Chapter Twenty-two
“W hat are these supposed to be?” Liam leaned close and whispered in my ear.
“No idea,” I said.
We were at the annual Gull’s Harbor art show, standing in front of an artist’s booth. This particular artist, Sadie Gentle-Wing according to the sign, worked in ceramics and seemed pretty obsessed with big, we’re talking huge, ovals in vibrant shades of pink, red and purple, which she displayed upright on enormous wooden stands.
Personally, I was not really focused on the art, because my man was holding my hand. Liam was holding my hand, yo! We were in public in our hometown at an art show and I was with him. We were together, a couple, the real deal. I was so giddy I was bouncing on my toes.
“It looks like a big sphincter to me,” Harry chimed in from behind us.
“Shh,” Soph hushed him, frantically searching for the artist, who was, yeah, standing right there.
Sadie was all decked out in flowing purple scarves and a bohemian blouse over a red broomstick skirt. She smelled faintly of sage and lavender and her long gray curls had streaks of purple and red in them.
“So close, young man.” Sadie clasped her hands together. “Actually, it’s a physical representation of the core of the female form, you know, the cradle of all human life, the vagina.”
I felt Liam’s fingers tighten around mine and when I glanced at him, his lips were pressed together as if he was trying very hard not to laugh. A snort came out of his nose, which he tried to turn into a sneeze. Yeah, he fooled no one.
“Come here, young man, and you can stroke it,” Sadie said.
The artist grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled him forward. He gave his mother a horrified look but was too polite to put up any resistance. Soph opened her mouth to speak, probably to try and stop the humiliation of her teenage son, but Hannah and Em were not about to let that happen.
“Oh, yes, just like that,” Hannah purred. “Stroke it.”
“Better yet, use some tongue,” Em said.
Soph gave her a shocked look and Em shrugged. Our baby sis took a selfie of herself inside one of the va-jay-jays, with her tongue out. Very risqué. Which I was certain would be on her social media account in five, four—my phone chimed. Yep, there it was, and I had no doubt it was about to break the internet.
Now that we knew Em was working through her grief in such a public fashion, we had all signed on as followers to her account, figuring we could track her and hopefully jump in to help her should it be required.
“Save me.” Harry mouthed the words at me. His eyes were wide, and he tried to hide behind his choppy blond hair to no avail. He was the picture of discomfort as Sadie guided his hand up and down inside the large ceramic oval.
“On it,” I mouthed back. I stepped close to get the artist’s attention. “Sadie, tell me, is your work limited to the female form or do you also render the male sexual organ as well?”
Liam was standing behind me and when I said, male sexual organ, I heard him snort-sneeze again. Harry gave me a you’re my hero look and disengaged his hand from Sadie’s and knees-to-chested it from the booth where he hid behind Soph. I couldn’t blame him.
Sadie was talking about the plethora of examples of the male form in our society which was why she focused on the female. Liam remained behind me, looking as if he was listening. He was not. Instead, he was pressed up against me, whispering wicked things in my ear whenever Sadie turned to gesture at one of her sculptures.
My heart was hammering hard in my chest and my eyes were becoming unfocused as desire began to heat up my insides when I felt Liam’s lips so close to my ear.
“This is fascinating,” I interrupted Sadie. So rude! Meanwhile I started to back into Liam, forcing him to walk backwards or risk being trampled by me. “But we have to go.”
“We do?” Liam asked. I could hear the laugh tucked into his voice and was determined to make him pay for that.
“Yeah, I think I left the stove on.” I gave him a wide-eyed stare to get him to go along with me.
“Oh, the stove,” he said. “Right.”
With that, I spun around and pushed Liam away from Sadie’s booth. I didn’t bother to look at my family but yelled over my shoulder, “Don’t wait, we’ll catch up.”
I dragged him past several more artist booths until I found a footpath that led into a small community garden. Lots of trees, shrubs, benches, and trellises. Perfect!
As soon as we found a secluded corner, I jumped him. Anticipating my move, Liam caught me close and in moments we were making out with all the enthusiasm of two high school kids before the late bell.
I dug my fingers into his thick, soft hair while he pulled me up against him with his hands on my lower back locking me into place while his mouth met mine. The sounds of people chatting and laughing blended in with the scent of flowers in bloom on this warm sunny day, creating a happy background for the groping that was happening in this secluded little park.
“Having a good time?” Liam asked as he broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to mine.
“The best,” I said.
I couldn’t remember when I’d been this purely, simply happy. My feelings when I was with Liam buffered the sadness and confusion that had seemed to fill me to bursting in the aftermath of Babs’s death. I knew my grief was a combination of losing my mother and losing my sense of identity all in one blow but having Liam in my arms, well, it made up for a lot.
“We should probably get back before I take advantage of you right here,” he said.
“Discreet sex in public?” I asked. “That’s on my bucket list.”
