My One And Only (Very Irresistible Bachelors 5)

“Want to check?”

“Don’t tempt me.”

Holy shit, he wasn’t joking.

I grinned, scooting a few inches away from him.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting the temptation out of the way.”

Laughing, he pulled me right back against him so our hips were touching.

“Want to check the basket?” he asked.

I didn’t need asking twice and immediately took it in my lap, inspecting the contents. I felt like a kid on Christmas morning unpacking presents.

We had a selection of cold appetizers, everything from ham and cheese to sweet spreads.

“Oooh, this is peach marmalade. It’s my favorite. Mom used to make this when we were little.”

Liam chuckled, kissing my cheek. “I like how excited you are.”

“Aren’t you? Look how many goodies we’ve got. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this place. How did you find it?”

“I asked Skye.”

I stopped in the act of unpacking the bread. I wasn’t sure what threw me more, that he asked my sister or that he owned up to it so nonchalantly.

We’d been here for all of ten minutes and my heart rate was already speeding up. How was that even possible?

“Well, it worked. I’m impressed.”

I was grinning, and he was grinning right back. I couldn’t believe how easy our interactions were, how open he was about everything.

“So, what shall we start with?” I asked, pointing at all the goodies I’d taken out.

“Your choice, Tess.”

I rubbed my palms in excitement before digging in. I started with a roll of ham and cheese, and Liam followed suit.

“I’m saving this for last,” I said, pointing to the peach jam. “It’s one of my fondest memories from Boston.”

“You used to live there?” he asked.

I nodded. “I was born there and only moved to New York after my parents divorced. Mom went to a farmer’s market every week, and we made peach and strawberry jam every summer. I loved doing that so much. I used to think that when I had kids, I’d have designated weekends for all sorts of jam-cooking—”

I pressed my lips together before I blurted out any more inappropriate things.

“Why did you stop midsentence?”

I looked up from the glass, smiling coyly. “Fifteen years of dating taught me that mentioning kids on a date is a huge no-no.”

Liam tilted forward until his nose nearly touched mine. He was grinning. “I want to listen to everything you want to tell me.”

“Ha! Did you learn nothing from the ‘getting to know each other’ dinner? You most definitely don’t want me to speak without a filter.”

“That’s exactly what I want, Tess.” He touched my cheek with the back of his hand before moving to my lips. “I liked that about you from the beginning. What’s going on through that pretty mind?”