The Playboy Bear's Baby: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (4 page)

“Anyone
ever tell you how bossy you are?”

Sara
grinned. “All the time.”

Mara
reached into the bag and pulled out the box within. She turned it over in her
hands and read the simple directions on the back. They were pretty much fool
proof. All she had to do was pee on the stick and wait three minutes. There
weren’t even little lines to decipher. The device would say pregnant or not
pregnant. It didn’t get much clearer than that. “All right. I’ll be back in a
minute.”

“I’ll
be right here,” Sara replied.

Mara
hustled into the bathroom and did what needed to be done. She set the test on
the side of the sink while she washed her hands and forced herself not to look
at it. Drying her hands took all of thirty seconds. With over two minutes left
to wait, she was at loose ends with what to do with herself. She leaned across
the sink and stared at herself in the mirror. Inspiration struck. She popped
open the medicine cabinet, grabbed the tweezers, and started plucking stray
hairs around her brow line. By the time she finished, she determined she’d
waited long enough and reached for the test. She picked it up and stared at the
result without blinking.

Pregnant.

She
was going to have a baby.

Oh
boy.

Chapter Four

Gray had seen a lot of strange things in his life,
but he’d never asked a woman out and then had her puke on him. Actually, he
could only think of a time or two when he’d been turned down at all. Those
deviations from the norm had only occurred because both women had been involved
with other people. Thanks to his natural good looks, animal magnetism, and the
family fortune, he rarely lacked for companionship. Women tended to gravitate
toward him.

So of course his own mate would find him repulsive.
Leave it to fate to throw a curve ball at his love life right when it was more
important than ever. For the first time in his life, he was interested in a
woman who didn’t seem to be impressed by his last name or his money. Mara was a
mystery. She’d definitely found him attractive the night they were together at
the club, but then she’d gone out of her way to avoid him for weeks afterward.
Every time he’d caught sight of her out somewhere and tried to approach her,
she’d vanished like mist.

Even with the disastrous ending, today had been
progress in a weird sort of way. At least he’d gotten to talk to her.

After she’d taken off and he’d found the nearest
bathroom to clean himself up, he’d reconsidered how bad she must have felt in
order to literally vomit in the middle of the store. The poor woman was sick as
a dog and shopping for essentials and there he’d been, trying to score a date
with her. His lack of manners probably had his poor mama rolling over in her
grave. She’d taught him better that, but being around Mara scrambled his brain.

He figured the least he could do was buy the
groceries she’d left behind and take her some comfort food too since she
probably wouldn’t feel up to fixing something for herself under the
circumstances. If it just so happened that the beast inside of him fully
supported the notion of providing sustenance for his future mate, then all the
better.

Finding her address wasn’t that big of a deal.
Although he couldn’t find her address online, there was only one Adamsen listed
in the entire town. Worst case scenario, he figured he’d end up visiting one of
her relatives and charming or bribing her location out of them. He’d do
whatever it took to find her.

After he finished the errands that brought him to
town in the first place, he swung by the diner and bought some chicken soup and
biscuits. At the last minute, he made one final pit stop for flowers. He
reached his destination fairly quickly and carried his bounty up to the door.
He rang the doorbell and then stood and waited, tapping his foot the whole
while. It took him a moment to realize what he was feeling wasn’t just
anticipation or impatience. He was actually nervous about seeing her. He
couldn’t remember the last time he’d been intimidated by a woman, but then Mara
wasn’t just any woman. Every instinct he possessed screamed that she was his
intended mate. There was no woman more important. He could only hope she would hear
him out and give him an opportunity to prove how good they could be together.

The door opened, revealing the same blond woman
who’d been with Mara at the club the night they met. A slow smile spread across
her face as her gaze landed on him. “Well hello stranger.”

“Hey. Is Mara around?”

“You bet your britches, sugar.” She looked back
over her shoulder. “Mara! You’re never going to believe who’s on your porch.”

“Who is it?” Mara skidded to a stop behind the
blond. “Oh. It’s you. What are you doing here, Gray?”

“I wanted to check up on you and make sure you’re
all right.” He held up the grocery bag. “I brought your groceries.”

“Aw! Wasn’t that sweet,” the blond cooed. She
stepped back and opened the door wider. “Come on in, handsome. I was just
leaving.”

“Thanks.” Gray strode forward before Mara could
contradict the invitation. He could tell by the pinched look on her face that
she wasn’t thrilled to see him. He moved toward her and held out the bouquet of
multicolored lilies. “I got these for you. I thought you might like them.”

Mara took the bundle of flowers and lifted them up
to her nose. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

“Anytime.” He glanced around the interior of the
home, taking in the abundance of flowery prints on the curtains and furniture
and crocheted arm covers on the couch and chair, and thought the décor was
better suited to a senior citizen than someone in their early twenties. The
home had to belong to a parent or guardian.

“I’ll check back in with you before I leave for
school, Mara,” the blond said. “Good luck.” She walked out and closed the
screen door behind her.

“You better,” Mara called after her friend.

“So,” Gray said. “Where do you want your things?”

Mara glanced at the overstuffed bag. “Oh. Well, I
guess you can sit that down on the kitchen table. I’ll show you where it is.”
She turned and walked away.

Gray’s gaze dipped to her sexy, curvaceous bottom
for a split second before he realized he was supposed to be following her. He
hustled to catch up and studiously ignored the way his palms itched to reach
out and touch her. The bear locked away inside him shifted restlessly,
desperate to make closer contact with their mate.

He set the bag from the diner and the one
containing her groceries down on the table. “There’s warm soup and biscuits in
the paper bag. I figured those would be easy on your stomach.”

