“We’re fine, Mrs. DeMatteo!”
I wave and really hope she doesn’t have her hearing aids in.
“Sorry, Mrs. D,” Liam yells.
“All right then, honey. I just heard the shouting.” She blows him a kiss and then shuts the window.
I can’t even with the women when it comes to him. He’s like catnip to the opposite sex. I know he’s beyond good-looking, but come on. It isn’t like he’s God’s gift to women. I live with him. I know this to be true.
“Now that you’ve announced to our neighbors that we’re the only ones allowed to have sex, would you like to take this inside?”
Liam releases a heavy sigh through his nose. “You”—he points to Chase—“you were to have her home on time. Did you do anything that I would want to kill you for? And don’t lie because I’ll know?”
“No, sir.”
“You”—Liam points to Aarabelle—“get inside.”
“Can I say good night to Chase?” she asks.
“Do you want me to show Chase where all his pressure points are located?”
“Good night, Aara!” Chase says as he climbs back in his car.
“See! He’s smart.” Liam looks at me. “Why did we get the dumb one?”
Oh, the come backs I have for this. “Because he’s half yours . . .”
He grabs Shane by the back of the neck and marches forward. “Well, I’m about to slap the stupid out of him.”
I don’t know who he’s trying to fool, he would never raise a hand to either of them, but Shane’s eyes widen.
Our children have grown up with the knowledge that most of the men in their lives are trained in some pretty scary things. Liam’s way to bond with Shane was to teach him a lot of them as well. They love to rough house, roll around, and see how many dead legs they can give each other before someone cries.
Sometimes I wonder if maybe he ate lead paint or something.
“Shane, go up to your room. Your dad and I will be up in bit to talk about this. Once we’ve calmed down enough not to hang you on the flagpole by your underwear.”
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
I close my eyes and nod. “Just go to your room and leave your phone on the counter on your way up.”
He walks inside the house, and Liam wraps his arms around my waist.
“Tell me they weren’t . . .” I beg.
“They weren’t. I don’t know if they planned to.”
“Great.”
“I know, they were on top of Robin,” he grumbles.
His car. He’s worried about his freaking car. “God forbid.”
“What if they scratched her?”
Liam and his car need a moment. He’s had this freaking thing since before we started dating. It’s basically a museum in the garage. Every few days, he comes out here, talks to her—because the car is real to him—and tinkers with it.
“I’m sure Robin is just fine.”
“If she isn’t, he’s going to pay.”
I don’t doubt that. “Don’t you think you should be more concerned that he had a girl here and was missing clothing?”
“No.” He scoffs. “I love that car.”
“And you don’t love your kids?”
“Not as much as Robin. I’ve had her longer, she’s good to me, and doesn’t give me half the headaches those two do.”
We walk over to the porch and sit together. His arms wrap around me from behind while my head rests on his chest.
“Well, I’m not worried about her.”
“Honestly, I’m concerned about everything. They’re growing up so fast, and it feels like we’re losing control.”
I nod because I had been thinking the same thing moments ago. “They just think they know it all.”
“How wrong they are . . .”
“No shit. We didn’t learn how wrong we were until we were in our thirties.”
Liam laughs lightly. “And even then, we’re still figuring out we were dumb as fuck.”
“This parenting gig sucks.” I sigh.
“There’s no one else I’d rather suck with, though.”
I smile and look back at him. “Same here.”
“Good thing you’re really good at sucking.” He laughs at his dirty joke.
“You know . . .” I sit up to get a better look at him. “You’re able to turn anything back to sex. No wonder our son was in there on top of your car and doing whatever he was doing.”
He shrugs. “He’s a Dempsey. We’re natural ladies men.”
“Oh, for the love of . . .”
“You can trademark that line, baby.”
“Sometimes I wonder what the hell I was thinking when I fell in love with you.” It’s a lie.
I know exactly what I was thinking—here’s a man who loves me in my most broken state. He’s kind, loyal, protective, and wants to do the right thing, even if he has to walk away to save us all.
Liam walked beside me during the most difficult part of my life. He was self-sacrificing at every turn.
My life could’ve gone a very different way if it weren’t for him.
My heart might still be broken, but his unyielding love healed every last broken shard.
“You were thinking that I had the biggest—”
“Heart.”
“Wrong body part, Lee.”
I shrug. “This is why our son thinks the way he does . . . you.”
“Please, like your eyes didn’t go to my dick when I said that.” He laughs.
“Whatever,” I say as he pulls me back against his chest and I tilt my head so I can look up at him.
“I love you, Lee.”
“I’m glad you do.”
“Yeah?”
“Most of the time,” I joke.
“Good.”
I stare into Liam’s blue eyes and smile. “I love you too, you know?”
“I do, but you gave me a defective child that we must return.”
Ugh. The boy. The boy with raging hormones and the charm of his father.
“Listen, that kid is all you, so . . . good luck with him. I’m way too young to be a grandmother, so you need to scare the hell out of him or something.”
“You’d be the prettiest grandma around.”
He is not funny. “I’ll handle Aarabelle being late. You handle Shane being an idiot.”
He nods. “Fine, but let her know I’ll be watching and remind her that I know how to hide a body.”
Sad part is that he’s not kidding. He really does know how to.
“And after that, we’ll have some wine,” I say, pushing myself to my feet.
“Deal, but you have to promise to be naked tonight.”
I lean down, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. “Maybe, considering we are the only ones who are allowed to have sex in this house.”
He kisses me this time. “Damn right, I’m about to cockblock these kids until they’re thirty.”
My head falls back as I laugh.
Only Liam can take the crazy and make it feel like it’s going to be okay.
* * *
If you enjoyed Cockblocked, be sure to grab Consolation, and find out how Natalie and Liam found each other. Or you can grab Beloved (Book 1 in the Salvation Series) FREE for a limited time!
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About the Author
New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Corinne Michaels is the author of nine romance novels. She’s an emotional, witty, sarcastic, and fun-loving mom of two beautiful children. Corinne is happily married to the man of her dreams and is a former Navy wife. She enjoys putting her characters through intense heartbreak and finding a way to heal them through their struggles. Her stories are chock full of emotion, humor, and unrelenting love.
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Also by Corinne Michaels
The Salvation Series
Beloved
Beholden
Consolation
Conviction
Defenseless
Indefinite (Coming 2019)
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Return to Me Series
Say You’ll Stay
Say You Want Me
Say I’m Yours
Say You Won’t Let Go: A Return to Me/Masters and Mercenaries Novella
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Standalone Novels
We Own Tonight
One Last Time
Not Until You (Coming 2018)
If I Only Knew (Coming 2018)
Getting It Up
Liv Morris
A Curse, a Cocky Bastard, and a Dick Doctor = A Hard Luck Outtake.
Copyright ? 2018 Liv Morris All rights reserved Editing: Word Nerd Editing
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