Second Chance Bear and a Baby: BBW Bear Shifter Baby Paranormal Romance (Who's the Daddy? Book 3) (9 page)

As he looked at his reflection in the mirror one last time, he knew he should have taken her somewhere less showy. The restaurant was not his thing. It wasn’t who he was, and he didn’t want her to think he was out to impress her, or that an expensive meal meant he expected her to sleep with him.

Relax,
his bear said inside his head.
She won’t jump to conclusions.

I hope you are right, I’m so scared of blowing it with her
. Too late to change anything now. He picked up his car keys and went out into the early evening, breathing in the scents all around him. As he drove towards Broken Creek, he wished he had settled for a picnic on the mountains. There they could sit and talk, he could be honest with her, about who and what he was. In a crowded restaurant, he had to be careful of what he said.
Yes, by the way I’m a bear
, would either create panic, or have her thinking he was a first-class moron.

Pulling up outside her house, he switched off the engine and got out, walking up the drive to knock on the door. Before he had a chance to raise his hand, it swung open, and a young man stood in front of him. He didn’t need any of his detective skills to know this was Carla’s brother, Mike. He had the same blue eyes, fair skin, and blonde hair. There the similarities faded. Whereas Carla seemed relaxed and easy-going, Mike had a frown on his face and looked suspicious.

Damn, don’t say the young cub was going to give him a grilling on what he was doing taking Carla out.

“Hi. Mike, isn’t it?” Liam asked, holding out his hand.

Mike took it, but never let his eyes drop from Liam’s. “Yes. And you must be Liam.”

“Guilty as charged.” His police joke, which usually raised a smile, even if only in irony, fell flat. Liam fought the need to explain it.

“I just wanted to check you are serious about my sister. She doesn’t date often.”

“So I gather.”

“I don’t want you to think she’s desperate or anything…”

“Desperate?” Liam was intentionally vague, whilst almost wanting to tell Mike he had already slept with his sister, and not because he considered Carla desperate, but because she was his mate.

His mate. Which meant more than the fact she was Mike’s sister
. That was his bear talking, who wanted the young man in front of him to know Carla belonged to him and no one else.

He’s only concerned
, Liam said soothingly.
He doesn’t know us.

“You know what I mean,” Mike said, looking embarrassed. This was probably not how he imagined the conversation going when he rehearsed it in his head, and Liam was sure a man like Mike would have rehearsed it several times, probably in front of the mirror.

“She’s in safe hands,” Liam said, holding said safe hands up, resisting the urge to tell Mike exactly where he would be putting those hands if he had a chance.

“Funny,” Mike said, and then, thankfully, Carla, looking beautiful in a maxi dress, finished off with a simple locket and hair piled on top of her head, came towards him, and everything Mike had said left his brain. All he could process was that she was his, and he wanted her.

“What’s funny?” Carla asked, trying not to stare at Liam. He wasn’t sure if he was drooling. Shutting his mouth firmly, he smiled.

“We were just discussing how lucky I am. And Mike was just checking I had honorable intentions towards you.”

She blushed. “And what did you say?”

“That I am the luckiest man alive, and will treat you with nothing but respect.”

“I see. Well, in that case, we should leave. Good night, Mike. Don’t wait up,” she said and took Liam’s hand as they walked to his car.

“Does that mean you’ve lifted your no-sex embargo?” he asked, as he held the door open for her to slide into the passenger seat.

“No. It just means that I love my brother, but the interrogation about who you were and where we were going was a bit much.”

“He cares about you,” Liam answered as he went around to the driver’s side and got in.

“No. I mean yes, he does, but he and Tammy have had a disagreement and so he is taking it out on me. I really wish he would grow up.”

“Let’s forget about them, and everything else tonight,” he said, hoping he could keep the specter of Louisa at bay. “This evening is about you and me.”

“Deal,” she answered, and settled back into her seat. “I’m really looking forward to our date.”

“Me too,” he said, and leaned across to kiss her on the cheek.

“What was that for?” she asked, blushing beautifully as he pulled away.

