Until There Was You(67)

“No.”

She nodded, pulled the robe tighter still, practically strangling herself with it.

“I had a thing with someone out in San Diego,” he found himself saying. “About a year after Emma died. Kind of a friends with benefits situation.”

“Right.”

He was losing patience. “Cordelia, have I terrified you or something? You seemed like you were having a pretty good time up there.”

“I was! I did! I just wonder about how you felt about it. Given, um…Emma.”

“I wasn’t thinking of Emma!” he barked, then lowered his voice. “You’re the one who’s like a dog with a damn bone.”

“Well, Liam, I don’t see how you can avoid it,” she said in a huffy voice.

“I’m a guy, Cordelia! I think about whatever’s in front of me.”

“You don’t have to yell at me, idiot,” she snapped. “You’re scaring my dog.” Her dog was lying on his back, jowls drooping, the paper from the crackers under his ear. “I’m sorry,” she continued, not sounding very sorry at all. “It’s just…I’ve never been with a widower. And I remember Emma and how…nice she was.”

Great. Now her eyes looked a little wet. Women. Extremely difficult. “She was nice. And I did love her.” He paused. “But I was thinking about you,” he said in a gentler voice.

“Really?”

Liam opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. “Yes, Cordelia. As I said, I’m a guy. We’re very basic. You’re here, I like you, I’d like to be back in bed with you instead of in this freezing kitchen having this ridiculous conversation, but if you want to talk, fine. I think about Emma every day. She’s part of me. My child’s mother. Can’t forget her. I wasn’t comparing you, though. I was thinking of you. And that mouth of yours. I’m thinking of it right now.”

There. That shut her up. Her cheeks blossomed with pink once more, and she blinked a couple of times. “Oh,” she managed eventually.

“Speechless, huh?”

She grinned. Nodded.

Liam got out of his chair, stepped over the calflike dog and knelt down next to her. “Good.” He leaned in close and kissed those ripe, pink lips, earning a quick intake of breath as a reward. “Now, if it’s all right with you,” he murmured, inhaling the smell of her, “I’d like to take you back upstairs and get you out of this disgusting bathrobe. What do you say?” He pulled back and looked at her.

She was smiling. “Sounds like a plan, biker boy.”

LIAM JERKED AWAKE the next morning and glanced at the clock: 7:02. Sun streamed in through the windows, illuminating the rafters and a few cobwebs as well.

He had to get home; Nicole was due back at ten.

Cordelia was still sleeping, her hair standing up in odd little clumps, her lashes wispy on her cheeks. Elf-cute, there was really no other way to think of it. Her lips were slightly swollen, and he’d left a little beard burn on her neck. He’d have to shave first next time.

Next time. The thought made him pause.

Cordelia Osterhagen came from a nice family. Chances were high that she probably wanted to get married, have a couple kids, pick out a couch, the whole deal. All good things…just not with him.

Marriage hadn’t been hell or anything…but it hadn’t been easy. It wasn’t the circumstances, the unexpected pregnancy. Those were actually their happiest years, when Nicole was little. But from the very beginning, he could sense it, the long, slow fading as Emma’s heart slipped away a little further each year, as she fell out of love with the juvie mechanic who’d knocked her up.

Besides. There was Nicole to think of.

He got out of bed and pulled on his clothes in silence, then bent down and gave Cordelia a gentle shake. “Hey. I have to run. Nicole needs a ride.”

“Okay,” she said sleepily. Then she bolted awake, her head smacking his. “Ow! Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he said, rubbing the sore spot. “See you around?”

“Oh…sure.”

He knew that look. But aren’t we in something here? Will you call me? When will I see you again? Didn’t this mean something? He’d seen that look on Paige’s face in San Diego, and on the faces of a dozen girls back in the day, and now, seeing it on Cordelia’s, he… Well, shit.

She pulled the covers higher and looked away. The awkward silence filled the room like carbon monoxide. Liam sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on his boots. “Last night was great.”

“Yeah.” She blushed, and he felt an uncomfortable pull in his chest. When she’d opened the door and jumped him, come on. A guy didn’t just pass that up. Not when all the blood cheerfully fled from head to groin, rendering logical thought completely impossible. Then in the kitchen last night, he’d just wanted to…reassure her for some reason, even though she’d given him the perfect out, bringing up Emma and all.

“Cordelia, listen.”

“You’re not ready for a big relationship, you have a kid, you’re still adjusting, a fling would be fine, but no commitment.”

Wow. He smelled a trap. She didn’t look mad, or like she was about to burst into tears, but women were tricky. “Um…well, in some ways, yes.”