Baby Got Bear - Milly Taiden Page 0,10

dad continued to schmooze as the wolf by his side stood taller and pushed out his chest. “Our boy here isn’t a legacy. He wasn’t just given leadership. No, Terrance fought his way all the way up from the bottom. He’s paid his dues. He’s a hard worker, and he will be your escort for the Beginning of the Season Ball.”

“He’ll what?” The words, full of venom and disbelief, flew from her lips with no thought of the consequences, and they didn’t stop there. “You have got to be kidding me.” Throwing the hand closest to the younger wolf into the air, the tips of her fingers pointing right at his heart, she shook with fury. “I don’t know him. I don’t want to know him. You can’t do this. I won’t let you do this.”

Pulling her arms to her body, fists clenched so tightly that her nails bit into her palms, she growled, “I am an adult. I am not your show pony to parade around and auction off to the highest bidder. I have a mind of my own. I will go with whomever I like, and I like Beau Sampson.”

“Lucy…”

Cleland’s snarl had heat behind it, the kind that made the hair at the nape of her neck stand on end. His rage, and moreover, his embarrassment, beat at her like a flyswatter all over her body. But Lucy couldn’t have cared less.

Spinning on her toes and storming toward the door, she hollered over her shoulder, “No, screw that.” Stopping so quickly that she was back up on her toes, the Luna wolf spun around and announced through gritted teeth, “I love Beau Sampson, and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Chapter Eight

He needed to think. What he’d learned from Miss Bea changed everything. Sure, it was going to ruffle a lot of fur, probably meant the Sampson clan would be suspended from the shifter council, maybe even blacklisted from a lot of area businesses.

“But none of that matters,” he told Henry, his favorite retired quarter horse. “Lucy’s all that matters. She deserves to be happy, to have a rich, full life, and I plan to do everything in my power to make that happen.”

Smoothing the blanket over the horse’s back, he got the saddle off its stand. Hoisting it into the air, the big grizzly alpha almost fell flat on his back when Lucy appeared in the center of the massive doorway of the barn.

Haloed in the sun, she looked like an angel. Prettier than any picture ever taken. Had there ever been a more beautiful woman? A better person? If so, Beau hadn’t met her.

Completely dumbstruck, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Unable to move, forgetting that he was holding a saddle over his head, he stood still as a statue as she slowly moved closer.

“Hey,” she beamed, her sly smile making his heart race.

“Hey, yourself.”

“You going somewhere?”

“No. Yeah. I mean…” So befuddled, he really didn’t know if he was coming or going, Beau shook his head, stammering, “Wh-what did you say?”

Pointing just above his head, as her chin dipped, and she looked up through her impossibly long lashes, Lucy giggled, “You’re holding a saddle over your head.” Hand dropping until the tip of her finger was aimed at Henry’s back, she went on, “And your boy there’s got a fresh blanket on his back.” Shrugging as her arm dropped to her side, she asked again, “So, I just wondered if you were going somewhere.”

Cheeks heating, Beau blushed for the first time since he was a teenager. Setting the saddle on the horse’s back, he chuckled. “Yeah, I was going for a ride. I do that when I need to think.”

Bending his arm, playing at flexing his muscle, he teased, “But first I had to do some saddle lifting.” Winking when her shy giggle turned into a full-blown chuckle, he couldn’t help but keep going. “It’s the best. Better than weights. Don’t have to go to the gym. No wearing fancy clothes. Get to be in the barn.” Switching arms, he flexed again. “I try to get in at least fifty reps a night.”

“Do you now?” Nodding, Lucy pretended to furrow her brow. “You got those big muscles from lifting a saddle fifty times every night, huh?”

“I did.” Opening his eyes as wide as they would go, he placed his hand over his heart as he set the saddle on the ground. “I swear it, Miss Benton.”

“Well, if you swear, Mr. Sampson, then maybe