My One And Only (Very Irresistible Bachelors 5)

But today I had to press Pause. It was a big day. A happy day.

I closed the website, focusing on the here and now. I was ecstatic.

Liam wanted us to have Thanksgiving with his grandma. And then meet my whole family.

I loved Thanksgiving dinners at Mom’s place. I always felt like a kid. Over the years, the crowd had grown bigger what with everyone getting married or having kids. This year, Isabelle was joining us, of course, since she now lived here. Ian and Dylan were also in the city, so they were coming too. I speed-brushed my hair, then applied mascara and eye shadow.

Once I was done, I noticed I had a message.

Isabelle: Just a reminder that Dylan’s going to be there. Extra optimism required.

Tess: Oh no. Why?

Isabelle: I MIGHT have suggested he and Ian go on a double date with some friends of mine. Let’s just say I am not his favorite sister right now.

Tess: Extra optimism on the way!

I grinned at myself in the mirror, pointing at my reflection. “That’s right. All that frog kissing was worth it.”

I just had to convince Dylan of that too. Of course, his case was a bit different. I had a string of bad dates and short failed relationships, and even that had chipped a bit at my optimism.

Dylan had a long-term relationship. He’d been in love. That left scars for sure. But I really did believe that time healed everything. I wished I knew the cause of the breakup though; it would help me come up with an angle. But no one was saying anything about it. It was still a bit of a mystery.

A few minutes later, the bell rang. When I opened the door, my breath caught a little.

Liam was wearing a very elegant coat with a dark-blue and silver scarf around his neck.

His cheeks were red, which meant it was definitely not a warm Thanksgiving Day.

“Well, hello there. Let me just grab my coat.”

Liam let out a little growl, and I jerked my head back in surprise before batting my eyelashes at him.

“Hey, don’t take this wrong. I love those growls. Very sexy. But what are they for?”

“You.”

I glanced down at myself. “No, I’m wearing a sweater. And jeans. What about my outfit spells indecent?”

My sweater was even all buttoned up.

“Not indecent, just fucking gorgeous.”

Before I had a chance to ask anything more, he pinned me against the open door, kissing me deeply. I wrapped my arms around his neck, instinctively pressing myself against him. He kissed me until I rose on my tiptoes, dragging my hands down his shoulders. I was resenting his sexy coat already, because I couldn’t touch him properly. He really did smell like a cold winter day mixed with aftershave.

I sighed when we pulled apart to take a deep breath.

“Hmmm...I don’t know what that was for, but I’ll take it.” With a grin, I brought my hand to the top button. It was impossible to be around Liam and not have sexy thoughts. Just the way he looked at me, with those blue eyes blazing, was enough to make me forget what day it was.

He caught my wrist even before I reached the button.

“You do that and we won’t leave at all.” His gaze pinned me in my spot.

“How do you know? Maybe I’m wearing something totally unsexy,” I teased.

“You’re wearing code red.”

“Yes. How did you know?”