Free Call of the Cougar (Heart of the Cougar Book 2) by Terry Spear

at it for a minute before he realized Chase was calling him. What time was it? Three in the morning?
    "What's up? Is Shannon in labor?" Hal was already getting out of bed in a hurry.
    Chase said, "No." And chuckled. "Just wanted to give you a heads up like you asked me to. Tracey arrived a little while ago. She's settled in her cabin now."
    "Do you need me to watch her place?"
    "No. She's fine. She's got her Glock handy. Don't go sneaking around the place and getting yourself shot. I may need you when Shannon goes into labor."
    Hal settled back down on his bed. "Have you got her number?"
    "Yeah, here it is and don't call her tonight. She has probably already gone to bed."
    "All right. Anything else?"
    "She doesn't have any breakfast fixings. Maybe in the morning, you can ask her out."
    "What about Stryker? Did you call him?"
    "I'm calling Dan next. He'll call Stryker."
    "All right."
    "She said that you could both guard her."
    "What?"
    "That's what she said. I suspect she wants you both to know that she's not dating anyone. Which means you'll have to work a lot harder at it."
    Hal smiled. "I'm on it."
    Chase laughed. "She might just be worth it."
    After their first encounter, Hal was certain she would be. He couldn't believe she had gone back to the town of Anderson when he was certain her boss had said she was through with the case. He wondered if she realized the cougar up on the cliffs was a shifter and not a plain old cougar. He suspected she did when she kept the patrolman guarding her from shooting him. At least he was glad to see she had some protection. But if Hal had any notion of leaving the area once she arrived, he'd thrown that idea out. He had been providing a big cat's backup too.
    In the background, he heard Shannon say, "Come to bed, Chase. I think I'm finally ready to go to sleep."
    Hal smiled. He was wide awake. As soon as he finished talking to Chase, he called Tracey's number.
    ***
    With the lightweight, forest green, embroidered coverlet at her waist, Tracey rested in the bed in the log cabin, the sounds of an owl screeching and crickets chirping were soothing to her soul. She loved the sounds of nature, much preferred to running around in the city when her duty took her there.
    She was still thinking about the case, wishing she could have found some real leads to run down, disappointed she hadn't found anything further in Anderson. But she suspected she had rushed over things a little, when she wouldn't have had she been totally free to investigate the area, and not worried her boss would send reinforcements to make her leave.
    What she needed to do was… She smiled. She needed to run as a cougar. That's what she needed to do. Early, before dawn, she would stretch her legs as a cougar. Wasn't that what the boss said? Time to kick back and relax? She hadn't had a chance to run in…well, way too long.
    Her phone rang and she wanted to ignore it, but she couldn't. What if someone was calling about Anton?
    She pulled her phone off the bedside table and looked at it. Hal Haverton . She smiled. Chase must have just informed him she was here. She liked a man who was eager to see her, even if she wasn't about to date anyone.
    "I'm all tucked in and have my Glock right next to the bed, handy-like. No need to come over and protect me."
    He didn't answer and for a second, she hoped she hadn't read the caller ID wrong.
    "Well, hell, then what about breakfast?"
    She chuckled. She liked a man with a sense of humor. "What did you have in mind?"
    More silence. She smiled, wishing she could read minds and know just what he was thinking.
    "My place and I can whip up a mean batch of hash browns, omelets your way, mimosas, bacon, ham, or anything else your heart desires."
    "Anything?"
    "Absolutely."
    "And I don't have to clean up afterward?"
    "Got a maid to do that."
    "A maid."
    "Yeah, believe me, you wouldn't want to see what the place looked like before I got a maid."
    She laughed. "Okay. Eight, all right?"
    "I'll pick