“I wanted to get it out of the way, because otherwise I’ll be thinking about kissing you all evening.”

“And it has nothing to do with Mike still watching us from the window.”

Liam glanced up. “Nothing at all. Although if you want to make sure he saw, I could do it again.”

“Just drive,” she said, and that was what he did.

“Wow,” Carla said as they were seated in the restaurant. “I don’t think I have ever been in a restaurant like this.”

No. I definitely have never been in a restaurant like this
. She looked around at all the other diners, and felt underdressed. Most of the women wore jewelry that was worth more than she earned in a year, or maybe a lifetime.

“It belongs to a friend of mine,” he admitted. “I’m sorry if you don’t like it.”

She took a deep breath and tried to relax. “It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s more of I don’t feel as if I belong.”

He laughed. “Most of the people in here don’t really belong, they just pretend they do.”

She cocked her head and looked at him. “Really? Or are you just messing with me?”

“No. Really. As a detective, you pick up on these things. Some of the women in here with their husbands, only married for money. And some of those husbands are in debt up to their eyeballs, but they bring their girlfriends or mistresses here because they are trying to hide the amount of money they owe.”

“That is so sexist,” she said, looking around. He was probably right. “I think I prefer Howie’s place, at least the people there are real.”

“I’ll tell you the one thing that is real here, and that is the food. The chef is the best in town.”

“Then let’s order.” She opened the menu. “Where are the prices?”

“They don’t show them to you, because if they did everyone would just drink water, and even that you have to pay for.”

“We can go halves on the bill if you want,” she offered.

“No way, this is my treat,” he said, and concentrated on the menu for a moment. “Maybe they should include a translation.”

“I can tell you that the third item is steak, but I bet it will be tiny.” She looked around. “This is the kind of restaurant that you go home still hungry. Too much of a good thing must be bad for you.”

He leaned forward, and placed his hands on hers. “Not from where I’m sitting.”

She giggled nervously. “I think we are underdressed and under-sophisticated for this place.”

He laughed. “It doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. And afterwards, because we won’t be so stuffed we can’t move, there’s a place I’d like to take you so we can dance.”

“Then let’s order. I love dancing.”

***

“This place is amazing,” she shouted, although her mouth was only inches away from his ear.

“So are you,” he answered, and pulled her closer so they didn’t get parted in the mass of bodies gyrating on the dance floor.

Above them strobe lights lit up the sky, and the breeze lifted her hair, but there was no way she would get a chill, not when there were another two hundred people pressing in on her, and yeah, a big man holding her in his arms.

“So does this place belong to one of your friends too?” she asked, as their hips moved in unison to the music. Liam shook his head, pointed at his ears, and then placed his hands on her waist, guiding her though the people to the edge of the crowd. From there they spilled out onto the grass, which edged the dance floor.

From this angle the people left on the dance floor appeared to be one creature, with hundreds of arms and multi-colored scales, its pulse matching the beat of the music. Behind it, the lights made patterns against the dark sky, before zooming like some manic bug to land on the large stone-built house, that must have been built centuries ago.

“It is amazing,” she said.

He took her hand and they walked away, trying to find an alcove that wasn’t occupied.

“Edward, one of my childhood friends, he inherited it from his uncle. But with the vast sprawling house and grounds, he found it bled him dry. He had no money to keep it all together, and didn’t want to be the one to sell it out of the family. So he opened an exclusive night club. I don’t think even he could have envisaged just have successful it would be.”

“You know a lot of people. A lot of rich people,” she said as they sat together, his arm around her shoulders to keep her warm. Leaning her head on his shoulder, she snuggled up to him. This was perfect.

“I meet a lot of people in my line of work. Some good, a lot bad, and others who have lost their way.”

“And you aren’t going to miss that?” she asked.

“Work is still the same, people are still going to need helping. It’s weird how grateful ordinary people can be when you help them. I used to turn down all these offers of tables in fancy restaurants, and being invited to parties like this. Then there are the boxes of chocolates, bottles of wine, a kid once tried to give me his teddy bear. But when you get paid to do the job, it’s hard to feel you deserve anything more. Then an old hand at the job told me that it makes others feel good about themselves. Their way of saying thank you.”

