The Bear's Mate by Vanessa Devereaux Read Free Book Online Page A

what lab she used. When he did, he’d need to
intercept the vial before they did anything with it. Best way to do that was to
ask her outright. Okay, not outright, but pry the info out of her. He’d invite
her to lunch, sort of a thank you for taking such good care of Christopher like
she had.
    He
dug his cell phone out of his pant pocket was about to dial the clinic number
when he had second thoughts and instead set it down on his desk. If he saw her
again, took her out for a meal, he’d be tempted just like he had been at the
clinic. Getting close to someone outside the group would be walking a fine line,
especially with mating season on the horizon.
    He
tapped a pen on his desk. Oh, how he wished she was the ugliest woman in the world.
Grabbing the phone, this time he didn’t give it another thought and plugged at
the numbers.
    “Flathead
Free Clinic, how may I help you?”
    “I’d
like to speak with Dr. Delaney, please?”
    “Can
I ask who’s calling?”
    “Sure,
it’s Aiden Renner.”
    “One
minute and I’ll see if she’s available.”
    Some
country music drifted over the line as Aiden doodled and sketched an alligator
on the notepad in front of him. If the lady had seen one, it definitely wasn’t
a shifter.
      He finished the sketch. It seemed like he’d
been holding forever. The longer it dragged on the more he lost his nerve and
was tempted to just put the phone down. However, he was sure whoever had
answered the phone had probably already given his name to Charlotte.
    He
tapped the pen again, this time in a steady beat similar to the song he’d heard
on his car radio when he’d driven to work earlier that day. Maybe she didn’t
want to speak with him, and that’s why she was taking her time. Maybe thinking up some excuse not to talk to him after the kiss and
his abrupt departure. However, maybe she thought he was calling about
Christopher and that something was wrong with him.
    “She’s
just finishing with a patient and will be right with you,” said the
receptionist.
    Hearing that made his heart flutter in
his chest. He swallowed, hoping not to be tongue tied when he finally heard her voice
again.
    “Hi
Aiden, this is Dr. Delaney.”
    “Good
morning. I just wanted to thank you for taking such good care of my brother
yesterday.”
    “Like
I said, it’s what I do. So how’s he feeling today?”
    “Good,
and yes, he’s taking his antibiotics.”
    Shit,
another lie, but he could hardly tell her they were a waste of time for them.
Medication like that didn’t work on shifters. They had to leave it all to their
own bodies to work some magic.
    “I’m
glad to hear that.”
    Here goes…
    “As
my way of saying thank you, I’d like to take you to lunch.”
    “There’s
really no need, like I said it’s my job to help patients.”
    “Okay,
then how about I just take you to lunch without it being a thank you meal.”
    Had that come
across as pushy?
    She
laughed. “Okay, but I was late getting into the clinic this morning and I have
patients to see all day, so lunch isn’t possible. I could probably do dinner.”
    He
bit his lip. That might be too late, not to eat, but she might have given the
vial of blood to a lab by then, but he’d cornered himself here. Not that he wouldn’t want to take her out for dinner. However, she’d probably get all dressed up. She’d look drop dead gorgeous and
that could lead to trouble for both of them. On the other hand, he really needed
to know the name of the lab without looking too suspicious. If he had to get
her into bed to do it, well, he’d fuck her first, pay the consequences later.
    “Okay,
tell me where to pick you up?”
    “I’ll
give you my home address and shall we say 7:30 p.m.? I’ll make sure I lock the clinic
doors right at 6:00 p.m. and I have to make a stop to see my dad first.”
    “Okay.
I have a pen and paper if you want to give me your address.”
    He
wrote it down. He knew the area well, so it wouldn’t be too hard to