Free Liam's Bride: BBW Werebear Romance (Clan Conroy Brides Book 1) by Emma Alisyn

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