Read Online The Playboy Bear's Baby: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance by Marlie Monroe - Free Book Online Page B

other, feeling awkward and
out of sorts. What were the social niceties for greeting the mother who’d
abandoned you without a backward look? Mara didn’t have a clue, but she
couldn’t keep standing guard in front of the door like a forgotten sack of
potatoes. “Would you like to come in for a drink or something?”
    “Yeah.
I’m parched. Thanks.”
    Mara
stepped out of the way to allow her mother inside and then closed the door.
“All right. I think I have some bottled water, if that’s okay?”
    Nancy’s
gaze moved from one end of the room to the other. She waved her hand in the
air. “Something hard would be better.”
    “I’m
sorry. I don’t have any alcohol in the house.”
    “That’s
all right then. Whatever you have will be fine. I’m not picky.”
    “Okay.
I’ll just go and get that now. You’re welcome to have a seat and make yourself
comfortable.” She looked at Gray, silently apologizing for leaving him alone
with a stranger. This was definitely not the way she’d expected tonight to go.
“I’ll be right back.”
    She
hurried into the kitchen, got a cold bottle of water out of the fridge, and
carried it back to the living room—where she discovered her mother sitting
close enough to Gray on the sofa to count the pores in his face. She was
leaning toward him, with her breasts thrust out for attention. Mara cleared her
throat and held out the water. “Here’s your water.”
    “Oh.
Thank you.” Nancy took the bottle. “I was just showing Gray what a ten grand
boob job looks like. Through my clothes, of course. I don’t show these puppies
off to just anyone.”
    “Mm
hmm,” Mara replied, unable to come up with an appropriate response to finding
her mother showing off her breast augmentation. It was a little like stepping
into an episode of the Twilight Zone . She sat in the chair by the sofa,
facing her mother and Gray. “So, what brings you by this way tonight?”
    “Mom.
As I said, I just heard about her passing and thought it was only right to come
by and pay my respects and offer to help out in any way I can.”
    Mara
couldn’t help but think her mother’s help would have been more useful months
earlier, when Grandma was sick and on her deathbed. Although she rarely spoke
about Nancy, Mara knew her grandma loved her child despite her flaws and would
have given anything to see her one last time before the end. “That’s very
thoughtful of you, but I’ve already taken care of everything.”
    “I’m
not surprised. You were always an independent little thing, so insistent about
doing things on your own.” Nancy returned her attention to Gray. “So, tell me
what the story is with you two. Are you dating, engaged, or what?”
    “We’re
seeing each other,” Mara answered.
    At
the same time, Gray said, “We’re mates.”
    Mara
cringed, unsure of how her mother would respond to the news that she was
involved with a shifter. There were still a lot of people who were against
inter-species relationships.
    Nancy’s
gaze never left Gray. “I see. I reckon that would make you one of them animal
people, huh? That’s cool. I bet you’re something special, aren’t you? Some kind
of big, bad alpha wolf or coyote. You have the look of a predator about you.”
    “Thank
you, I think,” Gray replied, smoothly sidestepping Nancy’s nosy question about
his species. “Mara is very important to me, so it would mean a lot to have the
blessing of her only living relative, particularly one as important as her
mother.”
    “Aren’t
you just as sweet as honey. I’m afraid I missed your last name when Mara
introduced us. What’s your family name? If you’re a local, then I probably know
your folks. I grew up here, in this very house actually.”
    “Yes,
ma’am. My last name is Wells. My family has lived in this town for generations,
but I’m sorry to say they’re no longer with us. It’s just me these days.”
    Mara
didn’t care for the calculating gleam in her mother’s eyes or