He groaned. “You are killing me.”
“In a good way?”
“In the best way.” His voice was gruff and gravelly as he glanced around us. “Far be it from me to deny your list maybe we should check that off right now.”
“You have to catch me first,” I teased.
I laughed and danced back a few steps from him. The sun shone on his hair, and I saw strands of copper mixed in the dark brown. His eyes crinkled in the corners when he smiled at me and his big, callused hands reached out to grab me, making me feel small and delicate, which was a rare and beautiful thing given that I wasn’t exactly petite.
“Surfer girl, do you have any idea of what I’m going to do to you when I catch you, and you know I will,” he said.
Oh, I had a pretty good idea, and I was one-hundred-percent all for it. I skirted around a fountain and peeked at him from behind it. He was striding forward, his T-shirt hugging his ripped torso, very intent in his purpose. I almost pretended to trip just so he could catch me, but I didn’t. I couldn’t make it too easy for him, could I?
“I have no idea, new boy,” I lied. “Do tell me and in great detail.”
I feinted one way and he dodged to catch me, then I doubled back the other way, but he anticipated my move and with a spin and a lunge, I was good and truly caught against him and the look in his eyes promised delicious retribution.
He carried me out of the small park with his arms around my waist and mine around his neck. Our faces were just inches apart while my feet dangled a good six inches off the ground.
“I think I’ll start kissing you here,” he said as he nuzzled my neck, which was like pulling a rip cord to get my motor running. Oh, my!
“And then, I’ll move my hands here.” Liam moved his hands to cup my rear and I instinctively thrust my hips against him. Uh oh, my engine was beginning to seriously overheat.
“Now you’re killing me,” I panted.
We were leaving the small park behind and mingling into the crowd. It was time to take this PG-13 and change its rating to a G. A few more hours with my family, okay, maybe just an hour, and we’d be able to excuse ourselves and hide back at his place. I loosened my arms and he let me slide down his front. Okay, a little bit of an R rating there.
“Should we say good-bye to the others and go home?” Liam asked.
“Yes,” I said. So much for an hour.
I grabbed his hand and turned to lead him in the direction of my family. I spotted them several booths away and began to wind my way through the crowd.
As we passed a booth, I caught sight of a navy hoodie out of the corner of my eye. Maybe I was paranoid, but my head whipped in that direction and I froze, causing Liam to plow into my back and knock us both forward a couple of steps.
The man in the sweatshirt glanced up and I recognized the aviators he always wore. It was him, the blond man who had been at the coffee shop, the same one who had looked in my bag while I was surfing, and now he was standing in an artist’s booth full of still life paintings of flowers. Coincidence?
My heart pounded in my chest. Gull’s Harbor was a small town, sure, and it was likely that I would run into a person a few times while going about my life, but this felt different. I got the feeling this guy wasn’t local. I also sensed that our meetings hadn’t been by chance, especially the one where he’d searched my bag on the beach.
Behind the aviators his gaze felt speculative. Why would he follow me? With Liam beside me, I knew this was my opportunity to get some answers. I moved toward the booth where the man in the sweatshirt stood.
“Are you okay?” Liam asked.
He must have felt me enter mission mode because he glanced between me and the hoodie guy and asked, “Do you know him?”
“No,” I said. “But I think he’s been following me.”
“What?” Liam’s back went straight and his muscles bunched. He looked like he was gearing up to do some damage.
“Easy.” I squeezed his hand in mine. “Let’s be sure before we start cracking skulls.”
He gave me a quick nod but the tension in his posture didn’t lessen one little bit. As we neared the booth, the man in the sweatshirt began to back up, looking for an exit that wouldn’t take him by us. This only added to my suspicions.
We were almost there, and he was trapped between three walls of floral paintings, the artist, two other tourists, and us, and we were closing in.
“Liam!”
A shrill voice to the left interrupted our pace as we both glanced in that direction. Standing there looking shocked was a woman with long straight black hair, wearing a body-hugging yellow dress and sky-high heels. In her hand was a tall frosty pink beverage with an umbrella in it. Her brown eyes went wide as she noticed Liam holding my hand.
“You bastard!” she cried. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed the beverage at Liam, a strawberry concoction judging by the smell, hitting him square in the chest.
In a flash of recognition, I knew this was Courtney. The beverage-tossing-anger helped me put her into context and I recognized her from the pictures I’d seen on the internet.
“Yow!” Liam sucked in a breath as the frozen drink soaked his shirt in a frosty deluge.
“Hey!” I shouted. I got that she was upset but seriously do not throw things at my man. “That was totally uncalled for!”
“It’s okay,” Liam said as he swiped chunks of strawberry off his shirt.
“It is not okay.” I stepped forward, ready to rumble, but Liam held me back.
“Jules,” he said. “I love that you want to kick ass on my behalf, but I got this. Just give us a minute.”
“Fine, but if she does anything else...”
