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He followed her up her steps and watched her pick up the gift he’d left earlier.
“See? Someone keeps leaving me things.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
She turned, flustered, and he wondered what went through her mind. She didn’t appear upset with him, but he’d sensed a subtle change in her attitude. It made him want to pursue her harder, to hunt down his sexy prey.
He shook his head, feeling silly. Though at peace with his animal spirit, he was also a man, and he would love and cherish the woman he took to mate. Not hunt her down like an animal…
So why did the thought of pouncing on Laura make him hard?
He didn’t ask if he could come in and instead followed on her heels inside the home.
“Sure, come on in,” she said drily.
He smiled. “Thanks. I will.”
She put the gift box on the kitchen island and stared at it. He took a quick glance around, seeing how much the place suited her. Large, comfortable furniture sat in a neat yet haphazard arrangement. Laura clearly chose comfort over looks, but her home had a warmth to it he appreciated. Nothing too new or stylish, yet it would all function well.
He saw a collection of Winnie the Pooh figurines by a small fake tree in the corner of her living room, atop a cabinet, and did his best not to grin.
“Well, open it.” He nodded to the gift.
She bit her lip. “Should I?”
“You opened the others, didn’t you?”
She unwrapped it and found a tiny glass figurine, a gray donkey with a sad face. “Oh my gosh! I was missing that one! My sister broke it a few years ago by accident.”
“I’m not allowed to make any comments about you being into Winnie the Pooh, am I?”
“No.” She smiled, and the joy in her expression unlocked something inside him, a thawing around his cold heart. He had an idiotic notion of being the Grinch discovering the holiday spirit and mentally slapped himself in the head.
“Are you okay?” she asked as she put the glass Eeyore on the tree.
“Oh, fine.” And weirdly, falling for you, my fake mate. Is that what’s happening to me? That odd feeling of satisfaction at seeing you smile? Hearing you laugh? At watching you take your pleasure?
“I smell something…” She turned beet-red.
“Hmm?” He couldn’t concentrate, fixated on the wonder that was Laura. He stopped right in front of her and looked down into her eyes, seeing that something special that sparked only for him.
“You, I…” She put a hand on his chest when he moved to kiss her.
He stopped, on fire to have her. “Laura?”
“Wh-when I stopped that idiot from clawing at you earlier, and you saw my bear. Was it, was it weird?”
He frowned. “Weird how?”
“Having me defend you. A girl—woman.” She cleared her throat. “I mean, I’m not small. Or meek. And you go out with—”
He kissed her, unable to help himself. When she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, he’d never been happier. “I go out with who?” he asked moments later.
“I, um, well, I meant to say, did it look freaky to see me as part bear? Not every Ac-taw can shift parts of themselves.”
“If I tell you it was the hottest thing I’d ever seen, and that it made me instantly hard, would that bother you?”
She gaped. “You didn’t mind me stepping in? Turning furry?”
