Blake eyed the clothes in his hand.
“Oh, you’re goingintothe shower. Not out.” Her face fell. “I can wait. Or, well, I guess you might want to get some sleep, so maybe I’ll just talk to you tomorrow.”
Maybe it was because of that kiss that they weren’t talking about, or maybe it was because, in that moment, something happened that had never happened before.
Blake Bennet looked lost.
Holding a baby monitor in her pajamas, hair wet, and wanting to talk, Blake looked tired and lonely and restless. It was a combination that Liam knew well. She wanted someone next to her.
And Liam wanted to be that person for her.
So he reached out and took her hand, pulled her gently with him into the bathroom and then shut the door behind them.
BLAKEWASHOLDINGon to the baby monitor like it was a lifesaver and she had just been thrown into the sea without a hope of treading water.
Liam locked the bathroom door and put his folded clothes on top of the closed toilet seat. Then, like it was the most natural thing in the world, he reached past the shower curtain along the opposite wall and turned on the water.
When he turned back around to face her, Blake knew her face was the color of a stop sign.
He smirked. He pointed to the counter next to the sink.
“As long as you don’t peek, you can sit there and we can chat while I shower,” he said. “I wouldn’t mind the company, if I’m being honest. It’ll be nice to get out of my head for a little bit.”
Blake opened her mouth. Then closed it. Then opened it again.
She didn’t hate the idea, but was it appropriate?
You already kissed him earlier, what’s talking to him in the bathroom? It’s not like you’ll be in the shower with him.
Her internal battle ended quickly.
She pretended to think about it a little longer, though, before making a big show of relenting.
“I guess we’ve already been through a firefight together,” she said. “What’s talking in the bathroom compared to that?”
Liam waited to undress after Blake settled on top of the counter. She closed her eyes just in time to see his shirt flutter to the ground. Her face went all flames at the sound of the rest of his clothes hitting the floor. She kept her eyes tight until the shower curtain moved twice. Even then she didn’t open them all the way until he called out to her.
“You’re safe.”
Blake let out a little breath she had been holding and positioned the baby monitor so she could see it without holding on to it. She double-checked that her side was on Mute, and the other side was on Loud. They had brought the travel basinet for Bruce, so Lola and Clem were on the bed beside it, all three fast asleep. Blake envied their ability to sleep that easily. She had tossed and turned until she had needed to escape.
Though, did it count as escape if she had gotten out of bed with Liam in mind?
Running toward someone was its own plan after all.
“I was worried me walking around had woken you up,” Liam said from the other side of the shower curtain. Blake glanced at it. She couldn’t even see his silhouette. It would be a bold-faced lie if she pretended that didn’t annoy her a little. “The only person I usually have to worry about waking up is Theo, and that boy can sleep through a bomb blast, I’m pretty sure. He’s still upset that I wouldn’t let him come stay with us, by the way. He said he’s more than ready to fight if he needs to. I told him that’s not needed.”
Blake had originally wanted to talk more about their investigation but found her curiosity of the man overriding that never-ending circle of questions.
“You two must be close. He said you’re like a babysitter to him?”
The sound of water shifted. Liam must have moved out of its spray a little.
“Yes and no,” he said. “The first time I met him was in the middle of a really nasty storm. His mom was out of town, and he lost his key and was huddled in the stairwell, scared out of his mind. I let him come to my place to wait out the storm. Almost two years later, and now he’s at my place, eating my food, come rain or shine.” Before Blake could ask about his parents, Liam added the answer on. “His dad passed away when he was a baby, and his mom remarried a guy who travels for work a lot and doesn’t really like kids. His mom asked me to look after him one time, and after I said I would, she kind of stopped coming home regularly. It’s kind of an unspoken thing that he can come and go as he likes. Just like it’s an unspoken thing that he has to show me his grades, do chores, and stay out of trouble, or else.” Liam laughed. “The first time I grounded him from TV because of his math grades was the last time he brought home bad math grades.”
Blake smiled.
“Who knew the cold sheriff of Seven Roads had such a caring side?”
