Bear's Match (Bear Heat Book 6) Read Free Page A

breaths were coming in
short, hard spurts and he could feel his eyes turning feral. Luke
squeezed his eyes shut to prevent Nicole from seeing the monster that
lurked just beneath his human skin.
    “Nicole...”
    “Hey, what's wrong?
You look kinda pale. And...oh, your skin feels really hot! Are you
having a fever?” She pressed her hand to his forehead and Luke
thought his body was going to burst into flames. She was standing so
close to him, her soft body pressed up against him as she felt his
face and neck.
    “I'm okay. I...I just
miss...talking to you.” He took a deep breath and opened his
eyes. His bear had backed down and seemed satisfied and pleased to
have Nicole so near him. Her touch soothed his bear and tamed that
wild, temperamental beast.
    “I miss you too, Luke,”
she said sincerely.
    “Do you want to...come
over to my place? It's just down the road. We can catch up over
pizza.” He held up the pizza box.
    Her lips curved as her eyes
lighted up.
    Luke swore that a woman had
never looked so kissable to him.
    “I'd love to!”

CHAPTER
FIVE

    As they walked towards Luke's
condo building, Nicole jabbered on about what she had been up to
these couple of years. She worked, and she worked some more, that's
what she had been doing. She realized that she was talking too fast,
and she sounded like an excited schoolgirl, but she couldn't help it.
The more excited she got, the faster she talked.
    She wasn't at all like this
when she was at work. Nicole the lawyer was cool, collected and
poised at all times. Nothing fazed her and she handled situations,
opposing counsel and senior partners with grace and aplomb. She was
professional. Yep, there was the professional Nicole, and there was
the...real Nicole.
    The real Nicole hadn't made
an appearance in quite a while, she realized. She hadn't talked and
laughed so excitedly and happily with any of her ex-boyfriends. She
hadn't really been friends with any of her exes. They were lovers,
yes, but there was no deep friendship between them.
    “Am I talking too much?
Too fast?” she asked breathlessly.
    “No.” Luke
looked surprised at her question. “This is the way you always
talk. I remember the way you gesture and tug at your ear as you
think of a word or phrase you want to use.”
    “Oh.” Nicole
released her earlobe and balled her fist. She hadn't even realized
she was doing that. “I...”
    “You're adorable,”
he blurted out.
    “What?”
    Luke stammered and blushed.
And that was absolutely the most adorable sight.
    “Are you blushing,
Luke?” she teased.
    “No!” He turned
a deeper shade of red. “I just think...you're so perfect,”
he mumbled.
    When her eyes rounded, he
said quickly, “I wish we hadn't lost touch all these years.”
    “Me too.”
    They arrived at a neat condo
building and Luke ushered her towards the lift lobby. “I'm on
the tenth floor,” he informed her. “It's a small place,
just one bedroom...”
    “Why would you need
more than one bedroom?” she said immediately. “A single
guy doesn't need more than one bedroom, unless of course he's not
single and he has...”
    “I'm single. Very
single,” Luke said emphatically. Nicole hid a smile. That was
the information she was fishing for.
    “I haven't been with
anyone since...” He hesitated.
    Nicole sensed that there was
something he wanted to tell her but he was struggling to get the
words out.
    “Since what, Luke?”
she asked very gently.
    Before he could reply, the
elevator door opened and Luke greeted the elderly couple who stepped
out. “Mr and Mrs Fu, going out for supper?”
    “We're going to watch a
midnight movie,” Mr Fu announced. “A horror movie, so
she can pretend to be scared and I can put my manly arms around her
and protect her.”
    “Your girlfriend is
very pretty,” Mrs Fu said, smiling at Nicole as she swatted her
husband's hand away.
    “She's not my...”
Luke sputtered.
    Mrs Fu winked and tut-tutted
at Luke as she strolled away hand in