Bear This Heat (A BBW Shifter Romance) (Last of the Shapeshifters) by A.E. Grace

her.
    “Woah, woah,” Sasha said. “Slow down. Where do you think you’re going?”
    “To get ready for our date.”
    She blurted out a short laugh. “Date?”
    “Yes, dinner and drinks. Sounds like a date to me.” He shrugged.
    “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
    “I know. That’s why you’re going to drive me to my motel.”
    Sasha couldn’t stop another laugh from escaping her lips. “I’m sorry? I’m the one who says what we do.”
    “That’s right, you’re calling the shots, boss. But, look,” he said, clasping his hands together and putting on a mock expression, as though he were asking a favor. “I’ve been walking around all day in the sun. If we’re going out together, I’d like to at least freshen up. Don’t worry, I’m very quick. Plus, you can confirm my alibi, detective .”
    Sasha took her hand away from her gun, and planted it on her hip. She was fairly certain this would go down as the strangest case she ever worked, when it was all said and done, with the strangest suspect, or at best, person of interest.
    “Fine,” she relented. “But, like I said, I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
    “I don’t mind if you watch me shower.”
    His smile was contagious, and she forced herself not to return it as he walked past her. Only when he was completely in front of her, did she let herself smile.
    And even then, it was only for a second, and only in disbelief.
     
     

Interviewer: Did you believe him?
    Sasha: I did.
    Dylan: No, she didn’t.
    Sasha: I did. But it’s because I didn’t know if I ever believed you were our guy. I felt like, you know, it had to be you. You fit a description- [Interrupted by Dylan.]
    Dylan: [Interrupting.] What, tall, strong, and handsome?
    Sasha: Sally Clark didn’t say handsome. She did say you had an oddly oversized head.
    Dylan: No, she didn’t!
    Sasha: Anyway, Circe, it just seemed like the only road open to me at the time.
    Interviewer: And you still hadn’t gotten back forensics on the body?
    Sasha: No. Frankly, on that side of things, it was a disaster. Then again, we didn’t attract the best professionals in the business, for obvious reasons.
    Interviewer: Like what?
    Sasha: Being in the desert, for starters.
    Interviewer: And, of course, it was too early for lab results on the fur you found, right?
    Sasha: [Sighs.] I had forgotten how long that day was. I was up at four, with only three hours sleep!
    Interviewer: We’ve been chatting for quite some time now, and I only feel like I’m getting a part of the picture. Why were you so drawn to him? Why even push that avenue of investigation if you didn’t really think it was him?
    Sasha: I don’t know. I just felt there was a connection, you know. That he would lead me to our guy. I was right, after all.
    Interviewer: Instinct.
    Sasha: [Nods.]
    Interviewer: Connection how?
    Sasha: I don’t know. I just knew there was something there.
    Interviewer: You told me before that you feel you might have had a somewhat special capacity for sensing things.
    Sasha: Yeah. I think so.
    Interviewer: Did it help? With, you know- [Interrupted by Sasha.]
    Sasha: [Interrupting.] Yes. I think it did.
     
    - Excerpt from full transcript of Interview with a Shapeshifter by Circe Cole. Printed with expressed permission.
     
    *
     
    “S o, where are you parked?” Dylan looked up and down the road, but couldn’t see her dusty white coupe. “Ah,” he sounded a moment later as it clicked. “You switched cars. Smart.”
    He caught a flicker of a smile at the corners of her mouth. “I am a detective, you know.”
    “So” Dylan asked, pushing his hands together in front of him, and turning to look at her. “Which way, boss?”
    “It’s down here.”
    “You even parked a few houses down. How exciting! Were you watching me?”
    “Yes,” she admitted.
    He leveled his eyes at her. “So, the victim, was he-” But he was cut off by her wagging a finger at him.
    “I thought this was supposed to be