Chapter 26
Tess
“Holy shit, I can’t be late.” I glanced at the clock on my phone, hairbrush in hand. I was trying to multitask…and was thoroughly failing.
I was trying to keep an eye on our new online shop. It had gone live last week, and we were smoothing out all the bugs ever since. Yesterday had been a bug-free day, and I was hoping today was going to be the same, because tomorrow was Black Friday. It was one of the most important days for retail.
We were going to officially open the second store in the first week of December, and things were moving so fast I barely had time to keep up.
But today I had to press Pause. It was a big day. A happy day.
I closed the website, focusing on the here and now. I was ecstatic.
Liam wanted us to have Thanksgiving with his grandma. And then meet my whole family.
I loved Thanksgiving dinners at Mom’s place.
I always felt like a kid. Over the years, the crowd had grown bigger what with everyone getting married or having kids.
This year, Isabelle was joining us, of course, since she now lived here.
Ian and Dylan were also in the city, so they were coming too.
I speed-brushed my hair, then applied mascara and eye shadow.
Once I was done, I noticed I had a message.
Isabelle: Just a reminder that Dylan’s going to be there. Extra optimism required.
Tess: Oh no. Why?
Isabelle: I MIGHT have suggested he and Ian go on a double date with some friends of mine. Let’s just say I am not his favorite sister right now.
Tess: Extra optimism on the way!
I grinned at myself in the mirror, pointing at my reflection. “That’s right. All that frog kissing was worth it.”
I just had to convince Dylan of that too. Of course, his case was a bit different. I had a string of bad dates and short failed relationships, and even that had chipped a bit at my optimism.
Dylan had a long-term relationship. He’d been in love. That left scars for sure. But I really did believe that time healed everything. I wished I knew the cause of the breakup though; it would help me come up with an angle. But no one was saying anything about it. It was still a bit of a mystery.
A few minutes later, the bell rang. When I opened the door, my breath caught a little.
Liam was wearing a very elegant coat with a dark-blue and silver scarf around his neck.
His cheeks were red, which meant it was definitely not a warm Thanksgiving Day.
“Well, hello there. Let me just grab my coat.”
Liam let out a little growl, and I jerked my head back in surprise before batting my eyelashes at him.
“Hey, don’t take this wrong. I love those growls. Very sexy. But what are they for?”
“You.”
I glanced down at myself. “No, I’m wearing a sweater. And jeans. What about my outfit spells indecent?”
My sweater was even all buttoned up.
“Not indecent, just fucking gorgeous.”
Before I had a chance to ask anything more, he pinned me against the open door, kissing me deeply.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, instinctively pressing myself against him.
He kissed me until I rose on my tiptoes, dragging my hands down his shoulders.
I was resenting his sexy coat already, because I couldn’t touch him properly.
He really did smell like a cold winter day mixed with aftershave.
I sighed when we pulled apart to take a deep breath.
“Hmmm…I don’t know what that was for, but I’ll take it.” With a grin, I brought my hand to the top button. It was impossible to be around Liam and not have sexy thoughts. Just the way he looked at me, with those blue eyes blazing, was enough to make me forget what day it was.
He caught my wrist even before I reached the button.
“You do that and we won’t leave at all.” His gaze pinned me in my spot.
“How do you know? Maybe I’m wearing something totally unsexy,” I teased.
“You’re wearing code red.”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“You have an extra swing in your hips. You always do.”
“Wow, I have to up my game if I want to keep you on your toes, huh? Wouldn’t want you to get bored.”
I’d meant it as a joke, but there was a bit of truth hidden in my words. A fear I couldn’t shake that maybe I was doing too much or too little and all this happiness would just disappear.
“I won’t tire of you, Tess. Ever. I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to have found you. No way in hell am I going to let you go.”
I melted, loving his warm words. But I also detected a hint of unease in his expression.
“Is something wrong? You seem to have something on your mind.”
Liam shook his head. “There’s always something on my mind. Let’s just enjoy Thanksgiving.”
“Okay…”
I didn’t like that he was placating me instead of opening up, but I didn’t want to cause a scene.
“You’re right; there’s always something going on. I was trying to keep an eye on the website while getting ready, but it’s working great so far.”
“Any bugs in the code?”
“None so far. It works perfectly. I love it.”
He kissed me again, even harder than the first time. I felt every lash of his tongue deep inside my body. When I fisted his hair, he groaned, taking a step back.
“Tess, grab your coat and let’s go or we’re really not going to go anywhere tonight.”
“Oh, Thanksgiving. Right.”
I caught a hint of Liam’s smirk as he helped me slip on my coat.
“Hey, mister. Don’t look so satisfied. Any woman would forget what day it is when you kiss her like that.”
“Kiss you how?”
“It made me wet,” I whispered.
His pupils dilated as he exhaled sharply. “Mission accomplished. Now you’re feeling as off-kilter as I do. Come on, let’s hurry. I don’t want to make a bad impression.”