It was a gentle kiss, his warm mouth grazing across mine again and again before pressing in a little more firmly, more insistently. I was absolutely gone for him, ready to melt into a puddle at his feet. How was this simple kiss, almost innocent in nature, so much more exciting than any other kiss I’d ever shared with a man?
Way too soon he pulled back, his eyes closed tight while he rested his forehead against mine. “That was way shorter than I wanted it to be,” he breathed, opening his eyes to stare down at me. I shivered at the intensity I saw in his gaze. Had anyone ever looked at me the way he was looking now? Like he wanted to consume me whole, body and soul.
He swallowed, as if gathering himself, then continued. “But I never would have forgiven myself if I let you leave without doing that.”
Then he released me, stepping back, and the air seemed to rush back into my lungs now that there was some distance between us. “Thank you for a damn fine afternoon,” he murmured, reaching over to tuck a stray curl back behind my ear. “I hope I see you really soon.”
“I…” I was rendered mute is what I was. Completely unable to think or form words.
“Daddy?” Josie called. “It’s hot out here.”
I started at that. We’d probably only been out of sight for less than a minute, but that was long enough. I took a deep breath, unable to stop it from coming in all ragged, and stepped around the van.
“We’ll see you later, Elliot,” Liam said easily, as if he was completely unaffected by what had happened. Lucky him. I watched as they fist bumped and Liam went to open Josie’s door before finally shaking myself out of my daze enough to get moving.
“See you on Monday, Josie,” I called, pleased that my voice sounded almost normal.
“Bye, Miss K!” She called out from inside the car.
Liam sent me one last smirk as he shut her door. “Bye, Miss K.”
I have no idea why his words made me blush so hard. Maybe it was just the way his eyes were glinting with mischief. Or that he looked entirely satisfied with himself. In any case, I needed to get far away from this man before I lost control of myself completely.
“See ya,” I said, voice way too bright. Then I turned, grabbed hold of Elliot’s shoulder, and got the hell out of there.
CHAPTER 12
Ihad just settled into bed with a book when my phone beeped with a text on the nightstand. Groaning to myself—my mother had taken to texting when I didn’t answer her calls—I picked it up. An unknown number had texted:Please spare my dignity and tell me you didn’t watch.
I squinted at the message, trying to make sense of it. That didn’t sound like my mother. Normally she just tried to guilt trip me into sending her money.
Stumped, I typed back,Sorry, who is this?
The answer came almost immediately.Your favorite hockey hunk.
Oh, Lord. Liam was texting me now?
Me:How did you get my number?
The bouncing dots appeared, letting me know he was writing back. The thought gave me a little thrill. There was something so delicious about knowing he was holding his phone right at that moment, thinking about me while I was thinking about him.
Unknown:You included your number in the info packet we got at Meet the Teacher night.
Hmm. I knew for a fact that Liam was currently in Phoenix—I had just watched him play the first game of the preseason.So that must have meant he had put my number into his phone before he left. It was probably silly to feel so giddy about that, but I couldn’t help it.
That number was supposed to be used for school related emergencies only,I wrote back, grinning.
Unknown:Sorry. How’s this: My daughter might be sleepy in class tomorrow because she stayed up late to watch her daddy get his ass kicked on TV.
I winced. He really wasn’t exaggerating.
Me:It’s only the preseason. Things can turn around. Besides, you played well.
Liam had scored the team’s only goal.
His response was almost immediate.
Unknown:You watched it?
