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  © Copyright 2018 by Haley Weir - All rights reserved.

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  Liam’s Lust:

  Bears with Benefits II

  By: Haley Weir

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  About the Author

  Where to Read More From Haley Weir & Get Free Books

  Liam’s Lust

  Chapter One

  When Olivia received the call to go out with her boyfriend Jared yesterday, she was ecstatic. He left her a voicemail telling her to wear something fancy, which compounded her excitement even more. Over the past few weeks, he had been incredibly busy with multiple business trips, making it impossible for them to each other. At first, their time together was a passionate, sensual whirlwind. He took her out on elaborate dates, always brought her flowers, and made her feel like a princess. These days, it felt like life kept getting in the way of all that.

  Seeing him tonight in his tailored suit and tie under the restaurant’s dim, romantic lighting made all of her frustration feel like a distant memory. The only thing that mattered in the world was her time with him now. He placed his hand over hers on the table, and flashed her a bright smile as he pulled a small box out of his inner pocket with his other hand. Was he going to propose? Was he ready to take the next step? She didn’t want to get her hopes up, but with the nice restaurant, the mood, and the box...it was hard to imagine what else could be happening.

  “Oh, Jared,” she said, her voice almost a whisper.

  She always wondered how she would react during moments like these. Would she burst into happy tears? Would she giggle with excitement? Would she accept his proposal right away? Would she give it some thought and make him wait for an answer? As those thoughts jumbled her brain, she didn’t notice the woman approaching their table.

  “Jared? What are you doing here? You said you were on a business trip,” the tall, blonde woman said as her gaze slid toward Olivia as if she just noticed there was another person sitting at the table. She sipped from a glass of red wine.

  Business trip? He told her he was on a business trip? Olivia’s heart sank into the pit of her stomach. She tried to hold back the gut-wrenching despair threatening to consume her, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. Were all the times he’d told her he was away on a business trip a lie too?

  “Missy, I can explain. The trip was canceled at the last minute. This is a friend from work. We were about to flesh out the details of next week’s audit,” Jared stammered, shooting Olivia a hard glare. He tucked the box back into his pocket and picked up the menu. “I’ll see you at home, dear. If you would, I’d like to return to my dinner.”

  Missy shook her head and let out a burst of high-pitched, slightly hysterical laughter. It attracted stares from almost every other diner in the restaurant. Redness stained her cheeks, and she shook her head violently. “You bastard. No, you’re coming home right now.” She looked Olivia straight in the eye as she tossed the red wine into her face, instantly staining the red dress Olivia had worn to try to impress Jared.

  Gasping, Olivia nearly knocked over her chair when she staggered to her feet, looking down at her dress in horror. Who was this woman, and what was she doing here? He called her ‘dear’. He never called Olivia pet names like that. Does Jared have more than one girlfriend? Nothing was making sense, and she wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. Jared grimaced and looked between her and Missy. He stood and flagged over a waiter.

  “Napkins, please,” Jared sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose as if this was starting to become tedious to him.

  Missy didn’t look away from staring dangers at Olivia, despite the chaos surrounding them. She slowly shook her head. “You still have no idea what’s going on, do you? You’re not really his coworker. We both know that. You are just the latest toy for my husband to use for his own pleasure. I bet he was great at first. Luring you in like you’re really something special. Get this through your thick skull, girl. You’re not.” She slammed her wine glass down on the table and turned on her stiletto heel with her nose held high in the air.

  Olivia couldn’t move; she felt completely frozen in place. She barely noticed Jared pressing a handful of napkins in her hand as he jogged after his wife.

  A waitress came over after a few moments. She gently led Olivia to the bathroom, but she could not feel her touch.. Right now, she felt numb. How could she be such a fool? Her heart ached, and tears slid from her eyes. Her dress was ruined, and make-up streaked down her face. She finally came back to her senses enough to thank the waitress and clean up as much as she could before leaving the restaurant.

  She kept her gaze low as she walked through the hushed tables of patrons, not wanting to meet anyone’s eyes. It was obvious how the whole thing looked, but she was not that kind of girl. She would have never done any of this if she knew he was in a relationship. Thankfully, Jared at least paid for what little they had enjoyed before making his escape.

  * * *

  Olivia curled up into a ball on the couch as she continued to binge whatever sappy Lifetime movies appeared on the screen in front of her. An empty bowl of ice cream and a pizza box sat before her on the coffee table. It was a Friday night, and instead of being out with “her man”, she was laying in front of the television with a stomach full of comfort food. She had a feeling her stomach wouldn’t be so comforted later on in the night.

  She thought about calling one of her friends to tell them about what happened with Jared, but none of them ever liked him in the first place.. They were suspicious of his disappearing acts and big romantic gestures, and Olivia feared they would give her a bunch of ‘I told you so’s’. That was the last thing she needed to hear.

