“Will you fall asleep now?” I ask, hoping that he’ll sayno.
He gently pushes me onto my back before he slides down my body to settle between my legs. “This first, lilac. Another taste, and then I’ll dream about you.”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Athena
I madeit to Wild Lilac with time to spare before my daily delivery arrived.
I have no idea how I pulled that off. I didn’t want to leave the bed or Liam’s arms, but duty called, so I showered first and got dressed while he watched my every move.
I let him help button up my blouse and tie my hair back.
He was gentle and eager, taking time to tell me how much he admired me.
Once he showered, we walked to the shop hand-in-hand, stopping to talk to the bodega owner and to inhale the scent of freshly baked bread before he kissed me goodbye and left.
“Good morning!”
I crane my neck to see Leanna march into the store with a cup of tea in each hand.
I rush toward her to offer help since she’s balancing a large tote bag on one shoulder.
“I’ll take these.” I reach for the cups.
“Thank you,” she replies with a wink. “They always offer a tray, and I always decline. Why?”
Laughing, I set the cups down on the checkout counter. “You have a system that works. Why mess with that?”
“I’m tempting fate with my system.” She waves a hand at me. “One wrong move and I’ll end up with third degree burns. Tomorrow I’m getting a tray unless you want to meet me there tomorrow.”
She lost me after the firsttomorrow. “Meet you where?”
Rolling her eyes, she lets out a giggle. “At the café two blocks over.”
I still feel like I’m fumbling around in the dark, so I take a sip of tea with the hope that she’ll keep talking. I need her to fill in the blanks.
“I’ve seen your friend there twice.” Leanna grabs the other cup of tea. Popping open the plastic lid, she blows on the hot liquid.
Leanna considers everyone who walks through Wild Lilac’s doors a friend. “Which friend?”
“The hot guy who bought you pizza.” She fans herself with her hand. “He looks just as hot in the morning when he’s drinking coffee.”
She should see him naked in bed.
“He was with a gorgeous man the other day.” She wiggles both brows. “Today, it’s a beautiful woman.”
Jealousy spears through me even though I have no idea who Liam is with.
“If you hurry, I think you could catch up to him and sayhi.” She waves her fingers at me. “Don’t let that slip through your grasp, Athena.”
Setting my shoulders back, I suck in a deep breath. Liam doesn’t strike me as the type of man who rolls out of bed with one woman to meet another for coffee. Besides, if he went to thecafé right after he left me here, he’s already been there for close to two hours.
Putting faith in anyone other than the people closest to me isn’t easy, but I trust Liam. I shake off the envy and think about how he looked at me when he kissed me goodbye this morning.
“I’m going to stay right where I am and enjoy this tea with you.”
Tapping the side of her cup against mine, she smiles. “Cheers to that! Let’s get to work.”
