Baby Protector Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Baby Paranormal Romance (Who's the Daddy? Book 4) Read Free Page B

Chrissie had been meeting her potential partners. When Sam had first been held by Mr. Anderson, he had burst into tears, something he repeated every time her boss tried to pick him up.
    Sam must be the only person in the world who didn’t appreciate the man who had seen countless babies just like Sam have better, safer lives. So while Mr. Anderson had been looking after him in the cell, he had rocked him in the carrier, rather than picking him up and making him bawl his heart out. Chrissie blamed it on the trauma of the night his mom was killed, but in truth, Sam hadn’t liked Mr. Anderson even before that.
    The theory it was because he didn’t like strange men—and Angela had been around a lot of strange men in Sam’s very short life—was about to be put to the test.
    “Sure,” Joel said, holding out his strong, well-defined arms to Sam, who wriggled in delight. They liked each other. Chrissie didn’t let her eyes drift to Mr. Anderson, who was watching the whole exchange from his seat.
    Sam giggled, and Joel blew a raspberry, which the baby appreciated immensely. Great, two kids. Seems like she was going to be outnumbered once they got settled, if these two boys made silly mischief together. Although, she liked that Joel made Sam happy, it was what he needed. Sam lifted his small, chubby hand to stroke Joel’s stubbly chin. Big blue baby eyes widened at the roughness of it, and then he sighed and tried again, this time breaking into a toothless smile.
    “He likes you, Joel, seems you’ve missed your calling,” the chief said, looking around the room, satisfied his part in this was over.
    Mr. Anderson stood up, and came to stand next to Chrissie. “It looks as if you are ready to leave, Princess .”
    Chrissie let the names wash over her. She’d gotten used to Mr. Anderson having pet names for all his staff, since they were usually said with affection, but since he had started using the name Princess a couple of weeks ago, it had been said with a hint of sarcasm.
    “Yes, I’d like to get Sam settled. He’s due a feed, and then he should sleep.”
    “We can feed him at my place,” Joel said, casting Mr. Anderson a look that said he wasn’t too keen on the man either.
    “A princess and a knight in shining armor, Sam shouldn’t want for anything more,” Mr. Anderson smiled. It looked genuine, but there was something off about him. Of course, he too was worried about what might happen to Sam; after all, Angela had been murdered on his watch.
    “Don’t worry, Mr. Anderson, we’ll take good care of him.” Chrissie smiled and nodded at her boss.
    “I’m sure you’ll try.” He edged towards the door. “All the release papers have been signed. I must get back to work.”
    “Bye.” She tilted her head. He hadn’t been his usual self for a couple of weeks. She couldn’t blame him: his wife had been ill lately and there were rumors he was going to take early retirement next year, on an obscene pension.
    “Goodbye.” He nodded to them all, and shook the police chief’s hand, before leaving the room.
    Joel didn’t say a word; he simply bristled like some oversized version of a barbarian in modern clothing. Yes, she could just see Joel in a loincloth, running around the plains with a sword in his hand. The guy had something primitive, primal even, about him.
    She’d also like to see what he had hiding under his loincloth. To see if it matched up to the impressive stature of the rest of him.
    There was a small vulnerable child present, so her obsession with a naked Joel had to stop. She could only put it down to her biological clock going into overdrive since her sister had her first child. It had brought her own life into focus. Her heart ached for a baby of her own, but her life had no room for a man, let alone a child. The career she had chosen was so that she could protect the weak and vulnerable. So that she could stop others being victims, and never have to watch a loved one get hurt.
    But