Bear My Baby (Shifter Squad Six 1) by Anya Nowlan Page B

would never stop the kind of people who had come for her last time. The type of people that Connor knew far too well.
    When she pulled the door open and saw Connor standing there in his steel gray T-shirt and faded blue jeans, she had to remind herself that she was not supposed to ogle her babydaddy. Even if he was oh so delicious and totally worth the time of taking him all in. In more ways than one.
    She blushed and stepped aside, chiding herself for her dirty mind.
    “Hey,” she offered weakly.
    Connor noticed her reaction and smirked, giving her a knowing wink. “Hello yourself, honey. Thought you’d never let me in,” he said nonchalantly, like she hadn’t kicked him out screaming the day before.
    “Where’s my little soldier?” he hollered, striding into the living room and picking up Monroe like it was the most natural thing after setting down a yellow paper bag on the carpet.
    Cassie followed him in, stopping at the door frame and leaning against it. Her light-toned living room with its peach couches and open spaces made for such a peculiar backdrop for the rugged, sexy man holding her baby in the middle of it. He was dark and dangerous, and her life was supposed to be light and happy. But the more she looked at them, she had to wonder if it wasn’t her life that was masquerading behind the cheery colors. Maybe it was Connor who was the good and happy one out of the two of them.
    His face lit up as he swung Monroe around, raising him high up above his head to the tune of Monroe’s excited squeals and giggles. Cassie cracked a smile, watching the two of them be reunited. There was an obvious spark between them. Though Monroe was generally a happy boy to begin with, he really seemed to take to Connor. She’d rarely seen him so excited to see anyone, let alone on the second time meeting.
    “You’ve been building any forts again, hmm?” Connor asked, swooping Monroe down on the ground with a controlled but fast motion that made Cassie’s heart jump.
    But of course, Connor was completely in control. He wouldn’t let anything happen to his son.
    His son.
    A shudder ran through Cassie when that realization materialized in her head. Connor was sitting down on the floor with Monroe now, chatting animatedly about Monroe’s block fort from yesterday and the book that Monroe was offering to Connor. She giggled when the first thing Connor pointed out in the picture book was the big bear with the slightly goofy face.
    “You know, real bears are much bigger than that. Do you know how big a bear is?” Connor asked seriously, waving his hands at several lengths from himself. “This big, or this big, or this big?” he said, scooping his arms as wide as he could.
    Monroe raised his hands over his head, his little fingers wiggling, emulating Connor. “This big!”
    “Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about. You need to know how big you’re going to be, you know,” he said, chuckling.
    Connor tossed Cassie a look and her smile wavered a little. She hated to ruin their fun, but if she let it go on for much longer then she wasn’t sure if she could ever tell him to leave again. Lord knew she didn’t want to.
    “You said you needed to talk?” she asked, trying to keep her tone neutral.
    “Right. Sorry. Got a bit carried away,” he said, looking almost bashful. “I had something for Monroe.”
    Connor pulled a stuffed bear out of the yellow bag. It had a dark brown coat and wore a tartan bandana around its neck, and was just big enough to hug comfortably. On one foot, it read “Monroe” in a thick, masculine font.
    “Is it okay if I give him this?” he asked, keeping the bear behind his back even though Monroe was trying to lean to either side to get a look at what he was doing.
    Cassie smiled sadly, nodding her head. Those pesky tears were gathering in her eyes again and she tried to force them down before one made its way down her cheek. God, that man knew how to play on her heartstrings. And he barely