Hare Today, Bear Tomorrow (Mating Call Dating Agency #1)(12)

“Hellooo?” Lita drawled, “Earth to Garnet? Report in, Garnet?”

“Shit,” she chuffed. “Sorry, I was thinking about something.”

“Better not be a man. I can’t lose my best reporter to shit like a family and love. Not before this story’s done anyway.”

Garnet smiled despite herself. “Yeah, uh, I probably won’t have any kids in the next week. It isn’t that fast even for rabbits.”

“Oh hell, it is a man, isn’t it?”

Lita had been her editor for as long as Garnet had been writing, but she’d never been a particularly close friend. Was she someone she could count on? Yeah, of course. And Garnet knew if she had any troubles that Lita would help. But a friend? Someone to open her heart to and lay out all her nerves and feelings? Lita was so gruff and terse that it was hard to imagine her having a softer side, but... it must be there, Garnet had always thought.

“It... might be?” she ventured. “I know you’re not all into heart felt yammering, and that’s fine. I had a date last night, so I’m kind of in a glowy place.”

“Did you do it?” Lita asked.

“Do what?” She paused for a minute and then realized what Lita was saying. “Oh jeez, really?”

“You said you were glowing. I saw on a TV show that after people do it, they get glowy. Something about hormones or... listen, I’m not an expert on sex, but I did watch that show with the old woman who showed off dildos a few times. She had those dolls that she posed.”

Garnet felt herself flushing enough to match her name. “Of all the times I’ve thought about Talk Sex I never imagined it would come while I was talking to my boss. No pun intended.”

“What?”

“Never mind all that.” Garnet cleared her throat. “Listen, how about we talk about the story?”

“I want to hear about the man. Is he big? Muscular? Does he have a big...er...”

“Yes, yes, and I have no idea,” Garnet said in a hurry, “but I’m sure it’s proportional, so yes. Very much. Can we move on now?”

“We can, but only if you promise that as soon as you know, you’ll tell me. We’re all newswomen here, right? Everything that’s fit to print, or, you know, whatever it is we do.”

“Right,” Garnet said, smirking despite her embarrassment. “Uh, sounds good. Now, will you tell me why I’m here past a vague notion about a protest or something?”

As Lita dutifully explained the situation, Garnet constantly found her brain drifting dangerously close to thoughts of her bear. She thought about how it felt when The Mating Call gave her that ring, and Eve surprised her with a bear named Stacy. And then she remembered the way his hand felt against hers, the softness he used when he held her, and the way he squeezed her hand, then gave her a hug that could have suffocated a bull moose at the end of the night.

And after that, all she could think about was kissing him again, tasting those lips. She almost moaned thinking about that brief smell of his scent and the gentle rasp of his stubble against her cheek.

And before she knew it, Lita was done talking, and Garnet didn’t hear a single damn thing she had said.

“You get all that?” Lita asked, clicking her tongue against her teeth. “Please tell me you weren’t daydreaming about Prince Charming the whole time I was explaining in detail what your responsibilities were?”

Garnet bit her lip with one of her pointed canines. She chewed until a shot of pain snaked down her neck. “I... uh... maybe? I was listening. Really. Honestly.”

“Don’t you think you oversold that a little? Like when you see a used car lot’s commercial, and the guy keeps going on and on and on about how honest and real their salesmen are? And how they’d never rip anyone off or make a person sad, or take advantage of someone for being dumb?”

Garnet grunted. “Sorta. I don’t really watch live TV.”

“Let’s try this again, huh? And this time, I want you to take that notepad out of your pocket, and get the pen out from behind your ear. Come on,” she urged, “I know you Garnet. Get out the pen and the paper.”

With a sigh, Garnet retrieved the only tools she considered the requisite tools of reporting. “All right, shoot.”

“You have your stuff? Notepad and pen?”

“Yep.”

“And you’re not thinking about Captain Muscles?”

“Nope. And his name is Stacy, not Captain Muscles.”

“Stacy? Really?”

“Yep. But he goes by his middle name, Blade. And remember, gigantic muscles.”

“Blade? Sounds like he’s trying too hard. Damn,” Lita said. “I’m starting to get a little glowy myself.”

Garnet snorted a laugh so hard she almost sucked the pen up her nose. “Okay, okay, enough making fun of me. What’s the story.”

“Morning Glory, right?” Lita said, laughing her loud, bellowing belly laugh.

That right there is why Garnet loved her. If nothing else, Lita wasn’t going to say anything she didn’t mean. She wasn’t going to go on and on and on about anything she didn’t really mean. She might not always be the kindest, fluffiest, warmest person on earth, but what that meant was that when she was, you knew she really meant it.