Unplugged (Blue Phoenix, #3)(43)

I sigh and tiptoe to kiss his mouth. When I step back, he touches his lips in surprise. “Was that for the flowers?”

“No, that’s for being romantic and making me feel squishy inside.”

Liam wrinkles his nose. “Squishy? I’m not sure that’s healthy.”

The teenage Cerys who’s overwhelmed by rock star Liam Oliver needs shutting away. I’m twenty-two years old and a mother. “You do know I can’t go out with you on a date just because you turn up here?”

“I know, Ella, school, mum stuff.” He mock-yawns. “We could still go for lunch, if you like?”

“I have an hour tops, Ella’s not at school full-time yet.”

“Oh. Okay. I didn’t know.”

“And Ella has plans for you next time she sees you, so I’d make yourself scarce before she comes home.”

He snorts. “Plans? Oh, God, I can only imagine the nefarious intentions of a five year old girl.”

“Oh, you might laugh but the hair plaiting at Christmas was just the start of your torture.” I grin at the dawning look on his face. “I think she has ribbons picked out this time. Poor Jordan, when he comes over he’s forced to wear a princess dress.” I arch an eyebrow. “Feel lucky you’re too tall.”

Liam steps closer and draws my head toward him. “Be quiet.” His soft mouth touches mine, a buzz of connection tingles across my cheeks as he gently kisses me. “Much as I like her, I don’t want to talk about Ella,” he says. “You. Go and get changed and I’ll take you somewhere until you have to collect her.”

I gape at him. “Are you trying to boss me around?”

Liam winds a finger through my hair. “Yes. Do you have a problem with that?”

No, I don’t, because it’s bloody sexy and how I always imagined he would be before he blew that apart with his sweet behaviour around Ella. The prospect that Liam hides a different side, someone who does and gets what he wants, thrills me.

I make a disgruntled humph sound and head toward the stairs because if he had the slightest clue how hard my heart was beating and the effect of the arousal from the one kiss, he wouldn’t wait downstairs. If Liam knew, he’d be upstairs telling me what to do. I shake my head, as images of the things I’d like Liam to tell me to do sneak in.

****

The smart café close to Ella’s school is Liam’s choice. I’ve visited once but the price of the coffee didn’t justify a return visit. The school mums sometimes gather here but it’s not my scene. If I go to the McDonalds in the next street, I can afford to stay longer. I occasionally go with Phoebe, sometimes with our kids too

We sit upstairs on the mezzanine that overlooks the relaxed surroundings downstairs. With plush sofas and wooden tables, the place is more like someone’s house than a café. No wonder people don’t bring kids here.

A young girl with glossy black hair scraped back in a ponytail brings our drinks and her attempt to figure out who Liam is clearly reflects on her face. She smiles sweetly and runs her hands across her white apron before heading off with a glance over her shoulder.

Liam slides his glass tumbler toward him and stirs the cream into the hot chocolate, oblivious.

“Do you think she guessed who you are?” I ask him.

Liam shrugs. “Maybe. If we were in London, I reckon she’d realise but here, who knows? Do you want to be seen with me?”

“No!”

“Okay, I’ll go then.”

I open my mouth to protest and the twinkling eyed Liam grins at me. I kick him under the table. “I meant I didn’t want attention.”

“Interference in our date, you mean.”

At the word ‘date’, I concentrate on tipping sugar into my coffee and allowing my hair to sweep forward. Liam dips his head to look beneath my hair.

“Why are you blushing?”

“Because you make me feel like a teenager,” I say.

Liam pushes my hair away from my eyes. “That’s cute.”

His fingertips against my skin jolts like a static shock; and as he rubs my cheek, the sensation spreads to my scalp, down my neck, pretty much everywhere. I shiver. The intensity in Liam’s eyes shifts downward and I startle as his hand brushes the top of my chest. “You’re wearing the necklace,” he says, holding the chain in his fingers.

I close my hand around the gold heart and stare back at him, locked back in the strange place I see in his eyes. Mine and Liam’s place. “I always wear it.”

“Do you?” he asks in surprise, moving to touch my hand.

I let go of the heart and pull my fingers away, taking hold of my cup instead. Sipping the coffee, my dry mouth moistens and I focus on bringing myself back to reality.

“When I bought you that, I didn’t realise I’d be giving a piece of my heart to you with it,” he says quietly.

The black-haired girl returns with two slices of chocolate cake but my insides are too full of butterflies to attempt to eat. I smile and thank her; glad she’s interrupted the intensity of the moment.

Liam sighs. “I’m not interested in playing games with you. We’re not teenagers.”

“I know, but remember the Liam I knew before Christmas was the one from my teenage years. Of course you’ll make me feel like that still.”