Liam's Bride: BBW Werebear Romance (Clan Conroy Brides Book 1) (7 page)

Liam looked at her, knowing. Approving. "I think you should stay with Brick this time, for moral support."

Brick muttered something under her breath. Liam’s brow shot up.

"What? What did she say?" Meredith asked.

"Plausible deniability."

Brick told him the park her foster brother liked to hang out at. He looked for the kid, a tall, lanky teen with longish blond hair and glasses, skateboard propped at his side. His friends saw him coming first, scattering when Liam bared his teeth. The boy’s eyes widened. Liam bounded forward, grabbing him before he, too, could disappear like a roach.

Liam grabbed the boy’s wrist and shoulder, twisting it up to his back, thrusting him against the wall of the park building. The thud of the boy’s cheek hitting cement echoed his startled cry.

“What the fuck, man? Get the fuck off me, you fucking bastard. Who the fuck the hell are you?”

Such erudite language. The teenager squirmed, Liam’s elbow against this back as he picked the boy off his toes, wrenching his shoulder.

“Don’t act like you don’t recognize me, you little shit.” The teenager’s squeals quieted. “I’m a friend of Brick’s and the punk ass stunt you pulled didn’t do shit but piss me off. If I find out you’ve bothered her again, this…” Liam wrenched upward, eliciting a high pitched howl “…will be the least of the pain I inflict on you. And it won’t be the man you will face, but the Bear. Nod if you understand.”

The boy nodded, frantic.

“Good. Glad we had this discussion.”

CHAPTER

7

Liam needed a drink after dealing with the boy. The one place he felt comfortable enough to relax was Alphonso’s. His second worked the bar on the occasional whim, retreating from the door post, claiming it was relaxing. Whatever. If Liam wasn't working on his house, his idea of relaxation was more along the lines of menu planning. But that was him. And, of course, now there was Meredith.

He took a sip of the dark, foamy beer, anticipation tensing his muscles. He forced himself to relax. Sip.

"In that deep already, huh?"

Alphonso wiped a clean rag along the counter near Liam, then set it aside. Someone picked a rock classic from the fancy digital jukebox.

"We're still getting to know each other."

"Right." Long eyes narrowed. "You only drink when you're dealing with a woman."

"The restaurant is my woman."

"Not anymore. Your mother happy?"

He hadn’t talked to her about it in any depth. "I'm doing what they asked me to do. Finding a human woman to mate."

"And then comes the babies in the baby carriage."

It hit him hard, an image of Meredith rounded with his cub. Another of her holding a swaddled infant in her arms, sitting in a comfortable chair in their garden. He smiled. Where had all those plants come from? The woman was taking over his growing space even in his imagination.

"Shit. You've got it bad, man."

Liam looked up, not denying it. Alphonso watched him carefully. "What does your Bear say?"

"You already know the Bear is driving this." Except... he liked Meredith. As a man, as himself. A little timid, but brave when it counted. Passion under her reserved surface.

"What’s her name again?"

"Meredith." Liam frowned, realizing he didn't know her last name. "I don’t know her last name."

"Yeah, I just wanted to know if you knew. I’ll find out for you. Look bad if you ask her. She'll think you weren’t paying attention."

Liam grimaced. They hadn’t gotten around to last names, though he knew all the information was in her lease file. She knew his, though. She'd called him Mr. Conroy plenty of times. Huh. Maybe he should let Alphonso find out the little things, so Liam could play it off like he'd been doing his homework all along. Weren’t women flattered when they thought you were checking them out?

"Okay. See what you can dig up. Her favorite color and all that stuff."

"Have you even had a conversation with her that wasn't about food or plants?"

"Of course." He just couldn’t remember about what. He'd have to change that, though. There would have to be conversations. And then, after the conversations...

“Has she seen you shift?” Alphonso shook his head when Liam didn’t respond. “You can’t put that off, man. Better to know right now if she can handle it, or if she’s the freak out type.”

A woman willing to defend her cub- and the girl Brick was Meredith’s cub- with violence wouldn’t be scared of a Bear. But he knew Alphonso was right. Liam would have to make plans to take her somewhere quiet and private and show her his other side.

Meredith reluctantly allowed Liam to take care of the issue. Not just because he was a tall, scary looking man when he wanted to be, but because she needed to keep her hands somewhat clean to run Teens and Greens. She could just imagine what would happen to what little state funding she received if she went to jail for beating up a teenager, no matter how well deserved.

Still, she pulled Brick aside after two days of what she considered to be flawless patience.

"Is everything okay at home? Did Liam help at all?" Meredith asked her.

The teen looked uncomfortable. "Uh... Liam and I kinda decided to keep it on the down lo, you know."

Meredith gaped. "Do you mean you two handled this together and are keeping me out of the loop?"

Brick stared at her. "Yeah, that's what I said. It was, like, English and everything."

Meredith blew out a breath and tried to be stern. "Don't sass. It's a bad habit."

"Meredith."

She turned at the familiar male voice. Moody golden eyes stared at her. "Hi, Al. Brick, why don’t you go on out to the garden? I'll follow in a minute."

She didn't hear footsteps, and looked over her shoulder. The teenager stood, eyes narrowed. "Brick?"

After a moment Brick shrugged and made her way out of the building.

"What’s up?" Meredith asked her best friend’s boss. Tall, lean muscled shoulders shown off by a sleeveless t-shirt. Scruffy, fitted jeans and glossy dark hair. She patted her red braid, wishing she could brush it into that kind of sleek obedience.

"Liam asked me to walk through the building and ask a few questions."

