts. “You have more power than you think. You’re just suppressing it.”

“Oh, really?” she asked. “So you think I could just wage war against all the men in there, and they wouldn’t just find some bogus reason to fire me to find someone more… polite?”

“There’s a difference between being completely rude and just letting someone walk all over you.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And you would know the difference?”

He barked a laugh. “Good point. No. But I bet someone as smart as you could find one.”

“Is it boring?” she asked, feeling slightly self-conscious. “I know you’re used to doing much more advanced stuff.”

“Sort of,” he said honestly.

She didn’t know why it stung. Maybe he was just everything she’d be if she could choose. Impervious, smart, doing whatever he wanted in life with no thought to what anyone said about it.

If she could be like that, maybe she’d be happy.

She took another bite of her taco, thinking about the after work meeting with Milo. She wasn’t looking forward to that at all, not that she’d tell Limes that. She wished he could come into the meeting. But there was no point. She’d still be having these forced meetings long after they caught her stalker and Limes was done guarding her.

She would just have to fend off Milo’s advances, as usual.

But she wouldn’t tell Limes, because if he knew, he’d be in there in a second, possibly costing her a job she desperately wanted to keep.

Still, the thought of him defending her warmed her. She’d never really had anyone on her side, and she’d had a lot of things to fight against. Even if she were paying (though Limes had said they’d discuss payment at the end of the job), and even if it had to end at some point, it was nice having a friend for a while.

Limes’s huge size beside her had become sort of comforting now that she was used to it. She’d miss it.

“I guess we better get back,” she said, putting her taco back in the box, not feeling too hungry.

He picked it up and held it out. “Here, you can finish it. Come on. You need it to deal with the rest of the day.”

She flushed and took a bite, unable to resist looking into his bright-green eyes with those dark lashes, that hard, mean face gazing tenderly at her.

He was such a contradiction. He could be so rude, so unrefined, and then turn around and do something like this, which was oddly thoughtful.

As she chewed and swallowed the bite, Limes looked down at his hand holding the last of the taco and put it abruptly back in the box. Then he stood and walked to the garbage, tossing everything in.

“I’m sorry,” he said, still turned away. “That wasn’t appropriate.” He ran a hand over his head. “I’ll try to be more appropriate in the future.”

She nodded. “It’s fine.” She checked her watch. “We better get back.”

“Sure,” he said.

It was quiet as they walked back to his truck and drove back to the office.

Something was changing between them, something she couldn’t put a finger on.

When they got back, things went on as before, with one exception. There seemed to be less of the sales douches coming by her office with complaints. Less men coming by in general.

She gave Limes an amused look, but he didn’t notice. He was reading on his phone and only looking up to pin death glares on those who dared walk by.

She definitely couldn’t keep him around forever, as she’d probably lose her job due to being unapproachable. But she had to admit it was a welcome break.

She was able to finally get some quiet time to work on the email migration that was coming and some other things on her to-do list.

And then all too soon, it was the end of the day, and the sales guys were leaving. A couple of the nice ones, those she considered less bad than the rest, poked their heads in to say bye. She politely waved good-bye, noting with amusement that Limes still gave them a glare, even though they weren’t misbehaving.