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She pushed him back and rolled on top of him again, her eyes dancing with love and humor. “Aren’t you the lucky guy? Because we’dneverwork if I were like you. I mean, Yoda and Yoda is like white bread and white bread kissing, whereas bread and jam are much more delicious together. I think I’m the jam in this relationship, being I’m so sweet and all—”
He set aside his breathing and let the force of their laughter bring in their pleasure.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
Bets did some of her best thinking standing in front of a window.
She had a problem, and she knew it. Although she was thrilled that Liam had found his soulmate, seeing him go to Taylor first in the pub had driven home a fact that hadn’t sunk in before. Nothing was ever going to be the same between them, and she was now second in his life. She was a little jealous of Taylor’s hold over Liam. Which was ridiculous! She wanted her son to be happy, and judging from the way he’d hung on to Taylor’s hand when they’d finally arrived at her house, hewashappy. Both of them had been glowing, in fact, from the only thing Bets knew put that look on a person’s face. She needed that look more, personally. All this junk with Malcolm and Mary was affecting her sex life.
“You still fretting about the green-eyed monster, sugar?” Linc asked as he strolled in after talking to their lawyers yet again. “How many times do I have to tell you that you’re just going to need some time to get used to Liam having a woman in his life? Didn’t I go through this when Ellie hooked up with Brady?”
She watched him plumping up her couch pillows before he sat down. He always managed to squash them by virtue of his size. “You looked like a sad puppy then, cowboy. What do I look like?”
“A basset hound,” he answered, making her frown. “Fortunately, I think they’re adorable. Hey! Do you want to get a dog? I’m finally over losing mine. Might be nice to have one padding around the house as we get older. Maybe it could fetch us things so we won’t have to use our walkers. What do you think?”
She eyed the downpour outside, wishing it would stop so she could take a power walk and burn off her bad mood. Shouldn’t she be turning cartwheels because her son was free and safe? What was wrong with her? “I think you’re trying to distract me with jokes about aging and it’s not amusing.”
“What else might work?” he shot back, crossing his ankles. “Sex? We’ve both been too tired and worried for much of that, but I’m game to try and give it a go. You know I’ve missed you.”
Hadn’t she just been thinking that? She’d missed him too! Life had sucked recently, and all because of Malcolm and Mary. Liam would probably caution her against victim-perpetrator language—even after telling them in broad strokes what had happened while he was in jail—but she didn’t feel like taking the high road today. What was wrong with some people? Why couldn’t they just live their own miserable lives without bothering anyone?
“Well, that didn’t hit,” Linc mused, “which won’t hurt my feelings, seeing as I know you find me irresistible. How about a movie? I could probably watchJawsagain.”
Taylor likedJawstoo, which made her Liam’s perfect partner.
Bets made an aggrieved sound. “I am in a terrible mood, Linc Buchanan. You might just need to knock me out.”
He gave a comical full-body shudder, and with his large body, it was one hell of a show. “That I will never do. I know! You want to put on Bon Jovi and dance for me with that sexy feather boa of yours?”
That sparked a burst of laughter from her. “Who’s that supposed to help? Me or you?”
His shit-kicking grin was back in the building suddenly, and it was like the sun had come out after three weeks of bad weather. “I figure we both get something out of the spectacle. Me especially when you—”
The bell from the front gate interrupted him. Sighing, he rose. “Company, and just as I was making progress. I’ll go see who’s darkening our door.”
She fingered the curtains as he picked up his phone for their call box app. “Could be someone who wants to talk about Liam’s release. Not that there’s much to tell with him not even knowing where he’d been—”
“What you said,” Linc responded, holding up his screen. “Sugar, it’s Mary Kincaid. If we had a dog, we could sic it on her. Want me to call the police instead?”
“Not yet!” She stormed to the front door, hearing Linc hurrying after her in his cowboy boots. “That bitch has some gall coming here.”
“Bets,” Linc called as she jogged down the driveway, “I don’t think this is a good plan. First, it’s raining—”
“I don’t care!” She wiped at the rain soaking her face. “Is the video at the gate on?”
“Twenty-four seven,” he said, breathing hard as he caught up to her. “This is only going to pour more salt into what hurts.”
The hurt was already spreading, and this time she wasn’t going to let it bowl her over. “Mary Kincaid,” she yelled as she opened the gate with the button on the wall, “what the hell are you doing at my house?”
The woman stood in her ugly black raincoat with a stupid clear rainhat to show off the corkscrew curls she was so proud of, her dark eyes filled with rage. She held up an official-looking letter with the seal of Ireland on it. “You had my benefits taken away. I just had a special courier from the Irish government at my door. I know you’re behind this! Damn you, Bets O’Hanlon. That’s my money. The money that I live on. You had no right to take that away.”
Linc whistled shrilly. “We had nothing to do with that, Mary, but it sounds like just deserts to me.”
“How dare you!” Mary heaved the letter onto the ground and crushed it into the wet gravel with her heel. “You will reverse this or you will pay.”
Bets snapped. “I am so tired of your threats. When Liam told me you’d taunted him while he was in jail—that you’d laughed with Malcolm—it made me sick. If the Irish government has finally wised up and stopped your benefits, good for them. I had nothing to do with it.”
Mary’s hands slammed through the air. “Malcolm refuses to give me money, so I’m here, begging you to give it to me. As family. You and me might have our feelings about each other, but Bruce would want you to help me.”
