7. Chapter 7
The kiss with Liam in the kitchen the other day has shaken me. I mean, I’ve daydreamed about him kissing me since the first moment I saw the man he became. But the reality was so much more delicious than I thought it would be.
All I can think about is the next time, his hands will roam my body, the rough calluses rubbing along the soft skin under my shirt. I'll be able to run my hands over all the hard muscles earned from chopping wood. He'll trail kisses down my throat, and across my collarbone.
I clench my thighs at the thought, and shake my head. This is not going to get me anywhere productive.
I turn to the oven and take out the bagels I was making for the inn. I really don’t think Liam would be happy if I set off the smoke detectors because I was daydreaming about him. Or maybe he would. Either way I don’t know if I’m ready to find out.
“What smells so good in here?” Emma walks in still in her pajamas with a travel coffee cup in her hands.
She leans on the edge of the counter and sips from her cup.
“I made bagels for you guys. They freeze really well so you can put out however many you need and they won’t go bad.” I place the hot pan on the island.
She leans forward inhaling the fresh scent wafting off the pan. “Mmm. Can I eat one now?”
“I would definitely wait just a minute. Plus I’m whipping up some cream cheese flavors. How do you feel about a herb and garlic cream cheese?”
“I feel very, very good about that.” She licks her lips in response.
“What is that smell?” Liam comes barging into the kitchen.
“Food big brother. It’s delicious food sent by an angel. What a kitchen at an inn is supposed to smell like,” Emma answers him.
I see the moment the defensiveness takes over his face. He narrows his eyes and grunts in her direction.
“How about a real answer from you?” He nods in my direction.
“Just a simple bagel. And I’m making some cream cheese. Would you like one to go?”
“So I’m not welcome to sit here and drink my coffee and eat a bagel? ”
I stammer, “Of course you are. It’s your kitchen. I just thought maybe you were busy.”
He leans into me, “I’m joking. A to-go bagel sounds perfect.”
Flustered, I pick up a bagel to slice and slather with cream cheese before wrapping it up for him.
“I didn’t know you could do that.” Emma eyes Liam over her cup.
“What?”
“Make jokes, flirt,” she answers flatly.
“Oh he can make some good ones.” My cheeks heat at the reminder of the joke he made right before kissing me.
Liam winks at me, taking his breakfast and leaving Emma and I alone in the kitchen once again.
She picks up a bagel off the pan and slices her own before putting cream cheese on top.
“So… want to share what’s going on there?” Emma bites into her breakfast and moans. “This is the best fucking bagel I’ve ever had.”
“Thank you. I take the happy food noises and dances as a big compliment.”
I crack eggs into the bowl for my next adventure, muffins.
I’m going to make a dark chocolate cherry muffin for the Valentine’s Day theme coming up.
“Are you ignoring the question?” She smirks at me.
“No. I don’t have an answer. He’s grouchy, but he was my best friend. He’s always preferred to be alone, but not with me. It’s like we’re kids again. Only he’s a little…” She stares at me. “Okay, a lot easier to annoy. ”
“That man was not looking at you like that when you were kids.” She raises a brow at me.
“Okay. So like we’re kids but with adult…feelings,” I smirk. “Do you really want to talk to me about your brother?” I joke.
She scrunches up her face, “Yup. Nope. When you say it like that…,” she fake gags at the thought. “I thought we were friends.”
I laugh at her as I throw on my mixer and she leaves me alone in the kitchen once again to finish up my orders.
I wrap the bagels individually while the muffins bake, and pack up boxes for the guests coming in this weekend, and for the coffee shop. I pack small cups of cream cheese to go with each bagel.
When the timer dings, I pull out the trays of muffins.
This time I inhale deeply. The dark chocolate melts and mixes with the dark cherries to create a sweet smell that fills the kitchen.
I place the muffins by a cracked window to cool quickly. I’m trying to get everything packed up for the coffee shop so I can make a delivery before the meeting to plan the Valentine’s Day dance.
Just as I’m about to bring the boxes out to my car, Liam pulls up to the inn.
“I was just coming to see if you wanted to drive with me to the meeting,” he says in such a curt manner.
“Why yes, Liam, I would love nothing more than to attend the meeting with you. Thank you so much for asking so nicely.” I stick my tongue out at him as I place a batch of boxes in the trunk.
“Violet, would you like to drive with me to the meeting? I would enjoy spending time with you,” he corrects himself.
