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

to the man he was supposed to be helping to find. He would do his best, as he always did. Beau only hoped that this investigation didn’t turn out as terrible as his last one.

Chapter Five – Elise
    Elise found her way around the large kitchen, opening cupboards, at first a little self-consciously, as if she were prying, but then she began to feel at home. The kitchen, like the rest of the house seemed to have been put in mothballs; most of the utensils looked hardly used, the cupboards only holding the barest minimum of staple foods. At last she found what she was looking for, a measuring jug, and began the task of making a small batch of baby bottles, enough to at least see Connor through the night and into the morning.
    All the time she realized just how hungry she was herself. Would it be imposing to ask Beau if she could rustle something up out of the cans of beans and rice? Together with the butter and cheese in the fridge, she could make something edible, and with the addition of some of the herbs she had smelt in the garden, it would be tasty.
    Taking Connor’s freshly made bottle, she left the kitchen and stood for a moment in the hallway, realizing she had no idea of the layout of the house, other than where his office was. She looked left and right, and then she heard Connor giggle. Left. She walked towards the sound of a happy baby.
    The soft light of a lamp spilled out of the doorway, along with the sound of Beau talking and Connor making gentle cooing noises. She could picture the scene: Connor would be on his hands and knees, practicing his crawling, which meant he was rocking backwards and forward, trying to figure out how to coordinate his limbs, while Beau looked on.
    Elise had to stop and lean against the wall before she entered. If she gave into her need for Beau, if she admitted they were mates, she could move in here with him, make her mate happy, and chase the sadness, wherever it came from, away. They were possibly connected by more than just the mating bond. She was sure they shared a deep sadness too.
    Eleanor. She thought of her sister, the thin, broken woman on the stark white hospital bed, and had to squeeze her eyes shut to stop the tears. Just get through this, then you can have a happy ever after with Beau . The kind of happy ever after Eleanor and Connor had deserved, but never got.
    “Are you OK?” Beau’s deep rumbling voice asked from inside the sanctuary of the soft lamp-lit room. He had sensed her there; of course he had.
    Pushing away from the wall, she quickly wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “Yes. I’m fine.” She walked into the room and picked Connor up, who kicked his legs excitedly at the sight of his bottle.
    Beau, who had been sprawled on the floor, got up, looking a little sheepish at being caught playing with a child. “I should go and start investigating your Gable O’Donnell,” he said, and she wanted to correct him and say he wasn’t her Gable. However, she didn’t, letting the lie stand between them.
    “Do you mind if I cook something when Connor has finished his bottle? I’ll pay you for what I use,” she added quickly.
    “Help yourself.” He was walking towards the door, but turned back to her. “Or I could order take-out. It’s a long way from the village, but I’ve learned that if you offer a big enough tip, Mark doesn’t mind bringing pizza out here.”
    “Wow. Pizza. Next to the rice and beans, which is all I could find in the kitchen, I think a large tip would be a small price to pay.”
    “I’ll get the menu,” he said, grinning.
    “What’s so funny?” she asked.
    “I can imagine the look on Mark’s face when I call him. He hasn’t been out here for months.”
    “Then it’s my treat,” she insisted, wondering if Beau was short on money and that was why there was so little in the way of supplies. But why? He was supposed to be the best at investigating people’s problems, especially when those problems involved shifters. So why