  The worst part about the whole mess was that she still had her phone beside her on the couch on max volume in case Jared contacted her. Would he call and explain what happened? Was it all some sort of misunderstanding? Maybe the woman was a clingy ex? But she doubted that. From the look on Jared’s face, and the way the woman talked to her, it was like a nightmare come true. She was just too blind to see it before the bomb exploded in front of her.

  Olivia massaged her temples and sipped on a glass of chardonnay. A migraine loomed on the horizon, but maybe the alcohol would dull the pain long enough for her to fall asleep. Her eyelids were starting to droop a little during a commercial break. Why did she still have cable TV? Most of these movies, or at least other romantic movie options, were available on Netflix or one of the many other streaming services. But she couldn’t quite overcome the nervousness she felt about cord-cutting. One of these days she would take the plunge.

  The first commercial was an advertisement for an adult store website. Maybe she did not need a boyfriend. Maybe she would be better off without any man. Up next was a commercial for Prince Dating Agency. An ad fo
r a sex store and then a dating agency? Seriously? Who was lining up these commercial slots? She grabbed the remote to turn off the television in disgust. The women who watched these sappy movies were probably vulnerable and recovering from similar situations to hers. Advertisers were vultures trying to prey on women like her.

  However, as she watched the commercial, something about it seemed to almost call out to her. She couldn’t really describe it. “Find your perfect match with Prince Dating Agency,” the TV said. “True love is just a call or click away.”

  Olivia reached for her cell phone and typed a note to herself about the name of this place. She would give them a call in the morning. Maybe... maybe it was worth a shot. What was the worst thing that could happen? They had a guarantee in place. If she didn’t meet the right person, she would get her money back. It also was not like she was strapped for cash. She had a good job and had what would have been a great life, if her relationship was not a complete and utter lie.

  She text messaged her best friend, Sophia. It was time to start brushing herself off and talking about what happened so she could move on. If she was being honest, this might be a blessing in disguise. Her love life had been flat lining for a while now. Jared couldn’t—or wouldn’t—be bothered to spend time with her lately.

  Olivia typed out: Hey Sophie, checking in. Probably should’ve done this earlier, but I needed some time to process. It’s over with Jared. Guess I was ‘the other woman.’ It wasn’t pretty. At all.

  Sophie called back almost as soon as she hit the send button. “Oh my god, Olivia! You should’ve called me! What happened?”

  “Ugh,” she let out a sigh and gathered her composure. There was no backing out of this now. “Well, Jared had been...busy lately. He said he was off on business trips. I thought it was amazing that he traveled for his work, and he used to show me pictures, too. What reason did I have to not believe him?” Even to her own ears, it sounded like she was trying to convince herself that her naivete was warranted. “But…I guess I shouldn’t have. We were at this fancy restaurant, and it was going so well. He ordered a bottle of wine, and then pulled this little jewelry box from his pocket. I thought he was going to propose.” Pain clenched at her chest when she thought about how that night might have ended in an alternate universe..

  Sophie waited in silence for a few moments before prompting her to continue. “And then what happened?”

  “Then a woman came over, confronted him, splashed red wine in my face, and told me she’s his wife. Oh, and that I’m just one girl in a long line of others that have fallen for him. He left with her, and I haven’t heard from him since,” she explained, and paused to take a breath. “I guess I should’ve listened to you girls. He was so nice to me. I didn’t expect—” she cut herself off to hold back sobs.

  “You hang in there, Olivia. Don’t give up. Just because Jared didn’t treat you right doesn’t mean no one will. You’ll find someone,” Sophie reassured her. “Maybe you should take this time to focus on yourself. To heck with men…for now at least. Okay?”

  “Okay.” Olivia pursed her lips, not knowing what to say to that, since she planned to do the exact opposite.. But Sophie didn’t need to know that. It was embarrassing enough that she was going to use a dating agency. She did not need everyone to know that she couldn’t find love on her own.

  Chapter Two

  Mason and Ava sat across from Liam at their family’s large breakfast table. The happy, playful look on his big brother’s face was so new. His brother used to be a no-nonsense businessman. He seemed like a completely different man these days. Ava brought something out in him that Liam was almost jealous of.

  Things had been going well with Liam’s girlfriend. Really, really well. In fact, he started to think that he might propose. But apparently, it wasn’t meant to be. A few nights ago, he went over to her place to spend some time watching Netflix and she hit him with the heartbreaking news. Cindy did not break up with him at first. That came later, after a few hours of arguing.

  The company she worked for was expanding their New York office, and they wanted people to transfer over. That was great news. News he would have celebrated with her, if she had not secretly accepted the job without telling him. How could she do that? After the years they spent together? He thought she was the one. Now, he did not know what to think.

