Read Bear Cop: BBW Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance for Free Online Page B

again, and someone had believed him? What if even now, there was an arrest warrant out for her?
    Breathe. Just breathe, Eve. That can’t be true. And I know that I did nothing wrong. Chris would believe me.
    The thought calmed her. It was strange to think that and believe it, but it was true—Chris would hear her out. She knew he would. She took a deep breath. That left only one thing to do now…
    “There’s something you should know about me.” The words nearly hurt her throat. She’d kept this secret for so long that it was hard to speak now.
    “My dad… my dad’s in jail. Has been for a long time. It must have been around ten years now. And you are a cop, so if you don’t want to…” She gestured helplessly, her heart aching at the mere idea that she could lose all of this again, just when she had dared to believe that happiness might be possible after all.
    “I’d understand,” she ended softly. She didn’t quite dare to look at him.
    He was silent for a moment. Then his arm tightened around her, and she could feel him press a gentle kiss to her hair. She nearly wanted to weep in relief at his kindness.
    “That must have been hard,” he murmured. “What happened?”
    Where to even start? She felt tears prick her eyes at the memories that suddenly returned with full force. The way her dad had returned home later and later. The awful friends he’d acquired. The way her dad had worked longer and longer shifts for the security firm that had hired him, and yet it was never enough for the rent and the bills and the groceries. The calls from his friends; the shouting matches with her mother.
    And then, that day when the police stood before their door, and their dad had been dragged away in handcuffs as the neighbors watched…
    “He was convicted for robbing a jeweler, Mr. Alsbach. My dad worked for a security company, you see. He had the keys and knew the codes. He kept saying his friends tricked him, but the doors were opened with his keys.”
    Chris stroked her hair. “Did they find the jewels on him?”
    “They never found anything.” Eve swallowed. “They… for a while, they thought my mother and I were involved as well. They held us for interrogation. It was horrible. I never even knew that his friends had all been sentenced before—robbery, blackmail, kidnapping, that sort of thing. But they never found out where he’d hidden the jewels. So when they finally released me, I just—left. My mother had begun drinking. I had to drop out of our local community college. I felt like everyone was staring at me.”
    Even remembering those horrible weeks was enough to make her tear up after all this time.
    “They all knew I was the daughter of a criminal,” she continued after a moment. “And how many believed that I knew where he had hidden the goods? I just couldn’t bear it anymore. So I left. Eventually I washed up here, lonely and broke, and I saw a sign in the window of the bakery. They needed someone to help out during the weekends.”
    “I wish I’d been there. I wish I could have told you how brave and smart you are.” Chris’ voice was rough, and when Eve allowed him to turn her head towards him, he kissed her very gently on the lips.
    “None of it is your fault,” he went on. “It doesn’t matter to me, Eve. You are not your father. And you never should have had to suffer for the crimes he committed.”
    Eve swallowed against the tears that still threatened to spring up. “All this time, and I’ve been so terrified that one day, I’d find myself arrested because they decided I was involved after all. I’ve worked so hard for so long. I practically run the bakery now, and I know the Herberts would be so pleased if they could retire and sell the business to me, but…”
    “You were afraid of putting your name into the contract?”
    Eve nodded. “I changed my name, but still… They ran a report about my wedding cakes a while ago on TV, when I won a local competition. Every