I let the threat linger there and Liam’s lips twitched. He pulled me close and kissed me quick. I glanced over his shoulder to see the other woman wince. Okay, I felt a little bad about that.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.” He turned to her and said, “Courtney, can we talk about this?”
Courtney dropped the empty plastic cup and covered her face with her hands, starting to sob. And, yeah, now I really felt bad. I knew from personal experience how hard it was to get over Liam. How could I blame her for being upset?
“I’ll just wait over there.” I gestured in the direction of my family and Liam nodded.
As I turned to walk away, I noticed that the hoodie guy wasn’t in the booth anymore. Damn it. I had been so close to confronting him and finding out what he wanted and with Liam at my back, too. Had we gotten to chat with him, he would have left with a clearer understanding about boundaries and personal space.
I scanned the area. No sign of hoodie, but I found my family at a food truck. Shocker. This one had churros. Yes, please! While we loaded up on deep-fried cinnamon sugary goodness, Soph plucked a chunk of strawberry out of my hair.
“Saving it for later?” she asked.
Em snorted and I said, “No, that little gift came from Liam’s ex-girlfriend.”
“What?” Em glanced around. “Where is he? I assumed he just went to the bathroom.”
“No, they’re talking,” I said. “We bumped into her, and she threw her daiquiri at him. I suspect she has some things to get off her chest.”
“And you left him alone?” Soph looked stunned at both revelations.
“Sure, why not?”
“Because she’s probably trying to win him back right now,” Soph said. “And you left the gate wide open.”
“I’m not worried about Liam.” I waved her concern away.
Soph smacked her forehead with her palm as if she could not believe that I could be this stupid.
Em took a bite of her churro and through a mouthful said, “Jules is right. I’ve never seen a man look at a woman the way Liam looks at her.” She patted my arm. “It’ll be fine. They’ll talk and he’ll come running back to you.”
“Sorry but in my experience, men can have their heads turned in a blink.” Soph bit her churro as if it had done something to piss her off.
I frowned. I hated that Soph’s doubts were making me edgy. I knew she was just looking out for me but still I couldn’t stand to think that after all we’d been through, Liam would dump me to go back to Courtney. But really, what did he have with me? A fresh start? Great. But he’d never let me explain why I’d left to begin with, and I really felt that he needed to know.
I bit my churro. It tasted like deep fried paste. I scanned the throng to see if he was coming back. There was no sign of him. I tried not to worry and failed spectacularly.
Harry and Hannah had found friends of theirs and zipped by to shake Soph down for money before they disappeared into the crowd. Em, Soph, and I wandered through the rest of the art show. Still, there was no sign of Liam and my phone remained ominously silent. I was just beginning to think I was going to ditch the sisters and head back to his house to do boyfriend recon when my phone chimed. Yes!
Had to take Courtney home. She’s in no state to drive. Text you when I get back.
Now mature me wanted to text back that this was fine but immature me, who seemed to be in control of my fingers, wanted to shut my phone off and ignore the text that was making my internal organs shrivel up like grapes in the sun.
“Good news?” Soph asked.
“Yeah, sure, it’s cool,” I said.
My older sis leveled me with a gaze. “Do not tell me he is taking her home.”
“Okay,” I said. “I won’t tell you he’s taking her home, but yeah, he’s taking her home.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Soph said. “What is it with men who cave to a woman’s tears when she’s not even his woman? There should be a repellent spray for that sort of thing.”
“Like bug spray?” Em clarified.
“Exactly,” Soph said with a snap of her fingers. “Then you could spray your guy before he went out and you wouldn’t have to worry about some crazy beyotch manipulating him with her boo hoo hoo.”
“Jules does not have to worry.” Em shook her head. “Liam has finally gotten her back. He’s not going to do anything to screw this up.”
“I have never loved you more.” I hugged Em close. “You’re right. We just got our second chance. We’re not going to mess that up. Right?”
They both looked at me with hope shining in their eyes aaaaand a smidgeon of doubt. Ugh.
“Jules, sweetie, I have been looking for you everywhere!”
I turned to see an off-the-charts gorgeous woman headed my way. A tall and curvy Latina, with thick wavy black hair that hung down to her waist, she strutted through the craft fair booths in a form-fitting red sundress and strappy sandals as if she owned the place. I felt my heart clutch in my chest. Worlds colliding!
“Jess!” I cried. My mouth dried and I instinctively scanned the area for Liam, but he was long gone. Thank god!
“Hey, girl,” Jessie scooped me close and hugged me hard. “Surprise!”
When she let me go, I glanced at Em and Soph. Both of their mouths were hanging open, in fact, a bite of churro fell out of Em’s, and their eyes were huge, like, anime huge. Yep, because the boy they had known, hot guy Jessie Lopez, who I’d left Gull’s Harbor with nine years ago was now hella hot gal Jessica Lopez.