Going Wild (The Wild Ones 2)

“I doubt they’d believe you moved to Tomahawk,” I finally say just to cut the tension.

He laughs lightly, looking down, seeming almost boyish.

“When they realize how very serious this all is, they’ll try harder to track me down. I took precautions to cover up where I moved to, though. So that answers your question about my family. I want something real, Shirley. And you’re the only thing I’ve wanted for myself in too long to remember.”

Rabbit hole, here I come.

“I don’t do open relationships,” I decide to say. Might as well list all the things I won’t do. Far shorter list than the list of things I will do.

His grin grows. “I’m not in Tomahawk to be with anyone else. How many times do you need to hear that?”

“I’ll let you know when I come up with a ballpark figure,” I say with a straight face, causing his grin to continue to spread wider.

Someone knocks on his door, and I stand, mud flaking off me and tracking behind me as I walk, resuming the list. We both need showers.

“I’m a terrible cook,” I tell him as I open the door.

Josie Simon is there, and her eyes widen in her head as she holds a casserole dish in her hands. I love her momma’s chili casserole, so I grab the dish just before she squeaks a shrill sound and takes off running in the other direction.

Looking through the clear lid, a smile spreads over my lips. Definitely the chili casserole.

Shutting, the door, I look to see Liam’s smile now taking up his entire face. “I’m an excellent cook,” he assures me, not commenting on Josie’s squeaky departure, as the sound of a car flying out of the driveway sets up some background noise.

He also pulls out a fire extinguisher and puts it on the counter, his lips twitching when I glare at it for a minute.

“I can’t be in the Vincent corner of crazy too many days in a row,” I go on, putting the dish on the bar. “Unless no one finds out.”

He leans forward as I lift the lid, and he hands me a fork that I happily accept.

Just as I put a forkful in my mouth, he says, “I recently bought some land on the Malone corner of crazy.”

I swallow painfully as he regards me with a smirk.

“My new cabin is being built as we speak. It’ll be about the same size, but it’ll be more personalized as far as tastes go,” he goes on.

I put down the fork, no longer hungry.

“You bought land on my side of the lake? And you’re building a cabin?”

He nods slowly. “Looks a lot like that one,” he says, gesturing with his head toward the picture on the wall that I painted of the cabin I’ve always dreamed of building. “Only bigger with extra room for painting. Or doing sculptures. I have a wood shop being put up. Things like that.”

He’s building a cabin. A cabin that I painted. On my corner of reckless.

Because Liam is here for me.

He might just be crazy enough to be serious about all this.

It’s like I keep hearing all the right words, and none of my arguments are saving me from making a huge mistake. I’ve never found a guy—outside of home—who was as crazy as I am.

And just like that, I’m an idiot.

Apparently stupid is the winner, and stubborn is decidedly the runner up.

I’m climbing over the bar in the next second, and he grabs me at the waist, jerking me to him as his lips crash against mine. His hands move to my hips, moving me to sit on the edge so he can stand between my legs and devour me more thoroughly.

One of his hands slides into my hair, gripping a handful—something only he’s allowed to do. Not sure why I don’t mind him touching my hair.

I moan into his mouth as he lifts me off the bar, and my legs strap around his waist as he carries me through the house.

“You’re too good at saying the right things,” I murmur against his lips, expecting him to smile.

He drops me to a bed suddenly, coming down on top of me as the kiss breaks, and he stares directly into my eyes, nothing but seriousness on his face.

“Because I said a lot of the wrong things last time, and suddenly you were gone. You’re not too damn easy to get over.”

I end up being the one who grins as I pat his cheek. “I’ll show you some of my crazy later on. Not today, though.”

He looks so adorably confused, since that seems random. Just wait until he sees the artwork that shows the crazy I’m talking about; it won’t sound so random then.

Instead of questioning me, since that never gets him anywhere, he kisses me again, slowly this time, tasting every bit of me to see if I’m real or just a mirage. I kiss him the same way, wondering if I’ve jumped into a delusional fantasy of mine where Liam comes to Tomahawk to be with me.