“I get that,” she said. They sat in silence for a while. “So the guy who owns this place, you knew him when you were younger, but you said you were new to the team where you met Louisa.”

“Yes. I grew up around here, but then moved away. Training, the job, they like you to be somewhere where no one knows you when you are undercover. I was getting tired, burned out, which is why I switched to the drug squad. And when I had the offer to come back here, I did.”

“And that’s where you met Louisa?” she asked.

“Yes.” His tone told her he didn’t want to speak about it. She had learned that tone from customers at the steak house. Some people came there to share their worries; others came there to forget.

“I grew up in Broken Creek.” She changed the subject; she was good at that too, setting people at their ease. “I’ve lived there all my life.”

“And have you always worked for Howie?” he asked, his fingers stroking her skin so lightly it was like a breath of air on the breeze, and she wanted so much to kiss him, to make the first move, but she was scared the spell would be broken.

“I started working there when I was thirteen, collecting glasses. It belonged to Howie’s dad before him. And Eloise did the cleaning. We all went to the same school, but we had never spoken. Opposites. But then the three of us discovered we had a lot in common.”

“Like dating all the boys.”

She shoved him in the stomach, but her fingers didn’t even dent his hard flesh. “Like Eloise and I had parents going through messy divorces. Howie was our rock, the guy who always made us laugh. He’s the sweetest person in the world.”

“Sorry. I didn’t realize about your parents.”

“It’s left me kind of messed up about relationships. Same with Mike and Tammy. He wants a family life, because we never had one.”

“And you?” he asked.

“I shied away from all that stuff. I don’t want to ever put a child through what I went through.”

“It’s not always like that,” Liam said, sitting up and turning her to face him. “It wouldn’t be like that for us.”

She looked at the honesty in his eyes, and her heart wanted to explode, wanted to embrace what he offered her. “But that’s something you can’t promise another person. Life happens. People change.”

“Not me, Carla. I promise you now, what we have is real and you only have to say the word and it will be forever.”

“Liam. Please don’t. This is not the way to get me into your bed.”

“Hey.” He tilted her face so she had to look at him. “That is not what this is. I just need you to know.”

“I’m tired, would you take me home?” She stood up, missing the warmth of his body instantly.

“Sure,” he said, getting up. “Listen, I know you don’t believe me, but maybe I can prove it to you. Can I pick you up tomorrow, and I’ll try my best?”

“I’m working tomorrow.”

“After work. Just an hour of your time, and then you can see if you believe I’m telling the truth.”

“OK.” She had no choice. She wanted this relationship to last, and deep down she wanted to believe what he was telling her, but she needed more than words.

Curiosity had the better of her. She wanted to know what his proof was. And if she could believe it.

He waited for Carla outside Howie’s Steak House for half an hour. He was too early, but he had dreaded getting stuck in traffic and being late. So he waited in his car, watching people going about their business, trying to switch off the internal cop, who was always on duty.

Only a few short weeks ago, he had come here, his life in turmoil, his emotions drained and his will to live so depleted he could have lain down and died. Now he had a second chance, and that second chance was going to be coming out any minute, and then she was going to learn that the man she had been dating, the man she had already slept with, was a bear.

Not a normal bear, but one who could take on both forms. A shifter. This was his big secret, and he was about to expose himself to the woman who was supposed to share his life with him.

A steady stream of people was leaving, getting in their cars and trucks and driving home. Unless they had drunk too much and then they were walking, or staggering, back towards town. Luckily, those numbered in single figures. The cop in him watched them, the man in him watched for Carla, the bear in him watched for their mate.

The bear sensed her first, and he turned to see her walking out with Eloise, kissing her on the cheek, and then walking towards his car. His eyes were fixed on her as she moved, her hips swinging. He licked his lips, imagining he was tasting her skin, his lips kissing her, tongue exploring her. Did she have any idea the effect she had on him?