Poke His Bear Read online

  “He threw the money away. Why would he do that?”

  Officer Connelly says, “Because the money wasn’t his goal. The message was. Has anything like this happened to you before?”

  I shake my head. “No. Never. I mean, I’ve gotten a couple letters in the mail before, but they weren’t postmarked and didn’t have a return address so, I threw them away without reading them.”

  “Have you gotten any lately?”

  I shake my head. “The last one was a couple weeks ago.”

  Officer Connelly says, “I think you might have a stalker. What happened last night was obviously personal. Something you did that was probably completely innocent pissed him off. I’ll hand the case over to an investigator when I get back to the precinct.” He pulls a business card from his pocket and hands it to me, “If you get another letter in the mail don’t throw it away, call me instead.”

  Taking the card from him, I say, “I’ll do that.” Convict Connelly… oh you poor man, what kind of person names their kid Convict?

  “I’m going to go check that trash can and see if the money is still in there. We might get lucky and find a fingerprint on the bag.”

  Officer Connelly pulls a pair of disposable gloves from his pants pocket and exits my office while putting them on. Popping a blank disc into the monitor I burn a copy of the footage from last night even though I don’t think it’ll be useful. But, I don’t know anything about police work so, it’s possible there is something on there they can use. Once it’s complete, I grab an empty plastic disc case and place the disc inside it then head to the front of the store where Officer Connelly is. I watch him dig through the trash can out front and pull out the bag of money that he tucks into an evidence bag before coming back inside.

  “A crime scene team will be here shortly to photograph everything. I doubt they’ll dust for prints since the culprit wore gloves and too many people come through here. You won’t be able to open today.”

  “I figured that would be the case so, I told my employees not to come in today.”

  “I’ll wait for the crime scene team with you and then I have to get back to patrol.”

  “Okay. Would you like to join me for dinner tonight?”

  “I can’t.”

  Well that was a quick rejection. Guess even the mate bond can’t draw his interest. There’s no way to hide my disappointment from him. “Oh… okay.”

  His stoic expression softens slightly, and he raises his gloved hand to touch my cheek but thinks better of it after remembering where his hand had been. “I have to work a double shift. Possibly a triple. The department is extremely shorthanded thanks to nearly half the officers being down with the flu. It’s why I can’t stay while the crime scene team does their work like I normally would. Rain check on that invite?”

  Grinning I say, “I’d like that, Convict.”

  He cringes and says, “Please call me Con. I haven’t answered to the name Convict since I left home.”

  Chuckling, I nod. “Okay, Con it is, then.”

  Con looking stoic once again says, “I’d ask for your number but, I don’t want to touch my phone until after I’ve taken these gloves off and sanitized my hands.” I’m starting to realize that being stoic is how he always is. If that’s the case, then maybe he does like me. If he doesn’t, he will. It’ll be my personal mission to make it so. And to get him to smile. I bet he’s gorgeous when he smiles.

  Taking my phone from my pocket, I open my message app and say, “Give me yours. I’ll text you so you have mine.”

  He rattles off his number and I send him a message and create a contact for him at the same time.

  “There.”

  The crime scene team pulls up behind his cruiser and Con says, “Well, that’s my cue to get back to work. I’ll see you soon, little sprite.”

  Blushing at the term of endearment, I say, “See you soon, Con.”

  Taking the evidence bag with him, Con exits my salon and I sigh happily. Phase one of my seduction plan: Score a date with my neighbor complete. Onwards to phase two: make him like me so much he wants to keep me. Starting with dinner. I’ll show off my fantabulous cooking skills. My momma always says, ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.’

  Leaving the crime scene team to do their work I head into my office to search for a recipe that’ll knock his socks off and hopefully other things…

  Well… that was unexpected. When I got the call about the break in at The Razor’s Edge, I wasn’t expecting to meet my mate. Or for that mate to be my sexy little neighbor, but I can’t say I’m unhappy about this outcome. My blatant attraction to the man makes a whole lot of sense now. It took all my willpower to avoid getting aroused while he explained the situation because his scent hit me in the face as soon as he opened the door to the salon. Cosmo smells sweet like candy with a hint of citrus and I want to bask in it constantly.

  When we were alone in his office, I had to resist the urge to have my wicked way with him. Maybe it’s because it’s been a while since I got laid or had the time to let my bear out for a run, but my instincts are in overdrive right now. I’m finding it hard to control myself. Thank goodness for the distraction of work otherwise I’d be hunting down my little sprite. Every part of me is screaming ‘make him mine.’ Though part of it could be attributed to the fact he has a target on his back which has my protective instincts flaring. I hated leaving him to go to work but, I trust my coworkers, and the lab guys who make up the crime scene team are both lion shifters, so they’ll be able to protect Cosmo on the off chance something were to happen while they’re photographing the damage to the salon.

