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“Glance at my mouth.”
She obeyed and unexpectedly, Liam felt an inconvenient kick of lust. He hadn’t expected that, but hell, it was biology. He tamped the feeling down, and put a hand on her bar stool. He swiveled it so she was directly facing him. He opened his legs so that hers were between his.
Lilly visibly swallowed and looked like she was about to bolt.
“Just stay there, close to me,” he said. “Don’t pull away. Pretend whatever I’m saying is interesting. Pretend no one else is here.”
“What the hell are you doing, Dad?” Sullivan’s voice cut through like steel. He sounded outraged. “Are you hitting on Lilly?”
Liam turned, slowly, but he didn’t take his hand off of Lilly’s knee, or shift back away from her. “Did you need something?”
“I need you to answer the fucking question.” Sullivan’s hands formed into fists. “And back off. You’re clearly making Lilly uncomfortable.”
He turned to Lilly. “Am I making you uncomfortable?” he asked her. He was, but it was prearranged discomfort.
“No, not at all,” she said, and her voice was casual, confident.
He had to applaud her acting skills.
“Sullivan, I’m fine,” she continued. “We’re just hanging out.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I asked Lilly out and she said yes,” he informed his son.
Sullivan’s jaw dropped. He sputtered. He actually sputtered. Liam was warring with the urge to laugh and feeling slightly guilty that he was shocking the hell out of Sullivan. For a solid sixty seconds, his son was speechless, running his hands through his hair, his gaze pivoting back and forth between the two of them.
“You can’t be serious,” Sullivan finally managed, his voice tight.
“Why not?” Liam asked.
“Because she’s Lilly and you’re my father.”
“I don’t know what that has to do with anything. You two are just friends.” Liam squeezed Lilly’s knee again to remind her to stay the course.
“She’s half your age!”
“Not quite, but close,” he agreed. He stared Sullivan down, keeping his expression casual.
“Lilly,” Sullivan said, turning to her as if he realized he wasn’t going to get any kind of response he actually wanted from him.
This could all fall apart right now if Lilly couldn’t hold the line.
“Yes?” she asked.
“What… why…” Sullivan’s voice trailed off, then he seemed to gather himself. “You can’t go out with my father. I’m sorry. Just no. You’re not doing this.”
That was unexpected. Liam sat up a little straighter. He watched Lilly’s nerves disappear, to be replaced with anger.
Lilly shifted her shoulders back, her nostrils flaring. “Why, Sullivan? Tell me why I can’t do this. I want to hear it, specifically.”
Good for her. He was impressed with her response.
“It’s breaking the rules of our friendship.”
Lilly made a sound of exasperation. That was clearly not the answer she’d been looking for, and Liam was disappointed in his son. That had been a perfect opportunity for Sullivan to pull his head out of his ass and declare his own interest in Lilly. But he didn’t. Liam wasn’t sure if it was because Sullivan was just too damn afraid of a relationship or if he genuinely wasn’t attracted to Lilly. Which seemed unlikely, but stranger things had happened, he supposed. There was no explaining the mystery of attraction.
“What rules?” Lilly asked. “Rules that say you can tell me what to do with my personal life? I never agreed to any rules.”
