The Playboy Bear's Baby

About The Story

One playboy werebear, a human woman, and a surprise pregnancy... what could possibly go wrong?

Mara knew hooking up with a player like Grayson Wells was a mistake. He epitomized everything she hated about the opposite sex—from the testosterone raging through his veins to his reputation as a rich playboy. However, those qualities also made him the perfect person to distract her after the loss of her grandmother and a disastrous break up with her fiancé. Their time together was supposed to be a one time thing, until fate stepped in and thrust them back together.

After losing his family in a vicious attack by hunters when he was a teenager, grizzly shifter Grayson Wells had learned to live his life to the fullest. He doesn’t think beyond his immediate wants and needs. Hooking up with Mara was spontaneous, hotter than fire, and the end of his footloose and fancy free lifestyle. From the moment they touched, he knew Mara was the one for him—the mate he never expected to find. Convincing her to give him a shot is easier said than done, but he’s willing to fight for what he wants when it matters. Discovering Mara’s pregnant only makes him even more determined to claim her as his mate.

As the heat between them builds, a new threat arrives and endangers Mara and their unborn child. If Gray doesn’t act fast, his new family could be snatched away from him before he ever gets the chance to claim them.

The Playboy Bear’s Baby is a standalone romance with a happy ending. There is NO cliffhanger.

License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All rights reserved. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.

Copyright © 2016 by Marlie Monroe

Cover design by Melody Simmons

This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book contains sexually explicit content which is suitable only for mature adults.

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Chapter One

The sun beat down on Mara Adamsen’s shoulders as she made the long walk from the funeral home to her car. Every step carried her a fraction closer to an empty house and a depressing lack of the one person who’d always had her back. Life wasn’t going to be the same without Grandma.

Cradling the box containing her grandma’s ashes against her chest, she unlocked the car and climbed inside. The interior felt like a sauna. She leaned across the console and carefully placed the ashes on the passenger seat. Giving the box a long look, she decided it wasn’t safe enough there for the ride home and reached over to wrap the seatbelt around the container. Confident the package was safe, she started the car and began the drive home.

As she navigated the quiet side streets of Marion, she thought back over the last few months with bittersweet emotions. Although she understood her grandma’s motives for hiding the cancer diagnosis from her until after her college graduation, she couldn’t help but resent all the time she’d missed with the woman who’d raised her. If she’d known sooner, she would have dropped everything and come running to provide support and help care for her grandma in her time of need. It was the least she could have done for the one person who’d always been there for her. By the time she came home and discovered the truth, the strong, confident woman she’d always looked up to was a shadow of her former self. She’d gladly put her life on hold to stay by her grandma’s side. Despite knowing the end was near, she still hadn’t been ready to say goodbye when the time came less than two months later.

The only thing that kept her moving forward through the heartbreak was the thought of Richard and the life waiting for her in Charleston. She wished he was there now, lending her a strong shoulder to lean on, but the start date of his new job hadn’t allowed him any time to spare. He’d been forced to go ahead with the move across the country to start the life they’d planned without her. Knowing he was there now, waiting for her to join him in the apartment they’d leased together, gave her something to look forward to after she settled her grandma’s affairs and was ready to move forward.

That time had not yet arrived.

She pulled up in front of her childhood home and killed the engine. She sat staring through the windshield at the two story farmhouse, and realized that her time there was limited. Even if she decided not to sell the house, it would never be the home she remembered.

The inside of her nose lit up like a firecracker, a sure sign of the tears to come. She couldn’t stand the thought of another crying jag, so she closed her eyes, took one long deep breath after another until the urge to cry passed, and then reopened them. She heaved a sigh, picked her grandma’s remains up off the passenger seat, and carried them inside. After a short internal debate, she placed the urn on the mantle above the fireplace until the time came to spread them. Grandma had never said where she wanted them released and Mara had no clue. There would be time to figure it out later, after she’d had a bit more time to come to grips with the situation.

Following one last glance at the box, she left the room to change out of her dress clothes. She redressed in a baggy T-shirt and stretchy yoga pants and padded barefoot into the kitchen, where she fixed herself a tall glass of sweet iced tea. She pulled out a chair and took a seat at the kitchen table. No sooner than her butt hit the cushion, her cell phone rang. She hopped up to fetch it from her purse and was pleased to see her boyfriends name flash across the screen of her smartphone. With a smile, she hit the green button and lifted the phone to her ear. Hey stranger. You have no idea how glad I am to hear your voice right now.

Why? Did something else happen?

No. She frowned. I just had to pick up Grandma's ashes, like we talked about last night.

Oh. Well, that's good. You're one step closer to closure and coming home to me.

I guess. As much as she wanted to be with Richard right now, she wasn't even close to being finished. There was still a lot to be done before she could pack up her bags for good and move.

Speaking of you coming here, the rumor around the water cooler is that the partners are impressed by my moxie on the Donnelly case and may be thinking of throwing a celebratory dinner in my honor. I don’t know any details yet, but it will be the perfect occasion for you to meet my coworkers. I think some of them actually believe you’re imaginary since they’ve never seen you.

About that... Mara grimaced, knowing what she was about to say wasn’t going to be well received. I’m not quite ready to leave here yet. There’s still a lot to do. The house needs to be emptied, closed up, and listed with a realtor. All of Grandma’s accounts need to be settled and closed. I could go on and on for days.

Can’t you just hire someone to take care of the minor details?

Minor details? Like the remnants of her grandma’s life were an inconvenience she should pawn off on someone else? "Listen, the house and the contents are all I have left. I probably could hire movers to come in and box things up, but Grandma wouldn’t want some stranger in her home, going through her things. I need to do this, for her and for me."

"No. What you need to do is accept that your grandma is gone and come back to me, where you belong, so we can start our life together. Frankly, if you valued our relationship, you’d already be here. You know how important it