Free Bear The Heat (Mating Call Dating Agency Book 3) by Lynn Red

stared at something behind Breaker’s ear.
    “What is it?” he asked. “Let me guess? It’s a tick, right? Ha-ha-ha, very funny.” He lifted his hand to his neck, but Rory grabbed it, intercepting his hand from reaching his neck.
    “No, no, nothing like that. You just have really nice cheekbones, that’s all.” She was giving her fake out a valiant effort, but she just couldn’t stop staring at the black creature that had latched onto Breaker’s skin at some point. “It’s uh... yeah, no, just your cheekbones. Very striking.”
    “Right,” he said, eyebrows knitting together as he grew more and more suspicious. “What is it? Why’d you get all weird?”
    She just couldn’t stop staring at the dime-sized black ball.
    “Boobies,” she said absently.
    Before she could stop him, Breaker’s hand went back to his neck. His fingers found the shiny little knot and he uttered a curse as he realized he’d guessed right all along. “Boobie?” he asked no one in particular, as his lips started going pale. “Oh God,” he sighed. “First I’m checking out what I think is an arson, next I’m making out with possibly the coolest girl I’ve ever met, and now I’m going to pass out and make myself look like the world’s biggest baby.”
    As his balance faltered, Rory caught the giant bear and eased him to the ground, using all her mink strength. As soon as he was sitting, he let out a sigh, and that was that. Before he went out like a light for a couple of seconds, Rory heard him mumble something about how shitty his luck was.
    She grabbed his arms, and as she heaved him to his feet to get him out of the grass and hopefully prevent any further flirtation with Lyme disease, the giant bear stirred, and sort of whispered her name into Rory’s ear. She wasn’t exactly one to be BEAR THE HEAT

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    particularly compassionate, especially about something like this , but for whatever reason, the fact that this enormous, powerful monstrosity of a bear was mortally terrified of ticks made him seem just that much more real. Laughing to herself, she dragged him by the armpits back around to the side of the house where the fire had burned away any overgrowth that could house the enemy.
    As he rustled, grumbled, and finally came back to life, Rory was making a series of notes on her ever present stylus-using digital assistant from circa 1999. She wasn’t some kind of Luddite who refused to use modern technology, but she just liked this thing. It wasn’t something she could explain, but then again, she didn’t need to explain it to anyone.
    “Sorry about that,” Breaker grumbled as the color came back into his lips. “It’s... uh, yeah it’s a long story. It involves Lyme disease and a few years of misdiagnosis that ended up giving my doctor a drinking problem and giving me more than a few weird, permanent skin discolorations. Really not that interesting of a story.”
    Rory shrugged. “We’ve all got our shit,” she said plainly.
    “Yours just happens to be really funny. And for the record, that does sound like a pretty good story. Does this also mean you have sworn off boobies again? I can’t keep track.”
    The two of them laughed for a few scant moments before falling quiet again. Something unwelcome prickled at the back of Rory’s brain. We all have our shit , she thought. Yeah, we sure do.
    If I can manage to get through one damn day without thinking I’m some kind of failure or another, it’s a miracle. I think I’d trade mortal fear of ticks for that one any day .
    “This might be the weirdest day I’ve ever had,” Breaker finally said. He pushed himself to his feet with a subdued grunt. “But I gotta say, I think it might also be one of the best. And we didn’t even figure out what the hell we came here to figure out in the first place. I guess that’s the mark of a good distraction.”
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Lynn Red
    As he said the final word, Breaker’s eyes fixed heavily on Rory’s. She stared at him,