“I promised to go to Mass with my mom,” she answered without turning around. If she caught even a glimpse of all that muscle still spread across the bed, she knew she would never make it out of the apartment in time. Just the sound of his deep voice, still raspy with sleep, almost made her rethink climbing back into bed.
“Can I go?” That was not what she was expecting.
“What?” she asked, spinning around.
Biting her lip, she fought not to simply jump back on top of him. He was sitting up on his elbows with the sheet pooled around his hips, acres of rippling muscle inviting her back for another taste. What was so important she was sneaking away from that this morning? Oh, that’s right, church. She grimaced.
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” Because she wanted to sit through Mass with the man she was having a no-strings-attached affair with next to her. Maybe she could sit between him and her mother? That seemed like a good way to be struck by lightning.
“No, that’s cool,” he said, flopping back on the bed. With a nod, she opened the bedroom door. Something made her pause. Shit. What did she have to lose?
“If you can be ready to go in ten minutes, we should still have time to pick up Dunks in the drive-through,” she called over her shoulder.
“Yeah?” he asked, jumping out of bed with a grin. Holy damn! Morning Liam was even more gorgeous than working his ass off for no reward at the bar Liam. He had insisted she keep all of the tips from last night, stating that, since he forced his way behind the bar, he wasn’t officially working.
“Yes, go.” Chiara tried desperately to hang on to her outward appearance of irritation, but when he planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek while running toward the bathroom, she felt a smile creep over her face.
True to his word, within ten minutes, he reappeared in the living room freshly showered, wearing a pair of gray slacks and a deep-blue dress shirt with a matching tie. His hair was still wet, but combed perfectly. Great, the hot supermodel she showed up to church with should be the topic of conversation for months.
“Ready,” he said, shoving his wallet in his back pocket and grabbing his jacket on the way toward the door. “Come on, you promised me donuts.” With a laugh, she walked out the door he held open for her.
After securing Liam on her couch with a chocolate donut in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, Chiara headed to her bedroom to get ready. Knowing they still had forty-five minutes before they had to leave to pick up her mother, Chi took her time.
After everything had been soaped, shaved, lotioned, and perfumed, she slipped on a pale moss-colored dress. It was conservative enough for church, but showed just enough to keep Liam’s eyes on her, hopefully instead of the swarm of women that were certain to surround him as soon as they got there.
That was fine, they could look as long as they understood she was not beyond cutting a bitch. Except, last she checked, you weren’t supposed to get jealous over a “friends with benefits” situation.
“Wow, you look amazing.” She jumped, hearing Liam speak from the doorway of her bedroom. She was just finishing up manhandling her hair into some semblance of controlled chaos. “If you showed up at the officer’s club in that, I’d have to beat the men off with a bat.”
“So the bat-swinging thing runs in the family? I thought that was just Parker.”
“It’s more like an inherited skill set,” he said, leaning against the doorjamb.
They stared at each other for a moment in silence. She couldn’t help but meet his smile with one of her own. She could fall for Liam Donnelly so easily. She would have to keep reminding herself that he would be gone again in two weeks so she didn’t get hurt.
“We need to go pick up Mom.” Quickly finishing her hair, she grabbed her purse off the bed on the way out. When she tried to brush by him, Liam caught her hand, spinning her back against his chest.
“You can kiss me. I promise I won’t mess up your lipstick.” Leaning down, he gently brushed their lips together before pulling back. “You look beautiful. You always look beautiful.” She could feel her knees wanting to buckle as she swayed toward him like he was a magnet that could pull her in.
“Let’s go get your mom. We don’t want to be late.” Straightening, Chi smoothed her dress before turning toward the door. What were they doing? She wadded up the developing crush and shoved it way down inside.
“Right. Church.” She heard him chuckle as he followed her out of the tiny apartment.
Her mother only lived a couple of blocks over. Pulling up to the curb, Liam, who had insisted he drive her car, since Parker’s old Ramcharger would be quite the jump for her mother, hopped out to open her door. Her mother was already watching for them and stepped out before Chi could walk up. Liam quickly moved to hold the back door open for Elena.
“Mrs. Scaletti,” he said when the older woman approached. “I’m sure you don’t remember me. I’m Liam Donnelly. Chiara mentioned she was coming to Mass this morning, so I asked to join. I hope I’m not being too forward.” Oh, he was a sly devil, this one. Chi could already see her mother fall for him hook, line, and sinker.
“That’s right,” Elena said. “There are two of you?”
“Yes, ma’am. I have a twin brother named Ronan. We can be hard to tell apart sometimes. Allow me.” He took her hand, helping her into the car.
Chi smirked, knowing her mother, at only sixty, was perfectly capable of getting into the car on her own, but she was eating up the attention. Not that she was a shallow-acting woman by any means, but who wouldn’t want the equivalent of a dark-haired Captain America fawning over you?
“Are you the one that went into the Army?” Elena Scaletti asked from the backseat as Liam drove toward the church.
“Yes, ma’am. I graduated from West Point three years ago. I’m currently stationed in Oklahoma.”
“So you’re on vacation?”
