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“I still can’t believe we’re here. That you’re here. That I’m in your lap.” I laugh. “It just feels good. Like being home again. Really home.”
“You are home.” He takes my hand and presses it over his heart. “You’re fucking home.”
I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed Christmas Eve. The sound of carolers early in the morning. Liam’s apartment smelling like fresh pine. The most wonderful man wrapped around me.
“Morning.” Liam’s hoarse voice hums in my ear as he tugs me closer. He kisses the back of my shoulder. “How’d you sleep?”
A small smile breaches my lips. “For the two hours we did, like a baby.” When your man tells you you’re his home, you have all-out, wild, maniac sex into the wee hours of the morning.
I roll over and stare into his sleepy gaze. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, then presses a feather-soft kiss to my nose, then my lips. “I like you in my bed.”
“Me too. I missed you. A lot. Just wanted you to know… if I haven’t said it enough—”
His lips claim mine for a deeper, meaningful kiss. I hate that my emotions keep getting away from me. Everything about this moment is absolutely perfect, yet I wipe at tears on my cheek. Is this too good to be true? Am I dreaming? I press my lips tighter to his, and he flips me, digging his fingers into my hips.
“Why are you crying?” he asks, looking up at me. My hands tremble as they glide up his bare chest, pausing at the ink over his heart.
“Tell me about your life out there?”
His body tenses, then just as quickly relaxes under me. His fingers caress up and down my thighs. “It was amazing, scary, thrilling, fulfilling, lonely. Being able to help someone unable to help themselves is a feeling I won’t ever be able to explain, but there were a lot of struggles too. Leaders who didn’t want us coming in and helping. Barriers we had to fight through daily. Once we completed the mission, I was going to come home, but I enlisted in the military. It was then that things got hard. I worked more in the field. Lots of rescue missions, which always seemed like suicide missions, but we suited up and did what we had to do. I met some great people, honest civilians who just wanted a better life. And some who wanted revenge because of a war that wasn’t theirs to fight.”
He stops for a moment then clears his throat. “But it’s the job I signed up for. I had a great team. It still got lonely. I missed home. You. Didn’t help that while I was away, my dad had a heart attack and passed.”
My voice cracks with emotion. “I’m so sorry. I heard. I didn’t know how to reach you, or if I could—”
“Don’t be.” My eyes blink rapidly, fighting back the tears as I bite down on my lower lip. He brushes his thumb along my lips. “We’re here now. Together. Let’s focus on that. It’s all I care about.”
With glistening eyes, I collapse against his chest and sweep my lips over his. “Deal.” I kiss him as a vow, a promise, that this time, things will be different. He kisses me back, sealing it. Liam’s alarm starts to beep, breaking us apart. He leans over, with me still smothering him, and shuts it off. “Liam, if the offer still stands, I would love to be with you on the float today.”
His lips tilt into the most beautiful smile. “I’d love that.”
“Yeah? Okay. Well, I need to do something beforehand. I need to go.” I try to throw my leg off him, but he catches me, locking me in place.
“What do you have up your sleeve?”
I bend down and slap a quick kiss to his lips. “I need to make things right with my parents. Tell them the truth.” Liam nods and releases me to get up. “No, you stay and get ready. I need to do this alone. I also need to shower and get clothes that aren’t yours. I’ll meet you at the square. Save me a spot?” I smile.
“Right next to me.”
Another quick kiss, and I’m gathering my clothes and heading out. I skip the whole way home, practically shaking with excitement. The closer I get, the more that excitement turns into nervous jitters. By the time I’m opening my front door, I’m seriously debating aborting my mission.
“Mom? Dad?” I call out to a quiet house. The faint smell of coffee stirs in the air, but when I enter the kitchen, it’s as clean as a whistle. “Hello? Anyone home?” I don’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved. My heart starts to slow at not having to confess that I’m a lying, jobless, horrible daughter to my loving parents. But then, the float… How am I supposed to stand next to Liam, proudly, knowing my mom might judge me for my poor actions?
