Read Online Bear Meets Girl by Shelly Laurenston - Free Book Online Page B

Gramps anyway. But we all help each other raise each other’s kids. When I was in the Marines or on the road with the teams I was on, the Malones raised my kid. When Jai was doing twenty-four-hour stints as a resident or during finals in med school, Malones raised Josie. And now that our schedules are more manageable, we help raise my cousins’ kids. That’s how it works for us. That’s what we do.”
    Cella reached across the desk and patted Van Holtz’s hand. “So as you can see ... I’m totally qualified to handle a Bo Novikov.”
    “Yeah ...” Van Holtz admitted, gazing at her, “I’m really starting to see that.”
     
    Crush looked at his watch again. Then he checked his phone. He had several text messages from a possible dealer he’d been hoping to use as a CI. Of course, now that was all dead in the water. A reminder that made Crush begin to feel angry again about being pulled out of the work he loved so much. All because of that vicious sow, Baissier. To think, after all these years, she still hated him. Then again, he really hated her.
    Deciding it was time to get to his seat, he filed the messages and—
    “Hey, Crush. Crush!”
    He bit back a sigh, regretting he’d told the hybrid his nickname because now she wouldn’t stop using it, and prepared himself to tell the sweetest girl he’d ever met he had to go.
    “I’d like you to meet my fiancé,” she said, skipping up to him. “Bo Novikov.”
    Crush’s head snapped up and he looked directly—well, almost because the man was four inches taller—into the eyes of the meanest player ever in shifter sports history and Lou Crushek’s personal hero.
    Then Crush stared—and he kept staring.

C HAPTER F IVE
    C ella tracked her father down in the busy hallway, the meeting place for teammates and their family or guests before the game began.
    “Hey, Daddy.” Decked out for the game except for her stick, skates, and helmet, Cella reached up and hugged her father.
    “Hey, kid.” He hugged her, tight. “How are you feelin’?”
    Cella leaned back and gazed up at her father. “I’m fine.”
    “Good, good. I know it’s hard, but your focus has to be on the game. Remember that.”
    “I know, Dad. My focus is always on the game.”
    “Yeah, sure. Of course.” He patted her shoulder and gave her what she could only term a brave smile. Then he hugged her again. “You know I love you, right? We all love you.”
    What the fuck was going on? “Daddy, I know.”
    “Good, good.”
    Pulling away from her father and wondering when, exactly, he’d lost his mind, Cella asked, “You all set in the suite?”
    “Sure. Guys are all here, too. They’re rootin’ for ya.” The “guys” were some of the best shifter players from the East Coast teams’ past. Her father’s friends now. Every few months or so during the season, they’d all come in to watch a game, bullshit about the past, and drink. There was always lots of drinking.
    Maybe her father had already put away a few Guinnesses, but Cella didn’t think so. He was just acting ... weird.
    “Have a good game, baby.” He kissed her forehead.
    “Thanks, Daddy.”
    Her father gave her one more brave smile before walking away.
    Realizing she couldn’t worry about the craziness of her family right now, Cella turned and took a quick look over the crowd to make sure she wasn’t missing anyone—like an investor—whose ass she could be kissing.
    Cella had no moral issues with that sort of thing. It was important sometimes to keep the team getting all the cool extras. And what was a little hand-shaking, fake smiling, happy-go-lucky bullshit spreading if it meant getting those extra soft and fluffy towels in the locker rooms or first-class trips to Hawaii or Rio?
    Since there didn’t seem to be anyone tonight who needed a little Cella-attention, she decided to head back to the locker room, but then she caught sight of him.
    “Malone.”
    Cella barely bit back her roar and glared at Smith standing