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

time?” he asked, a twinkle in those dark eyes she did not want to look at because it made her heart flutter in ways that were distracting to an officer of the law.
    “I could ask you the same question.”
    “Evasive, I like it.” He sat back in his seat, and looked around the restaurant again. “I haven’t dated for years. Being undercover: well, it is complicated. And then there’s the whole fated-mate thing. Don’t you ever find it hard to date men who you know you have no future with?”
    “I do.” She looked down at the menu, studying it closely, while her brain whirred in confusion. “Do we have a future, Cade?”
    “Yes,” he said without a pause.
    She closed her menu and placed it on the table, and then took a sip of her wine. “Nothing ever turns out like we think it will. Does it?”
    He sighed and shook his head. “It all seemed so easy. Good job, make a nice nest egg, and then it all changed. Even when I decided to come back here, I thought I would settle down and live my life alone.”
    “You had no intention of looking for your mate?” Isabelle asked.
    “Are you ready to order?” Isabelle wanted to tell the waitress to go away, but she knew it wasn’t her fault; she had no idea she was interrupting Cade’s confession.
    “Yes, I’ll have the chicken please.” She looked at Cade and raised her eyebrow, suddenly worried he might take this chance to run out on her. But to her relief he ordered a medium-rare steak. She let out her breath as the waitress left with their orders.
    “You thought I was going to make a run for it,” he stated, sipping his beer.
    “I might have. You’ve had to answer some very awkward questions today.” She took a large gulp of her wine. “So I complicate things?”
    He leaned forward and reached out to put his hand over hers as she fiddled with the stem of her wine glass. She shuddered, his touch inflaming her body, sending thrills through every nerve ending.
    “Yes. I can’t lie to you convincingly.” He smiled his crooked smile. “Which I’m actually pleased about. I want us to be honest. My adult life seems to have been filled with lies and untruths. Working undercover left me waking up sometimes wondering which me was the real me.”
    “Is it a bad complication?”
    “No, on the contrary; you are the best complication I have ever met.”
    “Cade, I want you to know I admire you for taking Maisie on. For caring for her and bringing her home.”
    “Is there a but coming now?” he asked, and his expression confirmed her thoughts.
    “No. More of an and …” She took his hand and held it, letting the shock of recognition sweep over her. “And I want you to know that since we’re mates, it’s now my promise too.”
    His shoulders sagged with relief. “Thank you.” His thumb brushed the back of her hand. “I can’t walk away from this; I can’t hand her over to social services. She’s mine now. If not by blood, then by love.”
    “I understand. I don’t really know the first thing about babies. But I do understand.”
    The waitress arrived with their food, and she sat back, the contact between them broken. No. That wasn’t true. Only the physical contact had gone; they were still connected on a deeper level and always would be.
    The food was good, or maybe the chicken was just more succulent because of the good company. The subject of his past was dropped and instead they switched to her, and how she had ended up in Tawny Valley.
    “I was headhunted. They needed a shifter to police the town, and I was the one they chose. Might have been a choice of one for all I know, so I don’t get too carried away thinking that I’m special or anything.”
    “Oh, you’re special,” Cade said, making those feelings in her stomach awaken, which weren’t hunger. Well, maybe a different kind of hunger than that the food was satisfying. The nearness of him was almost too overpowering, as if a storm was building and the only way the pressure would be