Bear-ly Human (Bear Claw Security Book 4) by Terry Bolryder

hair.
    “Must be a lot of work,” she said, watching. “I love mine short.”
    “I love yours short, too,” he said, winking. “Easy access.”
    She flushed at that. She also loved how easy it was for him to kiss her neck, her ears, that little place below her jaw…
    “Anyway, it’s not much work,” he said, running his fingers through it and pulling it into a ponytail.
    “Do you ever do a man bun?” she asked, thinking of men she’d seen on the internet.
    His eyebrows screwed up in confusion. “What?”
    She finished the piece of toast she was eating and then walked over to him, grabbing the ponytail he’d done and twisting it into a bun and securing it with another loop of the band he was using.
    “There,” she said, turning him toward the mirror.
    He looked like an angry lion. He grabbed the band and let the hair fall free. “No. Hell no.”
    She laughed. “All right, then, leave it down.” She ran her hands through the length, marveling at how silky and smooth it was. And thick and amazing. “You have enough hair for both of us.”
    “I love your hair,” he said, pushing back the thin, soft strands that liked to fall over her forehead.
    “Thanks,” she said.
    “But no, I’m not leaving mine down. I need to tie it back so I’m ready to do battle with Bentley.”
    “Speaking of which, I think my dad is planning a boat trip,” she said. “So probably not much battle.”
    “A battle on the seas, then,” he said. “Good thing I have a better six-pack.”
    “I think we’re just going out on the sailboat,” she said with a giggle. “So behave yourself.”
    “What are you wearing?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
    She laughed. “What’s it to you?”
    “I don’t want other people seeing your body,” he pouted.
    She laughed. “But you want to see it, right?”
    He nodded eagerly. She laughed at how transparent the big man was when it came to her. Maybe he hid everything else, but his feelings for her were very apparent.
    “I promise you’ll like it,” she said. “All right. Should we go down and say hi to the others?”
    “Sure,” he said. “You go ahead. I’ll be right down.”
    She frowned. “What is it?”
    “Just gotta grab a few more things.”
    She nodded. “I need to stop by my room anyway.” She picked up the last Danish remaining on her plate and nibbled it as she headed down the stairs.
    She took a deep breath as she prepared herself to meet anyone that was up and about. She saw Bentley walking down the hallway toward the other guest rooms on the bottom floor and purposely turned toward her room to avoid him.
    She wanted to grab her phone, which she’d left in her room in her hurry to find breakfast this morning.
    She was caught up in thoughts of how the day would be with Hercules and didn’t notice until she got to her room that something felt amiss.
    She could swear she’d shut the door, but it was now ajar.
    She put her hand on the handle and pushed it open, peeking around to see if someone was inside.
    A little chill went through her as she saw no one was there.
    But someone had been there. Someone who had disguised their scent with something else. She went into mission mode, analyzing everything around her. She walked to her dresser, seeing someone had rifled through it, and then tried to make it look like no one had touched anything.
    But someone had definitely touched her underwear. They were folded half-heartedly, but not how she folded them. And no longer in their color-coordinated arrangement.
    She put a hand in her hair, suddenly wanting to run from the room. Why would someone have done this? She didn’t think even Bentley, who’d been a little jerk even when they were kids, would invade her privacy like this.
    She took a step backward and looked around the room. She didn’t see anything else disturbed. So they’d just come in and creeped on her underwear? Maybe she needed a bodyguard after all.
    Hercules. Should she even tell him? He was likely to