“Oh, yum.” Mallory helped herself, glancing behind her to see Liam deep in conversation with one of the ever-present Turlocks. Scott? Wallace? Who could keep track of them?
“Would you like a bottomless wine tasting, Miss?”
A waiter was at her elbow with a tray of wine goblets. Mallory thanked him and happily took one from the tray. Drank it in two swallows and put it back on the tray. A wine connoisseur she was not.
The waiter raised a brow but didn’t say a word as he continued walking. Mallory stole another glance and caught Liam walking purposely toward her. So she quickly ran out of the house and caught a vintage bus as it was leaving. It deposited her at Serrano’s Vineyards where she got off with the others and heade toward their tasting room.
Fuming, she tried to get lost in the shuffle of foodies and winos. She heard words like “fruity” and “nutty,” “oak” and “hints of cherry” while she tried to move further into the crowd. In her peripheral vision, she caught Liam striding into the tasting room.
Well, if he wanted to be her date he would answer her one question. She was afraid, of course, that she already knew the answer. Liam had been with someone else, and two women in two weeks would be player status indeed. He could achieve that with his hands tied behind his back. He could have at least been honest with her and not made a fool out of her. She deserved that much.
Mallory helped herself to two of the chicken-bacon satays and one or two more glasses of wine.
“Hello, Baby.”
This from George Serrano, owner and CEO, suddenly standing next to her. This guy. She hated this guy. He’d been so mean to Brooke and then poor Chelsea. She’d heard all about it through the rumor mill that flowed through Starlight Hill as easily as the wine. A few years ago he’d humiliated Brooke, asked Chelsea to marry him, and then cheated on her, too. Just because he was a vintner and handsome in that “I go to the opera and ballet on a regular basis” way didn’t mean he could get away with hurting her friend. And okay, so yeah, Brooke was much better off now with Billy, the love of her life. But still.
She glared at him. “My name is Mallory.”
“Since when?”
“Since I was born twenty-five years ago in Dallas, Texas!”
He looked down his expensive nose at her. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“You know what? I bet you think that you can just walk around here, being all good looking and everything, flirting with women, being a vintner. Okay, great, I get it. You’re rich. Good for you. That doesn’t make you better than me!”
“I never said—”
“Just—shush.” She tried to grab another wine glass as the waiter went by, but he angled the tray away from her. “You don’t deserve any woman if you can’t keep your willy in your pants where it belongs. Did you really have to cheat on Chelsea? Huh? Huh? Did you?”
George’s chest got all puffed up like a peacock. “How dare you!”
“Excuse us.”
Liam’s hand was on the small of her back, steering her away from George, away from the food, away from the tasting room, away from everyone. He pulled on her hand and they boarded a mostly empty bus on the way to the next stop.
Liam sat next to her. “Want to tell me what’s up?”
“Why did you interrupt me? I was getting ready to tell that man where he could stick it!”
“Yeah, I got that, and while that was really fascinating I need to know what the hell is going on.”
“Are you serious?” Why were men so vapid when it came to women? “You won’t answer my one question. Where are the panties?”
Two women nearby giggled and then had the grace to look away.
“Man.” He shoved a hand through his hair and slumped a little in his seat. “I would tell you. It’s just stupid.”
“Actually, two women in two weeks might be considered amazing by some.”
He scowled. “That’s not what happened.”
“It’s okay if it did. You and I were just pretend anyway. I don’t know why you won’t just come out and tell me.” Oh wow, the bus was spinning. She hadn’t been car sick in decades.
“Billy.” He sighed. “Gave them to Billy.”
Little bit of a shock there. Billy sure didn’t look like a cross-dresser. “Again, nothing to be ashamed of.”
He went brows up. “Uh, no. When I came back that day, Billy was upset because he’d forgotten to get Brooke a gift. They were celebrating some obscure anniversary, like the first time they had a milkshake together. Naturally being a man, and also normal, Billy forgot. Brooke had baked him a cake. He had nothing. So…I slipped him the panties. Kept the condom.” He lifted a shoulder. “All I wanted anyway.”
“Oh.” She digested that information, swaying a little bit in this heat.
“So, in answer to your question, I’m guessing that my lovely sister-in-law Brooke is wearing the panties.” He cleared his throat. “Now I want an explanation.”
She pointed to the bus door, because the ride was finally over and they were at the next stop. “We should really get back to the wine tasting.”
“Nice try.” He gave her an easy smile and stood up. “If we’re just pretend, why are you doing such a good imitation of a jealous woman?”
She followed him and stepped outside the bus. “I’m not jealous. Just a naturally curious person.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I feel terrible.”
He rocked back on his heels. “Well, you should.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
Her stomach lurched, the ground was still spinning even though she was no longer on the moving bus. The wine she’d had wanted desperately to come back up. Her neck was sweaty.
Her palm went to Liam’s chest, hoping to steady herself. “It’s too hot.”
Liam’s brow furrowed in concern, his warm hands gliding down her clammy arms. “Are you okay?”
She would have answered, but she was too busy throwing up all over Liam’s boots.
