Free The Playboy Bear's Baby: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance by Marlie Monroe

the downward
twist of Gray’s full lips. The mention of his family was obviously a sore spot.
“So,” she said in an effort to draw attention her way. “Are you staying in the
area or just passing through?”
    “Oh
well…” Nancy glanced down and picked at her cuticles. “This is a little
embarrassing, but I assumed I would be invited to stay here, seeing as how you
have this big, empty house all to yourself.”
    “I
see.” Mara could guess what that meant. As uncomfortable as having a virtual
stranger in the house would be, she couldn’t just send the woman out into the
night when she obviously had nowhere to go. “I suppose you can use the
guestroom until you’re able to make other arrangements.”
    Nancy
looked up and smiled. “That would be lovely. Thank you.”
    Mara
couldn’t help but notice the expression didn’t reach her mother’s eyes. A chill
ran down her spine.
    “On
that note, I should probably head out and leave you ladies to catch up.” Gray
caught Mara’s gaze. “Would you mind walking me out?”
    “Okay.”
She stood and followed Gray to the door. At the last moment, she turned back to
look at her mother. “I’ll be right back.”
    Nancy
nodded. “Go on and walk your young man out. I’m not going anywhere.”
    Mara
followed Gray out to his vehicle. Despite the new status of their relationship,
she took comfort in his presence and wasn’t looking forward to his departure.
 
    Gray
stopped by the driver’s door of his SUV and leaned back against it. “Come
here.”
    Mara
moved closer, stepping into the cradle of his arms. She slid her hands around
his sides to his back and hugged him tight. Being with him felt remarkably
right, like they’d been together for years rather than weeks.
    He
rubbed up and down her back. “You want to tell me what’s going on? You don’t
seem very happy to see your mom.”
    She
shook her head. She really didn’t want to drag those skeletons out of the
closet, but he’d have to hear about them at some point. Better to get it over
with now. “My mother has issues. Drugs. Alcohol. Men. To be honest, I’m not
really sure what she’s into these days. I haven’t seen her in over thirteen
years.”
    He
tightened his arms around her. “What do you mean?”
    “She
dropped me off to spend the night with my grandma one Friday after school and
never came back. She called a few weeks later and told Grandma she’d met a man
who promised to help her realize her dream of being a country western singer.
For a few years after that, I received postcards from different places around
the country on my birthday and Christmas, but even those stopped around the
time I was fifteen.” She left out the part about looking up her mother’s arrest
record and discovering a cornucopia of petty theft, drug possession, and
prostitution charges over the years.
    “I’m
sorry you had to go through that. I had no idea.”
    “It’s
okay. I’ve had a lot of therapy to get over it. The point is, I don’t know that
woman. She may have given birth to me, but for all intents and purposes, she’s
a stranger. I don’t know why she’s come home now, but I’d be willing to bet it
doesn’t have anything to do with Grandma’s passing.”
    “Why
else would she be here?”
    “I
don’t know.” Mara shook her head. “Maybe she’s finally burned her bridges
everywhere else.”
    “What
are you going to do?”
    “What
can I do? She’s my mom. I can’t just ask her to leave. Grandma wouldn’t want
that. She’d never turn her back on family.”
    “I
can stay, if you want me to.”
    “No,
that’s all right. There really isn’t anything to worry about. Regardless of her
faults, my mother isn’t dangerous. The worst she’ll do is try to steal
Grandma’s jewelry.” Mara made a mental note to hide anything sentimental before
she went to bed. “I’ll be fine.”
    “Are
you sure? I don’t have a problem sleeping over.” He kissed the top of her head
and then her