Mail-Order Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance (BRIDES fur BEARS Book 5) Read Online Free PDF

journey today,” Reid said.
“And it's been a long time since I had ice-cream. I'd like to
see what's new in the shops these days. I don't shop much,” he
confessed.
    “Yippee!” Eddie
cheered. “Let's go into the shops! I want to see the toys!”
    As they strolled down the
sidewalk, Eddie broke away and pressed his nose against a shop
window. Anxiously, Lauren hurried after him and put her hand on his
shoulder as she spoke in his ear.
    “I know, I'm just
looking,” Reid heard the boy say as he walked up to them.
    “Let's go in. I
haven't visited a toy store in ages,” Reid said, winking at
Eddie as he pushed into the shop.
    Eddie grinned and ran after
him. When Reid told him to pick out what he liked, Eddie shook his
head even as he eyed the dinosaurs on the shelf longingly.
    Quietly, Lauren bent down and
whispered, “Go ahead, buddy. Choose what you like.”
    The boy gasped and scampered
off. He returned with two dinosaurs and a big book about dinosaurs
under his arm.
    “I want to be a
paleontologist when I grow up,” he told Reid proudly when Reid
paid for the items and handed them to him. “Thank you, sir!
Very much!”
    Reid nodded and listened with
amusement as Eddie corrected Lauren when she mispronounced the name
of his dinosaur. He was impressed with the boy's vocabulary. The
boy certainly knew all things and words related to dinosaurs. He bet
the kid could rattle off the names of all the dinosaurs, and even the
periods they lived in, with ease. Reid looked up at Lauren.
Somebody had been reading to the boy.
    “I borrow books about
dinosaurs from the library to read to him,” Lauren confirmed.
“Eddie's crazy about dinosaurs.”
    “Dinosaurs are cool!”
Eddie crowed. “They're so awesome!”
    It was a pretty hot day, so
Reid suggested grabbing an ice-cream each. When they stepped into
the ice-cream parlor, Eddie kept his head down and tried not to stare
at the other kids enjoying their towering ice-cream sundaes and
milkshakes. The boy swallowed and glanced at Lauren, and she gave a
subtle shake of her head. Her apologetic smile was more of a wince. Sorry, sweetheart, but we can't afford th e se
expensive sundaes.
    “We'll just have
two glasses of iced water,” Lauren told Reid.
    Reid made them sit at a
corner booth and went to place their orders at the counter.
    When the waitress came and
placed three large ice-cream sundaes on their table, Lauren and Eddie
gasped and stammered.
    The little boy looked
awe-struck when Reid pushed the ice-cream sundae in front of him.
    “For me? All of it?”
the boy squeaked in disbelief.
    “Of course.”
    “Thank you, sir!”
Eddie gave him a grin so wide and so bright it almost broke Reid's
heart to see it.
    “Eat more,” Reid
said gruffly.
    The boy was lively and
spirited, but he was skittish and there was a certain sadness and
fear in his eyes. His shirt looked too big for him and there was a
hole in his shoe. His clothes were obviously hand-me-downs. And why
did the boy think that there were people who wanted to hurt his
mother?
    They had dropped everything
to come to Shadow Point. Just what were they running from? Reid
couldn't help wondering.

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

    Reid observed the interaction
between Eddie and Lauren with interest and curiosity. They were
affectionate with each other, and it was obvious they were very
close. They did look alike, with their dark hair and eyes, but
something made Reid doubt that they were mother and son. He couldn't
quite put his finger on it, and in the end, he dismissed it as just a
groundless suspicion.
    The boy ate everything with
gusto. At dinner, he almost licked his plate clean of the sauce.
But when Reid asked if he wanted a second helping of mashed potatoes,
Eddie politely declined. “Thank you, sir. But I'm stuffed!”
he grinned.
    A full day of sightseeing,
shopping and eating proved exhausting for the little man. “This
is the best day ever,” Eddie murmured contentedly from the back
seat as Reid