She took the cellophane off the flowers, carried
them over to the sink, and arranged them in a tall, clear vase. “Thank you,
Gray. You didn’t have to bring me food, but I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome. I figured it was the least I could
do for a friend.”

Mara frowned. “Are we friends?”

“I’d like to be.”

She carried the flower arrangement over and set it
in the middle of the table. “Just friends?”

Gray swallowed. He was hoping for a more subtle
lead in than that, but he’d have to play the hand he’d been dealt. He narrowed
the distance between them until they were within arms reach of each other, so
close he could make out the different striations of color in her eyes and smell
the pheromones pouring from her skin. There was something different about her
scent but he couldn’t focus on the cause while she was standing in front of him
seeking answers. “No. To be honest, I’d like to be a lot more than friends with
you.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging
herself. “What do you want from me?”

“Everything.”

Her face paled. “What does that even mean?”

“Can we go sit down and talk about it?” Gray didn’t
like how white she’d grown. “You should probably be resting anyway if you
aren’t feeling well.”

“Yeah. Okay.” She took a deep breath and blew it
out. “Let’s go sit in the living room. There’s something I should probably talk
to you about anyway.”

That sounded somewhat ominous, but he wasn’t easy
to scare off, particularly when something important was at stake. He went back
into the living room with her and sat beside her on the sofa. “I’ll go first,
if it’s all right with you.”

“Go ahead.”

“You’re aware of who and what I am, right?”

Mara nodded. “I know you’re a shifter, if that’s
what you’re asking.”

That was exactly what he wanted to know. “Good. How
much do you know about my kind?”

“The basics, I guess. Same as everyone else.”

“Okay. Have you ever heard the term
mates
?”

“You mean like soulmates?”

“Sort of, except for us mates are more than a
myth.” He turned to face her, wanting to look her in the eye as he explained
what she meant to him. “We spend our lives searching for the one special person
fate created just for us. Most of us are never fortunate enough to find that
person.” He paused to take a deep breath for strength.

Her brow wrinkled. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Isn’t it obvious? You’re my mate.”

Her eyes widened. “I am?”

He nodded and smiled. “You are.”

“I…” Mara’s mouth opened and closed. “I don’t know
what to say. That was the last thing I expected to hear from you.”

“I can imagine. I know what people say about me
around here.” Most people thought of him as little more than a big swinging
dick with a fat wallet. Normally, he was okay with that. It meant people
underestimated him, giving him the upper hand in most situations. However, this
was one time when he would have appreciated being seen as an educated,
responsible man rather than some easy-going playboy.

“That’s just it,” she said. “We don’t know each
other at all. How could you possibly know if we’re compatible?”

“Instinct. I felt drawn to you the second I saw
you. As soon as we touched, I knew you were the one for me. That’s why I bit
you. I lost control over the beast inside me for a split second and tried to
claim you without your permission. If I’d shifted enough to drop my fangs, we’d
already be mated.”

“I think you did enough damage that night,” she
murmured under her voice.

Despite the whisper, he heard her clear as bell.
“Want to tell me what you mean by that?”

She shook her head and looked away.

He leaned forward, concern stabbing him the guts.
“Are you all right? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No.” She looked up at him. “You didn’t do anything
wrong.”

Although her pulse remained steady, he could tell
she was holding something back. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Excuse me for a second, okay? I’ll be right back.”
She stood and walked away.

Gray watched her go with a building sense of dread.
Something was definitely wrong. He wracked his brain trying to figure out what
the problem might be, but came up blank. He didn’t think her distress was due
to their mate status.

She came back into the room in two shakes of a
bear’s tail, stopped in front of him, and held out a white plastic stick that
smelled strongly of urine. “Here.”

He accepted her offering and looked down. A single
word jumped out at him in crystal clarity. His face went cold and his stomach
knotted. He gazed up at her in wonder. “You’re pregnant?”

She stared down at him, her eyes large and liquid. “I
just found out.”

“That makes two of us.” He dropped his gaze to her
gentle rounded stomach and tried to imagine what she’d look like carrying his
child. The picture was easier to imagine than he expected. He slid off the
couch onto his knees and reached for her belly. Right before his hand touched
down on her shirt, he realized what he was doing and looked up at her. “Is this
all right?”

She nodded. “Go ahead.”

He rested his palm over her stomach, feeling the
softness of her shirt and the warmth of her flesh beneath. His child was in
there, slumbering safe inside her womb. Emotion swelled inside him and crashed
against his chest. He closed his eyes and swallowed, so overwhelmed and
thankful to fate for sending him Mara.

“So,” Mara said. “You’re taking this a lot better
than I expected.”

“What did you expect to happen?”

“I haven’t had much time to think about it. I just
didn’t figure you’d be so accepting.”

“I’ve always wanted a family.”

“Me too. Someday. Not now.”

He frowned. “You aren’t happy about the baby?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know how I feel. I
haven’t had a lot of time to process yet.”

“How long have you known?”

“About an hour longer than you.” She backed up and
sat down on the couch.

Gray joined her, sitting so close their thighs
touched. “You aren’t thinking of ending the pregnancy, are you?”

A silent moment passed. “No. I want the baby. I
have no idea what I’m doing and I’m about as far away from ready to be a parent
as it gets, but I have nine months to figure it out.”

He rested his hand over hers where it rested on her
thigh and gave it a squeeze. “We have nine months to figure it out.”

She turned her hand over and laced their fingers
together. “All right. We’ll figure it out together.”

He smiled. “Damn right we will.”