Chapter Nine
“Shit, shit, shit.”
Kayla was jerked out of sleep by that repeated word and the bed she was in moving as though she were in an earthquake.
She blinked her eyes open, realizing for the second time in a week she was in Liam’s bed.
Heat suffused her cheeks this time though because she was quite sure of all the things she’d done with Liam last night. There was no fuzzy memory or wondering what might have happened.
She remembered it all in great detail.
“Shit,” he was muttering over and over, pawing around in drawers, pulling on a pair of jeans and then a T-shirt.
“What’s wrong?”
He didn’t spare her a glance. “I’m supposed to meet my dad at seven to go over some business stuff before our first appointment of the day.”
Kayla glanced at the old digital clock on his nightstand. Well, shit was right. It was already seven.
“Is there anything I can do? Do you need me to—”
“You’re fine,” he said, plopping down on the bed and pulling on socks hurriedly. “Take your time, feel free to eat anything in the kitchen, and I’ll leave you my key so you can lock up.”
“But how will you get back in?”
“I’ll stop by your place on my way home from work.” He popped off the bed again, grabbing his phone and shoving it into his pocket.
“Oh, okay,” Kayla managed, still drowsy with sleep and not quite putting everything he said together. Except he was leaving, which was not exactly how she’d planned to spend the morning.
“Sorry.” He gave her a hurried kiss and almost missed her mouth completely, just hitting the corner. “I’m never late.” And with that, he strode into the bathroom.
His words made her smile. No, Liam wasn’t the type of man who would be late. She never would have listed punctual as an attribute she needed in a man, but the thing about Liam never being late was that it spoke not just to his deep sense of responsibility, but to the fact he was a man you could trust.
The kind of man who’d put a woman, if not first, at least on equal ground. He cared that other people were okay, and if they weren’t, he wanted to help. That was quite the amazing thing.
She had the terrible tendency of dating guys who treated her as more of an afterthought. Someone to pursue, but ultimately be bored with the moment the catch had been made.
Come to think of it, that’s probably what had happened with Aiden. He’d been interested until she’d so enthusiastically said yes to him asking her out.
Kayla bit her lip as she pulled the blankets up to her chin. Truth be told, she hadn’t thought about Aiden in days. Had she put Liam in an awkward position by ending up falling for him instead?
She rolled her eyes at herself. Yes, because Aiden had been so interested. Interested enough to miss their date, send his brother, and spend the next few days not contacting her in any way.
Yeah, Aiden was fine.
Liam came out of the bathroom, keys in hand. He was twisting what she presumed to be his house key off a ring. “My last appointment should be over around five. Will you be home?”
“I should be.”
He placed the key on the nightstand. “I’ll text first, but I’ll swing by and pick it up. Sound good?”
Kayla nodded. He shoved his keys into his pockets, giving her only the most cursory glance.
“I’ll see you later then,” he muttered, and was walking quickly out the bedroom door before he’d finished the sentence.
Kayla watched him go. She should get up and get dressed and get out of his house. She had résumés to send out, job listings to scour. She had things to do. But before she could put her mind to any of them, Liam reappeared.
“Fuck it,” he said emphatically, and for the first time this morning his eyes were on her. Fierce and hot, like she was something he had to possess. The shiver that went through her had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with excitement, and then she was crushed against him, his mouth hot and wild on hers, his tongue delving into her mouth with no preamble.
She wound her arms around his neck and he all but pulled her off the bed with simply the strength of his arms around her.
No one, ever, had kissed her like she was something both precious and necessary. No one, ever, had made her feel this heart-pumping desire mixed with some chest-constricting warmth. But Liam made her feel both things, and so many more unnameable reactions.
He pulled his mouth away, though his arms remained around her, keeping her pulled slightly above being prone on the bed. He was breathing heavily, a bit of a dazed expression on his face.
She had dazed him. Her. It was that power from last night. It was a giddy rightness. All things she’d never had. Never known she’d wanted. But oh, oh, she wanted him and all he could do to her.
His crystal-blue eyes ablaze with something Kayla felt like she understood on some cellular level even though she couldn’t put it into words. She just knew it was . . . more. So much more than she was used to.
And she liked it.
“Stop and get condoms before you come over tonight,” she managed to say, though she was panting as if she’d run a mile.
