“Don’t tell her that. I’m the Big, Bad Wolf.”
“Like the feral Shifter,” Kim said softly.
Ellison instantly lost his grin. “What?”
Liam shot Kim a warning look. “A rogue. I took care of it.”
“He was a wolf? Damn. I’m sorry, Liam.”
“I said I took care of it.”
Ellison frowned, his big body folding in on itself, his sunny nature dimming.
“Two chicken-fried steaks, extra gravy,” Annie said, depositing the food in front of them. “And a mess of fries. Anything else you need?”
“Bring me a beer, honey.” Ellison glanced at Kim’s and Liam’s bottles. “A good old-fashioned American beer, nothing Irish, Mexican, or German.”
“We got some strawberry blonde ale in the back,” Annie said. “Made right here in Austin.”
She swished away before Ellison could protest. “Aw, I hate microbrew. Yuppie beer.”
“Then I won’t invite you to the annual microbrew tasting party,” Kim said, as Liam munched a crispy, hot chip. They were chips, damn it. What ass**le came up with french fries? “Brewers from around the county set up booths and give free tastings all day long. You have to be invited, but I’m allowed to bring guests.”
Ellison’s face fell. “Well, maybe it’s not so bad. Some of these brews are downright good.”
Liam laughed at him, but his heart warmed. Kim was no wilting flower. She was scared, angry, uncertain, and unhappy, but she wasn’t going to hunch in on herself and cry.
Good. She needed to be strong to take Shifters. She’d have to take the lot of them, now, because she wouldn’t be going home tonight.
Chapter Six
Kim ate hungrily. Getting attacked and watching her attacker die did that to a girl.
This was all so weird. The cowboy sitting next to Liam, sipping his pale beer while watching Liam put away his chicken-fried steak, made jokes, but his eyes were wary, watchful—going from dark blue to light and back again as he and Liam talked.
Ellison seemed very upset that the feral had been a wolf Shifter. Why? Because Liam and Sean, who’d killed him, were big cats? Kim didn’t understand what difference that made. A Shifter was a Shifter. Wasn’t he?
Kim sensed that she’d stumbled upon something with layers and layers of complexity. She’d been so confident she could help Brian, striking a blow for Shifter rights at the same time, but now she wondered at her ego. The more she’d learned about Shifters today, the more she realized how very little she knew.
Ellison eventually moved off to talk to others, taking his microbrew with him. Kim wiped her mouth with the extra napkins Annie had brought. “Thank you. I guess I needed the food.”
“A good meal with a good friend is one of the joys of life,” Liam said, sounding like he meant it. “Even if it’s in a Shifter bar.”
Kim’s chest felt suddenly hollow. She yearned for this kind of simplicity, but her life was chaotic and stressful and so damned busy. How long had it been since she and her girlfriends had met for a meal, to talk and catch up? To laugh and wallow in memories of friendship? Too long. One of them had moved out of state since the last time the group had met, and the others were caught up in their own lives. Kim hadn’t talked to most of her friends for more than a minute in months. Silas was the only exception and that was only because of his interest in Brian’s case for his documentary. But even his e-mails were brief.
She put down her fork. “I really should get back home. Your friends have probably repaired my door by now, and I have to work tomorrow.”
“You’re working on a Sunday?”
“I’ll work at home, but I have a lot to do. Cases to prepare, appeals to file. Brian’s only one of my responsibilities.”
Liam piled his silverware on his plate, pushed his plate and hers aside, and clasped Kim’s hands. His movements were jerky, and his skin was hot. “You need to come home with me first.”
“Why?” Not that, with his hands warm on hers and his sexy blue eyes gazing at her, she wanted to argue much.
“Sean will have told Dad what happened, but Dad will want to hear your side of the story.”
“My side of the story? I don’t have a side. I saw what you saw.”
“This is a Shifter problem. Dad needs all the information he can get.”
Kim let herself squeeze his hands in return. “All right, but not for long. I really have work to do.”
“Dance first?”
“Sorry?”
The jukebox was going full blast, some country music tune Ellison had keyed in. “I need to work off some energy. Are you too much of a city girl that you can’t do a Texas two-step?”
“You’re Irish,” she said as he pulled her up. “Don’t you—you know, jig?”
Liam laughed, a sound so warm that everyone around them who heard it smiled. His eyes crinkled, and his laugh drove out the lingering horror of the wolf Shifter’s attack.
Something should bother Kim about what had happened—something more than dead Shifter wolf and Sean with his sword and Liam being a snarling wildcat, that is. She needed time to sit, think, let her adrenaline shut down while her brain took over.
Liam didn’t want to let her shut down. He pulled her out of the booth and to the middle of the floor. Other couples were already dancing—very close—but they were Shifters, so Kim couldn’t tell the difference between couples who were lovers and those who were friends. Shifters liked to touch.
Liam pulled Kim into an embrace, his feet finding the rhythm of the dance. Kim knew the steps, but she hadn’t danced in a long time, and she moved stiffly.
Liam ran his hand along the curve of her waist. “Relax, darling. I’ll take care of you.”
Kim’s eyes were so blue, Liam thought. If he were into poetry, he’d say blue like an Irish sea. But he hadn’t seen Ireland in such a long time that he couldn’t be sure if the waters around it were still so pure blue they would break your heart.
Kim set his already pounding heart to racing. Her lips were red, full, luscious. Liam didn’t kiss—when he bedded women he was too busy to do any kissing, and besides, he and the female were usually in animal form. But touching Kim’s lips with his suddenly seemed like a good idea.
His libido was getting ahead of his brains. This woman wasn’t, and could never be, for Liam. She was here temporarily, dragged into Shifter troubles she didn’t understand. She didn’t understand how deeply she was in them, either. When she figured it out, she’d sure as hell not be in the mood for any kissing.