28. Liam

28

LIAM

T he way my heart stumbles in my chest the moment I lay eyes on Marley should concern me. I’ve never felt it before and since I know I’m not going into cardiac arrest—I have a feeling it’s something a little scarier.

The odd thing though? It doesn’t scare me. Not really. All these years that I’ve purposely avoided relationships seem designed to bring me to her and that feels better than I expected.

The tiny voice in the back of my brain warning me that this could go very wrong is still there, mind you, but my heart beats too loud to hear. Especially when her eyes light up and she gives me a private smile.

My God, the way my mind races us right back to bed. I have half a mind to ‘show her my office’, but it’s not really my style. I’ll leave that to Max and Gus who think they are being covert but most definitely aren’t.

“Look who’s here,” Gus announces loudly as if the outline of my heart pounding on my chest and our heated gaze wasn’t proof enough that I saw her.

I tear my eyes away from Marley to address Gus. “I see that.”

“And this,” Gus waves toward the blonde sitting next to Marley, who I didn’t even notice until right this moment. “Is Fin.”

It takes a moment for my brain to process who Fin is and everything Marley told me about her fills in the blanks. “You’re working with Marley,” I say, putting my hand out. “It’s nice to meet you.”

She smiles. “You too, Liam.” She lifts her half-empty glass of cider. “This is delicious, nice work.”

“Thank you, but that’s my brother Max’s territory. I do the fun stuff—bookkeeping and numbers.”

Fin’s face crinkles. “Yeah, sounds super fun.”

Marley’s giggle makes my stomach turn over a half-dozen times and I can’t lie—I love the feeling. “How was your day?” I ask her, trying not to sound too eager. Judging by the look that Fin and Gus share, I would guess I was less than successful.

“Good,” she answers. “We got a lot done at work. The printing equipment is due to be delivered next Monday. How about you?’

“Not bad, I…”

Gus’ laughter interrupts me. “Sorry,” she says, ducking behind her hand. “You guys are just the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

I toss her an annoyed look. I love her as a sister, but right now, I wish Max would come out and sweep her away like he does occasionally. Instead, both my brothers appear, I’m assuming after a text from my soon-to-be sister-in-law.

“Well, well, well,” Elliot chimes in, grinning like he won the lottery. “I haven’t seen you smile like that in—” He looks at Max.

Max shrugs his gigantic shoulders. “Don’t look at me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile like that.” He scrutinizes me. “It looks weird when you’re not scowling.”

“True,” Elliot agrees as if they are looking at a piece of art in a museum and not me.

“Funny,” I intone, trying not to let them get under my skin. Marley just laughs lightly, and I relax.

“It’s good to see you, Marley,” Elliot tells her. “You should keep coming around.”

“If you keep making this cider,” she says lifting her glass, “I’ll keep coming around. My compliments to the brewmaster."

Max pretends to doff his hat. “I appreciate the praise, ma’am.”

“This is Fin,” I butt in, catching Elliot eying Fin as if he’d like to see what she’d look like in his bed. But we have a deal. No locals. No drama. “She works at the Post with Marley.”

His face falls a little with disappointment, but he shakes the hand she offers. “So nice to meet you. I’m Elliot.”

“Nice to meet you too,” she answers, uneffected by my brother’s annoyingly good looks. Normally women fawn all over him at just one look in his sky-blue eyes. But not Fin, and thankfully, not Marley.

I won’t lie, having two gorgeous women in the bar that don’t seem to care about Elliot’s existence is delicious.

“Where did Trace go?” Max asks, looking around for our lead bartender.

“He had an accident,” Gus chimes in, glancing at Fin, who blushes. “Went to wash a stain off his pants.”

“Ah,” Max nods, seeming to understand what his fiancé’s meaning

Just as Elliot mutters ‘poor kid’ under his breath, Trace reappears. Red as a tomato, his attempts to clean the beer off his pants just made it appear worse, leaving the whole front wet.

But in his usual good-natured style, he shrugs and says, “What can you do, right?”

Fin giggles so hard, she spills cider on her top and I think that maybe the two were made for each other.

“Hey,” I greet Marley when I get home later that night. For the first time in a long time, I left exactly the minute I could without a single qualm. I wanted to get home— needed to get home.

She looks up from the sofa with a warm smile. Her laptop balances precariously on her knees because Stephen has taken up the majority of her lap. Her hair is down and flowing over her shoulders, her cheeks are pink, and her lips look as if they need to be kissed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful in my life.

“Hey,” she says back, her voice a little husky as if she’s been thinking the adventures we had all night and this morning. “How was work?”

“Good,” I answer, setting my messenger bag on the table near the door. “This beautiful girl came in to see me, so that was nice.”

Her smile lights up every atom of my body. “Oh yeah? How do you know she came for you and not for a cider with her coworker?”

I walk over to her, lean over her computer and a purring cat, and kiss her lips as if they belong to me. When I stand up, her eyes have that glassy, fuck-me look that I’m beginning to crave. “Just a feeling. Was I wrong?”

She clears her throat, and I can feel the need in her from where I stand. It’s almost as strong as mine. “No.”

“Good.” I tweak her chin, loving how her eyes follow mine as if she’s addicted. “I’ve been thinking about what I want to do with you tonight.”

“You have?”

“Every minute,” I assure her. “Want to come find out?”