His mouth curved, sharp and all the more lethal because he employed it so infrequently. “I might forget my own name, but I will not forget the condoms.”
“Now, go,” she urged, smiling at him. “I hear you’re never late.”
The smile he wore now was softer, the quirk of one side. Responsible, kind Liam as opposed to feral, lustful Liam. So many facets to this man she never would have guessed at.
“I’ll see you soon,” he replied, giving her one quick kiss before letting her go completely. He stepped out of the room, glancing back once and offering a wave.
She knew she was probably letting her heart lead and gallop ahead when it would be more sensible and responsible to keep her feelings in check, to wait and see how things went. She should be careful if only to avoid getting hurt.
But she was always careful. Always waiting for someone else to make the first move or show her the next step, and the thing was, it had never once stopped her from getting hurt. Being the timid, fragile doormat didn’t keep you from getting stepped on or broken. It just kept other people from having to see they’d done it.
No more. Improved . . . Well, “Improving Kayla” was not going to be cautious. She was going to embrace this new hand she’d been dealt.
And if Liam wasn’t on the same page, well, she’d survive. She’d at the very least get some sex out of the deal—and if actual sex was anything like last night, it would well be worth a little heartache.
* * *
“You got a girl.”
Liam jerked at Dad’s accusation as he bandaged up the scrape across his knuckles. He didn’t bother to look up and into what would be Dad’s too-shrewd gaze. He focused on getting a bandage over the cut.
“Girl?”
“Girl. Woman. Whatever. You’re never this distracted, son. Hell, you had better focus when you had mono.”
Liam shot Dad a wry glance. “Exaggerate much?” Except maybe today it wasn’t that big of an exaggeration. He’d thought about Kayla all day. Too much. Far too much. He was a guy who liked sex. What guy didn’t? Sometimes he’d wondered if it was a bit much, all in all, but it had never been this bad, this all-encompassing need.
But this whole distraction thing wasn’t solely about sex or the almost having of it. It had more to do with the woman herself.
“Well, since you aren’t sick, best as I can tell, it’s got to be a woman.”
“Maybe it is.” Liam finished with his bandage and then went to his toolbox to put away his tools. It was already almost five o’clock and he’d put in a full day with Dad. He still needed to stop somewhere and buy condoms, actually use said condoms with Kayla, and, if he had an ounce of sense left in his head, he’d go home and do some work in his shop for the market on Wednesday.
“Going to tell me about her?”
Liam shrugged. He supposed he could tell Dad that it was Kayla Gallagher, but if he told Dad, Dad would tell Mom, who would mention it to Aiden, and as of yet Liam hadn’t had any luck getting ahold of Aiden to tell him that his little plan of getting Kayla was over.
She was Liam’s now.
Some people would probably consider that a pretty archaic way of thinking, and those people could go fuck themselves.
He locked his toolbox and nodded to Dad as they headed out of the Coreli’s house where they’d managed to fiddle with their ancient dishwasher enough to get it working again.
“Not getting any younger,” Dad commented as he pulled open the truck bed so Liam could shove the toolbox into its spot.
Liam gave his father a doleful look as he fastened the box to the truck bed. “Neither are you, and yet you won’t retire.”
Dad grunted and let the subject drop as Liam had known he would. Dad didn’t want to discuss retirement, and Liam wasn’t sure he wanted to discuss Kayla quite yet, so that worked out all in all.
They both climbed into the company truck and Liam watched out the window as Dad drove them back home. Liam glanced at Dad, then shifted as casually as he could to pull his phone out of his pocket.
“I don’t suppose you’re calling your mother to let her know we’re on the way?” Dad asked, so innocently Liam snorted.
“No.” He warred with himself for a second, then went ahead and typed a text to Kayla, Dad’s smugness be damned.
Dad pulled the truck up the driveway of Mom and Dad’s house and they both got out. Dad gestured toward the door.
“Don’t suppose you’d want to come in and have dinner with me and your mom?”
“I, uh, have plans.”
“Of course you do,” Dad replied with a genuine smile, but it faded almost as quickly as it had bloomed. “Don’t suppose you know anything about where your brother’s disappeared to?”
Liam sighed and shook his head. “No.”