9
An hour later, Liam had cleaned his boots, fed Sugar, and had Mallory lying on her couch with a cool wet rag on her forehead.
She peeked at him through splayed fingers. “I’m so sorry about your boots. Are they real leather?”
“Who gives a shit?”
Actually, he did, just not about his boots. This thing between them definitely hadn’t gone according to his plans. She was a huge mitigating factor he hadn’t counted on. And so far, his attempts to redirect weren’t going too well. Not at all smoothly. Most of the time, he wouldn’t have bothered to chase after a woman like a damn fool. But with her, he couldn’t stop himself. He’d followed her into Brooke’s, only to be sidetracked by Wallace Turlock. When he’d finally disengaged from conversation he’d found her, but she’d run from him and hopped on the bus to the next stop.
After throwing up all over him, she’d been mortified. Sobbed. He’d cleaned her up, dried her tears, and spirited her through the ridiculous crowds. Back to the quiet of her home.
“I’m sorry I drank the wine too fast. And it’s so hot today.”
She had her dress hiked up to her thighs, which did nothing for his state of mind, but there was no air conditioning in her older Victorian duplex either. A fan simply circulated hot air, but he didn’t want to open the windows yet. It was hotter outside.
“Drink.” He handed her a glass of water because he suspected she was dehydrated. “You were pissed at me. Should have told you about the panties.”
“No, I’m sorry I wouldn’t leave it alone. You were entitled to give those panties to whoever you wanted.”
“We both know I wouldn’t have done that when I could give them to you.”
She gave him a watery smile. “They were my size.”
“I remember.” He brushed aside a damp stray hair from where it lay plastered on her cheek.
Was it just two weeks ago that he’d run into the shop hiding from Diana? Because it felt like a lot longer than that.
&
nbsp; “C’mon. You need to take a shower and cool off. You’ll feel better after that.”
He pulled her up by her elbows, took her hand, and led her to the bathroom. She still seemed a little weak which worried him. He started the shower and helped pull the dress over her head while he got the water to a lukewarm setting. Cold water would be too much of a shock to her system. The lingerie she wore today was a bit of a shock to his system, though a pleasant one. He didn’t know a balconette from a balcony, but he sure appreciated the way this black bra presented her mouth-watering breasts like a gift. He was almost sorry when she pulled it off. Almost.
The black lace panties came next, followed by what was left of his sanity. At least he still had his control. She didn’t need him mauling her when she felt sick and worn out. And don’t forget “sorry.” He should take care of her, not take care of himself. He opened the shower door and helped her step inside, then shut the door. Counted to ten while he wished for the strength of a saint. He started toward the bathroom door. Opened it.
“Liam? Where are you going?” Her voice sounded distant and muddled by the spraying sound of water.
“I’ll wait outside.”
“Come here.”
Well, hell, a soldier didn’t need to be asked twice. He undressed in under ten seconds flat and stepped into the warm shower.
“There you are.” She gave him the same words with the same heartbreaking smile she had on her lips the day she’d brought him lunch at the hardware store.
“Right here, babe.”
She met his gaze. “You took care of me.”
No words came to him. That one fact seemed to shock her, and his heart seized a little suddenly knowing this was the first time for her. First time a man had put her first. He was in this with her deep, and in trouble, but he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t stop his hands as they tugged her close, palming her ass. He kissed her, and that wicked tongue of hers met his with fiery and barely controlled heat. Good to know she was rallying. Before he lost control and did her against the shower stall wall, he slowed them down and washed and rinsed her hair out, massaging her scalp until she moaned.
That moan ripped the last of his control away, and then they were simply skin on wet and sliding skin. Kissing. Grinding. Reaching for each other again and again. Slipping and sliding like a couple of idiots. He held her like he’d never let her get away again. Man, he loved this. Loved this feeling that practically took him out of his own body. With her, he’d had the single most erotic experiences of his life. He loved being with her. Teasing her. Laughing. Star-gazing. He loved her, damn it, and that was the fucking truth. It was a shit storm of crazy, but true.
“I don’t have a condom in here,” he groaned.
“That’s alright.”
She smiled, dropped to her knees, and proceeded to rock his world.
Liam woke the next morning at the crack of dawn as usual. Among many other things, he was now permanently a morning person. There were some lifestyle traits reinforced during his service that were never going to leave him. Fierce loyalty to friends and family. Dedication. Work ethic. But the facts were, he was not renewing his contract. He’d found someone worth staying stateside for, and there was absolutely no reason she couldn’t come to Colorado with him. She’d started over once before, and she could start over with him. If she felt half for him what he felt for her, and he thought she did, it would be a no-brainer.
He got up quietly so as not to wake Mallory, dressed, and fed Sugar. The heat of the previous day had eventually dissipated during the night and he’d opened Mallory’s windows to let the cool air inside. Now he shut them, guarding against the heat that would undoubtedly follow later today. At the moment, the early September morning was crisp and bright. He took Sugar for a walk, laughing at the way she shook the dirt off her paws. He could picture her doing the same thing in the snow.
“You’re going to love Colorado.”
