Page 40 of Trusting You
“Please don’t report me to the Department of Labor.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Liam grew more and more exasperated by my mother on the other end of the phone.
“Yes, my intentions are honorable. No, I would never dream of hurting your daughter. She is my most valued employee.”
I could see him flush. He was starting to sweat. Served him right. He thought he could handle my mom? Cocky bastard.
He finally hung up and tossed my phone on the bed. He ran his hands through his hair and looked up at me. “Holy shit, she is intense.”
“Yup.”
“She totally knows about us.”
“Yup.”
“And she’s going to call my mom.”
“Yup.” I started to laugh. The entire situation was completely ridiculous.
“Well, so much for casual. Now the entire town knows.” He shrugged and smiled. “I guess we can go out for coffee and breakfast then.” He walked over to his closet and started fumbling around for a shirt.
“Wait. Shouldn’t we talk about this?” I began to panic.
“What is there to talk about? I like you, you like me.” He went back to his quest for a shirt.
“Yes. But what are we doing? Is this a one-time thing?”
He paused and walked over to me. He ran his hands up and down my arms, and I felt my vulnerability seep out of my pores.
“I respect your decision, but not for me. I got a taste, and now I want all of you, Cecelia.”
Jesus, he was making it hard to be calm and cool right now. Especially because I was freaking out while buck naked. We agreed on casual last night. I was good with casual. Casual was my happy place. I couldn’t fall into a full-on relationship with Liam Quinn. I had to go back to New York in January. That was my plan. This was just a sexy distraction while I figured my life out. Just because he was gorgeous, kind, and great in bed did not mean I could get attached to him.
He gathered me in his arms, looking all hot and sexy, and laid a sloppy kiss on my mouth. His hands roamed down the sides of my torso and then firmly gripped my ass. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want a relationship. But I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to spend more time with Liam, both naked and clothed. In a matter of minutes the entire town would know, so I guess I could get some caffeine in my system and figure it out.
“You need to put some clothes on. Because I need coffee to recover from that phone call.”
“Well, you need to let go of my ass cheeks in order for me to put clothes on.”
“You drive a hard bargain, Leary.”
22
Liam
I felt incredible.Who knew that all I needed was some great sex with a gorgeous, sarcastic woman to break me out of my funk? Oh right, everyone.
Between the revelation that Cecelia Leary was even sexier than I imagined and the incredible success of Oktoberfest, I was on cloud nine. It was as if, after four years, I could finally breathe. The daily panic that sat on my chest like a weight was finally gone, and I could just be me again.
It also didn’t help that she was completely adorable. We had decided to go out and get coffee and some food when she realized all she had was her beer wench costume from Oktoberfest. As much as I would love for her to parade around in it, we decided it wouldn’t be the best look at ten on a Sunday morning.
So I gave her some sweats and a Binnacle brewery T-shirt. She had to roll the sweatpants up on her waist, and it was pretty cute. Standing on the street corner in my clothes, her wild curls all over the place and beaming at me, I felt an instantaneous warming in my chest. Like something had burst open inside me.
I realized then I could never go back to the way things were before. I could never go back to being just friends or just coworkers. In less than twenty-four hours, this woman had turned me inside out, and I had never been happier or more confused. Our physical connection was incredible, but I just loved spending time with her. She challenged me on every level and pushed me to be my best. I wanted to talk to her and joke with her, and yes, of course, fuck her senseless every chance I got.
We made our way through town, past the common and the wharf. There were people everywhere, enjoying the fall colors and a few days of unexpected warmth. A boot camp group with a few people I knew ran by and waved.
