“No, baby,” I sigh.
It’s been Lee this and Lee that for the last three hours. One of which I spent throwing daggers at him across the table while him and Molly chatted about everything and anything and the other two while we watched Frozen, while he held her in his arms and watched every second. I, however, spent the entire movie freaking out while I watched my daughter become enamored with him.
“But—”
“Goodnight, my princess. Tomorrow I’ll make blueberry pancakes, okay?”
She smiles, all thoughts of Liam forgotten with the mention of her favorite breakfast.
“Love you, Mommy.”
“Love you back, baby, to the moon and beyond.”
I give her another kiss and turn to leave the room, shutting off the light and closing the door. I rest my head against her closed door for a few seconds before I turn to walk down the hall. Stopping short when I see Liam leaning against the wall at the end of the hall.
“You need to leave,” I tell him, ignoring the fact that he watched me and my little silent moment of freaking out.
He doesn’t give me a chance to pass him, his hand sweeping out in front of me and curling around my body before pulling me toward him. My traitorous body sings its joy when his skin touches mine.
“We need to talk.”
I shake my head and narrow my eyes, which just earns me a laugh.
“Yeah, I can see we need to talk.”
“I don’t see what we need to talk about, Liam. We had a night, one night, and I’ll admit it was good . . . what?” I question when his brow shoots up.
“Good? Baby, that’s all you have for me?”
“Well it was.”
“Good wasn’t when you came against my mouth the first or third time. Good wasn’t when your thighs squeezed me so hard I might even have bruises months later. GOOD wasn’t when you screamed my name, and baby you did, so damn loud my ears felt that for days. Good doesn’t even come close.”
“Well, it was good.”
“No, Megs. It was fucking unbelievable.”
His words stop me and I—for the first time—really look at him. His nostrils are flaring and his eyes have turned into that gold flecked burning that brought me to my knees, literally. Good lord, he’s serious.
“It’s Megan,” I say weakly.
“You felt it,” he presses, ignoring me.
I shake my head, refusing to give him what he wants.
He tips his head back and I can see his lips moving.
“Are you . . . counting?” I question.
He doesn’t answer right away, but his lips continue to move and he is definitely counting.
“Why are you counting?”
His breath comes out and his lips thin. Then to my ever growing frustration, he continues to count.
“Why are you counting?” I ask, again.
He continues before looking back down. His eyes hold mine for a few beats before he looks down at my lips before meeting my eyes again. My breath stalls in my throat with the intensity I see in his eyes.
“I’m counting, Megan, because if I don’t, I’ll take you right here in the fucking hallway. Your baby is right down the hall so that would be a bad idea. I’m counting because I’m trying to have enough patience for the both of us. I’m counting because my damn cock is so hard, I’m not sure how there is any more blood flowing through my body. I’m counting, Megan, because I want you more than I’ve wanted anything in my life and that frustrates the shit out of me because you either can’t or won’t see it. I need you to see it, baby. I really need you to see. I’m counting because since last night, leaving you when I wanted nothing more than to drag you home where I can keep you safe, I’ve been filled with nothing but worry about how you’re handling everything. I guess you could say I’m counting so I don’t lose my shit.”
I’m shaking my head before he even stops talking and he just sighs deeply.
“Why?” I ask, ignoring the vast majority of what he just said.
I’m not even sure what I’m asking, but clearly he does, because without letting go he turns and leads me to the living room. He stops at the worn leather loveseat letting me go long enough to settle his body before he reaches out with both hands on my hips and drags me down. My knees hit the seat and my bottom presses against his hard thighs. He moves around until he’s leaning back and pulls both my hands forward. I watch in fascination as he pulls one of my clammy hands toward his chest. My right hand right above his heart. I try to pull my hand away, but he holds strong.
“Let me tell you something. I’ve been watching you, Megan. You came into our group kicking and screaming, even if you didn’t do it physically, you were resisting all the same. Dani, being all that is Dani, pulled you in and refused to let you go. She has that way about her, always seeing what people need even if they can’t see it for themselves. Months. It took months before I saw you even smile. But I still watched. Watched and waited.”