Bear Arms (Alpha Werebear Shapeshifter Romance) (Mating Call Dating Agency Book 4) Read Online Free

couldn’t make sure. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at eight. Sound good?”
    Lexie shook her head, not entirely sure what was going on, but absolutely certain of one  thing. “Yeah,” she said. “That sounds like the best idea I’ve heard in a long time.”
    It wasn’t until he hung up that she realized he hadn’t asked if she wanted to go out. Somehow, that was even more exciting than all the rest of it rolled into one. Of course, it didn’t occur to her until some minutes later that he had no idea where she was, and she hadn’t a clue what he was picking her up for . But somehow, the maven of I Hate Arts and Crafts just couldn’t bring herself to feel anything but excitement, hopeful anticipation, and just the slightest bit of nervous caution.
    That was definitely, definitely a first.

3
    ––––––––
    “W hat is with you ?” Dora, the second-in-command of the Mating Call Dating Agency, almost trumpeted as Yvette Lorraine, her boss and best friend on the planet, sailed through the front door. “You’re late !”
    Eve looked down at her watch. “I’m two and a half minutes late. And wait the hell up, I own this place. How can I be late to a business I own?”
    “The last time you were late at all, forget more than a minute,” Dora was having to work very hard to keep up the overly serious act, although in her defense, Eve hadn’t been late, ever, “you had the flu and were going to just ‘ride it out’. Remember that?”
    “It would’ve worked if you hadn’t dragged me to the doctor.”
    “They put you on IV fluids for three days!” Dora said. “Anyway, Monte and I were watching TV last night and I coulda swore he said something about seeing you at Tenner’s the other night with...  dun-dun-dun... a man?”
    Eve scrunched one of her eyes almost shut. For an owl, with very owl-like eyes, that was no small feat. “So what if I did? You keep on me about how I have to find someone or I’m going to go crazy, don’t you? I mean besides Rake. I can’t do that. I just can’t. Too much baggage.”
    Dora pushed herself to her feet. She plucked the gum out of her mouth and tossed it in the trash as she did. “I get you. I mean, I’m disappointed, but I’ll hold out hope for someday. If nothing else, because Rake sounds as hard up as you are. Anyway, are you saying you met someone?”
    “It was business,” Eve grumbled. “Although I may have met someone. I think I like him a lot, but that might just be me forcing myself to not think about Rake.”
    The two of them were both having a hell of a time not smiling. This was their game – one acted irritated, the other egged her on, and then they eventually dropped the whole thing just before it got really unbelievable. “Tell me about him,” Dora hoisted herself up on top of her desk and sat down, staring at Eve. “Let me guess, he’s a mongoose who teaches English at the White Creek Community College?”
    “Guess again,” Eve said.
    “Ah-ha! That’s an admission of guilt. Okay... cowboy yak who spends his free time making scarves to sell on Etsy?”
    “Close,” Eve said with a smile. “Or not really. How about ex-soldier bear with dark blue eyes, dimples, and biceps about the size of my head.”
    “Yeah, right,” Dora said. “Semi-homeless ferret who plays guitar at Mom’s Burgers on Wednesday night and has a weird addiction to chewing on paper towel rolls?”
    When Eve’s response was just a grin, Dora got the hint. “Oh my god, you’re serious, aren’t you?” she asked. “For you or the client?”
    “Client,” Eve said. “But mine is... well...” Eve just nodded, then smiled, and about a half-second later, the two of them were embracing and giggling like neither had giggled since they were high school sophomores and Bill Hutchinson, the captain of the wrestling team, made an inappropriate comment about Eve’s ass.
    “So,” Dora finally said, when the two of them calmed down enough to actually talk again,