It was the first time she’d seen Al outside of the shadows of his bar except for the other day.  He must be friends with Liam- they were both werebears, so it made sense. "Sure. I can give you a tour. We'll start in the kitchens, since that seems to be the most important place."

"Thank you."

She led him through the halls at a brisk pace. "When will the crews start work? I believe Mr. Conroy had some plans to begin the renovations soon."

"Soon. He's just finalizing design plans now. The crews will begin demo shortly. You know, Tamar never mentioned your last name.”

She slanted him a glance. Why would she? "Tyler. You know I run an afterschool enrichment program here? Here are the kitchens."

He asked a few questions, made notations in his cell. Meredith remembered the days of pads and paper. Now everyone took notes on their devices.

"How long have you run Teens and Greens?" he asked with the voice of a man making polite small talk. She wanted to tell him not to bother- she’d seen his idea of small talk when tossing drunks out of his bar- or barking orders at Tamar. But Meredith obliged him, discussing the program. She showed him the conference and workout rooms in the basement, directed him to the restrooms which were clean but old.

"What colors would you like in the bathrooms?"

Meredith blinked. Alphonso smirked. "Liam asked me to get a girl’s input before the finishes were chosen. The designer is male, too."

"That's smart. Well, neutrals are always nice for a spa like feel. Warm browns with natural stone finishes. Maybe some dark wood accents."

"Sounds sophisticated."

They made their way around to the front entrance. "Well, that's all there is, Alphonso. If there aren't any other questions, I should really get out to my kids."

"No problem." He held out a hand. "If you think of anything else, just come by the bar."

She took his hand, shaking it, wondering at the oddness of his behavior. He was being downright… civilized. "Of course. You have my number if you-"

His hand convulsed over hers. Meredith jerked, startled, but he wasn't paying attention to her, looking over her shoulders, expression tight.

"Al," she said, snapped. He dropped her hand a split second later. Meredith turned around to see what had him so bothered and stilled.

"Dad!"

Harvey stood just inside the entrance, hands in his pockets, looking between her and Alphonso.

"I wanted to see where you worked, Mere."

She hurried towards him. "I thought we agreed you'd stay in the apartment and not wander around town." Until she figured out what to do with him.

"You know I can't do that, Mere. I have to check in with the parole officer, and I need to find a job. I can’t sleep on your couch forever."

No, he couldn't. She remembered Alphonso’s presence at her back. She turned on her heels, hairs on her neck rising, encountering a smooth expression. Smooth, and cool. He nodded at Meredith and walked past them without another word and out of the building.

"Who was that, Mere?"

She frowned. Something was bothering her, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint what. "Don’t worry about it, Dad. Do you have a bus card? You should get back home before anyone sees you."

Before anyone who knew Liam, and knew her, saw him. The fact that she was... dating the restaurateur still surprised her during times of quiet reflection. The last week had been a delightful dance of conversation, passion, and occasional companionable silences. They'd been able to explore each other’s interest while Meredith managed to keep conversations away from the past. And managed to make excuses for why he couldn’t come by her apartment. Mostly by claiming she was ashamed because it was small and not very pretty.

The expression around his eyes tightened. "I know you're ashamed of me."

She gritted her teeth, then felt ashamed of her response. Then felt ashamed for feeling ashamed.

"Dad, you weren't the most loving parent when I was growing up... before you shot a man. And yes, I am ashamed of that. But you know what? You have to deal with it. So do I. I just want you to start living your life so I can go back to mine."

She turned away, knowing it was harsh. But she hadn't asked for her entire childhood to be destroyed, and not just hers. And she was a little sick of her own inner whining about it. Meredith waited until she heard the door close and then banished him from her mind. She had a garden to run.

Alphonso considered himself a fair man. Shit happened to everyone, and usually the innocent paid the worst price. So when he realized the man talking to Meredith was Harvey Tyler, and he was apparently Meredith’s father, he decided not to make any rash decisions. Like run off and tell Liam. Right away.

Liam didn’t necessarily need to know.

He swiped a rag over the counter for show, glancing at Tamar. She met his eyes, hip cocked as she took a lunch order. They didn’t get a ton of lunch business, their beer being several notches better than their… food. He supposed he should do something about that just to be professional, but they made enough money during the evenings and weekends he figured there was no reason to buck the system.

Tamar came to him a minute later. "You rang?"

That's why he liked the woman. She was the perfect employee- showed up in a low cut blouse, smiled, worked hard and didn’t give the customers flack. And she seemed to read his mind. Interesting, with a human. They were usually as deaf as his socks when it came to reading body language. But he supposed having grown up together accounted for some, if not most, of the familiarity. Which made the fact she was the perfect employee- except for the constant lip- even more astonishing.

"You're friends with Meredith Tyler, right?"

Rich russet eyes slid away from his. "Yeeaahhh."

"You sound like you aren’t sure."

He watched her run a tongue around her teeth. "I’m sure."

Interesting. So Tamar knew, and also knew better than to rat her friend out.

"Tell me about her. What’s her angle?"

"Angle?" Tamar’s full lips turned down. "Meredith is one of the kindest people I know. She didn’t deserve that rat of a-"

"Don't stop on my account."

"I think my order is up," she said, voice flat. Alphonso watched her go- and watched her avoid his gaze- but let her go.

Man, Liam would be pissed when he realized he was the last one to know his woman was the daughter of the man who had murdered his father. Talk about some Romeo and Juliet fucked up shit. That's why he was never mating.

But his gaze rested on Tamar again, and he wasn't sure why it was always so hard to look away.