“Hey, Liam?”
Mina hovered by the table, arms crossed over her chest. His heart twanged like the string on an old guitar. She’d set the table, complete with glasses of water, but now she watched him with her lips screwed up into the world’s cutest thoughtful pout. “I’m in.”
He had to force himself to take the next breath. He felt so light he could float up from the floor and hit the ceiling. She’d said yes. It made no sense that he felt relief so strong he wanted to sit down, but there it was. “You’re in?”
“I accept your conditions.” Mina raised her chin an inch. “So let’s do this.” She tensed, as if she thought he might lay her back on the table and make good on his deal right there and then. It broke his heart a little. Being independent was one thing, but did Mina think there wasn’t any emotion behind a thing like this? Doing it the old-fashioned way didn’t have to be businesslike. He hoped it wouldn’t be businesslike. Liam was also not going to say that to Mina.
“Listen. You don’t have to worry.”
She arched an eyebrow.
“I’ve spent all this time making you delicious meatballs. I’m glad you made a decision, but we don’t have to jump into bed together just yet.” He winked at her, and Mina cracked a smile. “Not while the food’s getting cold.” He slipped a pair of oven mitts over his hands and moved the meatballs with sauce into a mixing bowl, then brought it to the table. He set it smack-dab in the middle, like an offering. “We’re not going to do anything until you’re good and ready. So you let me know when that is.”
10
Mina let out a breath she felt like she’d been holding all day and took her seat at the dinner table. Dinner—this was familiar territory. She could eat spaghetti with Liam Wells, even if she didn’t exactly feel like talking. She’d made the decision. She’d made the decision. Her skin hummed with anticipation. She’d half-expected that Liam would want to get it over with as quickly as possible. Did the idea of having his strong hands grip her hips as she bent over the sink turn her on more than a little? Yes. Yes, it did. But so did taking her time with him. She’d never had a sexual encounter this momentous in her entire life.
She dished herself a small helping of spaghetti and took two of the meatballs. Liam eyed her plate. “Is that all you’re going to have?”
“Don’t know if I could eat more than this. But there’ll be leftovers, right?” Mina put on her best smile. “I bet this is even better the second day.”
It felt so weird, to be talking about leftover food when he’d agreed to be the father of her baby. She’d just eat instead. A little bit, in case—in case Liam decided to get down and dirty in the middle of the meal. But—no. The decision belonged to her. Heat flooded her face. How was she going to do it? Waggle her eyebrows at him? Climb onto his lap on the sofa? Actually say the words? What words would those be? Liam, I’d like to have sex with you now for procreation purposes.
Lord.
The lights in the cabin flickered and went out. Mina froze, her fork poised over her plate. She’d made it three or four bites into the spaghetti. The flavors burst on her tongue, salty and savory, but her stomach felt tight with nerves. Liam pushed his chair back. “Sit tight,” he told her, and then the flashlight on his phone illuminated. “I’ll go light the lanterns.”
“Lanterns?”
“You might not’ve seen them. Battery-powered. Made to look like the old-fashioned gas ones. Sometimes the power goes out when there’s too much snow on the power lines around here.”
“Oh, yeah,” said Mina. “That’s happened to me before.” Who was she, making small talk about snow on power lines? Liam moved into the other room and Mina buried her face in her hands. Get yourself together, girl. She padded behind him into the living room, where Liam was adding more wood to the fire. The warm glow lit up his face, and a corresponding flame came to life low in her belly.
“I’m going to go out and walk around the cabin to make sure everything’s okay.”
She swallowed hard. “What kinds of things do you have out there?”
“Oh, I want to make sure the firewood doesn’t get too buried. I should check this side of the fence, too. Sometimes animals get out of the barn and head to strange places during storms. I can’t get ahold of Cade right now, but I can make sure his cattle are all right. Or at least not wandering by the fence.”
“Okay. Sounds good.” And—when did you think we should have sex, again? It’s part of your stipulations that we do it the old-fashioned way, which means we’re going to have to get busy at some point. I’m going to have to jump in with both feet, so—
Liam stood up and brushed his hands off, watching her. “Did you have something else in mind?”
“Not yet,” Mina said quickly. Kitchen. The kitchen was a better place to be. She started clearing the dishes while Liam shrugged on his coat, hat, and gloves. At the door he caught her in his gaze, flashed her a smile, and whistled for Lucky.
