Chapter Sixteen #2
He wanted to kiss her.
That was it.
Liam wanted to kiss Blake in the middle of their chaos. Not out of worry or pity or attraction only.
He had wanted to be closer to her, simple as could be.
It had been such a strong yet singular desire that he had thought about it for a long while later that night when alone on the couch.
No matter what he was feeling, no matter why, he wasn’t about to make Blake uncomfortable. Something he had clearly already done by the move. So he had made a resolution to keep things professional as could be.
As normal as could be.
Definitely no thinking about how beautiful she was.
Definitely no staring at her lips.
So he cleared his throat again and returned her small smile.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
Blake nodded.
“Are you ready to keep your cool around a man we both have already agreed we dislike?”
Liam grumbled as he grabbed his keys. He waited until they were inside his truck and pulling out to answer with words.
“You get this no-good guy talking and I’ll keep him going,” he said. “But I’m here to let you know that if you had asked me last week if I was going to tag along on a coffee date with Kyle Langdon, I never would have had meeting Missy’s ex for a coffee date on my Bingo card.”
Blake let out a chuckle.
“If it means we might figure out where that laptop of hers is, you’ll just have to learn to endure there, Sheriff.”
Liam grumbled again.
“I just don’t get a man like that,” he said after they made their way back to the main road. He didn’t say it, but Liam had been focused on making sure no one was around or following them. He had no doubt Blake was doing the same.
“What do you mean? A man who cheats, or a man who immediately gets with his girlfriend’s best friend after they break up?”
“Both,” Liam said. “But what I meant was how he’s taken Missy’s death.
No matter how it happened or why it happened, he doesn’t seem.
..like I think he should. I mean, they broke up, and a week later this happened to her.
I’ve been divorced from my ex for years, and I think I’d still be upset if she died. ”
The thought was true, but Liam felt the need to correct it just a little.
“I mean not because I still have feelings for her like that but just because she’s a human I used to spend all my time with.” He shook his head. “Unless he’s really just a despicable piece of scum, I would have thought he would be more...affected. Even with his new girlfriend.”
“Maybe he’s hiding it,” Blake offered.
Liam shrugged.
“He did, and is doing, a good job of it then. Might have to tell him to try his hand at acting.”
She let that thread of thought sit. A small silence stretched between them.
Blake broke it a few blocks before they made it the Twenty-Two Coffee Shop.
“How long were you with your ex?”
The question came out a little strong. Liam glanced sideways at the woman.
Blake was already looking at him. She rolled her eyes.
“I’m only asking because that’s the first time you’ve brought up some gossip that I’ve already heard. I figured I’d give you a chance to let me hear your side of the story since we’re already talking about it.”
“Ah, the divorce rumors.” Liam laughed. “Theo’s told me a few he’s heard since I came to town. My favorite one was where I didn’t talk to her for a month straight, and that’s what pushed us to divorce. Is that what you think happened?”
He was genuinely curious.
Blake was quick with her response.
“You talk to me just fine, so I don’t think it’s that.”
A simple answer.
And it was true.
While he was a quiet guy, he was finding that talking was less of an effort and more natural around Blake.
He didn’t say that though.
He took a turn to get them to the community parking lot for Main Street. Then he told her a truth he hadn’t said out loud in a long time.
“We got married young—high school sweethearts—and still were growing up together when I went into the Marines. Then I started deploying, and the time we actually spent together became less and less.” No matter what mood he was in, no matter who he was talking about, when mention of his time in the military came up, the dull pain in his hip pulsed.
Liam fought the urge to readjust in his seat.
“I was in an accident on my last deployment and had to come home. That time helped us realize that life for both of us had changed while I was away. We weren’t the same kids we were in high school.
Though we did try to say together. It just turned into the two of us being unhappy all the time.
We divorced after eight years. It was the best option for us. ”
He smiled as he parked the truck.
He meant it.
“We still keep in touch and wish each other happy birthday and catch up occasionally,” he added.
“She’s remarried to a good guy and they have a little boy and another on the way.
It isn’t what we thought would happen for us when we first married, but we’ve already agreed we wouldn’t change a thing. We’re where we are meant to be now.”
It was true, all of it. He wouldn’t take away his marriage or the divorce. Both led him to Seven Roads and the driver’s seat right next to Blake. He couldn’t be mad at that now, could he?
He cut the engine, thinking the topic was well and done, and turned to go over their plan one more time for meeting Missy’s ex.
It was wholly a shock to, instead, find Blake already in motion.
She closed the space between them in one fluid movement.
Her lips were warm.