Free Alec (BBW Secret Baby Bear Shifter Romance) (Secret Baby Bears Book 1) by Becca Fanning Page A

certain level of organization, so maybe it wasn’t so surprising after all.  

    Leo set the steaming bowls of thick noodles in some kind of broth onto the table and motioned for her to sit. As they settled down to eat Annie realized something.

    “You never answered my question,” she said, fiddling with her fork.

    Leo swallowed the noodles in his mouth. “Hmm? Which question?”  

    “Why are you really doing this?” Annie asked. “I asked on the beach but we got somewhat distracted what with all the murdering.”

    He looked at her thoughtfully. “Because you are very pretty, and very interesting. I’m a smuggler captain. I need to be able to assess wares and make hiring decisions. That’s my job, deciding who and what is and is not valuable. And you are clearly very valuable.”

    “Even without diamonds covering my tits?” Annie teased, something in her belly warming in a way that had nothing to do with the hot meal.

    Leo laughed, clear and loud. “Even then.”

    “Captain,” Rick’s voice floated down from an intercom, slicing through the light-hearted moment, “I said I’d contact you if anything happened and, well, something happened. Strathmore’s hailing us. Get to the cockpit as soon as you can.”

    Just like that, the air turned to ice. Annie struggled to breathe, cursing her own stupidity as her thoughts faded into a panicked white noise. Why had she thought she could outrun something like Strathmore? Why had she thought he wouldn’t focus on retaliation?

    “Hey, hey, hey, Annie, it’s going to be fine,” Leo said as he pushed away from the table and walked around the table to kneel in front of her.

    “Of course it’s not fine,” Annie spat back. “He’s going to catch us and he’s going to kill me, and then he’s going to kill all of you for helping me.”

    She tried to stand and discovered that her knees had turned to paste. Leo shot up to catch her as she toppled forward, wrapping his arms around her. Clutching at his shirt, she pressed against his chest and tried in vain to take comfort in him.  

    “I should never have gotten on this ship,” she whispered.

    Leo shushed her. “Don’t say that. You’re exactly where you’re meant to be.”

    “How would you know?” she demanded.

    “Because you being here feels right to me, and I’m hoping it’s the same for you,” Leo answered.

    Annie looked up at him. “I’ve known you for less than a day, I can’t… I’m not…” She broke off and shook her head, frustrated.

    “There are worse things to do than fall in love at first sight with the girl who jilted a warlord,” Leo teased with a gentle smile.

    Annie snorted. “You didn’t fall in love with me at first sight. You’re not that kind of guy.”

    “Maybe not,” Leo said. “But I did see you and realize you would be incredibly important to me if I let you. You crashed out of that damn forest in a torn up wedding dress and combat boots and I just thought ‘of course, this makes perfect sense.’”

    “Is my incredible importance in your life getting you killed?” Annie asked.

    “I’m willing to take that chance. I’ve always been a sucker for redheads,” Leo answered.

    Annie looked at the man in front of her. It made sense that she was attracted to him; he was beautiful. But she refused to be the kind of girl to fall head over heels for someone without knowing them. Still, he was offering to risk his life for her and that was hardly nothing. She leaned up and slowly, gently, pressed her mouth to his.

    “What was that for?” Leo asked, raising an eyebrow.

    “I’m not sure, exactly,” Annie answered, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice. “I guess we’ll have to find out.”

    “Have I mentioned I’m a huge fan of hands-on research?” Leo asked and pressed his mouth to hers. He was every bit as gentle as she had been but not as chaste. Running his thumb softly over her hip bone, he pressed his tongue to the seam of her