  She expected him to be happy for her, and even worse, she could not understand why he was upset. When she called it quits, she admitted that part of her rationale was to work under some hotshot lawyer who once dated some B-list celebrity, and helped her reach her career goals, whatever that meant. If he weren’t a werebear, he might have been concerned by her ferocity. He never opened up to her about that side of him. It never felt urgent, and he was frankly worried about how she might react. He was comfortable with what they shared, even if he held back who—or what—he really was.

  Liam plastered a smile on his face as his dad walked into the room carrying a platter of food. This was their Saturday morning ritual. A big, hearty breakfast to get the family together and kick off the weekend. No one knew that he and Cindy broke up. He did not want to face the questions, judgements, or negativity. His dad pushed his brother hard about finding a mate not long ago. He didn’t want that to be his fate.

  He was wary of going through the pain and heartache of another relationship. Not while he still felt the sting of betrayal. So, instead of alerting anyone to his pain, he pretended that all was well in his world. Normally, that would be quite a challenge, but Mason and his smiling mate were drawing a lot of attention lately. Normally, he would be jealous of all the attention his brother was getting, but for now, Liam was pleased the heat was off of him.

  “And here we are. Some of your mother’s finest cooking. I think she’s quite excited for the coming winter. She’s been making all sorts of Florida-inspired recipes, as if shes reminding me of my promises. Like I could forget,” Bradley said with humor in his voice.

  “It looks wonderful, Mr. Sinclair,” Ava smiled. She glanced over at Mason with her brows knit together—who likely had nudged her—then she quickly added, “I meant, Bradley. My compliments to the chef.”

  It was easy to see that their dad was just as excited about retiring from his position as pack alpha as Liam’s mother was. His mother loved her life, but the two of them started out in an arranged marriage with intense pressure to follow tradition, do their duty, and have cubs. His parents encouraged Liam and his brothers to find love and live their lives their own way, and now there were finally taking their own advice. No one could blame them for that.

  “Yes, it really does, Dad,” Mason agreed.

  Their mother walked out of the kitchen and into the dining room. She looked at her son and his mate. In between the apron she wore over her dress and cheery glow, she looked like she had been plucked from a television show from the ‘50s or ‘60s.. Her gaze drifted to Liam, and her demeanor faltered for a moment.

  He should’ve known that his mom would figure out that something was wrong, but all he could do was avoid her gaze and hope she would not get a chance to approach him about it. His other brothers, Will and Noah, sat next to him. They were a little more quiet than usual, too, but seemed happy. He waited until his turn to pile food on his plate before digging in. He looked over at Will again, who was staring at him, sizing him up. Will raised his eyebrow slightly before looking back down at his plate. The two of them were attached at the hip growing up, so he knew that Will could sense that something was not right with Liam. They were the middle children, whereas Noah was the baby and Mason was the oldest. Will and Liam sometimes got lost in the shuffle, so they supported each other a lot during their formative years.

  “So, I’d like to share some news with all of you,” Mason said, placing his fork down on his plate before taking Ava’s hand in his. “We’re expecting a child. A cub.” Mason looked at his mate with such love and pride.

  A strange feeling swelled inside Liam’s chest. He wished
desperately to find someone to share that strong of a bond with. Mason never thought that relationships were for him, and wanted to focus more on his career and their family company than a woman. Maybe that was Liam’s future, especially now that the two of them were expecting.

  “Congratulations, my son!” Bradley said, hopping out of his chair and heading over to kiss his wife. “We’re going to be grandparents.”

  Their mother smiled so brightly, and tears welled in her eyes. “I could sense that she was,” She cried while hugging Bradley tightly. “The female were bear’s nose is pretty intuned with that sort of thing, but hearing the words is more special than you can imagine.” She released her husband and headed over to the couple. “Congratulations. I’m so pleased.” She placed her hand on each of their shoulders. “Now if only the rest of my boys can find their mates, then I’d be one happy mama bear.” Her gaze slid over Liam and his brothers.

  Liam looked at his mother, unsure what to say. Did she know? It certainly seemed like she did. He averted his gaze back to the food as Noah scoffed at their mother’s words.

  “Mom, I’m not interested in finding a woman right now.” Noah was more like Mason than his older brother realized. “Look at Mason. He had time to find the right person. He earned his place in the company. I need to be able to do that before settling down, too.”

  Liam doubted that conversation was going to go over well, especially with their dad giving Noah that stern frown. He shook his head, not wanting to get involved, and rose from the table once he’d finished eating. “Thank you for the delicious breakfast, Mom,” Liam said. “I have to head out. There are a few errands I want to get done while it’s early. Congrats, you too.” He kissed his mother on the cheek before picking up his plate.