Page 30 of Changing Tides

Ellie huffs like a child and drops her arms. “Fine. The winter rate is five hundred dollars a month, she says with a reluctant sigh. “And that’s my final offer.”

I laugh until she laughs with me. Before we know it we’re both cackling with tears in our eyes and I think, just maybe, this might be an arrangement I can live with. “Fine. Five hundred. Let me get my purse and I’ll write you a check,” I say, walking out of the room. Yes. I can live with this.

“Liam and Lucy are joining us for dinner,” she calls after me.

I stop in my tracks.That part…is the part I might not be able to live with.

* * *

I spendthe next two hours up in my room with my boxes, and I make a pretty good dent in organizing. I am able to use the shelving over the toilet in the bathroom for my toiletries and makeup, and I hang up most of my dressier clothing items in the closet. I am excited to wear real clothes again since I’ve spent a good amount of time the past few weeks wallowing in my pajamas. I am organizing my underwear drawer when I hear the front door open.

“Ellie, we’re here!” Liam hollers. Then I hear Lucy giggle.

I just want to finish what I’m doing but a few minutes later, I hear footsteps coming up the wooden staircase. Then Liam is in my doorway, and he takes up all the space.

He stands there for a moment, wordlessly watching me pull clothes out of my suitcase, and I can’t stop sneaking glances at him, too. He changed out of his gym clothes and is wearing relaxed-fit jeans and a snug black T-shirt that hugs all of his muscles.God. The muscles.The scent of too much cologne permeates the air but he smellsreallygood. Like evergreen and eucalyptus. It’s so dangerous. He is leaning in the door frame in the same way he did the night I stopped over at his house, and how comfortable he looks there is doing something to me between the thighs.This guy looks like he belongs here.

There you go with those dangerous thoughts again, Sophie.I silently reprimand myself.He is just a man. And from what you’ve seen, not a very nice one so stop letting him make you tingle.Liam is looking at me with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, like he is reading my thoughts, and that would be very dangerous. I don’t even realize I’m holding a pair of red lace panties in my hand until he clears his throat and smirks like he is absolutely loving every second of it. I force my mouth closed and hide the panties behind my back, shoving them in my pocket.

Liam scratches his beard with a coy smirk playing on his lips. “Ellie says to tell you that dinner is ready,” he clears his throat again. Maybe he has a tickle in it. “It looks like you’ve gotten a lot of organizing done.”

“I…yeah, I’m trying,” I stutter, wiping my sweating palms on my pants.

“You’ll get there.” He offers me an encouraging nod.

“I haven’t moved in nine years, so this feels like a lot,” I admit with a frown.

“I could help you, if you want some company.” Liam raises his eyebrows, stepping further into the room.

I open my mouth, then close it again, shaking my head. “Oh, that’s okay. I’ve got it.”

“I know it didn’t seem like it the other night, but I promise I’m a nice guy.” He looks down at his feet and then his eyes drag up the length of my body before meeting mine again.

“I know. I mean, I’m sure you are,” I stammer.Did he just check me out?

“And, I really am sorry for the way I treated you on Friday.” He rasps, taking a step closer to me.

I suck in a breath. This guy makes me too nervous. “I know you are,” I murmur, walking back over to the wardrobe. I pull the thong out of my pocket and shove it quickly in the drawer. Biting my lip, I look back at Liam to see if he noticed. “I’ll see you down there.”

Liam winks and gives me a head nod. “See you down there,” he says, biting back a grin.

I’m going to need a pitcher of ice water with my dinner.

18

LIAM

Icaught Sophie red-handed, clutching a pair of red lace underwear, sparking thoughts I definitely shouldn’t entertain.What is it with this woman?I mean to be fair, I barged in on her and caught her off guard. She didn’t want me to notice what she was holding judging by how quickly her hands went behind her back. I can’t help it though; I love the fact that her cheeks got pink with embarrassment, and she couldn’t formulate sentences.

I’m sitting at the dinner table next to Lucy in the highchair when Sophie comes in. I can’t help but notice that she changed clothes. She has her wild wavy hair down around her shoulders again and she’s wearing a pair of tight black leggings and a tight T-shirt that shows off her petite shape. I find her insanely attractive, even though I know that is the absolute last thing I should be thinking at this moment. I imagine Ellie would be lecturing me about being a gentleman and not flirting if she knew what was going on in my head.

It’s more than that though, I am so curious about her and where she came from. Right now Sophie is nothing more than a neighbor, but maybe eventually she’ll be a friend.

“Uh… hi. Sorry. I hope you weren’t waiting for me,” Sophie says sheepishly as she pulls out her chair next to Ellie and across from me.

Ellie gets up and takes Sophie’s empty soup bowl over to the stove. She fills it to the brim with clam chowder and brings over a personal-sized bowl of oyster crackers for her to sprinkle on top. “Nonsense, darling,” she says as she puts the bowl in front of Sophie. “There are no rules in this house. You come when you’re ready.” She squeezes Sophie’s hand, and I can’t help but notice how happy Ellie seems to be to have people around her table again. This used to be me and Leah, most nights, before she left. Ellie would call one of us and say she cooked way too much food and could we come over and help her eat it. She used to always act like she did it accidentally, but we knew better. Ellie needed company, and we were more than happy to give it to her.

“So, Liam, as you can see, Sophie is officially a Cape May resident. Aren’t we just so happy to have her?” Ellie takes a big drink of water and then stands up hurriedly. “We need wine! We’ve got to toast to Sophie.” She rushes over to her liquor cabinet.

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