Damaged Billionaire Daddy Bear - Leela Ash Page 0,33
and locked his door. Then, he strode to the middle of the room, loosening his tie as he went, flinging it aside. He wanted to be in his bear form, he decided. He rarely shifted unless he was in a natural habitat, but today, he badly needed to be in his bear form for a while.
His hands began to elongate and his body began to grow fur; his eyes widened and his form lengthened. His shifting was almost complete when a small knock sounded at the door and Jessica’s voice came through the wood panel.
“Mr. Cooper?”
Her voice did strange things to his insides, and unbidden, he let out a mighty growl; the sound animal and alien. The walls seemed to shake with the force of it, and stunned silence fell on the other side of the door.
Then, frantic knocking followed, “What’s going on in there, Mr. Cooper? Are you all right?”
He sighed as he let himself halt his shifting and change back into his human form. The dratted woman wouldn’t even let him enjoy his true form in peace.
“Mr. Cooper! Theodore!” she yelled again through the door.
He distinctly heard Anita’s alarmed voice joining Jessica’s at the door and sighed in disgust as he stalked toward it. If he let her carry on, she would gather half the rescue and maybe the cops at his door.
He flung open the door and stood silhouetted in his doorway. “What’s all the screaming about?” he demanded, directing the question and his furious glare at Jessica.
She fell back a step in surprise at seeing him, and naked relief blazed in her eyes. “You’re all right. I heard a sound—” she began.
“You heard a sound?” he asked.
“Yes. A harsh, guttural growl that sounded … almost animal. It sounded like a bear,” she said.
He opened the door wider and threw his arm out in an inviting gesture, “Well, be my guest, let’s hunt down this bear.”
Her face flamed with embarrassment at the biting sarcasm in his voice. “Theodore—”
“And you got Anita to abandon her position at her desk to help you create a ruckus. Is this a game to you?” he demanded.
Jessica stared in amazement but as she opened her mouth to get a word in, he didn’t let her.
“We have serious work to do this morning, but if you’re already hearing things, maybe you need to take the day off or be reassigned to a less stressful post,” he said.
Jessica sighed. “Fine. Maybe I didn’t know what I heard,” she said. She looked at Anita, her gaze apologetic and chagrined, “I apologize, Anita. It would seem, I made a mistake.”
Anita’s eyes flicked between both of them in apparent confusion, then without another word, she turned on her heel and returned to her desk.
Theodore also strode back to sink into the large chair behind his desk. “We have a lot to do today, Harris, so get your ass in gear.”
With a sigh, Jessica sank into the chair across from his and got right to work. Tension continued to arch in the air between them as they worked on the data for the animals in isolation.
Jessica looked up at one time and found Theodore studying her closely, “What?”
He shook his head and continued studying the data on his own laptop. He read very fast, she thought with a frown as he flicked pages and pages of the document in his hand without even seeming to study them.
As she continued to stare, it was his turn to look up and ask, “What?”
She started to shake her head, then she thought better of it and said, “Are you really reading any of that, or are you just flicking through?”
“What do you think?” he growled.
Jessica sighed and slammed her laptop shut. “Okay, let’s hear it. Why have you been so testy since I walked in the door?”
Her phone chimed an email and after one glance at it, she looked up at him in disbelief. “You have got to be kidding me.”
Theodore looked up in silence, waiting for clarification.
She waved the phone under his nose, “It says here that I’m expected to be at Carla Cooper’s party because the exchange staff are planning a small ceremony to honor her father.”
He frowned. “Is it? What ceremony is that?”
Jessica narrowed her eyes at him, “Are you telling me that you have no idea what this is about? Didn’t you put Maria up to this?”
He didn’t blink, “Of course, I did. You weren’t gonna be there on my invitation, so now it’s open to the