Bear to the Rescue (Bear Claw Security Book 3) (2 page)

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”

His handsome mouth tightened as he slowly released her and stepped back. “You okay?”

She let out a shaky breath. “Yeah. I’m sorry. Just startled.”

“You fought like a wildcat,” he said, scratching his head. “But maybe we should teach you some actual self-defense.”

“I can fight okay,” she said. “I was just panicked.”

Bronson rolled his eyes, not buying her bullshit. “That’s the point of being able to fight. You have to do it when you’re panicked.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed past him to the elevator. “Yeah, and I bet you’re never panicked.”

“I panicked just now, when I saw you running toward me,” he said quietly, holding the door to the elevator for her.

She looked at it, suddenly remembering she’d been trying to go home. “I’m… uh… going the other way.”

“Not anymore you aren’t,” Bronson said, pulling her into the elevator with him.

“Let go of me,” she said, jerking out of his reach, not liking how little warm, electric shocks seemed to cover her skin whenever he touched her. “No need to manhandle me.”

“You could use a good manhandling,” he muttered.

Her eyes widened, but then he just gave her an innocent shrug and pressed their floor button.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Upstairs to talk about this. About what’s really going on.”

She lowered her gaze, feeling slightly guilty for not telling them upfront what was happening. “It’s not a big deal. I didn’t think I needed to mention it.”

“Not a big deal? That’s why you were running like a bat out of hell?” he asked.

She frowned. “Well, you’d run too if you were me and you saw a guy hiding by your car.”

“There was a guy?” he asked.

“Why did you think I ran?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I couldn’t see anything but your flailing, now that I think about it. Damn, I should have gone after him.” He scratched his head.

She was mildly flattered. He’d really have gone after the guy? Bronson was the protector of the crew, but she hadn’t thought he’d care particularly about her. Especially with how rude she was most of the time.

“Wait, what were you doing following me anyway?”

Bronson bit his lip and laughed nervously. It was a funny sight, seeing such a big, self-assured man looking guilty. “Well, I was just worried, seeing as Limes’s mate was nearly kidnapped down there.”

“She was?” Regan asked. “Why wasn’t I told?”

“She had stalkers,” Bronson said. “So it was a different situation.”

“But you still followed me…” She raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I followed you, okay?” he said tersely. “And apparently, it was a good idea.” The elevator dinged, but he pressed the button to keep the doors closed so he could finish their conversation. “And now we’re going in there and figuring out just how much protection you need.”

“I’m fine,” she said. “Yeah, I should probably have an escort in the garage, but I’ll be okay.” Well, that might have been a lie, but the last thing she wanted was to get all dependent on one of these men.

Men left when they wanted to. The best thing was to not fall for one, and then you wouldn’t be left holding the bad end of the deal when they walked away.

“You’re not fine,” he said. “I’ve sensed something was off since you’ve been here. Maybe something is bothering you that made you eager to work here. The good news is we can definitely help.”

There it went again. Those stupid warm fuzzies when a man was being caring. It was too easy to be tricked by that, like her mom had been.

“Fine,” she said. “But let’s keep it professional.”

“I will,” he said. “You’re the one who made it personal by rummaging in my past.”

“Fine,” she said. “That was a mistake. But from here on out, business.” She stuck out a hand for him to shake, which he did, with one raised eyebrow.

“Sure,” he said.

Then they awkwardly walked out of the elevator together. She knew she was being touchy, but she had to stay distant. Bronson as usual was already overwhelming.

Bronson being all alpha and protective was more than the bear in her could take.

H
ercules looked
up as they walked back into the office. Bronson was still shaken by how freaked out Regan had been. She was always calm, always sarcastic. It had been so weird to see her all panicked and running.

Running right into his arms, where he tried not to think about her soft curves mashed up against him as she tried to wail on him with her hands.

Damn, even the memory got him going. Both his adrenaline in wanting to protect her and his testosterone in wanting to take her. He told himself it was just because she was a female bear shifter and they were rare and it was normal to be attracted.

But if he were honest, it seemed to be much more.

“You okay?” Hercules asked as Bronson gently pushed Regan ahead of him into the main office.

“Where’s Cage?” Bronson asked.

Hercules grinned. “He’s in his office. He and Carrie are… taking lunch.”

Bronson laughed. “Of course they are. Well, wouldn’t want to disturb them. Still, we need a meeting. Will you join us in conference room one?”

“Sure,” Hercules said. “Let me just log out.” He shut off the computer he’d been using and followed them back to the main conference room.

When they were in, they shut the door. Bronson took a seat at the head of the table and pulled a chair out for Regan, who sat in it with a heavy sigh.

Busted. She definitely had a secret.

“What’s going on?” Hercules asked, taking a seat on the other side of the table.

“Regan needs a protection detail,” Bronson said. “And she’s going to give us the info now.”

