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Her back is pressed into the edge of the counter. Liam lifts her hair and presses a soft, sucking kiss into the side of her neck.
“Don’t be mad at me. I just don’t always know what to say,” he murmurs against her throat.
Willow sighs and lets her body slump against his. “I know. I’m not mad at you, really. I’m just feeling overwhelmed again.”
His lips move up her jaw and across her cheek, lingering on the corner of her mouth before slipping across hers. His tongue parts her lips easily and slipping inside like silk, leaving her sighing against him.
A long “Eww” breaks through Willow’s trance. Liam pulls back and she sees Frank standing in the doorway, his tongue hanging comically out of his mouth.
“Gross, Liam. Mommy’s a girl,” Frank giggles a little.
“I know. I’m just trying to get some pie,” Liam says to him with a wink.
Frank bounces over to the table and climbs into his chair, clearly waiting on his own pie. Liam settles into another chair and Willow sets out their plates.
“I’ll tell you what though, if your momma keeps feeding me like she does, I’m gonna get really fat.” Liam pulls up his t-shirt and pats the hardened muscles rippling down his tanned midriff.
Willow’s face is heating up as she thinks about tracing the edges with her tongue. Liam drops his shirt and grins at her knowingly before thumping his fist on the table and barking out in a playful voice, “Pie, woman!”
She’s just cut into the crispy brown crust when her phone rings. Willow fishes it from her pocket with one hand and sees her work number display on the screen. She shoves the cherry-covered knife at Liam and heads into the living room to answer. When she comes back, Liam has served everyone generous pieces of gooey, sweet pie and is waiting on her, his face questioning.
“It was work.” Willow drops into her chair and digs a fork into the confection in front of her.
“And?” Liam shovels a mound of red cherries into his mouth.
“I need to go. I’ve too many bills piling up…”
Liam swallows and loads up another forkful of pie. “So go.”
“I don’t have anyone to watch Frank…”
Liam steadily shovels more pie into his mouth.
Willow sighs and drops her fork, suddenly not hungry. “I need to work. We need the money. If I don’t get back to work I’ll have to move again soon. I don’t want to. We’ve moved three times in past couple of years. I hate dragging Frank around from place to place.” She feels tears pricking the corners of her eyes again and wills them not to fall.
Liam shrugs his broad shoulders and mumbles around a full mouth, “I’ll watch him.”
“I…what?”
“He can hang with me. No big deal. That all right with you, buddy?” Liam points his fork at Frank.
“Can we watch Paw Troll?” Frank lisps.
“All night,” Liam answers.
“Okay.” Frank says, his little mouth cherry red around the edges.
Willow knows her mouth is hanging open. She can’t believe Liam’s willing to watch Frank for her. She so used to doing this all on her own that it feels strange to have a partner of sorts. Almost. A friend. She likes the feeling, she realizes. But she’s also nervous. Nothing ever works in her favor and she’s sure this is one more than thing that’s going to go up in flames. She hopes she can survive the aftermath.
“See?” Liam grins at her. “It’s settled.” He reaches for the pie plate and dishes himself up another piece.
A few hours later, Willow has showered and changed, her hair piled up onto the top of her head, make-up artfully applied. She’s slipping on her shoes when Liam eases up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. She feels him pressing into her ass and can’t help but push back. She wishes momentarily that she wasn’t going to work. Sighing, she turns around and throws her arms around his neck.
“Thanks for watching Frank,” she says.
“Not a problem.”
“I probably won’t be home until well after three in the morning. Maybe even later.”