“On one condition, help me grab the rest of these for Emerald Roasters.” I wrap my arm about his waist and walk back to the kitchen. Surprisingly, he wraps a strong arm around my shoulders in response.
He leans down to whisper “You know, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about our kiss. I was really disappointed when Emma was in the kitchen this morning.”
“I can’t either,” I admit to him. “Too bad we have somewhere to be.”
“Go to dinner with me tonight?” He spits out abruptly before pressing his lips together tightly, like he’s afraid to hear my answer.
“I’d love to. But I go to bed pretty early since I start baking at four in the morning.”
“Perfect. I start my day around the same time. Maybe if I’m lucky we can start our day together.” He winks at me and takes a pile of boxes out to the car.
Now I don’t want to actually go to this meeting to plan a Valentine’s Day date for other people, I want to be on my own date with Liam.
This time he settles into the driver’s seat forcing me into the passenger’s side of my own car.
“Why don’t you stay at the inn? Not all of the rooms are ready for booking. And it would make it easier for you with the early mornings. It’s what Emma does when she comes home.”
“Whoa there big bad wolf, you already want me to move in with you?” The shock on his face was absolutely worth looking like a crazy girlfriend .
“I mean, not with me…just…a room at the inn.” His white knuckles on the steering wheel give him away.
“That was too easy. I’m joking obviously. But that does sound like a much better idea than waking up extra early to get ready and drive over in the dark. I’ll talk to Gran after the meeting.”
He reaches over the center console of the car, and squeezes my thigh, then leaves his hand. It feels too natural. Too right.
Disappointment takes over when he moves his hand to park.
“Ready? I hope you and Rome have ideas.”
“Ready as I can be.”
The group piles around a conference table, chattering about all the ideas and what they want for the dance.
We’ve been in this meeting for an hour already and it’s clearly becoming just a big brainstorming session instead of an actual planning session.
“Okay,” I place my hands on the table, “we need a decision. Let’s start with a theme first. The most liked themes were black and red masquerade or a work of heart.”
I hand everyone a sticky note, and instruct them to write down their votes.
Once everyone has handed in their choices, I count them and read the winner, “Black and red masquerade is the winner. Now that we have that set, I think we should go more formal with the décor.”
“I have black linens for the tables that someone left behind from an event we can use,” Roman adds.
“That would look lovely with some gold candle sticks with red candles.” Esther volunteers .
“This is a good starting point, let’s find someone who can design invites.” I say.
For once, Liam offers an idea. “Willow’s sister could probably help us. She does stuff for the inn’s social media all the time. I can text her later.”
Who the hell is Willow? And her sister?
I narrow my eyes at Liam, and I can see he’s hiding a smile.
“Great. Why don’t you just do that, text Willow’s sister. Are we good here?” Fuck Willow and her sister. Why do I even care that he has had relationships in his life? It’s not like I was a saint.
We adjourn the meeting and everyone goes their separate ways. Except Liam and I.
“Are you jealous? Of Willow?” He can’t contain the smirk.
“No. It’s none of my business.” I walk past him and down the hall.
“Willow is Gunnar’s fiancée. And Scarlett is her married sister.” He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me tight to him, before backing me up against the wall in the stairway.
“Oh.”
“That’s all you have to say?” He slides his hands down the sides of my ribs making my skin pebble.
“Yes Liam, I believe you.”
“Good. Let’s get you to Margaret’s so you can pack your bags.” His low gravelly voice sends a shiver down my spine. But instead of kissing me, he pulls away and leaves me in the hallway.
I follow him out, disappointed in myself for how much I wanted him to keep touching me in a town’s municipality building. It’s not even a sexy location .
When we get to Gran’s house, she is already here in the kitchen baking something that smells amazing.
“Gran, we’re here!” I shout to the kitchen.
“Come on back, dear!”
I reach back to take Liam’s hand and pull him with me.
“Taste this.” Gran shoves something into my mouth as soon as I turn the corner.
“Mmm, that’s amazing! Strawberries and cream?” The rich fudge melts on my tongue.
“Yes! I was thinking this would be great for favors at the dance!” I hand a piece of fudge to Liam.
“Margaret, this is even better than the cranberry cookies. You definitely outdid yourself. I think everyone will be happy to have these as favors,” he coos at Gran.
Gran does her little happy dance when people approve of her new creations, and goes back to the stove for another batch.
“I am going to go pack up my stuff, I don’t have much. I’ll be right back.”
