She laughed. “Or what?”
Mallory let out a squeal—then sucked in a breath as if in pain when I rolled her onto her back.
“Shoot! I forgot about your ribs!” I started to move off her.
“Don’t,” she quickly said, taking hold of my shirt. “Don’t move, Liam.”
I didn’t move a muscle. Mallory was on her back, looking up at me, and I had my arms on either side of her. “You’re so beautiful. You take my breath away.”
Her hand rose and she placed it on the side of my face. “How you look at me sometimes makes my whole body warm,” she said.
I leaned down and kissed the side of her mouth. “I feel the same about you and those ever-changing eyes of yours. One minute they look gray; the next, green.”
“You’re the one with beautiful eyes,” Mallory whispered.
“Do you ever remember being on a roller coaster?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Driving down a country road with the windows down, full speed, and you hit a dip in the road, and it makes your stomach feel like it flips?”
“I wish I could say I knew that feeling. But I know when you touch me, my stomach does all kinds of acrobats.”
I grinned. “That’s the feeling. All you have to do is smile at me sometimes and I feel that. And when Randy looks at you like he wants to devour you, I want to punch his damn lights out.”
Mallory laughed and covered her face, then dropped her hands to her sides. “He doesnotlook at me like that!”
“The hell he doesn’t.”
She chewed on the side of her lip before she said, “Maybe we should let him know I’m taken.”
My brows shot up. “Are you?”
Lifting onto her elbows, she nodded. “Yes. Because you’re the only man I want looking at me like that.”
“Mallory,” I whispered before my mouth captured hers. She lay back down, and I lowered with her, kissing her as if it was the last time I’d ever see the woman.
Eventually, I slowed down and drew away, not wanting my fear of possibly losing her to set the pace. Her chest rose and fell with quick breaths.
“Promise me something right now.”
I ran my finger along her jaw. “Anything.”
“Promise me that no matter what we find out, we don’t let it ruin what’s happening between us.”
“Mall—”
Her finger covered my lips. “Liam, promise me.”
I closed my eyes and cursed. I knew I shouldn’t, but everything inside of me wanted to make that promise. So, I did.
“No matter what we find out, it won’t ruin what’s building between us.”
She smiled and pulled me back to her, kissing me in such a slow and sweet way, I nearly melted into a puddle next to her.
When she drew back, her eyes sparkled. “We should get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
Thank God one of us was thinking straight, because I was two seconds away from picking her up and taking her to my bed.
