Chapter 24
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
Liam
Going to the park with Alie and Sera this weekend was incredible.
I didn’t see them yesterday, but Alie and I texted throughout the day.
My anger toward Alie for not telling me about the baby is waning because I do want to have a relationship with my daughter, no matter what, but I also still want … Alie.
Aaron is an issue that needs to be addressed, but Alie told me yesterday that she would like to speak with him first. I will respect her wishes for now, but I really want to fucking know why he lied to us.
It’s all I thought about during my workout today, making it hard for me to focus on what I needed to do. So after forty minutes, I gave up and showered. I have an afternoon meeting anyway, so I might as well stop by and see Alie before they start.
I make my way up to her floor, first taking a turn, and stroll by the nursery, but I don’t go in.
I look through the window and see Seraphina playing with a few other kids.
She’s laughing and happy, and when I see her sharing her toys, pride swells in my chest. She doesn’t see me, and I don’t want to disrupt her, so I head toward Alie’s office.
It’s wild when I think about how much has changed in such a short time. Less than a month ago, I was living in New Orleans, living a lonely bachelor life, where my sole focus was football. And now, I’m living in New York City, and I’m a dad.
As I reach her office, I’m not even sure what I want to say or my reasons for coming up here.
I just know that I needed to. I’m drawn to her even more now than I was the December I met her.
It’s a pull, a connection that I can’t explain, and I think she feels the same way.
So, it’s only fair to us and to Sera to see where this could go.
We need time together as a family, but also just the two of us.
I knock on her door and lean in to see if I can hear her. The walls up here are glass, but they’re sandblasted, so I can’t really see inside to know if she’s in there.
“Come in,” she says, muffled.
I open the door and see her sitting at her desk.
Her long, dark hair is draped over one shoulder.
She’s wearing glasses, a loose white silk shirt, and from what I can see under the desk, a short black skirt.
There’s a pair of black high heels with red bottoms lying next to her feet. She looks like a fantasy.
Shaking myself from my thoughts, I clear my throat. “Hey,” I say gruffly.
“Hey,” she answers, softer than professional, but also a bit guarded.
I lean against the doorframe, waiting to be invited in. “I wasn’t sure if I would see you today in the sponsorship meetings or not, so I thought I’d come say hello.”
“Uh, I’m buried in prep.” She gestures to the organized chaos on her desk. “Contracts, donor briefing, event logistics, reviewing press packets …”
“Things always this intense in the mornings for you?”
She smiles tightly. “Pretty much daily. Unlike others who get to work out and eat all day.”
“Are you suggesting that’s all I do?” I chuckle.
“I don’t know. Is it?” She cracks a smile.
“Hey, I resent the implication that I have nothing else to do with my days,” I tease.
“Then prove that you do.”
For a second, we just sit there, smiling at each other, but hers has an anxious edge to it. Like she’s assessing my mood. I know things have been tense since I found out about Sera, but I can’t help feeling the same pull I felt when I met her two years ago.
Then the air shifts.
She licks her bottom lip and tilts her head slightly as she looks at me. “Meeting starts in fifteen.”
“Okay, I’ll be there.” My eyes are completely on her mouth.
“You should probably … go now.” She gestures to the hall, smiling.
“I’ll walk with you.”
“Nope. Not a good idea.” She leans back in her chair.
“Why not?”
She glares at me, and it’s so fucking cute that I can’t help but smile.
“This isn’t funny, Liam. We’re at work. We have to keep work life separate from …” She gestures between us.
“I’m not laughing, Alie. And I’m aware that we’re at work, but I don’t really care.”
She laughs lightly, and it’s the sweetest sound.
“Go. Conference room down the hall. And try to behave.”
“No promises.”
“I’m deadly serious, Pitz.” She stands.
“See you in”—I look at my watch—“thirteen minutes.”
I back out slowly, but I don’t miss the pink in her cheeks and the small smile on her face before I turn to walk down the hall.
Slowest. Meeting. Of. My. Life.
It’s packed with coaching staff, marketing, event coordinators, brand reps, and donors dialing in remotely.
Alie sits next to Presley, who’s been looking back and forth between us, like she’s in on a secret.
I ended up directly across from Alie. It’s great, but also like torture.
Someone is droning on about sponsorship tiers and pointing to slides that are on a massive screen, and I’m not sure how this part applies to me, but I’m required to be here nonetheless.
I don’t hear a word of what he’s saying, and Alie keeps glancing at me, which is also distracting as fuck.
Every time I catch her, our eyes lock, and I can see the smile she’s trying to hide.
Presley sees it though, and nudges Alie’s arm.
