Her Bear and a Baby: BBW Bear Shifter Baby Paranormal Romance (Who's the Daddy? Book 2) Read Free Page B

to him, for not comforting her mate. As his footsteps faded away on the stairs, she went to the freshly made bed and sat down, placing Connor on her lap, his head resting on her chest. That familiar baby smell, so subtle yet unmistakable, washed over her.
    What was she supposed to do?
    If she gave into her desire for Beau, she might never be able to persuade him to help her find Gable. Alternatively, if he knew Connor wasn’t her child, he might insist they find Gable and hand him over, not caring if it was the right thing to do.
    Even before she met Beau, it had not been simple: she had no clear-cut choices. Now it was worse, like a muddied stream bed after her bear had rolled in it.
    What am I supposed to do? Even her bear had no answer.

Chapter Four – Beau
    He hadn’t spoken to anyone about his loss for months. Wait. He hadn’t really spoken to anyone about anything for months, except for Lucy at the grocery store. And she knew better than to ask him about his sister.
    Opening the front door and going outside, the cool breeze hit him and the mountain beckoned. He had been living the life of a hermit. A trip to the store once every couple of weeks to stock up on coffee was about it. He had come to prefer the solitude of the mountain, shifting each evening to wander the green slopes, reliving the times he had played there when he was young and carefree.
    That had to end. His sister always believed in fate, and fate had brought Elise to his door, with a baby, and now it was his job to help her. And to somehow find the man he used to be. Or become the man Elise needed him to be.
    He had wallowed in self-pity for far too long. Elise was a chance to awaken the human part of himself once more. By dwelling on all that was wrong with people, he had forgotten about all the people who had helped him, and all the people whom he had helped. The gratitude from old Mrs. Henry, who lived over in Tawny Valley, when he found her cat. Yes, the life of a PI often involved the small, personal touches, which he never charged for.
    “Keys,” he said to himself as he reached her car and found it locked. He turned back towards the house, to see her standing, framed in the doorway, and his heart lurched. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. His soul called out for her, to be next to her, to never let her out of his sight.
    “You might need these.” She held her keys up. He went back towards her and she smiled. “You’re right, I would have struggled with the bag and the baby. I’m used to doing things on my own.”
    “Well, maybe it’s time you got used to having me around,” he quipped, his mood lighter.
    “Who knows,” she said wistfully. Then something in her snapped, and a barrier went up between them.
    Elise Arnold was hiding something from him, and he needed to know what it was.
    “Thanks,” he said as he took the keys from her, letting his thumb brush against her fingers ever so lightly. She jumped, as if he had shocked her, but he acted as if nothing had ever happened. Turning away from her, he walked back to the car. “Trunk?”
    “Yes,” she answered, her voice breathy, confirming his suspicions that she was like him in so many ways. She was a shifter. He was certain of it. Maybe if he hadn’t been so blown away from having his mate right there in front of him, he would have sensed it sooner.
    She covered it so well, he had figured she was human, unaware of the mating bond. But not anymore. He could wait for her to tell him the truth. He knew when to press for information and when to let a person unburden themselves in their own time. He could wait. It would be hard. But he could wait.
    Opening the trunk, he took out her bags. One large one, which he guessed by the blue teddy bears was full to bursting with Conner’s stuff, and a smaller one, which was a lot lighter, and a plain, uniform blue. Maybe the flowery blankets might have been a little much!
    So much of Elise was a mystery to him, but he knew