Dad sighed too and Liam noted how similarly it sounded to his. Was he already turning into his father? Did that bother him? Liam wasn’t sure. He loved and respected his father more than any other man in his life, and he . . . Well, he had certain flimsy ideas of what a future might look like some day, and it looked a heck of a lot like what Dad had built.
“Your mother’s worried,” Dad said, taking his hat off his head and mashing it between his hands. Mom never let him wear it in the house.
“Should we be?” Liam asked, feeling a little prick of guilt over the fact he hadn’t concerned himself with Aiden’s disappearance.
Dad shook his head as he stared at the house, as though he could see Mom worried inside of it. “Doubt it. He told your mother he’d be gone a few weeks ‘tying up some loose ends,’ but she thought he was acting squirrelly.”
“Isn’t he always?” Liam muttered before he could stop himself.
“That’s what I said.” Dad smiled, but the serious look in his eye gave Liam pause.
“Everything okay?” Liam asked, as casually as he could. Though he knew his dad could be serious when it came to business and what not, his usual outward demeanor was one of jovial good fun. But in the years since his heart attack, serious moments seemed to creep up, and they never failed to make Liam uncomfortable.
“I hope you know how much your mother and I appreciate you.”
Liam could only stare, wide eyed and frozen at his father’s uncharacteristic show of gratitude.
“I . . . Sure. Sure, I do,” Liam said, though considering the shock the statement had produced in him, maybe he hadn’t quite. Or maybe it was nice to hear.
“You’re the glue, Liam. Always have been. Glue can get overlooked sometimes, because it’s not as flashy as the things it’s holding together, but it’s the most important thing. I know even as adults Aiden gets most of the attention, but that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate the fact that you’ve stuck it out and worked hard for this family.”
“You sure everything’s okay?” Liam asked, because he couldn’t help but think this little speech spoke to a larger problem. It might be genuine, but it wasn’t ordinary.
Dad quirked a smile as he sighed. “Dinah Gallagher mentioned you have a table at that farmers’ market they’ve started over there.”
Liam had no words for that. He’d never planned on telling his parents about the farmers’ market, and never considered they might find out.
“If you aren’t happy . . . I don’t want to be the reason—”
“It’s a hobby, Dad. Honestly.” He stepped toward his father, not knowing how to put into words the complexity of what he felt. Patrick’s was something like his soul, the woodworking something like his heart, and that was shit he could not say to his father. “Patrick & Son means the world to me. The farmers’ market . . . It’s just a thing to do.”
Dad stared at him, something like pain etched on his face. Pain and age, and Liam hated seeing it there. Hated that insidious knowledge that his parents were aging, that he was aging, that no matter what he fixed or built, he’d never be able to make all this stay the same.
“Dad, I need you to believe that, because it is the God’s honest truth. Whether you want me to be part of Patrick’s or not, it’s mine.”
Dad gave a sharp nod and something of a forced smile. “Good. Good. Go see that woman of yours, then, and know we’d like to meet her whenever that’s something you want to do.”
“Uh. Sure.” It filled him with some feeling he couldn’t identify, the idea of bringing Kayla to dinner with his family. Not even because there could be weirdness with Aiden, but because he had no doubt she’d charm his parents within seconds, and she’d be charmed in return.
Yeah, he didn’t know what that gut twist was at all. “See you tomorrow, Dad.”
Dad waved and headed for the door and Liam stood in his parents’ driveway trying to breathe through the uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong.
But what was there to do about it? The problem with Dad was Liam couldn’t bulldoze him into answers. The more Liam insisted he needed to explain what was wrong, the more Dad would clam up. All Liam could do was step back and wait.
Fuck, he hated that.
He shoved a hand through his hair and turned to his truck parked on the street. Well, he had something to distract him, didn’t he? He glanced at his phone. Kayla hadn’t texted him back, but he still had to find a drugstore and buy some condoms, and then get to her place. It’d take long enough.
So he focused on that, pushing everything his dad had said as far out of his mind as he could. There was nothing to do, no way to fix, not until Dad allowed it. And Liam was shit with things he couldn’t fix so . . .
Well, shit and damn was about all there was to it. He drove to the drugstore and bought the condoms before driving to Kayla’s apartment complex that didn’t fit her at all. He was distracted and vaguely irritated. With himself. With Dad. He shoved his phone into his glove compartment because hell if he was going to let work interrupt this.
