The Bear's Mate Read Online Free Page B

appealing.
    He
stepped inside the office.
    “I
hope my brother’s nap isn’t keeping you from going home.”
    “No,
I’ve worked late every day for the last week, so I’m getting used to it.”
    “And
your husband doesn’t mind?”
    “I
don’t have one.”
    “Then
maybe your boyfriend gets upset.”
    Was
he asking just to make conversation or was he interested in her relationship
status?
    “Don’t
have one of those either.”
    Okay,
he was the first to bring up the topic of significant others, so now it was her
turn.
    “How about you?   I would think wildlife management has some
irregular hours too. Your wife or girlfriend get upset that you don’t keep
normal office hours?”
    He
looked at her without answering.
      “I couldn’t help but notice your badge when we
first met,” she added.
    He
nodded. “Like you, I don’t have a spouse and no, I don’t have girlfriend either.”
    Well,
that had gotten the prelims out the way.
    “Do
you want to wait in here for your brother? The chairs in the waiting room
aren’t very comfortable.”
      “Sure, why not.”
    He
pulled up a chair and sat opposite her desk.
    He
was only a few feet away now, so she couldn’t help notice that his lower lip
had some blood on it.
    “What
happened to your mouth?”
    He
ran his finger over his lip. “I bit myself while I was in the restroom. Not
sure how it happened. I guess I was deep in thought.”
    “Here,
let me take a look at it.” She stood.
    “No,
I’m fine, really.”
    She
wasn’t taking no for an answer. She walked around the desk and kneeled in front
of him. The blood had the same texture and hue as his brother. This was
beginning to get interesting. What were the odds of both of them having the
same disease unless it was something genetic?
    Charlotte
searched in her lab pocket for a tissue. She reached up and dabbed his lip. She
slyly looked down and noticed even on the paper the blood had a bluish hue to
it.
    “There,
all cleaned up. You bite yourself often?”
    She
wasn’t that interested if he did or not, but hoped the question would throw him
off, and he wouldn’t see her sneak the tissue into her pocket instead of the
garbage can.   Everything about him and
Christopher fascinated her. If she didn’t wait too long to get it tested, she
might be able to run the blood from his lip as well as his brother’s and
compare notes.
    “No,
first time it’s happened.”
    She
nodded and stood. Nope, he hadn’t seen a thing.
    “So
you think Christopher’s going to be all right?” he asked.
    “He
should be. Oh, and let me give you the antibiotics for him. Make sure he takes
the whole course of these, no stopping halfway through.”
    She
reached over to her desk and picked up the bottle which she handed to Aiden.
Their fingers grazed one another. She looked at him, him at her. Almost as if
electricity was traveling between them. Was this what they called sexual
chemistry or what? She’d never experienced this sort of charged energy with a
man ever before.
    “You
know this is selfish. We’re keeping you here when you could be at home. I’ll go
wake Christopher and head out. He can sleep when he gets to his place.” He
stood, looking as uncomfortable as she felt right now. He’d sensed something
happening between the two of them, she was sure of it.
    Charlotte
should have been the good doctor and put up a protest about his suggestion of
taking his brother home, but in all honesty was she was dead to her feet and
just wanted to go see her dad. After that she’d head home for a nice soak in
the tub, and then crawl into bed.
    “Here’s
my cell phone number.” She scribbled it down on a sheet of paper and handed it
to him. “Don’t hesitate to call me if he doesn’t feel well, runs a fever, or
gets red streaks near either of the wounds.”
    “Thanks
for taking such good care of him.”
    “No
need to thank me because it’s my job.”
    She
looked up him. Holy shit, he was gorgeous. Kiss