One Bear and a Baby: BBW Bear Shifter Baby Paranormal Romance (Who's the Daddy? Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

course. I’m just afraid this might expose us,” Jesse said, her voice hushed as if someone might be listening.
    “There are different channels of investigation I can use if we need DNA tests,” Isabelle said. Shifters had integrated into every facet of the human world, unseen and unnoticed, yet able to help each other when they needed to, while still protecting their secret.
    “I see.” Jesse paused.
    “Now, I really ought to see Cade and get on my way.” She leaned forward and passed Maisie back to Jesse, then picked up her coffee and drank it. “I can go and find him.” She placed her cup down and before Jesse had a chance to stop her, Isabelle was out of the kitchen and heading towards the stairs. She took them two at a time, the sense of dread growing in her mind, her body tingling as adrenaline kicked in.
    Something was off here, she had to try to focus. Had Jesse drugged her coffee? Was she about to become Cade’s next victim? Shaking off the muzzy feeling, she passed the open bathroom door, taking in the steamed-up mirror—so he had been having a shower. Stopping, she listened, trying to figure out where he was. However, a different sense kicked in, she didn’t need to hear where he was, or see where he was. Instead she was drawn irrevocably towards a closed door.
    Placing her hand on the door knob, she turned it slowly, her apprehension growing. Yet inside her mind, her bear sat up, taking notice of what was occurring in the outside world, a thing she hardly ever did. Unless they were in the mountains, human life was boring to a bear. However, her bear wasn’t bored now. A shudder passed through her, a combination of excitement and expectation.
    With one final surge of self-control, Isabelle pushed the door open. There he was, looking equally as dazed, a six-foot-something hunk of a man, his chest naked, jeans hugging his hips, while his dark hair, shoulder length and still wet from the shower, clung to his face. His eyes, dark and brooding, were fixed on her. They dilated as his nostrils flared; he was breathing in her scent.
    A look of longing passed over his face. And then it was gone. He stood up straight, turned to grab his shirt, and then said, “You must be the sheriff. I was on my way down to see you. You didn’t need to come up. Or was there something else you were interested in … other than my past?”
    His eyes flicked to the bed, and she blushed, trying to recover herself. She hadn’t missed his reaction, and she could not mistake her own: the need for him thrilled her, a thrumming in her veins that threatened to consume her.
    “I thought you were hiding from me.” Her words sounded so stupid, even to her own ears.
    “So you came looking for me. I thought you needed a warrant to search a house?”
    “Are you threatening me?” she asked.
    “Why would I do that? I have nothing to hide, I assure you.” He smiled, easily, as if she were nothing to him. What was wrong with her? What was wrong with him?
    If they were truly mates, which both her, and certainly her bear, thought they were, why would he ignore it? Unless he had something to hide. Something like a child who didn’t belong to him. A flicker of apprehension crossed his face as she said, “Your mom said Maisie is your child. I want to see Maisie’s birth certificate. And then I want a statement of how you came to be her sole guardian.”
    “I don’t have her birth certificate with me.”
    “Really? Well,” she said, taking a notebook out of her pocket, “Maybe you could give me her mother’s name and the hospital she was born in.”
    “Is this really necessary?” he asked, heading for the door.
    “Yes,” she said firmly, her foot going against it to stop him leaving. “It won’t take a minute.”
    They both knew he could overpower her. They both knew she wasn’t going to leave without the facts. Stalemate.
    He sighed. “OK. But please, I would rather you didn’t dig around too much, it was a terrible time for