“You sureyou don’t mind going with me?” I asked the next day. “I didn’t get to talk to you much after you got back from the interview.”
I couldn’t read his reaction because his arm was thrown over his face. I tried not to notice that his skin was still slightly damp from his workout. The waistband of his sweats rode dangerously low on his hips, leaving my mouth bone-dry.
To say I wasfrustratedwas an understatement.
That had to be why I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the golden trail of hair dusting his chest and abdomen. It was the only logical explanation for the way my fingers itched to tug down his sweats to see how far down it went. The slight bulge between his legs hadn’t escaped my notice, either, but I was trying to be good. We’d kissed twice now. He’d made me come. I wanted to do both again more than I should and I was only one flex of his abs away from begging.
“I already told you I’d go with you, sweetheart. Besides, we have to do something to celebrate my new job,” Liam said and I managed, barely, to tear my eyes away from the visual feast that was his body. He caught me staring and grinned. “Unless you’d rather stay home instead.”
Heat filled my cheeks and I shifted from foot to foot. “Don’t distract me. Layla would kill me if I didn’t show up.”
He did an ab crunch and his hand shot out to grab my wrist before I could move out of his reach. I squealed as he tugged me down to the bed. “Distract you like this, you mean?”
I should just forget about breathing when he’s this close to me, I decided. His teeth nipped at my lips and my mind went blank. “What?”
Liam chuckled and slapped my butt. “You might wanna go get dressed. We don’t want to be late for our first official date.”
A date. With Liam.
I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around it. The little voice that had kept me from getting too into any guy was drowned out by how right it felt being in his arms. Maybe this level of comfort is what I’d be waiting for this whole time. I didn’t know how things would change once summer came, but for now…for now I wanted to enjoy him.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” Liam asked as he rubbed the furrow between my eyes.
“Just how crazy this is.” I was afraid to even say the words. Maybe that’s what had kept me from taking risks in my previous relationships. Why I kept running. I was afraid.
I leapt to my feet and skirted around his bed away from his reach. This could go so wrong. We could come to care for each other and then something could happen and we could break up. These are things I’d hadn’t considered until the second he said date. Somehow being around people now made everything real in a way that it hadn’t been while we were cocooned in our house.
He got to his feet and gripped my biceps. “I’ve got you, Charlie. I’m not going anywhere.”
The knots inside my chest loosened. “I’m being silly.”
“You are if you don’t get your ass in gear and get dressed. I know you don’t want to be late.” Using his grip on me, he drew me closer for another kiss.
I practically floated back to my room, heart going a mile a minute as waves of cool air washed over my heated body. Note to self: drink lots of water and wear something breathable. I tore through my closet hoping to find something that straddled the line between indecent and classy because Layla would absolutely flip if I went out dressed in yoga pants again. Focusing on my appearance distracted me from how my lips still tingled from his kiss.
Well, at least a little bit.
I chose a casual but classy dress in siren red that I'd been too shy to wear with anyone else. It would drive Liam crazy and I liked the thought of making him as wild as he made me. I tugged on the dress and imagined how it would feel when he took it off again. A secret smile painted my lips as I ran my hands over the fabric covering my curves.
It's funny, because I used to make fun of the girls who pranced around dressed to the nines or pretended to be obsessed with his interest. They'd flounce around in baseball jerseys because he was a huge Atlanta Braves fan like Tripp or they'd agree to go four-wheeler riding after a hard rain because he enjoyed getting as dirty as possible while going as fast as possible. I never wanted to do those things. In fact, I vehemently protested whenever he'd drag me along to games or kept me out past dark driving through the thick of the woods. I thought I was better than the girls who vied for his attention because I never tried to be the center of it. I got it now. I wanted his eyes on me, no matter what I had to do to get them there. Even if it meant going a little out of my comfort zone.
I zipped up the dress and buttoned the closure at the back of my neck. The keyhole opening at the front showed off just the barest hint of cleavage and the hem of the dress skimmed my thighs. I couldn't keep a tan to save my life, but my legs were toned from hours of being on my feet at work and it had been a long time since I wanted to show them off. I left my hair down and misted it with product to enhance and define the curls. After a quick touch up on my makeup— nothing too dramatic, just a little eyeliner and mascara to define my eyes—I wandered out of my room in search of Liam.
The memories of the girls who used to drool over him had left me feeling vulnerable. We’d explore whatever this was, but I had to remember to be smart while we did. If push came to love, I’d put our friendship first. Always. Relationships came and went, but what we had was timeless.
“Ready to go?” I asked my feet as I pretended to look for something in the small clutch I’d transferred my wallet and keys to.
He didn’t answer, but I was hardly paying attention. The first thing I was going to do when I got to the bar was drink my weight in screwdrivers. Then I was going to find Layla, console her like I always did when her mother decided to focus attention on her. That should give me enough time to figure out how to deal with this Liam thing.
It took me a few minutes of mental preparation to realize he hadn't answered me, so I looked up, my brows drawn and found him staring at me, his eyes stormy and intense. "You okay?" I asked, clutch and personal miseries forgotten. I'd never seen him look at me quite like that before. It made my stomach twist—though not unpleasantly. If I weren't mistaken, he was looking at me the way a man looks at a woman he wanted, badly.
When I managed to tear my eyes away from his expression, I couldn't help but take in the rest of him and, oh, it got better with every. Single. Inch. He wore an old hat he'd had forever pulled down low over his eyes. It cast a shadow over his face, darkening the blonde five-o'clock shadow on his square jaw. He wore a plaid shirt with pearl snap buttons tucked into a new pair of jeans that fit him like a glove. I'd never had an opinion about pearl snap shirts, but they had instantly become my new favorite thing. I couldn't help but think how good he looked, but that he'd look even better if every stitch of it were on the floor.
I swallowed once, hard, and tried to control my breathing. I tried to speak, but my mouth was too dry to form words so I could only stand with my mouth opening and closing like a befuddled fish.
"You look nice," he said and his voice sounded like I felt. My body didn’t care about my fears. All it wanted was another tumble on his bed.
“We’d better get going,” I said before we did just that.