Regan looked up hopefully, curls bouncing. “Hercules could do it.”

Bronson’s eyes narrowed. “No. Hercules is still in training. Still learning the ropes.”

Hercules shrugged mildly. “What the boss says goes.”

“I’m not lugging
that
around with me,” she said, gesturing to Bronson with a scowl.

“
That
is the best protection you could ask for,” Hercules said calmly. Then he looked at Bronson. “You know who she reminds me of?”

“Limes?” Bronson asked, stifling a laugh.

“Yeah,” Hercules said, leaning one elbow on the table. All of them had worked together in a shifter unit in the army. Bronson didn’t think there was anyone who didn’t remember grumpy, sarcastic Limes.

“I keep getting that,” she said. “But I met Limes. I like him. Not just because he’s an awesome programmer. He’s cool.”

“You
would
think that,” Bronson said, rolling his eyes.

“So did you. You hired him,” she spat back.

“If you two could stop bickering,” Hercules said sweetly. “We could talk about what we’re supposed to.”

Bronson felt ashamed. He was always the serious boss, the responsible one, but with Regan, he somehow always became the schoolyard bully, picking on the girl he had a crush on.

“Yeah, tell us what’s going on,” he said, being purposefully obnoxious by propping up his feet on the conference table and crossing his arms behind his head.

She sighed and leaned back as well. Then she removed her jacket, leaving her only in a tank top that showed lots of cleavage.

Bronson swallowed, feeling his throat suddenly go dry. But she was focused on her story and thankfully didn’t notice her effect on the men in the room.

Hercules sent Bronson a grin, and he gave him a warning glare that made it clear he was to keep his eyes to himself.

Mine
, a little voice said.
My mate
.

Shiiit.

Bronson cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter. “Tell us,” he coaxed, this time a little gentler.

She slumped back slightly, rolling up the silver bangles on her wrists out of habit. “Fine. So a while back, this guy was stalking my friend. A cracker.”

Hercules nearly choked. “What?”

“No, not a racial slur,” she said, laughing. “Hackers generally build things. Advanced software, antivirus software. Really high-level stuff. Those who don’t know that much but use what they
do
know to break into random people’s security for no good reason are called crackers. Because they crack into things.”

“Oh,” Bronson said. “I didn’t realize it was that complicated.”

“It’s a techie thing,” she said, waving it away. “Anyway, this guy got into my friend’s system. Stole sensitive information. Some… pictures that weren’t for him.”

“Let me guess. They were pics for her boyfriend,” Hercules said in a low voice, clearly feeling the anger Bronson was dealing with.

He hated men who tried to take advantage of women. He always felt unreasonably protective of them.

He was well aware that men on the whole were pretty terrible, and that meant it was all that much more important for men like him and Cage and Hercules and Limes to take action against them as much as they could.

“Go on,” he said when she nodded in response to Hercules’s question.

“Anyway, I didn’t even crack into his system. I just provided the police with evidence of what he’d done with my friend. Not just stealing pictures, but the stalking. The harassment. He’d said some seriously nasty stuff.”

Bronson pushed away the dark cloud forming in him and tried to focus.

He didn’t even like the idea of someone harming Regan’s
friend
. He couldn’t imagine how enraged he’d feel if someone were actually after
her
.

“So anyway, it turned out he’d been doing it to other women as well. I gave them what they needed to put him in jail.”

“Good,” Bronson said. “Problem solved.”

“Maybe not,” Hercules said.

“What do you mean?” Bronson asked.

“Guys like that, they often… share the stuff they steal,” Hercules said, embarrassed to even have to talk about it. He shook his head. “I saw something about it in the news a while back.”

“Yeah,” Regan said, tapping her nails on the table. “There was a group. They weren’t happy their supply was cut off. I started getting threatening messages here and there. But I really didn’t think these guys were dangerous. They’re just internet warriors. Guys who get all brave behind a keyboard but can’t say anything to your face. I’ve dealt with a lot of them over my career. But I’ve been fine.”

“But you thought you’d be safe here?”

“I also thought it would be an interesting job.”

Bronson narrowed his eyes, not buying it.

She threw up her hands with a sigh.

“Fine. I thought it couldn’t hurt to have a few bear shifters around, just in case.”

“Well,” he said, “we’re around. Now tell us what you saw at your car that made you go crazy.”

“I didn’t go crazy,” she said. “It just startled me. The weirdo ran away as soon as I saw him.”

“And where did you see him?”

A flush spilled onto her cheeks, and she avoided his gaze. “Crouching by the driver’s door.”

He heard Hercules’s hands tighten into fists as his own heart pounded in his throat.

That had been close. What if the guy had attacked her? What if Bronson hadn’t followed her?

He put a hand to his forehead, unable to stand the thought of it. “All right,” he said, finally looking up at her. “Here’s how it’s going to go. One of us is going to be with you twenty-four-seven, at least until we figure out who’s behind this and what they want.”

