A few days later, Ali was cooking dinner at her house when her phone rang. She thought it would be Liam telling her he was on the way, but instead she saw it was her father calling. She didn’t want to answer. She hadn’t talked to him in a few years and had no idea why he’d be reaching out.
But the softer side of her picked up. “Hello?”
“Ali, it’s your father,” he said, as if he didn’t realize she’d recognize his voice.
“Yes. What can I do for you?” No reason to be anything but formal.
“I heard the farm is for sale.”
She couldn’t understand why this would be any concern of his. “It’s not for sale.” In her mind, it never went on the market and it was a done deal for the most part now.
“Did I hear incorrectly, then?”
“I don’t know what you heard, nor do I understand why you’re calling and asking. You and Mom have been divorced for years.”
“I heard she is selling it to some local investor.”
“You’ll need to talk to Mom about what you’re hearing. It has nothing to do with me.”
She hung up the phone after that. She was thinking her mother wouldn’t appreciate that, but Ali didn’t want to talk to him.
He probably left something at the house years ago and wanted it back now. She wasn’t about to be put in the middle like she was so many years ago.
Liam opened the door to her apartment a few minutes later, then came in, gave her a kiss, and the conversation with her father was long gone from her mind.
“How did it go with your mother?” she asked. On Sunday afternoon she and Liam told her mother about their relationship. Her mother just smirked like she’d had a hand in it and Ali didn’t feel like correcting her. And since Liam’s mother, Amy, had been out of town for a few days, Liam was stopping over to see her today.
“It went well. She really likes your mother and she wants to meet you.”
“So soon?” Ali asked. Why hadn’t she thought of this part of it?
He laughed at her. “Really? I’ve sat through a few dinners with your mother scheming in her mind about us being a couple and then when she finds out we are, she thinks her plan fell into place and you can’t even go meet my mother?”
Though he was laughing, she wondered if there was a bit of hurt behind his words. “You’re right. I’m being selfish. I guess I’m just nervous.”
“You’re one of the least selfish people I know. And there is no reason to be nervous. My mother is very similar to your mom.”
“Great,” she said with a tight smile.
He laughed at her again. “I thought maybe we could all have dinner together on Friday night. My treat at the house. I can grill something again.”
“That sounds good. Are you hungry? Dinner is almost done now.”
“I’m starving, but it isn’t food that I’m in the mood for,” he said, wrapping her up tight again. It seemed he loved touching her, holding her, kissing her. What woman didn’t want to be cherished that way?
“I’ve been slaving over this dinner for hours. I’m not letting it burn.”
He turned and opened the oven. “Lasagna. Pull it out and let it sit. It has to anyway.”
Her jaw dropped. “How do you know that? I thought you only grilled.”
“I like to eat. Lasagna was my father’s favorite. We had it often. He always thought once it came out it was time to eat. My mother used to slap his hand.”
“Well then, let me get it out of the oven.”
She barely had time to pull it out and set it on the counter before he was spinning her around and kissing her hard, slamming her into his body with a force that made her want to strip him naked.
There was such strength and power behind him and it was as if he knew it turned her on when he showed that little bit of domineering side to her.
“I don’t think I can make it to the bedroom,” he said.
“You hate my bed anyway.” He was always complaining the double bed was too small, but it was all that fit in the small room.
“Let’s try out your couch,” he said, lifting her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her the few short steps.
“My couch isn’t bigger,” she pointed out as she attacked his neck. He always smelled so good. Like a man.
“But it’s big enough for what I want to do. All you need to do is sit for the moment.”
He set her down on her feet, then undid her jeans and lowered them to the ground with her panties. She kicked them away and before she could do anything else, he urged her to the couch, then knelt between her legs and spread her wide. Oh man, she was in for a treat.
He’d only done this once before, but it happened to be her favorite thing in the whole wide world and boy did Liam have a nice mouth on him.
He slid his hands up her legs, then down again, making shivers erupt all over her body. He loved to make her squirm and now wasn’t an exception.
He picked up one of her ankles and started to kiss her there, his tongue tasting every little groove it could. “Have I told you that you’ve got one nice toned body on you? Yet I’ve never seen you work out.”
“I don’t need to,” she said, arching when he bit the skin behind her knee just now. How did he get there so fast? She was just so lost in the sensations that he always made her feel. “I never sit still.”
“No, you don’t. I like that too. So hyperactive. It makes sex frustrating, but fun at the same time.”
“Why frustrating?” she asked, gripping his hair and trying to urge him to the spot she was dreaming of, but he wouldn’t be deterred.
“Because you want what you want and I want what I want. Sometimes we have to learn to meet in the middle.”
“Yeah. The middle. Meet there,” she said.
He laughed. “In due time.”
His due time and hers weren’t the same though. They never were. She wanted it fast and hurried and he was determined to always drag it out.
This time proved no different.
“Liam?” she said, her voice rising. “If you don’t move to where I want you, I’m going to start screaming and the tenants below me will think I’m in pain.”
“You are in pain though,” he said. “Pain I’m bringing to you and pain I’m going to wipe away.”
“Do it,” she said, moaning now. He was so close to where she wanted him. His tongue was teasing her right around the edge of her inner thighs. She could feel his breath just as a whisper against her skin. Like he was breathing her in rather than tasting her.
“Like this?” he asked, his tongue coming out to lick.
“Yes,” she said, her fingers digging into the couch. “Again, do it like that again.”
He did. He always did what she asked of him...eventually. But he never left her waiting too long and didn’t this time, finally pulling her little swollen bud between his lips and sending her over the edge. Somehow her legs ended up on his shoulders and she had no clue how, nor did she really care about the awkward position.
“You are so good at that,” she said, sighing now.
He stood up fast, her legs falling to the floor, then he undid his jeans and slid right into her before she could come down from the high she was on.
“You’re still pulsing. I had to be inside of you,” he said, panting out and pushing in again and again. “I had to feel you squeezing me.”
“Don’t stop,” she said, wrapping her legs around his hips where he lay over her, and was now pumping into her faster than ever before.
“Shit,” he said, starting to pull out. “Condom.” She wasn’t letting him move.
“Don’t stop.” She was right there with him, ready to fall again and there was no way he was stopping. “It’ll be fine. It’s okay. Don’t stop. Please don’t.”
“Oh God,” he said, moving in and out again, their hips meeting and withdrawing, their bodies grinding, his jeans rubbing against her inner thighs, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was falling over the cliff with him. Holding him tight like he had her so many times and knowing that he’d never let go.