  For the longest time, I told myself I didn’t want a mate because there’s no way anyone would put up with my attitude and lack of emotion. It’s not that I don’t feel things, I just have a hard time letting it show on my face when I’m around other people. I do just fine when I’m on my own but when it comes to doing it in public, I swear my face is stuck in a permanent scowl. At least, that’s what everyone tells me. Even my brothers have said it before. It’s sad that I can’t even show emotion when talking to my brothers through a video call. I don’t know any different though. To our parents, emotion was a weakness and even though I’ve been away from home for thirty years I haven’t found a way to break myself of the habit like my brothers have managed to do.

  Then again, maybe it’s so easy for my brothers because they’re happy and loving life and me, well, I’m just going through the motions. I like my life and love my job but I’m not exactly happy. All I do is go to work and come home, day in day out, except for the days when I’m hanging with Nathan or some of the guys from the department at a local bar. I’m merely existing. There’s no substance to my life. Nothing that makes me truly happy. I have a feeling that’s all about to change.

  What I find funny is that I’ve lived next to Cosmo for ten years and haven’t scented him sooner. I moved to Coral Key after spending twenty years in the army. I’d achieved the rank of Master Sergeant before getting out. I could’ve gone beyond twenty years but, I’d had enough of war zones and watching friends die.

  “Unit one we have reports from a neighbor of a 10–16 at 305 Maple Avenue.” Jesus Christ, does that man ever work?

  Grabbing my radio mic I press the button and say, “10–4. Unit one, responding.”

  Flipping on my sirens I turn left at the next light and head towards my neighborhood. When I park in front of the house on the corner the sight that greets me has me fighting back a laugh. Our neighborhood hook up artist is standing on his porch buck ass naked shouting at the door while using potted plants to cover his ass and cock. This isn’t the first time I’ve caught him in a compromising position but, I have to say this one takes the cake on all the others.

  Exiting my cruiser, I make my way to the porch. “Thorne. Can I ask why you’re outside naked?”

  Thorne freezes and turns around slowly blushing beet red. “It’s a long story.”

  “I�
�ve got time.”

  “Well, I hooked up with this guy. I don’t usually do repeats but he sucks cock like a hoover and this is a small town so, I thought why not. But, today’s events have reminded me why I never do repeats.”

  “What happened?”

  I don’t know how it’s possible, but Thorne’s blush deepens to a shade I’d be concerned about if he wasn’t breathing normally. “Well, he got the idea that we were in some kind of relationship, so when I got a message through the hook-up app I use from someone new and he saw it, he flipped out on me. Told me to get out. I tried to remind him this was my house but, he shoved me out the door and locked it.”

  “And you don’t have a hide-a-key?”

  Thorne shakes his head. “I was afraid having one would be too obvious so I gave the spare to my mother and because I was thrown out without a stitch of clothing or my phone, I couldn’t call her to bring me the spare. Not that I would because it’s embarrassing enough having you and the rest of the neighborhood see me like this. There’s no way I’d bring my mother into it. Although, with the way gossip spreads in this town she’ll surely hear about it by the end of the day and I’ll get a lecture.”

  Hearing the sound of glass breaking has us both cringing. Thorne looks down at his bare feet and says, “I’ll be lucky to have a house left after this. He’s been breaking shit and screaming things like ‘cheater’ and ‘how could you do this to me’ ever since he locked me out.”

  “Alright, step aside.”

  When Thorne moves out of the way, I beat on the front door and say, “Police! Open the door and come outside.”

  A shouted “No,” is followed by the sound of more glass breaking.

  Beating on the door again, I shout, “Open this door. Now.”

  When another shouted “No,” reaches my ears I step back and kick the door in. Drawing my gun, I walk into the house which is completely trashed. Thorne’s couch cushions have been ripped apart, pictures have been knocked off the wall, and what looks like nearly every dish in the kitchen has been shattered on the floor. The man responsible is standing in the kitchen taking a knife to Thorne’s curtains. Pointing my gun at the man, I say, “Put the knife down.”

  He turns around. sees the gun, squeaks like a mouse and drops the knife raising his hands in the air. Walking over to the man, I grip the wrist of one arm and bring it around to his back then pull out my cuffs. Cuffing one wrist, I bring his other arm down and cuff that one too. Once he’s cuffed and I read him his rights it’s like a switch has been flipped. The man starts fighting to get away and screaming. Sighing, I drag him out of the house avoiding his legs as he tries to kick me. As I drag the man from the house, I hear Thorne mutter, “Why do I always get the crazy ones?”

  Putting the man in the back of the cruiser, I return to the porch where Thorne is still standing and say, “We’ll charge him with destruction of property and resisting arrest. You’ll have to come down to the station to make a formal statement.”

  Thorne nods. “I’ll do that.”

  “A word of advice, you probably shouldn’t bring your hook-ups home with you anymore.”

  Thorne says, “Yeah. I think you’re right.”

  “I’m not going to bother calling a crime scene team out here. Just take pictures of everything that’s destroyed then make a list of the items and their approximate value and bring it with you when you make a statement.”

  “Got it.”

  “And Thorne?”

  He looks at me with wide-eyes. “Yes?”

  “Get inside and put some clothes on before I have to arrest you for public indecency again.”

