Cassidy groaned. “You are the worst. And also the best. And I’m trying to keep my head on straight, and you keep doing that thing with your thumb, and it’s all very unfair.”
His smile curved. “I could stop.”
She looked at him flatly. “You could. But will you?”
His hand stilled. “Cass, I meant it. I don’t know how that French guy was with you in the past, but whatever you want, I’ll do. You want to stop, we stop. No guilt. No pressure. You say the word.”
“But you want to,” she said.
“I do. But not for the reason you think.”
She raised a brow.
“I want to take care of you,” Liam said softly. “This is about you finally getting whatyouwant.”
Cassidy froze, her lips parting slightly. For a long beat she didn’t move, just watching him like she wasn’t sure what to do with the words. “No one’s ever said that to me before.”
“Then it’s about damn time.”
She stared back at him, eyes wide and uncertain.
“This is a bad idea,” she whispered.
“I’m a walking bad idea,” Liam said, tilting his head. “But I’m also house-trained, good with dogs, and I make excellent lasagna.”
She bit her lip, eyes sparkling. “And you think you can handle me?”
He leaned in, mouth brushing her ear. “Is that a challenge?”
Cassidy’s breath caught, but she didn’t look away.“Maybe.”
Liam chuckled, low and dangerous. “You know how I feel about them.”
“Then yeah,” Cassidy said, standing taller, her voice steady. “Consider it a challenge.”
TWENTY-FIVE
CASSIDY
Wednesday, December 10th
Liam kissed her again, softer this time. Slower. His hands framed her face, thumbs brushing her cheeks like she was something precious. When she leaned into him, he deepened the kiss, one hand slipping down to the back of her neck, the other to the curve of her waist.
He pressed her gently against the pine’s thick trunk, snow crunching softly beneath their boots. Her hands tangled in his jacket, fingers curling.
The kiss turned hungrier, but still controlled like he was holding himself back, making this about her.
His mouth trailed from her lips to her jaw, to the soft skin beneath her ear. Cassidy shivered, not from the cold.
He dropped to his knees in the pine needles. It wasn’t rushed. Didn’t feel desperate. He moved like this was worship.
With careful hands, he undid the button of her jeans.
Her vow whispered in the back of her mind, quiet but insistent.No men. No sex. One year to focus on yourself.It had been her anchor, her promise to herself that she would learn who she was without someone else defining her.
But as she stood there, with the cold air brushing her skin and Liam’s warm hands on her hips, she realized she knew exactly who she was.
And what she wanted.
