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I shouldn’t have been surprised by the outburst of tears caused by the sweet gesture because they happened so often, especially when it came to Liam, but I was. So instead of saying anything and letting the tears turn to ugly sobs, I stepped back, waved him in and hurried to find a private place to cry.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I should have known I couldn’t run from Liam. Not only did he have about six inches on me in height, but he was fast. Crazy fast. So fast that I hadn’t even made it to the living room before he had time to put the food and flowers somewhere, and wrap me in his big strong arms. I buried my face in his chest because it was big and strong and hard, and because he smelled like heaven if it was only populated by manly men like Liam. “It’s all right, Olive. Whatever it is.” His words were nervous and his discomfort was obvious, but still he held me tight and rubbed my back gently.
Which only made me cry harder. “Sorry,” I managed to exhale around a big, body shaking sob.
“Don’t apologize,” he growled and lifted me in his arms before he settled us both on the sofa. Me on his lap, trying hard to ignore the feel of his hard thighs underneath me. One big hand rubbed slow strokes up and down the length of my back, his mouth whispered words of comfort until my tears were just sniffles.
I pulled back, embarrassed and shook my head. “Sorry. I’m having a bad day, but you didn’t stop by so I could cry all over you. Did you?” Of course he didn’t. I shook my head and tried to slide from his lap but Liam tightened his grip.
His lips twitched with laughter as he shook his head. “No, I didn’t. But lucky for you these shoulders are big enough to handle a bad day. Wanna talk about it?”
I shook my head again, feeling too foolish to tell him I was crying over food, or rather a lack of food. “Thanks for the shoulders and the offer, but it’s silly.” I sniffed the air like a bloodhound and groaned. “Is that garlic I smell?”
His smile brightened at my question and I sucked in a breath. Liam was gorgeous under normal circumstances but when he smiled like that, so bright and unguarded, he was magnificent. “Lasagna with the works. Two big servings.”
“Are you inviting yourself to dinner, sailor?” There was something about Liam that brought out my inner sassy chick and I love it.
“Nope. It’s enough for today and tomorrow, or later tonight if you get hungry again.” I stared at him, wondering where was the one night stand who couldn’t be bothered to call me back. “What? You said you’ve been sick a lot.”
Tears threatened again but I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, tilting my head back as if that had the power to stem the flow. When I was pretty sure I had myself under control, I laid a sincere smile on Liam and sighed. “Stay. Please. And thank you for thinking of me. Well, of us. It was very-,”
Liam put two fingers to my lips, a scowl darkening his features. “Don’t say sweet or I’m taking the lasagna and going home.”
His words surprised another laugh out of me and this time when I tried to put some distance between us, he let me. “You’d take it away even though I was crying over my lack of food options?”
“That depends,” his deep voice said, full of amusement. “Finish that sentence.”
The command sent a shiver through me and I turned away from him and headed towards the kitchen. “Very thoughtful.”
Liam’s laughter sounded behind me and when he joined me in the kitchen, he got right to work pulling out dishes and silverware like he belonged here. And dammit, it kind of felt like he did. “Thoughtful is better than sweet.”
“Is it? No one expects a big ol’ manly guy like you who shoots bad guys out of the sky, to be sweet. It’s a good thing to be, ya know?” The sweetness was a hidden factor that made it hard to dislike him. It also made it hard to square this guy with the one who’d ghosted on me for three months.
“I think you got the story mixed up, I got shot out of a tree.” His words were bland but the way his jaw clenched told me he had some unresolved feelings about what had happened.
“Are you okay? I mean, with how things went down on your last job?”
Liam blinked, almost like he had to refocus those hazel eyes and shook his head. “Not okay, no. But it’s part of the job. Does that worry you?”
I let out a long sigh at his question, noticing how he’d turned it back on me rather than answering, something he was very skilled at. “It worries me for you, that you could get hurt badly and no one would know it for weeks or months. But our baby will always know that his or her dad is out trying to make the world a better place and that sometimes, a lot of the times, that work is dangerous work.” I tapped my chin and set the big slabs of lasagna on two plates. “Maybe we should have gone with a superhero theme for the nurseries.”
