Rock (BBW Secret Baby Bear Shifter Romance) (Secret Baby Bears Book 2) by Becca Fanning Read Free Book Online Page B

was knocked to the ground by an impossibly tall cowboy with broad shoulders and arms that could tackle a dinosaur. With his golden eyes and sandy blonde hair, she found him good-looking, if he weren’t a stumbling drunk.

    “Don’t come back without my money,” a portly man with bad skin called from the tent. “You owe me, Edward Tyrell, and I always collect my debts. I don’t care who your family is or what you are.”

    In reply, Eddie picked up an empty beer bottle lying on the ground and threw it at the man, but his aim was miles off. “Bastard,” he muttered, kicking the dirt.

    Vexed, Dakota stood from the ground and dusted the dirt off her knees. Her side ached. It felt as if she’d been attacked by a boulder. “Maybe watch where you’re going next time, yeah?” she admonished.

    “Hey, you’re pretty,” Eddie said, ignoring her reprimand. “Wanna take a ride with a real cowboy?”

    “Sure, tell me when you see one,” she returned, rubbing her arm. “I don’t appreciate being knocked over.”

    Eddie frowned, genuinely concerned. “I knocked you over?”

    “Didn’t you notice?”

    His frown disappeared, cavalier once more. “I noticed how gorgeous you are.”

    Unwilling to entertain him, she turned to leave, but Eddie quickly moved in front of her. “Let me make it up to you. I’ll buy you a shot.”

    “You can buy three shots, and you can drink them yourself. I’m going home.”

    “I’ll go with you,” he said, flashing her a perfect smile, the smile of a playboy, someone who treated life like it was a game of marbles.

    Dakota wasn’t impressed. “You can go to hell, that’s where you can go.”

    It made him laugh. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

    She stepped away. “Don’t worry about where I’m from.”

    He tried to maneuver with her, but in his inebriation, he tripped over his own feet and fell into a water trough, soaking him through. “Thanks!” he called, splashing his arms. “I needed a cool down. A girl as pretty as you had me all riled up.”

    “What you need are some manners, little brother,” a man said, joining them on horseback. He was tall, like Eddie, but he had dark hair, and he was much bulkier, thick around the shoulders, built to rule. “You okay?” he asked Dakota.

    “I’m fine,” she told him, nervous with so much attention on her. She wanted to slip away, but she saw no easy way to do so, not with a man on horseback and a drunk in a trough staring at her.

    He turned his attention to Eddie, full of authority. “I’m leaving now. You’ll be in charge. You know what that means.”

    “I know,” Eddie grunted, displeased.

    “Try to stay sober while I’m gone. The clan will be looking towards you for protection. They need a leader. Don’t be reckless.”

    She could tell there was more the man wanted to say, but he wouldn’t in front of her. She wasn’t insulted. She had her secrets too.

    “Safe journey, brother,” Eddie bid, half-sarcastic.

    “Protect them,” the man said once more, and then he rode off.

    The confrontation had sobered Eddie. She could tell he was humiliated. Feeling sorry for him, she offered him her hand and helped him out of the trough. “Who was that?” she asked.

    “Holden, my saint of a brother,” he answered, wringing out his hat. “I hate the way he speaks to me.”

    Surprised by his confession, she set her hand on his arm, comforting him. “It’s his way of looking out for you. That’s what siblings do. They take care of each other. Even shifters.”

    She’d known Eddie was a shifter from the moment she saw him. Only shifters had golden eyes as deep and compelling as his were. It was one of the traits that set them apart.

    “It doesn’t scare you that, underneath this sinfully attractive body, I’m a bear?” he asked, resuming his charm.

    “No,” she answered. “It doesn’t scare me. I’ve met shifters before.”

    “Like who?” he asked, intrigued.

    “A