Both Mallory and Sugar would eventually get used to the altitude and the snow. With Sugar’s white coat of fur, she’d blend right in. They’d have to keep a close eye on her around berms or risk losing her for good. Liam stopped by Sweet Southern Buns for coffee and cookies, but first pulled his phone out, just outside the entrance. No use waiting another minute for the rest of his life to get started.
“Hey,” he said to Quinn when he picked up the phone. “I’m in.”
“Dude! I promise you won’t regret it. Can’t wait to see you.”
“I’ll start the drive back Tuesday morning. Probably see you Wednesday. We have a lot to talk about.”
He would have mentioned Mallory, but didn’t want to get ahead of himself. She’d want to work, he understood, and he believed that he and Quinn could find her something to do at the resort. Maybe not a lingerie store, but she could teach dance classes at the resort. There were always wives or girlfriends who weren’t as fond of the slopes as their significant others, and looking for things to do at the resort. He knew Quinn planned on a state of the art gym, for instance, and some kind of a spa.
When he got back to Mallory with the coffee and cookies, she was up and in the kitchen, wearing a pink robe and a confused expression on her face. “Where were you guys?”
“Got you coffee and cookies.” He handed her a coffee and pulled her in for a long deep kiss.
“Thank you.” She ruffled his hair. “You spoil me.”
“I’ll always spoil you.”
Just like that the soft gaze in her eyes shifted and changed. Her eyes were hooded. Guarded. “Until you leave, you mean.”
“Well, that’s what I want to talk to you about.” He braced the counter with one hand, while he nursed his coffee with the other. “I decided I’m not renewing my contract. Going to join Quinn at the resort.”
“That’s wonderful!” Her eyes lit up again. “Thank you, Liam. I won’t worry about you anymore.”
In more ways than one, he hoped. “Especially not if you come with me.”
“Where?”
“To Colorado.”
“That’s not funny.”
He set his coffee down and met her gaze. “I’m not joking.”
“But…my life is here. I’ve got a job. Two of them.”
“I know, and I already thought of that. We can find something for you to do at the resort.”
“I already have something to do. And a house. Right here.”
“You started over once before. You can do it again.” He reached for her, and pulled her between his legs. “I love you, and I can’t just leave you here.”
Her palms went against his chest. “I already started over once before because of a man.”
Not the response he’d expected to his first “I love you” to a woman. “This is different.” He pressed his forehead to hers.
What they had between them was rare, but since she was a couple of years younger than him maybe she didn’t get that. But he did. He might never feel this way again and it was difficult to let her go even if he realized how much he had asked of her.
“Of course it’s different. But I don’t want to do it again. I don’t want to start over.”
Yeah, definitely not going as well as he’d hoped. He was new at these feelings, and he hadn’t expected such reluctance. When you loved someone, you were willing to give up some things. The important thing was to be together. Then again, it was possible that he was in this…alone.
“And anyway, you and I were just…temporary.”
Liam had seen too much pain in his life, most of it in the desert. But he’d never felt his own heart break over a woman. It did now.
“That’s what you believe? This wasn’t temporary, or fake, for me. Not since the start. It isn’t about the sex. Which is great, by the way, but that’s not why I love you. I love the way you take care of your friends and Sugar, the way you stand up for yourself, the way you fight back. I love every part of you I know about, and I’m ready to love everything I don’t know yet. I just need you to come with me.”
And now she was sobbing again. Great. He had such a way with women.
“I can’t.” Her breath hitched. “That…wasn’t the plan.”
“Plans change,” he said significantly. “I know mine did the moment I met you.”
“Liam, I—”
“Bye, Mallory.” He bent down to give Sugar one last rub and then was out the door. It was easier not to look behind him. He knew that from experience. Plans had changed once, and now they’d changed again.
He was going back to Colorado.
Alone.
10
On episode two of The Crown, Elizabeth’s beloved father, the King, had just died. Everyone in the palace was despondent and inconsolable, or at least as much as a British monarch could be despondent and inconsolable. It seemed an appropriate episode to watch for the third time.
“Yip! Yark!” Sugar said. That meant: Poor man. I’m very sad right now.
Mallory reached for another tissue and blew her nose. She’d been crying on and off all day, or at least since Liam left. She was crazy about the man, but how could he possibly expect her to pick up and leave so easily? She’d made a home for herself here in Starlight Hill. Eileen needed her at the shop. The senior citizens needed her at the dance studio. She’d finally lived down The Lingerie Incident, and people were starting to call her Mallory. Thanks to Liam.
“Yark! Yark! Yark!” Sugar said.
“Yes, of course I love him. That’s not the point. We just can’t do this anymore, Sugar! We can’t keep starting over because of a man. Or thinking that love will solve our problems. We decided we wouldn’t do that anymore, remember? Anyway, we need to make our own life.”
And she had, damn it. She’d made a life here in Starlight Hill with good friends and people who were like family. But, of course, this life would now be dull shades of beige with Liam gone. He was her heart and had been from the moment he’d stepped into Tatas and bragged about his condom size. She’d never imagined he would ask her to leave Starlight Hill for Colorado.
The idea was crazy. But every time she pictured his sad puppy dog eyes when she’d told him this thing between them was temporary, she started crying all over again.
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