“Good morning.” I set the water bottles on the step and gave her my attention. “Did I wake you?”
“Don’t be silly.” She waved her hand in the air. “I’ve been up for a while, although I can’t say the same for your father. He needs his sleep, though, so do try to be as quiet as possible.”
“Of course.” I glanced up the stair in the direction of my wing, wondering if Liza was still sleeping.
The last thing I needed was for her to come down the stairs and have yet another confrontation with my mother. Who could ever predict how my mother would treat Liza?
She followed my gaze. “Please, tell Liza I had her car moved to the garage because rain is coming.”
Shit. So, she knew Liza had spent the night. I was an adult who’d had a number of overnight visitors, but this was the one who might kill my mother.
“Thanks,” I mumbled. I shifted the bowl of fruit to my other hand.
“Tyson, look at me.” Mother pinned me with her gaze. “Do you really feel that there’s a chance for the two of you? Even now that you know about the sins of your father’s past?”
I stared at her, wondering where she was going with her questioning. I hadn’t decided how to tell Liza what I knew about her past, but I also didn’t want to wait too long and risk my mother doing it for me.
She smiled weakly and continued. “I promise that it was never about Liza. I’m sure it seemed that your father and I disliked her because of her social standing or whatever other nonsense is being spread right now. But the truth of the matter is that I couldn’t stand to think about what our family had done to that poor baby.”
I wrapped my free arm around her. She hugged me back tightly, her arms snug around my waist, her head over my heart. My understanding was much clearer now than when Liza and I had first spotted each other.
“Honestly, I don’t know what I’m going to do with the information about our family, but I’ll figure it out. And, yes, I hope Liza and I have a chance. She means a lot to me.” I pulled away from her embrace and bent to pick up the water bottles. “I should get back to her.”
“Of course.” Mother patted me on the chest and smiled, her eyes a little misty. “We’ll talk more later. You need to tend to your mate.”
I returned to my room just as Liza rolled over and groaned softly. She sat up, her delicate, pale skin covered in love bites.
My natural instincts leaped to life, and I let out a low growl of pleasure at the sight of the red marks and her full breasts.
“Don’t be such a caveman.” Liza yawned and stretched her arms over her head. Her full, luscious breasts pushed forward, which had me growling again.
“You don’t seem so shy anymore.” I smirked.
“I suppose I’m not.” Although, she did blush and pull the sheet around her. “You saw and did things to me that would make it a little silly for me to be shy around you now.”
“Yes, I sure did.” My cock stirred at the memory of Liza’s legs spread wide, her back arched as she moaned with pleasure.
I moved to her side of the bed and leaned down to kiss her gently on the forehead. There was no way I would be able to kiss her while she was naked without acting on it. Instead, I gave her a chaste kiss and kept it G-rated.
“I brought you some fruit and water.”
She took the bowl from me and one of the bottles. “Thank you, you’re so thoughtful.”
Thoughtful. I couldn’t think of one woman who had ever described me as being thoughtful. Not that I was an asshole. Far from it, actually. I was known for being level-headed and kind, just aloof. Most of the women I dated didn’t get to see the romantic side of me because I was out the door too quickly. Plus, no other woman had left me so badly wanting more of her body and mind as Liza had.
“What do you have planned today?” Liza eyed me as she popped a few blueberries in her mouth. “I have all day freethanks to Cecily running her mouth. Two of my clients dropped me because of her.”
“What?”
Cecily Banks. The world was full of women like her: jealous women who had no conscience about hurting others when things didn’t go their way. That she’d done it to Liza didn’t bode well for Cecily.
Liza sighed. “She hired me to cook some meals for her, then belittled me from the moment I pulled into her driveway. She was flat-out rude, so I fired her as a client and told her I would no longer cook for her.”
“What the hell?” I jumped up from the bed and dragged my hand over my face. “So, she’s been gossiping to anyone who will listen, I’m sure. Cecily is such a bitch.” I blamed her entitled, rich girl upbringing. Not that I planned to allow such behavior to stand.
“You said it, not me.” Giggling, Liza rolled her eyes as she took a sip of water.
I didn’t laugh. “This kind of thing pisses me off. The only reason she’s treating you this way is because I didn’t fall into her family’s trap of matching the two of us together.” I was certain her family had had their eye on making her royal since she was a child. “She’s acting like a toddler who didn’t get a toy from the grocery store, pitching a fit to anyone and everyone. I’m so sorry she’s letting her disappointment out on you.”
