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“I might ask you to repeat them every now and then, just to be sure,” Tess said, voice dropping in volume but gaining a crackling huskiness. “It always feels good to hear such nice things about yourself from someone you hold in such high regard.”
“I’m lucky to be in that position,” he whispered back, leaning forward a few dangerous inches.
Tess chewed a bit harder on her lip, appearing unaware of the physical affectation. Liam sure wasn’t. A volcano was bellowing to life inside his chest, and his body yearned to close the gap between them.
“You earned it, so I’d say luck has only a nominal position in your self-proclaimed good fortune.”
“Then… could I push my luck a bit?” Liam asked, voice hoarse. More notably, he wasn’t even sure what it was he wanted to suggest, even though he’d gone and put forth a request.
“How so?” Tess asked, smiling softly. “What would you like?”
Her. Right now. Right here. The potent yearning rushed through him like thunder, and it almost managed to reach his throat and escape his lips.
No! It’s too soon!
Liam curbed his response before it spelled certain doom for his longest-held desire. Steps. He needed to take more steps before he made the final leap. It was the only way to be sure he would land on safe ground. Just like Avril had informed him, he needed to let Tess set the pace.
“How about… a hug?” he said, sundered by shame for his cowardice.
“That’s hardly something I’d say is ‘pushing your luck,’” Tess said, still smiling, and above all else,notabhorred by a sudden and unexpected admission of his desire for her.
Liam breathed a sigh of relief, which earned him a curious look from the woman across from him.
“Did you think I’d say no?” she asked.
“Ah, um, no—I mean, I don’t know.” He scratched his arm. “I guess I was worried it might come across kind of skeevy.”
Tess shook her head at his foolishness and beckoned him closer with one hand. “Well, put those worries to bed. I would never think such a thing about you, Liam.”
I think you might if you knew what I almost just said,Liam thought. However, he buried those worries behind the reality motioning for him to come closer.
Scooting toward the woman so beautiful that she could silence a room with her mere presence, Liam’s heart pounded as she opened her arms to him. Face turning bright crimson, he leaned into her voluptuous chest, ashamed yet thrilled by the warmth in her smile as she enveloped him.
At first, he didn’t go in for more than that typical awkward half-hug—the one caused by a guy who feared that he’d make things uncomfortable if his chest mashed against a woman’s breasts. Regardless, he enjoyed it. However, Tess didn’t just smother him in pleasant emotions.
“You don’t need to be so skittish,” Tess’s amused whisper noted. “This feels less like a hug with someone I’ve known for years than it does one with a frightened animal who wants to escape the very second I let go.”
“Sorry,” Liam said, face flushed with heat. He leaned in a bit more, deepening their embrace. Tess’s hands felt like hot irons on his back, but her breasts felt like the sun. Slowly, he guided his hands around Tess’s hourglass figure and put them on her slender back. Only then did Tess seem satisfied, patting his back once.
The hug lasted. And lasted. And lasted. He both felt and heard Tess breathe in, exhale, then breathe in again. Her cheek rested just inches from his, and he stared over her shoulder at her couch’s arm, paralyzed and unsure if he should have let go of her by now. She hadn’t released him, so he figured it must be fine.
Like a stream expanding into a river over the course of centuries, Liam slowly relaxed. Well, no, that wasn’t the right word for it. He never quite grew comfortable, though he did release some of the tension turning him rigid. He allowed himself to enjoy touching Tess, being touched by Tess, and the warmth shared between them. Desperately, he hoped that when this hug inevitably ended, he’d have another chance to repeat it soon.
Finally, he felt Tess begin to recede. Releasing her at the same time she did him, their bodies naturally bent back to more upright positions. Tess’s eyes glittered radiant blue as she smiled at him.
“You still look so discomforted,” Tess said, a hint of teasing in her voice. “Was it that bad?”
Liam hurriedly shook his head. “No, definitely not. It was great.”
“Great? So, I’m a great hugger, am I?”
Blushing, he said, “You’re the undisputed champion.”
Tess beamed at him. She remained in high spirits for the rest of their evening together, and when it was finally time for him to go, she reminded him that they wouldn’t be apart for very long.
“Right, cards,” he said, standing in her doorway.
“I’ll be looking forward to you showing your stuff,” Tess said, grinning. “Especially if you can knock Avril down a peg or two.”
