Bear-ly A Hero (Bear Claw Security 2) by Terry Bolryder Page A

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