Delta Bear (Rogue Bear Series 2) Read Free Page B

just need another minute. Want to have a seat?” She pointed at the sofa.
    “Sure.” He walked past her and she smelled his cologne. Good lord, he was unbelievable.
    Haley ran to the bathroom and finished her makeup. It was hard to get the lines straight with her hands shaking like they were. The air had changed since Jax walked in the room. Her skin was tingling and her breath was quick.
    She fastened her hands on her hips. She was a damn doctor, trained in medical science. There was a reason for this. Pheromones, she told herself. Also the fact that she hadn’t gotten laid in a year. She switched off the light and walked toward the living room.
    “Ok. I’m ready now.” She grinned.
    “You look stunning.”
    “Thank you.” She felt the heat in her cheeks.
    “I don’t know if you’re going to be able to help my re-entry.” He held the door for her.
    “Why is that?”
    She worried he was going to back out of the date. Or what if she had missed a symptom of depression or anxiety? She had been so busy studying the lines of his face she hadn’t tuned in to the cues of stress. She had to be the worst volunteer in the program.
    “Is something wrong?” she asked, trying to sound like she did in the ER.
    “Oh no. Nothing is wrong. I’m worried that all night I’m going to have to fight the men off of you.” His eyes trailed over the swells of her breasts. She realized she had chosen the perfect outfit after all.
    Haley giggled. It was sweet and silly, but she liked it. “Do you say that to all the girls?”
    “No.” His eyes grew serious. “Only you.”
    “Oh.”
    “Come on. Let’s go eat.” His hand clasped over hers, and Haley suddenly felt very tiny and feminine. It was his broad shoulders, his large palms, his wide chest.
    Jax drove them to a restaurant and held the chair out for her to sit. She wondered how long it had been since he had done something as normal as going out to eat.
    She thanked the waiter when he dropped off a glass of wine for her.
    “So how has your first week back in the U.S. been?” she asked.
    He folded the menu and placed it on the table. “Strange.”
    “I can only imagine. But you’re happy to be home?”
    His eyes landed on hers, and she felt something in his gaze she hadn’t seen before. “I think I am. For now.”
    “You should just take it slow. Don’t put pressure on yourself.”
    “Is that you talking or the doctor?” He raised his eyebrows.
    She smiled. “Sometimes I can’t separate the two.” Haley sipped her wine, feeling the sudden smoothness soothe her.
    “I have that same problem. Work hazard.”
    “Yes, exactly. A work hazard.”
    “How long have you been a doctor?”
    “I’m finishing my residency now and then I’ll be done. I haven’t decided if I’m staying in Watkin.”
    “Not stay in Watkin? Where would you go?”
    “Mmm…I don’t know. I don’t have family here. There are a lot of hospitals hiring right now. Not to mention private practices. I thought about trying the east coast.”
    “What?” His voice was deep and low. The sound sent a shiver down her back.
    “I have a year to decide.”
    “I don’t know why you’d leave Washington. What more could be out there?”
    “You leave, don’t you?”
    He chuckled. “True. But my job has different traveling requirements.”
    Jax stopped to order for both of them before dismissing the server.
    “I only know you’re in the Army. What do you do?”
    “I don’t really talk about it.”
    She grinned. “I think you can trust me. I have your blood pressure on file.” She giggled, realizing how light her voice sounded.
    “All right, doc. You’re right. I do trust you. And I don’t trust many people.” He leaned back from the table and Haley noticed how he scanned the tables around them. “I’m in Special Forces.”
    “Holy shit.” She almost choked on her wine.
    “Delta Force to be exact. But that’s about all I can say about it.”
    She knew there was an elite group