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Cora’s gaze slid to his mouth, the line of his neck, and the hollow at the base of his throat. She sucked her bottom lip, gently tugging the plump softness between her teeth until it slipped free.
Liam’s mind blanked. Heat rushed through his veins until every muscle in his body ached with the need to touch her. He wanted so badly to kiss her. To taste her. To hold her close and sip the soft sighs of pleasure from her lips. It had been so long, and she was so warm and sweet andhis.He knew it. She felt it. Would it be so bad to steal just this one moment?
Somewhere down the hall, Cora’s cat, Angel, let out a loud, forlorn meow.
Warning bells suddenly clanged inside Liam’s head. With Herculean effort, he slammed his eyes shut and called forth every harrowing scene the angels had shown him—the explosions and the chaos and the people in despair. He yanked the images around him like armor, shielding himself from temptation so he would remember why this couldn’t happen. Not with her. Not like this.
Cora leaned closer and whispered, “Maybe we should—”
“Get some rest,” Liam blurted. He stood up so fast she almost toppled into the spot he’d been sitting. In three strides, he was across the room, his chest heaving with unsteady breaths as he pretended to check the clock on the mantel. “It’s late. We’re going to need our wits about us tomorrow if we’re to spy on Magnus.” He tossed the man’s name into the air like a bomb to kill the mood. “I’m going to sleep now. You should go, too.”
Cora lowered her gaze, but not before he caught the flash of disappointment in her eyes.
Liam cursed under his breath. What he would give to trade places with Finn so he could spend the rest of his life making her happy! Then he’d never have to see that look on her face again.
“All right.” Cora shrugged off the quilt and stood, revealing a pair of black silk pajamas that were flimsy scraps of nothing—just a whisper of a top with lace cutouts and matching shorts that emphasized her lush curves and long, toned legs.
Liam froze, unable to tear his gaze from the exquisite vision standing before him. He’d seen Cora in revealing clothes before, but never in something so intimately sensual, and never in the middle of the night when they were alone like this.
She tossed her hair from her shoulder, lifted her chin, and glided from the room like a queen. “Sweet dreams.”
He waited until he heard her door shut down the hall. Then he collapsed onto the sofa with a groan, dragging the discarded quilt over his head. Cora’s subtle scent of warm vanilla and lavender enveloped him like a cloud, tormenting him for the rest of his sleepless night.
4
“AND THAT’S IT,” Cora said with a sigh. “He basically ran screaming like I’d suddenly grown horns and a tail.” She stole a french fry off her friend Suzette’s plate and dragged it through her chocolate milkshake before popping it in her mouth.
“Okay, first of all, that’s disgusting.” Suzette wrinkled her nose at Cora’s choice of comfort food. They were seated at Shakey’s Burgers for lunch on Friday. It was an old-fashioned diner with pleather seats, laminated menus, and an ancient jukebox in the corner. The eighties song “Love Is a Battlefield” mingled with the sounds of boisterous chatter, the clink of pans from the back kitchen, and the occasional jangle of bells hanging above the entry door. The place wasn’t chic or hip by any stretch of the imagination, but Cora had gone there with her father ever since she was a kid, and it was still one of her favorite restaurants.
“Second of all,” Suzette said. “A man like Liam O’Connor does not run screaming from anything, so I know you’re exaggerating.”
“Fine, but he did jump off the couch right when things started getting interesting,” Cora said. “We were sitting so close, and when I leaned forward and the quilt slipped from my shoulders, I swear I thought he was going to kiss me.”
“He didn’t even try?”
Cora shook her head glumly and planted her chin in her hand. That morning on the commute to work, Liam had been quiet and withdrawn. Cora didn’t want to make small talk, so she’d pretended to read the news on her phone. By the time they arrived at the station, they hit the ground running, and within a couple of hours, it was business as usual. Any awkwardness had melted away, but Cora still couldn’t shake her disappointment. She knew Liam had feelings for her. When she’d impulsively kissed him that night at the lake, he’d returned the kiss with an eager, demanding heat that scorched her from the inside out. There was no mistaking his ardor. Cora had hoped it was the start of something great between them, something they could build on, but so far, nothing.
“Maybe Liam misread the situation,” Suzette said, smoothing her shiny red hair. She’d flat-ironed it today, and with her sultry eye shadow and Hollywood-red lips, she looked like a modern-day Jessica Rabbit. Suzette said looking chic was part of her job requirement since she worked at an upscale medical spa, but Cora knew it was just coded into her best friend’s DNA. If all Suzette had to wear was a burlap sack, she’d still find a way to doll it up with a trendy hairstyle, flawless makeup, and matching heels. “Maybe he didn’t realize you were coming on to him.”
Cora rolled her eyes. “Suze, I couldn’t have been more obvious if I’d hung a blinking sign around my neck that screamed Open for Business.”
“Then none of this makes sense. You must have done something to spook him, or—Oh, hold up.” Suzette pursed her lips and gave Cora a warning look. “Tell me you weren’t wearing that Ballbreaker AC/DC shirt with the hole in the armpit? I told you to toss that thing before it sprouted legs and crawled into the sewer on its own.”
“I was wearing those new silk pajamas,” Cora said indignantly.
Suzette gaped in disbelief. “He walked away from you inthat? What, exactly, did he say?”
“Just that we should go to bed,” Cora said with a shrug.
“Uh-huh. See? Right there.” Suzette pointed a red manicured nail at her. “That was your cue, and you missed it. He probably meant you should go to bedtogether.”
“Not even,” Cora said in exasperation. “He told me to get some sleep. Then he ruined the vibe by mentioning work-related stuff involving Magnus.”
Suzette’s auburn brows snapped together, and she slumped in defeat. “What the heck is going on with men these days? They’re acting so out of character. How are brilliant, beautiful women like us supposed to rule the world if we can’t count on men to be predictable?” She folded and refolded her napkin. “Take Rob Hopper, for example.”
Cora’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’re talking to him again?” Rob was a police officer who worked alongside Cora. He was a ridiculous flirt with a reputation for being a ladies’ man, and he’d been trying to woo Suzette for years. She always turned him down, but one night a few weeks ago Rob convinced her to go to dinner. One thing led to another, and just when they started kissing, Suzette saw a text message on Rob’s phone from a girl he planned to hook up with later that night. As far as Suzette was concerned, it was game over.
“I’m only barely talking, and not by choice,” Suzette said. “After that dinner fiasco, I told Rob to give up because I wasn’t going to be one of his booty calls. He said he didn’t want to lose me, and if all I offered him was friendship, he’d gladly take it. But whatever, right? That’s probably just the stock line he throws out whenever things with a woman start to go south. Anyway, I figured that was the end of it. So, I carried on with my summer and ignored him.” She waved a hand in irritation, like she was shooing flies. “But he’s been hovering in the background all along. And he’s bugging the hell out of me.”
