Liars (Licking Thicket 2)

I sighed, because for once when he said those things, I found it in myself to believe it. He might not be in love with me—it was way too soon for that, no matter what my heart said—but he cared about me. He wanted me. Maybe almost as much as I wanted him.

“So, home?” I asked with a hopeful smile.

“Our home,” he said a little shyly but happily, making my heart flit around like the fiery skipper on a nearby bush. “Such as it is. We might need to add on a room for Marigold at some point.”

Diesel deserved so much more than trying to squeeze the three of us into a house Stix had built for a single man. I wanted to give him the world, and I had a few ideas about where to start.

18

Diesel

After hearing Parrish’s story about Payne, I was floored. How was it possible for the man to end up in two such similar situations? And more than that, how was it possible he’d gone along with my crazy scheme after being thrown over so horribly by that fucker?

“Why’d you say yes when I asked you to pretend to be my fiancé?” I asked later that night. We’d already put Marigold down and had just finished devouring the grilled veggie wraps I’d thrown together for dinner. Parrish hadn’t been able to stop teasing me about the “big vegetarian surprise” as he called it, and I was pretty sure I’d heard every vegetable pun in the English language.

Parrish stood up to take his dish to the sink. “I didn’t. If you recall, I left a Parrish-shaped smoke outline on your front porch as gravel shot out behind my tires.”

“But you came back,” I reminded him, following him with my own dish. “With a Parrish-shaped gift basket full of thoughtful baby stuff and an offer of marriage.”

He tried to hold back a snicker and failed. “Not exactly. The baby stuff was part of my apology for not agreeing to help you. But then you were all adorable and helpless and… I guess I’m a sucker for the helplessly adorable.”

I slid an arm around his waist and pulled him toward me. “Tell me why. Why, after your awful experience with Payne-in-the-ass, would you ever agree to help another useless idiot get custody of a child?”

Parrish’s hands landed on my chest and smoothed upward. His smile dropped as he thought before answering. “I honestly didn’t do it for you, Diesel. I did it for that sweet girl in there who deserves to grow up loved. I had my parents and Uncle Beau and Aunt Marnie. There was never a moment when I didn’t feel cherished and adored. I want Marigold to have that.”

He stepped in closer, nudging my leg to the side so he could slide one of his between mine. Our hips brushed against each other, and I shuddered. Parrish’s warm hands slid up my neck to my jaw. “Diesel, it took me about three seconds to see how much you cared about her. You can’t fake the kind of panic you had when you realized she’d grabbed the coffee mug that day. Your first thought wasn’t about how to downplay what had happened. You did the opposite. You blew it up into a huge example of how you weren’t good enough for her. In other words, you thought she deserved the best. You wanted her in the safest hands, even if it wasn’t yours. That’s the kind of parent she needs.”

My heart thumped in a combination rhythm of nerves at the memory of how close she’d come to getting hurt and also excitement at how much of Parrish’s body was now pressed against mine.

“I can’t think when you’re touching me,” I admitted breathlessly.

Parrish’s fingertips moved lightly back down my neck, making me feel drunk and slightly disoriented. “You fell into my trap, then. I don’t want to talk.”

I could have sworn we were discussing something serious. Something important.

“Ngh,” I said when his hip rolled against my hard dick.

He caught his bottom lip with his top teeth and nearly caused me to toss him face-first onto the kitchen counter and tear open the back of his pants like an animal.

“And anyway,” Parrish said in a teasing voice, “who cares why? As long as we’re here together now. Does it really matter how it came to be?”

I shook my head and used my single remaining brain cell to reassure him I’d never be like Payne. “I promise I’ll try to be worthy of you,” I said in a rough croak.

His eyes widened for a split second before softening again. His smile was wide and sincere. “And that’s how I know you’re different.”

He rolled that hip into me again, taking my breath away completely. I sucked in a curse.

I leaned down and pressed my lips to the thin skin behind his ear. I’d learned early on in our make-out sessions on the sofa that he always shivered when I brushed my lips across it.