Badgering the Bear: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Mate in a Minute Speed Mating Agency Book 1) (6 page)

T
he click
of something next to her roused Jolie from a deep, sated sleep. She blinked her eyes and looked up, sudden memories flooding her mind. She blushed at the man slipping back into bed next to her.

“Why so red, sweetness?” Gabe pulled her close and tucked her in the crook of his arm, and she rested her cheek on his broad chest.

“Just suddenly shy, is all.” She nuzzled his chest, appreciatively, breathing in his musky scent. “And happy.”

She hid her face again. Admitting that was harder than she expected.

“I’m not feeling at all shy, but when I have my beautiful mate in my arms, how could I not be happy?”

“I never thought I’d find a mate, is all. I’m scared it will all go away. That I’ll get up and go home and I’ll never see you again.”

“If you do get up and go home, I’ll follow you.”

Jolie pushed herself to share her fear and lingering self-doubt. “Guys always like the beautiful delicate roses of the world. I’m waiting for you to realize I’m no hothouse flower that you need to take care of.”

He dropped soft kisses on the top of her head. “Do you know what my favorite flower is?” When she shook her head, he continued, “The daisy. Not any fancy kind of daisy, but the Shasta daisy. It’s hardy but the creamy yellow pops against the soft white petals.”

“So, the common, plain daisy.”

“It’s not plain. I think they are beautiful and when I see them growing, they make my heart happy. Like I’m happy when I look at you. I don’t want some useless creature that’s only good for being taken care of. I want a partner, someone I can build a family with.”

“You’re just saying that.”

He lifted his head and looked into her eyes, “I’m only rich because I got lucky. I know how easily this could all disappear and I want a partner who can take the good with the bad. Someone who will tackle problems head on.” His thumb grazed her cheek. “Do you know how lucky I feel that my mate is someone that I know will put her shoulder up against the rock with me? As well as being the sexiest thing I’ve ever known?”

She melted against him. “You are splendid.”

They snuggled for several long minutes before he said, “Oh, and someone left us lunch at the door.”

Jolie’s face burned red again. “Freaking Zane.”

“Aided by my sister, of course.” Gabe nuzzled her cheek. He couldn’t stop kissing her. Warmth blazed from his core, not desire, but contentment.
His.

She leaned into his caress. “I thought your sister’s name was Des? She introduced herself as Mona.”

“Well, my sister is a sneaky so and so. Her full name is Desdemona.” He dropped a string of kisses up her arm. “And while I refuse to apologize for her tricking you here, I don’t approve of it at all.”

Jolie moaned as he nibbled on her shoulder. “I can’t be that mad at her.”

“Still, she’s been hiding out here long enough. Boredom makes her scheme, even if it’s from a good place.” He grinned at Jolie. “Maybe a few rounds at
Mate in a Minute
would do her good. Keep her out of our hair for a while.”

Jolie grinned back. “And Zane lost a bet. Which, by the way, is how I ended up at that speed dating event in the first place. Turnabout is fair play.”

“I should get her flowers for coming up with that idea,” he murmured.

“As long as they aren’t daisies.”

* * *

T
hank
you for reading Badgering the Bear, the first story of
Mate in a Minute Speed Dating Agency
series
.
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.

F
lora Dare lives in Durham
, NC in a cute little pink house, with her husband, Scott and their hellion of a puppy, HaliToeses. She writes love, lust and mayhem in almost every flavor, and like The Pirate Movie, she wants a happy ending, every time!

A
lpha Alien
(Book One
of the Bound to the Alien series) by Flora Dare

I've always felt a little bit...off. Out of step with everyone else. All I wanted was to find my place in life.

T
hat's
how I found myself in the middle of the desert, guns blazing. And that's when he found me.

N
ow I'm
billions of miles from home with a scary space-lizard who doesn't take no for an answer. What's worse is, I don't want to say no.

H
is Golden Cuffs
by Flora Dare

Anya is on the brink of freedom from her con-man father, until she finds herself pulled back into his world when he forges her name and implicates her in his crimes.

H
er only hope
for salvation is Leo, a self-made billionaire who left her as her mother lay dying. Anya needs Leo to save her from her father, and Leo needs Anya's name for his business... but as old flames rekindle, he realizes he needs her submission as much as he needs her name.

W
ill
a sham marriage to a man she never stopped loving save Anya or leave her a broken sacrifice to her father's insatiable greed?

B
ears Repeating
by Flora Dare

From USA TODAY and NEW YORK TIMES best-selling author Flora Dare comes double the sexy alpha werebear romance!

W
hen her flight
is cancelled and the only option is to accept a seat in coach, Jena's luck goes from bad to worse, and then back around to good again - she might have gotten a middle seat, but it's in between two BIG hunks of manliness.

B
eing snuggled
between two big bears is pretty much the best outcome the trip could have. The worst? The plane going down in the wilderness. Guess which one Jena's gonna have to deal with?

W
ith her and
her two new bear friends lost in the wilderness, a relaxing flight turns into a desperate fight for survival. But at the end of the day, will just surviving be enough for the bears? With the way Matt and Jack look at her, touch her, hold her, Jena doesn't think so.

J
ena thinks
that when she lets her claws out, the gig is up - how could two bears like this want a wolverine shifter? But when she stumbles into trouble she never imagined, it seems her two hunks just might part of an industrial terror plot.

F
orget the claws
, forget the fur, can Jena survive THEM?

L
ICENSE NOTES

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D
ISCLAIMER

The characters and events portrayed in this book are a work of fiction or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.