Read Online Bear My Baby (Shifter Squad Six 1) by Anya Nowlan - Free Book Online Page A

boots in the hall and he was leaning casually against the doorframe, hands shoved in the pockets of his well-worn jeans. The black T-shirt he wore was tight over his broad chest and wrapped around his biceps perfectly. Even though she was trying to look anywhere but at him, she still noticed the way his dog tags bulged against the front of his shirt and how the fabric flattened over his abs.
    Dammit, why couldn’t he have put on twenty pounds and lose his hair or something?! she thought, exasperated at the fact that she was falling into the same trap with that demon of a man as she had last time.
    She slid the glass over the counter at him and rested against the counter herself, her side turned to Connor as she stared out of the window into her backyard. Monroe’s red ball was still there, but she doubted Connor would notice that.
    “Thank you, honey.”
    “You should really stop calling me that. It’s Ellie, now,” Cassie said, giving him a sideways glance.
    “I like Cassie better.”
    “Me too,” she chuckled.
    His clear blue eyes were set intently on her and she felt like a fly in a honey trap whenever she met his gaze. It was impossible to wiggle out of it with any kind of proficiency. She bit her lip, bringing the glass to her lips and taking a hurried sip, trying to distract herself from all the things she would have rather been doing with the time allotted to them instead of forcing small talk.
    She looked around the kitchen quickly, trying to make sure none of the baby’s stuff was around. That was a conversation she did not want to have with him. Whatever happened, she wasn’t going to drag him into this. It was a cruel twist of fate that they’d run into each other in a seedy bar in San Francisco of all places, but she was determined not to take it as some kind of great sign from above.
    He had a right to know his child, certainly, but Cassie knew it would only complicate things. She didn’t even know his last name for God’s sake, let alone anything about him other than the fact that he killed people for a living and he had the most delectable quads she had ever seen on a man. That wasn’t exactly enough to build a future off of.
    No, it was much easier for everyone involved if she simply… forgot about him. It was stupid of her to have even kissed him back at the damn bar, but she couldn’t help it. He had a way with her that she couldn’t deny, and whenever he spoke, she listened. Whenever he kissed, she reacted. And as much as she knew she shouldn’t have been doing it, she wanted that one night with him. Another memory to add to the bank and sate her through a lifetime of less exciting men. Or no men at all, if they weren’t good enough to be around Monroe.
    Is he good enough to be around him, though? a treacherous voice asked, spewing doubt in its path.
    The way he looked at her certainly made her think that maybe…
    “Everything okay, Cassie?” he asked, setting the drink down and coming to her.
    He trapped her between his arms, standing right in front of her and hovering so close that their bodies were almost touching. She wanted to reach out so badly. Instead, she took another sip of her drink and looked up at him, doing her best to avoid the love-lost puppy look she knew she was carrying that evening.
    “Well, no,” she said, smirking.
    “Yeah? Why not?”
    That wry grin he wore told her that he was playing along with her. Maybe he was as confused about everything as she was, but for that night, maybe it didn’t have to matter? He’d be shipped off to another mission and forget all about that girl he fucked twice and she could get him out of her system like a bad virus. That sounded about right to her.
    “You’re not kissing me yet,” she said, putting the glass behind her.
    “That’s an oversight I can easily fix,” Connor said, nudging her chin upward as he dipped down to her level.
    This time, there was no forcefulness in the kiss, only tenderness. Slowly and carefully,