Free An Alpha's Storm (Water Bear Shifters 1) by Sloane Meyers

complicate matters further, Brett was beginning to have a sneaking suspicion that Aubrey was his fated lifemate. He couldn’t say that out loud to the other guys, because they would all roll their eyes at the idea that a woman who they still thought was a rebound relationship might possibly be Brett’s destiny. But Brett felt a deep connection to Aubrey every time they had sex. He felt his chest glowing warm, and he knew that they were meant to be together somehow. But until Aubrey decided she felt the same way, he couldn’t explore those feelings more deeply.
    Brett showered, and then got ready to head home. Another three day shift was coming to a close, and he was crossing his fingers that Aubrey would be available for dinner tonight. On the walk to his car, he pulled out his phone and called her.
    “Hey, stranger,” she said, answering on the fourth ring. Brett had begun to think the call was going to go to voicemail.
    “Hey, Aubs. How are you?”
    “Pretty good. A lot better now that I’ve had the chance to hear your voice.”
    Brett smiled at the flirtatious tone in her voice. Moments where she let her guard down and acted almost like a real girlfriend gave him hope that the future might hold a deeper relationship for them. “I just finished a three day shift,” he said. “Any chance you might be available for dinner?”
    There was a loud sigh on the other end of the line. “Sorry. I’m actually just getting ready to go out on a three day research excursion.”
    Brett’s mood dropped at her words, but he did his best to hide the disappointment in his voice. He didn’t want to add any fuel to Aubrey’s belief that their schedule made a relationship unworkable. “Bummer,” he said, keeping his voice light. “How are you feeling about being out on the ocean?”
    “I’m surprisingly not nervous,” Aubrey said. “I think I’ve managed to get past what happened with our other boat sinking that night. It was a freak accident, and the odds of it happening again are astronomically low. Besides, now I have a personal Coast Guard rescue swimmer to call if I get into trouble.”
    “You better not get into trouble. I’m not going to be happy if I have to come save your ass again. I’d rather you just stay safe,” Brett said.
    Aubrey laughed. “I’ll do my best. I’ll call you when our research excursion is done and see if we can plan dinner, okay?”
    “Alright,” Brett said. “Have fun. Be safe.”
    “Will do,” Aubrey said, and then the line went dead.
    Brett climbed into his car and threw his cell phone onto the passenger seat in frustration. He leaned his head back against his headrest and tried to still the bear within him, which was grumbling unhappily at the idea of not seeing Aubrey for another week. Brett had a few days off, but by the time Aubrey got back from her research excursion, he would be starting another three day shift himself. And who knew what her schedule would be by the time he finished that shift.
    If Aubrey would only agree to date him for real, things would be better. They could move in together, or he could show up at her house to spend an hour with her when that’s all the time they had. Now, she never wanted him to come over for an hour. She said it was a waste of time, and that it was weird for him to do that when they were only friends. According to her, making the effort to see someone when all you had was an hour of time was the kind of thing boyfriends and girlfriends did, not platonic friends.
    Brett snorted in amusement as the word platonic crossed his mind. He and Aubrey might not be in a romantic relationship, but no one could call what they did have “platonic.” When they closed the bedroom door behind them, things became scorchingly hot.
    Brett reached for his car keys and started the engine. He had to get his mind off of Aubrey, since he wasn’t going to be able to see her tonight. He had an itch to scratch, and he wasn’t going to be able to scratch it