He was halfway up her staircase before he realized she’d never texted him back. Luckily he remembered the apartment number she’d given him. He paused briefly, but in the end he figured he might as well knock and see if she was home and if not he’d go retrieve his phone.
When the door swung open to reveal Kayla, fresh faced with her red hair all pulled back into a sloppy ponytail, her mouth curving at the sight of him, every tense, irritable thing inside of him uncoiled.
“Liam. I just called—”
Maybe he should have let her finish, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He swooped down and captured her mouth with his, wrapping his arms around her and walking her into the apartment.
She sighed into his mouth, winding her arms around his neck, kissing him back almost as desperately as he’d kissed her. He kicked the door behind him closed and dropped the plastic bag of condoms on the floor, because if he had his way they’d be on the ground soon enough.
“Oh.” She pulled her mouth from his. “Wait.”
Wait? For what? Hell, he was dying. He kissed down her neck, his hands sliding under her shirt and up the elegant curve of her back.
She laughed, giving him the lightest, most ineffective push ever. “Liam. Really.”
“Really what?” he asked before sliding his fingers under the waistband of her pants so he could cup the hot, soft skin of her ass.
She sighed, relaxing for a second before she gave him another half-hearted push. “No. Really. You have to stop!”
So he did, though it all but killed him. He was aching, hard, and desperate for her, and she was telling him to stop. He pulled his hands out of her pants and looked down at her pained face.
She reached up and rubbed her palm against his bearded jaw with a wistful sigh. His chest tightened hard, and he didn’t know what that was either. He was tired of this “not understanding his own feelings” shit, and the only way to fix that was to talk her into bed, he was pretty sure.
“I have company coming.”
Or not. “Company?”
“I forgot all about it this morning. I guess I was distracted, but—”
“Oh.” He untangled himself from her, feeling like a fucking moron. Company. She had mysterious company and he’d thought . . . Well, he’d been a dipshit to think.
“It’s just—” A knock interrupted whatever Kayla’s explanation was going to be, and maybe that was for the best.
“I’m sorry I forgot, but . . .” She trailed off lamely, walking toward the door.
“Want me to hide or something?” Because he didn’t know what else company might mean other than another date. He supposed it could be friends, but why would she call it company if it was just a group of friends?
Hell, it could be Aiden for all he knew. What an awful thought.
She cocked her head. “You don’t need to hide.”
She opened the door and Liam could only stare at the woman on the other side of it. Polished and pretty, he’d recognize Dinah Gallagher anywhere.
Clearly, she recognized him as well. Her eyes widened at the sight of him before returning to Kayla.
“I . . . can come back?” Dinah offered with an officious businesswoman-looking smile.
“No. No, Liam was just . . .” Kayla looked back at him, trailing off with her mouth still open.
“Leaving,” he finished for her. “The sink’s all fixed, Ms. Gallagher.”
Kayla’s eyebrows drew together as he walked past her and Dinah, but Liam just kept walking. Clearly he’d screwed everything up, so now he was fixing it.
She didn’t want Dinah to think anything was going on, so it wasn’t. There was no reason that should bother him. No reason his teeth should be gritted together or his stomach should still have that same sick feeling it had had when he’d imagined Aiden on the other side of that door.
It was fine. Good even.
“Liam?”
She stood at the top of the stairs he’d walked halfway down and he turned to face her, though he was tempted to just keep walking. Her face was bathed in the odd orange glow of the apartment exterior lights. She looked confused, and maybe a little hurt.
Surely he was reading into things.
She walked down so that she was only a step above him. She looked at him as if she expected him to say something, but he didn’t know what she wanted from him.
Finally she leaned down and brushed a kiss across his mouth. “Tomorrow?”
And she looked genuinely worried, as though he’d reject her. Which was the craziest damn thing. Surely she didn’t think that was possible. Not when she was so sweet and gorgeous and he was a cranky ass.
“Tomorrow,” he repeated with a nod. This whole mix-up of a night didn’t matter. He wouldn’t let it.
Her smile was quick and beautiful and no matter that he felt a little. . . weird about her wanting to keep things from her family, he supposed it was best for both of them. God knew he had to keep it from his until he was sure Aiden had moved on from his little plan.
It was for the best really. Besides, maybe his mood would best be assuaged in his workshop rather than by having sex with Kayla.
He rolled his eyes at himself. In what fucking lifetime?