Liars (Licking Thicket 2)

“Diesel?” he asked, standing up and moving Marigold into the stand-up exerciser thingy Ava had suggested I pick up. She’d been right. The thing had been a lifesaver already. I could haul it outside and jail the little troublemaker in it while I did some of my chores. Marigold loved every minute of it too. The tray had all kinds of bits and pieces to keep her entertained.

“Huh?” I tossed the tomato chunks into the pot after the onions looked ready enough to share the pot.

I felt the heat of Parrish’s body behind mine. The man was sneaky. I closed my eyes and reminded myself this wasn’t real.

“I know Gil is gay,” he said softly. “Because he hasn’t stopped flirting with me since the day we met.”

I whipped around, almost knocking the poor man over. “That’s unprofessional! He should know better. That’s… that’s considered a hostile working environment!”

He bit his lip again, and I wanted to reach out and pluck it back to safety. With my mouth.

Parrish’s hands came up to my chest and brushed a piece of papery garlic skin off my shirt. I had to hold back a groan of disappointment that he wasn’t reaching out to caress me for any other reason. He was standing so close, I couldn’t think straight.

“You know what? Two days ago I was able to tell him that my giant, hot, tattooed fiancé—you know, the one who could probably get his hands on a car crusher and eats rusty nails for breakfast—wouldn’t like hearing about me flirting with other men.”

I stared at him, my chest pounding with a strange combination of relief and happiness. “Yeah?”

The idea of him doing that publicly, claiming me for any reason, really, filled me with satisfaction… and made it that much easier to forget the whole Tucker incident.

He nodded. “I hope that’s okay. I didn’t want to cause you any problems in town, but… I kind of wanted to put him in his place about it too.”

“It’s okay,” I growled. “Very, very okay. I should come over there and pick you up for lunch one day. I could give him the hairy eyeball or something.”

Parrish’s eyes danced. “Can you practice your hairy eyeball right now? I’d really like to see it.”

“You’re a menace,” I muttered, turning back around to check the tomatoes. “But that guy is going to feel the full power of the fiancé effect come Monday morning. Just you wait.”

“I was thinking,” Parrish said. “About the fiancé thing…”

My heart sped up for a different reason. I worried maybe he was going to call it quits for some reason. “Okay?”

“Stewie didn’t seem convinced today that we were really together. Maybe… maybe we should practice, um, being together. Like, in the sense of knowing more than each other’s middle names.”

I gripped the center of my chest and glanced over my shoulder at him. “You mean like, making our kisses more convincing?”

Was that even possible? That kiss had been the best, most amazing kiss in kissing history.

He blushed and looked down. “Well, I meant like learning each other’s hopes and dreams, but um… kissing would be okay too.”

Marigold let out a happy screech. Before Parrish headed over to check on her, he said, “Maybe tonight, after we put Marigold to sleep?”

I nodded and reached for my phone while he was distracted with the baby. Was it appropriate to do a Google search asking how early was too early to put a baby to bed?

Before I could type in the words, there was a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Parrish said, moving over to look through the peephole. “It’s a bunch of scary dudes.”

I bolted past him and moved him behind me. “Probably looking for parts. Stay here, okay?”

When I opened the door, I recognized several guys from the Devoted Dogs MC. They were a motorcycle club who used my yard as their go-to for parts. Crow stepped forward to shake my hand.

“Hey, man,” I said. “What’re you guys looking for tonight?”

His wide grin split the messy red beard on his face. “Lookin’ for a house to paint. That beauty committee hired us to do the house and to ask you if you wanted us to stain or paint the new fence too.”

I stared at him while Parrish let out a soft laugh behind me.

“The what? What?” I remembered Ava mentioning the Beautification Corps allocating some money to help me look a little less embarrassing in front of the town, but I hadn’t expected to have guys show up to paint my damned house.

Crow let out a boisterous chuckle. “Surprise, man! Guess today’s your lucky day. See, Riker back there—” He dipped his head toward a good-looking dark-haired guy in a T-shirt and ripped jeans, who raised his hand in a wave. “He’s an honorary Dog who runs Richards Renovations here in town. Ava Siegel told him you had work what needed done—”