Anna pressed the side of the cool glass to her cheek.
“Everything feels up in the air tonight. As you can see.” She indicated the emptied bookshelves and the cluttered floor. “I’m rooted here, and you’re rooted in New York, and no matter what, you’ll always be Daniel’s nephew.”
Liam switched his attention to the loosened seam along the top of the cushion underneath his arm. “I may be his nephew, but we’ve been more like peers since I was in my twenties.”
She moved the piles off the crowded end of the couch and sat, facing him. She slid one foot to touch his knee and wiggled her toes under the warmth of his leg. His hand circled her ankle, his thumb at the bone before he could stop the automatic gesture, one they’d lapsed into with ease before the disastrous weekend in New York.
“I know the whole house looks like explosives went off, but my bed is clear. Could we talk there? I’m tired, and I don’t know how much longer I can keep my eyes open.” She stroked the underside of his thigh with her toes. “Or if you’d rather go home, we can talk tomorrow.”
He looked from her foot to her face. “I’d prefer to stay here with you.”
Anna took first turn in the bathroom and left toothpaste on the side of the sink for Liam to swish through his mouth. He was beside the bed, stepping out of his pants, when she walked into her room. Their bodies brushed when they switched places.
She changed into clean underwear and a T-shirt, and curled into a ball on one side of the mattress. She had no intention of avoiding his touch. She wanted to give him room and an invitation to spoon into her. Relaxed from the wine, she was drawn thin from two days of cross-country flights and the ups and downs of traversing overlapping emotional landscape, hers and Liam’s and Daniel’s.
There was an ease to being with Liam. The same sense of ease never evolved when she was with Daniel, in college or in Mexico. Yes, she’d spent far more time in the younger man’s company over the past two months, but even at the resort, where most people would have been at their most relaxed and pampered best, she felt the presence of Daniel Strauss’s measuring stick.
Liam eased onto the bed and reached across her to pull the chain on the little lamp. Tucking his knees behind hers, he stroked her hair away from the side of her face and off her ear. Anna stayed silent, enjoying the feel of the mattress accommodating his shifting body.
“Ready to talk?” he asked.
“Ready to sleep.”
Chapter Twenty
Their bodies were spooned together when Anna first woke up, except now it was her chest keeping Liam’s backside warm. She nuzzled her nose between his shoulder blades, inhaling the scent of his T-shirt and the man underneath. He squeezed the hand of the arm she’d draped over his torso. His breathing went back to being slow and deep within thirty seconds.
Anna wasn’t going to sleep anymore, and she wasn’t ready to get out of bed. Liam smelled too good, the bed was warm, and the tension she’d carried over the weekend was gone. Their conversation could wait.
His body felt stronger, more solid, than it had the first time they sat together at the workshop in early October. The tan he brought with him had faded, and his hair, though longer now, had lost some of its honey-colored highlights. She watched the spot where the side of his neck pulsed to the beat of his heart.
He made it clear, from their start, that he liked her curves. She had enough to share, but she didn’t want to become trapped in a cycle of needing his approval—or desire—to feel good about herself. When they first met, she didn’t feel bad about herself, she just didn’t feel much at all. In hindsight, she recognized she’d been on autopilot, and she would still be operating on that mode if Elaine hadn’t seen how badly she needed rewiring.
Liam stretched his legs between the sheets. Her sleepy companion released her hand and reached behind him to cup her butt and bring her closer.
“G’morning. How’s the room service in this place?” Rubbing his hand over her skin and panties, he made no move to turn over or otherwise disturb the warmth they’d captured underneath the blankets.
“Lousy. I think the staff oversleeps.”
He released her butt and rolled to face her, speaking into the top of her head as he slid one thigh between hers, nudging her legs apart. His morning erection made its presence known in a relaxed and undemanding way. “I wonder if it would help if one of us slept with the cook. Or whoever’s in charge of coffee-making.”
Anna nestled into Liam’s thigh, the heat of his muscles and the coarse texture of his hair waking the sensitive skin of her inner legs. He seemed to enjoy the touch as well, if the throbbing of his cock was any indication.
“I really want to kiss you, but for the sake of our friendship I’m going to brush my teeth first.” His eyes stayed closed while his fingers traced her vertebrae in lazy figure eights.
“You’re brave to leave the bed, but if you do that, I’ll make coffee.”
“It might be a while before I’m ready for caffeine. I was planning to come back here and ravish you.”
“Oh. Then I’ll brush too. First one back in bed gets to choose top or bottom.”
Liam grabbed her legs with his and wrapped his arms around her torso, pressing her breasts into his chest. “Good luck with that. I don’t let go easily.”
Anna tickled his sides and slipped off the mattress and into the bathroom, giggling.
“No fair!”
“All is fair when kissing’s at stake. Besides, it not about who wins or who loses—”
“It’s how you play the game. I know. It’s just that I was hoping you
