“Excuse me?”
“So much for gratitude,” Stone mumbled to himself and shrugged off the glare I sent him. “I thought there would be a few hours between finishing the painting and you arriving home. These fumes aren’t good for you. Or the baby.”
“But…this is my house.” I sounded like a whiny child, I knew that, but coming home exhausted at the end of every day would do that to anyone. Especially one who was growing a baby. “Okay. No big deal.” I could probably crash with Sophie since she lived alone.
“You can stay with me tonight,” Liam offered immediately, his dark gaze intense as he waited for an answer.
I swallowed hard, thinking of the last time we spent the night together. The first part of the night had been amazing, if I closed my eyes I could still feel his big arms wrapped around me and his hard chest slowly moving up and down with the rhythm of sleep. Waking up the next morning alone, without a note, was less amazing. But when he dangled his keys in front of me, I snatched them with a sigh. “Fine, I’ll stay at your place. Just for tonight.” Not that he was asking me to move in, of course not. That would be real commitment.
It’s a good thing you’re not looking for commitment, the annoying snarky voice in my head reminded me. It was an excellent point so I went to my room and packed an overnight bag, ignoring the little feeling in my gut that said this felt like more. “It’s not,” I said to myself and made my way back towards the nursery.
“You should hurry,” Liam growled. “These fumes feel like they’re getting stronger.”
Stone rolled his eyes, a playful smile on his lips as he shook his head, making me laugh. “You sure you’re ready for this overprotective bear?”
I wasn’t sure at all, but Liam was here and he was trying. “He’s not that bad,” I said with a laugh. “Smile.” The flash of my camera surprised them, but it was an image I couldn’t resist. “Later guys and thank you, again.”
The drive to Liam’s place took longer than it should have, or maybe it was just because my mind was muddled with too many thoughts. Then again, it could be the fact that I was usually curled up on the sofa with the television me watching me sleep by this time. Exhaustion and the lack of lights meant I had to slow way down to navigate the long dark driveway that led to his cabin.
Since I only had one bag, there wasn’t much to do but ignore the urge to snoop. When would I ever find myself alone in Liam’s house with an opportunity like this? But snooping was wrong. Wasn’t it?
“Maybe so, but I am human. And making a human,” I said to convince myself that snooping was only a little wrong as I walked through the house, unwilling to open any of the doors to actually snoop. “It’s not snooping if the door is already open. Right?”
Before the angel on my shoulder could tell me all the ways in which my logic was flawed, my left hand pushed on the open door beside the master suite and I let out a shocked gasp at what I saw.
It was the nursery, painted in the same pale greenish-blue that the guys had used at my place, the exception was the oversized window with a perfect view of the lake. It was beautiful. It was perfect. I snapped a photo and sent both of them to Sophie, Eva and Mara.
How am I supposed to resist this?
Sophie’s response came first. Resistance is futile.
I laughed and shook my head. Typical Sophie. Not helpful, Soph.
That’s an ovary buster if I’ve ever seen one. Eva’s response brought a smile to my face, mostly because of the brute honesty it contained. My advice is wait for him in nothing but a smile when he gets home.
Nothing but a smile. I can’t do that.
The baby in your belly says you can. Sophie added a few angel emojis to take the sting off her words. It helped.
Show up naked like Eva said, but have a steak cooking too. Naked babes and red meat are like catnip for men like Liam. Not surprisingly, Mara’s advice was the most nuanced. And the most insane.
The one thing the advice had in common was they all encouraged me to go for it, but could I? More importantly, should I?
It was tempting to have a repeat of the other night, so damn tempting. But I couldn’t.
Could I?
A slow smile crossed my face and I realized that, hell yeah, I could.
Now the only question is, if I had the guts to do it.Liam“Does it look good?” I stood in the doorway of the baby’s room and looked at the paint job Stone and I had done, feeling anxious.