I’m halfway up the stairs when I hear Gran tell Liam that he’s allowed to follow me up to my room.
When we were teenagers, he was never allowed upstairs to my room, and I was never allowed to his. Hopefully that changes tonight.
He tentatively stands at the entrance, taking in the small twin bed and the childhood toys still here.
“Wow. This is a blast from the past.” He runs his finger along all the childhood books that were my favorites to read on the beach in the summer.
He sits on the twin bed, “I bet you’ll be happy to have a king size, top of the line bed. ”
“Ugh. That sounds like heaven.” My eyes flutter closed at the thought.
I love Gran, and I love being with Gran, but this bed does nothing for adult me.
I toss the last of my dirty laundry into a backpack. “Okay, ready to go!”
“That’s all you have?”
“I’ve not been here too long. And I could only pack what I could carry on the subway.” I shrug in response, grabbing one of my suitcases.
“Okay then. Let’s go.” He places his hand on the small of my back, and leads me down the stairs with my other suitcase behind him.
Gran is still in the kitchen working on her fudge when we come back down.
“What do you think about a chocolate covered cherry fudge?” she asks without her eyes leaving the sensitive mixture in the pot.
“Oh I just made a chocolate and cherry muffin. The flavor combo is great. It would be a perfect mix with the strawberries and cream too for favors.” I slide up next to her, inhaling the current mix. “Want to work on it together later this week?”
“Of course I do!” I kiss her on the cheek before we leave. “And bring me one of those muffins! I might want to add it to the menu.”
“Sure thing, Gran. I’ll make you a fresh batch.” Liam and I wave on our way out the door.
He has some work to finish before our date when we get back to the inn. So I get settled in the room he gave me and decide to go bake some cookies to pass the time. I am going to cook dinner in his cabin, and with any luck, we’ll get to eat by the fireplace that I know is in there.
The fireplaces have always been my favorite, and I used to dream of cozying up with a blanket by the roaring fire with one of my books when I was younger. Something I definitely have kept romanticized in my head all these years. And tonight I finally get to experience it, hopefully. The summers never really lent themselves to fires inside, only the bonfires on the beach.
I pull out all the ingredients to make s’mores cookies, I figure they will fit the theme with our picnic by the fire.
Cleaning the kitchen always allows me to lose myself in doing dishes and singing along to some of my favorite country songs. It’s cathartic really.
“Are you ready for our date?” Liam turns the music down before asking, letting me know he’s in the room.
I’m elbow deep in a sink full of suds. Without me asking, he comes next to me and starts drying the dishes as I wash them. “I am.”
“Good. I am too.” We exchange quiet smiles between us.
We work in silence for the next fifteen minutes, me washing and him drying. Like the perfect partnership. Something I’ve been thinking about the better part of today.
“You know I’ve been thinking all day about the amount of guests you are expecting for Valentine’s Day. What if we had a special package for them, a dessert package?”
“What are you thinking?”
“I could make heart shaped cakes for two, and the newest trend is a chocolate shell that they can smash and there’s fun little prizes inside with sprinkles. We could take personalized orders for it, add a chilled bottle of champagne.”
He leans over and kisses the top of my head, “I think that sounds like a great idea. Can you make a few up tomorrow so we can take photos for the website? That way people can add it to their reservations.”
“Yes! I can get Emma to help me, if you don’t need her.”
“She’s all yours.” He puts the last dish away. “Now, can I have you all to myself?”
“Yes, please.” I hand him a picnic basket with all the food I will need to make dinner.
Looping the basket around his arm, he places his hand on the small of my back and walks me outside to the four wheeler.
Wrapping myself around his hard body, he takes off to his cabin. The bumps pressing my body into his. My thighs squeeze around his to keep myself on the four wheeler.
I’m giddy with excitement to see his cabin, to be in his personal space. Getting to learn more about the elusive Liam Keaton feels special.
Liam and I are laying on a blanket in front of the fireplace with classical music playing in the background. I’ve draped myself across his chest, rubbing circles on his abs with my fingertip while we catch up about everything that has happened since the last time I’ve been to Balsam Cliffs .
Shockingly, despite his grumpy, gruff exterior, he’s a true romantic at heart. He’s made sure that my romanticized date by the fire is met with every last hope that I had for it.
“I have one more surprise.” He sits up, pulling the pillows up behind us to prop them on the couch.
“Oh I love surprises!”
He hands me a gift bag. I peer inside and pull out two books.
“Books?” Liam was never a reader.
“Keep going.”