  Thorne blushes, no doubt remembering the last time I arrested him for public indecency -he and a hook-up were getting down and dirty in the park on a bench for anyone to see- and rushes inside still holding his potted plants. Chuckling to myself, I head for my cruiser. I’m sure if we met under any other circumstances, we could’ve been good friends. As it stands, every time the man sees me, he remembers all the times I caught him in compromising positions and gets embarrassed. What he needs is a mate of his own to keep him from doing reckless shit like having sex in public in a prime position to get caught. I know the risk of getting caught is part of the allure to public sex, but the goal is to actually not get caught.

  Climbing into my cruiser, I head to the station to drop off my passenger for processing then get back to patrolling after stopping at the local deli for a couple sandwiches that’ll tide me over for a while until I can take an official break for a late dinner. Once I’ve done a complete circuit of the area I usually patrol, I find a place to park where I won’t be easily spotted and set up my radar. As I open the wrapping on my sandwich, my phone pings with a text. Removing my phone from the holder I keep it in, I view the text from Cosmo and snort. He’s been sending me cop memes ever since I left. This one has a cop car parked behind a Dunkin’ Donuts truck and says, “Do you have any idea why I pulled you over?”

  Taking a bite of my sandwich, I send him a message, teasing him a little.

  Me: I don’t like donuts.

  Cosmo: What?! How could you not like donuts? That’s sacrilege! Cops are supposed to like donuts. It’s like a rule or something.

  Me: Not this cop.

  Cosmo: I’ll have to show you the error of your ways with my homemade donuts.

  Me: I don’t think that’ll work but you’re welcome to try.

  Cosmo: Trust me. It’ll work. By the time I’m through with you, you’ll be worshiping the donut gods.

  Me: We’ll see, little sprite. We’ll see.

  Cosmo: Indeed we will.

  Chuckling to myself, I put the phone back in the holder and finish eating my sandwich. Before I can unwrap my second one, a little red sports car blows past me doing sixty in a thirty-five. Here we go. Tossing my sandwich back in the bag I flip on the sirens and pull out into traffic, relaying to dispatch that I’m in pursuit. The sports car speeds up and I smile. You won’t get away that easy.

  After the crime team finished at the salon, I spent the afternoon cleaning up the mess and sending Con funny cop memes I found online. I rescheduled all appointments for the day and had to use rubbing alcohol to scrub the permanent marker off the mirrors. Thankfully, I keep extra Barbicide jars in the back in case one gets broken, so I was able to easily replace them all. None of the products swept off the shelves busted so I was able to return them to the shelves. Once I finished, I sent a text letting everyone know the shop would be open again tomorrow then went home.

  As soon as I got home, I poured myself a glass of wine then went straight to the bathroom where I drew myself a hot bath filled it with bubbles and spent the next hour soaking all my worries away. Well, all but one. The knowledge that I might have a stalker isn’t something I can soak away with a nice bubble bath no matter how much I might want to. All day today, I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out who could possibly be behind this and where I might’ve crossed paths with them, but I’ve come up empty.

  I don’t know what I did to draw this man’s attention or what I did that pissed him off so badly he felt the need to trash my salon just to send me a message. Although, if he wanted to do it to hurt me and my business, he would’ve destroyed more than what he did. I know the salon’s clients would never go anywhere else, but the longer I’d have to stay closed and couldn’t do business the more money I’d lose. It’s obvious that wasn’t the goal with the little bit of damage that was done. Why me though? What did I do?

  Sighing, I shake off that thought knowing there isn’t any use asking questions I don’t have the answers to. Pouring myself another glass of wine I return to my perusal of my fridge trying to decide what I want to have for dinner. Maybe I should just order in… Nodding, I close the fridge and pick up my phone. Opening my pizza delivery app, I place an order then head into my living room with my wine glass and the bottle. Placing both on my end table, I pick up the remote, queue up Netflix and scroll through the listings for something
to watch. Pressing play on one of the baking shows, I pick up my wineglass and sip it.

  When my pizza arrives, I take it from the delivery boy then return to my spot on the couch laying the box on the cushion next to me. Picking up a slice I settle in for a night alone. I wish Con could’ve been here with me so we could spend time together, but I understand he needed to work. Maybe I’ll surprise him with breakfast when he gets off shift later and we can do dinner some other time. Smiling to myself, I take another bite of pizza. My phone starts to ring, and I pull it from the pocket of my pajamas. Seeing it’s Thorne calling, I answer, “Hey Thorny-poo what’s up?”

  “Cossy! I’ve been calling since lunch. Where have you been?”

  “Sorry, I was busy cleaning up the salon. I meant to call you back but, I had a lot on my mind.”

  “What’s going on?”

  Sighing, I say, “The salon was broken into and vandalized last night. I spent the morning dealing with the police who seem to think I have a stalker and I’ve done something to piss him off. The crime scene spent the longest time photographing every single thing more than once before they left, and I was allowed to clean up.”

  “Jesus. A stalker?”

  “Yep. I’ve been getting letters in the mail for about a year but, threw them away without reading them. But, enough about that. What’s going on with you?”

  Thorne sighs. “A hook-up gone bad. Mrs. Mathis next door called the cops again and your hot cop neighbor was the one who responded.”