“I can’t think of anyone else,” she said. “I don’t really get involved with illegal types. I prefer building secure systems and software, that side of things.”

“Well then, until we figure out how far they intend to go.”

Hercules nodded in agreement.

“You can’t do that,” she said, exasperated. “I need time alone. It’s nice that I have such… buff coworkers. At work. But I’m not going to live with one of you.” She frowned between them. “If you want, I’ll go stay with a friend.”

“You think that’s a good idea?” Bronson asked. “Then wouldn’t two of you be in danger? Honestly, I think it’s pretty stupid you haven’t said anything about it before.”

“Because, usually, these guys are too chicken,” she said. “And I try to do the right thing in my life. But if I went around worrying about what every person I pissed off was going to do about it, I couldn’t live my life the way I do.”

“Well, right now, you’re going to live it a little differently,” he said.

“That’s not your choice,” she snapped.

“I’m your boss,” he said harshly.

“I’m a freelancer,” she said.

“Who works for us,” he said.

Hercules cleared his throat. “Um, is there something I should be doing?” he asked. “Or you just want me on the lookout?”

“Yeah, just make sure if I’m ever not around, or out on a job, you watch out for her. And keep an eye on the building in general. And update Cage and Carrie so they can be careful, too.”

Hercules nodded, gave Regan a wave, and left.

Regan let out a sad breath. “I honestly didn’t think I was putting anyone in danger.”

“Given that the punk ran away when you saw him, probably true,” Bronson said. “But we aren’t taking any chances. Not with one of our workers.”

Not with my mate
, the bear in him snarled.

But this wasn’t the time to explore that. He needed her to trust him. Let him into her space. Let him protect her. He needed it as much as he needed to breathe.

“Fine,” she said. “But not you.”

“Why?” he asked, leaning back and folding his arms. “I’ve done a ton of protection details. I promise I’ll treat this one the same.”

“Because,” she said, sounding flustered as she gestured between them. “Because of this… thing between us.”

The corners of his mouth turned up in a grin. “This thing?”

She went redder, just over the apples of her cheeks, and let out a huff. “You know what I mean. How are we supposed to keep it strictly business if you’re following me around all times of the day?”

“You can work on your own,” he said. “I’m just going to make sure you’re safe when you leave and until you get back.”

“Same thing!” she said with a little screech. “You’re impossible.”

“Yeah,” he said. “You should have figured that out in your research about me.”

Her lips flattened. “How do I know you won’t try something? You already love to… intimidate me.”

He let out a deep, booming laugh. “Regan, I don’t need to force unwilling women. If I want some lovin’, I only have to walk out that door and find it.”

“Insufferable playboy. I knew it,” she muttered.

He put up a hand. “Hey, I didn’t say I
did
want it. But I’m not some kind of rapist. I won’t make a single move on you if you don’t want me to.”

“I don’t want you to,” she said a little too quickly, heat in her smoky green eyes giving her away as she crossed her arms over her chest, as if hiding from him.

“Okay,” he said. “Then nothing will happen. Nothing unless you beg for it.”

“Beg?” she scoffed, looking at him agape. “You’re kidding.”

“Hey, I have to know you really want it.” He stood and walked over to her chair, grabbing the arms to turn it toward him. “Because I think things could be good between us.” His eyes raked over her. “But that’s up to you. And when I say that, I mean it. If you don’t beg, there won’t be one thing between us. Not one. Little. Kiss,” he said, getting closer with each word and then pulling away.

She let out a pent-up breath and looked slightly disappointed.

“I have a few things to wrap up around here before we head out,” he said, straightening and taking a long stretch that made her eyes follow the lines of his muscles. “You okay working on the new case until I can take you home?”

She nodded, defeated. But Bronson knew she had nothing to worry about. He was nothing if not duty bound, and he’d make sure she was comfortable. As much as he enjoyed teasing her, her safety was his number one priority.

She stood, brushing back her hair and straightening her clothes, then pulling on her jacket. She let out a deep breath and looked into his eyes, making him catch his breath.

“I guess I should say thank you,” she said.

“I guess so.”

“Thanks.” Then she jabbed a finger his direction. “But remember your promise. No funny business.”

He laughed and put up both hands. “I promise.”

“All right,” she said. “I’ll be in my office.”

“Herc will be watching the front desk,” he said. “No one will be able to come in. I’ll check the security footage, too, just to see if we can find anything.”

“Great,” she said. “I guess I’ll see you later, then?”

He hated the way she looked slightly undone by the whole situation. As soon as they got to her place, he’d get to work trying to make her more comfortable. Even if she tried to provoke him, he wouldn’t fall for the bait.

Just have to think of her as a normal client,
he told himself as she gave him a wave and walked out of the conference room.

Too bad that was nearly impossible.

She’d been under his skin from the moment he’d seen her.