I look further into the bag and see a small carving knife and a piece of wood. The books are for me, I realize. So we can each do our hobby by the fire like I always wanted.
“Liam.” Tears threaten to fall at the sweetness of my big bad wolf.
He shrugs like it’s no big deal. But it is a huge deal.
He pats the spot next to him and I cuddle in under his arm with the books, handing him the piece of wood and knife.
“Thank you, this is perfect.” I smile up at him, and he kisses my forehead.
I stretch up and place my lips to his.
His hand slides into my hair at the nape of my neck, pulling to get my face to his. Warm soft lips tentatively kiss mine. His tongue parts my lips, opening to him.
Pulling me into his lap, I straddle him by the fire. Thirteen year old me could never have imagined this would be how a night with Liam Keaton would go. Back then it was all innocent dreams, reading a book by this amazing fire, spending time with my best friend. But damn if this isn’t better.
I grind into him, moaning, and needy for more .
“This isn’t why I invited you here,” he says through the kisses.
“Was it not?” I pull back. “I think there was talk of eating me all up.” I raise a brow.
“I mean. I hoped. But I don’t want you to think this is why I did all of this. I just wanted you to have a night by the fire like you always wanted. So I made it happen for you.”
I kiss his cheek, “I appreciate that, and love that you remembered.” Another kiss to his other cheek. “But I’m more than happy with what is happening now.”
He flips me onto my back and hovers over me, his silhouette lit only by the fire in the room, and the soft lighting coming from the kitchen.
He buries his face in my neck, kissing along my collarbone, eliciting goosebumps all over my body just like my daydreams earlier.
I wiggle underneath him, “Liam, please.”
“What beautiful? What do you want?”
“I want your hands on me.”
He places both of his large hands on my hips and pushes my shirt up, grazing over my breasts. I lift myself up so he can pull it over my head.
He leans down, sucking a nipple into his mouth through the lace bra. The cool air on my wet nipples make them painfully hard.
Reaching between us I pull his henley tee over his head. He barely misses a beat with his hands roaming and his lips trailing kisses down my body, pausing just below my belly button. He hooks a finger into the waist of my leggings and pulls them down below my hips .
“Lift.” He taps the side of my ass with his free hand and when I oblige he pulls my leggings down and off my legs.
His warm hands slide up my legs, curling around to my inner thighs. I’m so glad I shaved today.
His thumb gently grazes over my clit through the lace panties I still have on, sending tingles up my spine.
“You have too many clothes on,” I gasp out.
But he doesn’t stop, doesn’t pay attention to me, and soon my attention is drawn to what he’s doing.
He’s pulling my panties down my legs and lifting each leg over his shoulders. He brings my body up to his face. This time the shiver takes over my body involuntarily in anticipation.
I am about to combust at just the thought of him touching me.
He runs his finger along my clit drawing down further and slipping his finger inside me.
“So ready for me.” He grins down at me.
“More… please.” I arch my back, bringing me closer to him.
He gives me just what I want, and brings his face to my pussy, licking the same path his fingers just traced.
While his mouth is busy, he reaches his hands forward, grasping each of my breasts. The pressure makes every other feeling heightened.
“Liam!” I yell out my pleasure. “I’m so close.”
I haven’t had an orgasm by a man, well ever, before Liam. I’ve fooled around with guys who don’t know what they’re doing, but I’ve never actually slept with anyone. A confession I might have to make sooner than later.
He flattens his tongue and puts pressure on my clit, alternating between sucking and licking .
In an embarrassingly quick pace, I scream out my orgasm. He never stops until I’m done pulsing, riding out my orgasm on his face.
He pulls me back up to him, cradling me in his arms and sweetly kisses my forehead.
“You still have pants on,” I grumble.
“This was just for you, beautiful. How do you feel about starting a fire in the bedroom and reading your book in my bed?”
I look up at him under hooded eyes, “That sounds glorious.”
In my post orgasm haze, I’m happy and sleepy. Ready to cuddle up and read until I fall asleep in his arms.
The conversation about my virginity can happen another day.
Liam scoops me up in his arms, and carries me to his bed.
He disappears back to the living room but when he returns, he tosses me the tee he was wearing at dinner, and strips off his jeans before joining me in bed.
“This is the best night ever.” I bury myself next to him, wrapping up in his blanket and sinking into the soft mattress.
He kisses me once more before my heavy eyelids take over, and I don’t even get to enjoy a fire in the bedroom with my new book.