Alie shoots her a warning look, and I have to bite back my grin.
Her gaze drops back to her notes in front of her, pretending to be invested in the presentation. She taps her pen, then stops. Looks up at me again. It’s electric. This thing between us.
She knows it.
I know it.
And it’s amplified even more for me, knowing that she’s the mother of my child.
The meeting continues to drag on, and at one point, someone asks for my availability for some charity function next month. I answer automatically, having no idea what I’m saying because all I can think about is getting her alone.
By the time the meeting adjourns, I’m done waiting.
People stand, chairs bump the table, conversations start.
Across the table, I see Alie gather her notebooks quickly, like she’s trying to slip out of the room unnoticed.
Not a chance, babe.
I don’t even say goodbye to anyone. I just rush out the door after her.
“Alie.”
She stops mid-step, her shoulders tightening before she turns.
“Liam, you can’t just—” she starts.
“What? Talk to you?” I shrug. “Seems reasonable to me.”
“And you need to talk to me right now?”
“I don’t see the need to wait.”
She glances around, giving a few nods and closed-mouth smiles as people pass us.
“Come on,” she mutters.
She leads me down the corridor, past unused conference rooms and storage space. We reach a door, and she opens it, pulling me inside and shutting it behind us.
Silence falls instantly, and we’re locked in a stare.
It feels close.
Dangerous.
Private.
“We can’t be doing this. We shouldn’t be doing this,” she mutters. “Not until I have a chance to speak to my parents.”
“You brought me in here.” I smirk.
“That’s not the point.”
I step closer to her, crowding her space.
“Don’t think I didn’t notice that you couldn’t stop looking at me in that meeting.”
“You were looking at me too.”
“I’m not denying that I was.”
Her breath is shallow, and I can see a flush running up her neck. She’s affected by me.
“This is risky. We could get caught.”
“We haven’t done anything wrong. We’re just talking.” I reach for her hands. “Tell me to leave then.”
She doesn’t.
“I … I can’t stop thinking about our night together,” she says, practically in a whisper. “Even with everything else going on with Sera.”
My chest tightens.
“Yeah,” I mutter. “Me neither.”
“I keep replaying it in my head,” she admits. “It’s a total distraction.”
“Funny. I’m having the same problem.”
“Are you still mad at me?”
“Mad? No, but I think we still have a lot to talk about.”
She nods. “Yeah, we do.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about getting my mouth on your pussy again though.” I smirk.
She laughs softly, a little nervous, and I can’t hold back any longer.
I pull her in closer to me, slowly, giving her time to stop me.
Again … she doesn’t.
I release one of her hands and bring it to her face, cupping her cheek. When my lips meet hers, it starts slow, testing.
But when she touches her tongue to my lips, all my restraint is pointless.
I deepen the kiss when she wraps her arms around my neck. My hand falls from her face, and I wind mine around her waist, bringing her close so our bodies are practically connected.
Goddamn.
Kissing her feels so familiar, yet new at the same time.
We break apart for a minute to catch our breath.
Her forehead rests against mine.
“This is such a bad idea, doing this here.”
“I don’t think so.”
That makes her laugh.
“I think we should do this all the time.” I smile against her lips.
She pulls back and looks at me like there’s something she’s trying to take hold of, something solid to grab on to.
“You’re in my head. I can’t stop it. No matter what I do or how hard I try.”
“Good,” I reply softly. “Because I don’t want to stop it. And I think we should spend some time together. Alone.”
“Alone?”
“Yeah. Of course I want to keep spending time together as a family, but I also think we owe it to ourselves to see what this is, what it could be.”
“I … agree.”
Silence buzzes around us.
Then she inhales deeply and closes her eyes. “Okay.”
“Okay, what?” I bring my hands up to her face, stroking my thumbs on her cheeks.
“Let’s spend time together alone.”
Relief hits me like oxygen.
“Tonight?”
She hesitates.
“Come to my place,” I suggest. “I’ll cook for you.”
“You cook?” she teases.
“You’d be surprised by how competent I am.”
She studies me for a minute, smiling.
“Okay, I’ll come to your place. Seven.”
I smile. “Seven it is.”
I kiss her one more time, not wanting to let her go, but knowing I should.
“You go first.” I nod toward the door.
“Okay …” She looks at me curiously.
“I need to fix this.” I point to my dick. “I can’t walk through the halls with a hard-on.”
“Oh God,” she mumbles and covers her face with her hands.
“What? You did this,” I tease.
“Bye, Liam,” she says before pulling the door open.
“Bye, Alie. See you tonight at seven.” I wink at her before she leaves the room.