The Right Reason to Marry

by Christine Rimmer

  And maybe asking was too weak a word. Maybe he was more...anticipating. Waiting for the moment, the right moment to make his move.

  What were they talking about?

  Parenting plan. Right. “Structure is a good thing.” Dear Lord. Could she sound any prissier?

  He set his beer on the granite countertop and took a step closer. That brought him right up in her face. She should run for the table—or maybe right on out the door.

  But she didn’t want to run.

  She wanted those kisses his eyes kept promising, wanted to just stand here and suck in the warm, delicious, manly scent of him, to admire the fullness of his lips and the chiseled perfection of his jaw, to drown in the baby blue perfection of those eyes.

  “We really don’t need a parenting plan, Karin.”

  “Uh.” Her mind felt thick and slow. Warm molasses ran through her veins. “Yes, we do.”

  “RG is eleven days old. At this point, I just need to be here whenever you want backup or a break. That’s my job and we can’t put that on a schedule. Not right now. Except when there’s something at Bravo Trucking I have to handle ASAP, I’m yours. And RG’s. Push comes to shove, you and our son are the priority and my business will just have to get in line.”

  What he said made perfect sense—not to mention making her feel looked-after, taken-care-of. It would be so very easy to give in, let him have his way about everything.

  To let herself fall.

  So easy, to love him, to give her heart and soul to him.

  Easy and scary and not in her plans. Because it was better, safer, not to start counting on him. Not to let herself give her trust to him and take the chance that eventually he would let her down.

  Her poor heart had had enough of that. She just couldn’t go through that kind of hurt and disappointment again.

  Good men got right behind the idea of stepping up and making a lifetime commitment when a woman needed them. But sometimes, in the long-term execution of that commitment, they started feeling trapped by the very thing they’d sworn they wanted.

  Uh-uh. Not going there again.

  Liam moved that extra inch closer. She could feel the warmth of him now, smell his clean, manly scent.

  Really, he was much too close. She drew in a breath and her breasts met his chest. Her whole body tingled.

  She ought to just step back. But she didn’t.

  He lifted a hand, slowly, the way a person does around a skittish animal, ready to back right off if she gave him the slightest indication she wouldn’t welcome his touch.

  She could not for the life of her give him that hint. The delicious anticipation was simply too great.

  She thought of all the things a woman considers when she’s just had a baby and a man looks at her as though he intends to kiss her.

  If she ended up with her clothes off, how bad would she look to him? Her belly was too soft and her breasts were blue-veined and swollen, cradled in a nursing bra. Her panties? Plain cotton and not brand-new. How long had it been since she’d washed her hair?

  And what did any of that matter?

  There was no way she was getting naked with him tonight. She wouldn’t get the go-ahead to have sex for weeks yet—not that there weren’t a lot of other things short of the main event they could do if they wanted to.

  Oh, why was she thinking about sex right now?

  Why was she thinking about sex at all?

  She wasn’t having sex with Liam. Not tonight, not ever. He was her partner in parenting Riley and the last thing they needed was to muck up that important relationship with something as volatile as sex.

  “You’re blushing.” He leaned close and whispered the words into her ear. His breath was so warm, tickling her earlobe and brushing the curve of her cheek. “You smell like heaven, Karin, always did. Now there’s a baby lotion and a fresh-baked cookies sort of smell, too.” He actually sniffed at her.

  “Cookies? Excuse me?”

  “Sorry. I smell what I smell and it smells really good.” His lips were right there. She felt them, skimming, soft and warm, against her cheek. He nipped at her, gently, like she was an actual cookie and he wanted a taste.

  The light pressure of his teeth on her skin made her gasp.

  His hand touched her hair, those long fingers gently combing through it, easing out the tangled spots. He used to do that, stroke her hair, when they were in bed together. “I always loved your hair. Since way back when we were kids.”

  “You didn’t.” Her voice sounded so odd to her, husky and low.

  “Yeah. It’s dark as coffee, and shiny, with red glints in sunlight and a blue-black sheen to it by lamplight. And it’s always kind of wild, falling every which way. Back when we were kids, I always wanted to stick my fingers in it, to pull on it and bury my face in it.”

  “I would’ve punched you out if you’d tried that.”

  “I kind of thought you might, so I kept my greedy paws to myself—and then in high school, those two dates we had?”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  “I wanted more with you, even then.”

  “Coulda fooled me.”

  “But we were barely eighteen, much too young to go being exclusive.”

  She laughed, a husky giggle of a sound that she quickly stifled. “I can’t believe I’m standing here whispering with you, and giggling, too, like some brainless fool. I keep telling myself to step back, step away from you.”

  He nuzzled her cheek again. “How’s that working out for you, Karin?”

  “It’s not.”

  “We’ve got a thing. You know we do.”

  “Riley is not a thing.”

  “Karin,” he chided. “I’m not talking about RG.”

  “You should be talking about Riley. We should be concentrating on Riley.”

  His hand left her hair. He trailed a finger down the side of her throat, stirring up a naughty string of hot little shivers as he went. And then he put that finger under her chin to get her to look at him. His eyes burned into hers, the blue color deeper than usual.

  “I’ve missed you,” he said, “since you dumped me last March.”

  “I didn’t dump you. How could I dump you? We weren’t together.”

  “Yeah, we were. From that first night, I wasn’t with anyone but you. How about you?”

  “No. But you know what I mean. It wasn’t serious. We weren’t even dating.”

  “Karin.”

  “What?”

  “Shut up.” He stole a quick, perfect kiss. Her lips burned at the brief contact. She yearned, she really did. Every molecule in her body hungered for more.

  And he knew it, too.

  He knew it and he gave her exactly what she couldn’t stop herself from wanting. Lowering his amazing mouth, he settled it more firmly over hers.

  Chapter Five

  Liam took care to kiss her slowly, with restraint and yet with promise. He knew she was right on the brink of breaking.

  And she could break either way—in surrender. Or in flight.

  He wanted her surrender, at least as much as he could get of surrender in a kiss.

  “I’m not having sex with you,” she said breathlessly against his mouth.

  “I know.” He’d read the damn books, after all.

  Framing her boyish, beautiful face between his hands, he broke the kiss to gaze down at her. He’d always loved the way she looked, with those eyes that were blue and then green and then blue again, seeming to change colors in changing light. He admired those high cheekbones, that pointed little chin. And those plump, perfect lips that invited his kiss.

  “It’s just a kiss,” he reminded her.

  “Liam,” she whispered. He heard longing in that whisper and he swooped in again to give her exactly what she longed for, going deeper this time, urging h
er to open, to let him in.

  She resisted at first, but then, with a tiny groan, she gave it up. His tongue slipped between her softly parted lips and he tasted her fully as he let his hands wander a little, out along her slim shoulders, down her back.

  Good. She felt so very good. She was making him ache, making him hurt in the best possible way.

  He pulled her closer, pressing his hardness against her, cupping a hand at the back of her head to hold her in place so he could kiss her even more deeply. She was heaven in his arms and he had missed holding her, missed the fire between them, the way they bickered and nipped at each other.

  It was really fun, with Karin. She was the girl he’d known forever, and yet the girl who kept changing. He’d lost her in high school because he’d told her right out that he didn’t intend to be anyone’s boyfriend. Then she’d married Bud Killigan, who was a couple of years older, a guy Liam hardly knew. And then last March, he’d lost her again, lost her before he even got a chance to persuade her she should spend more time with him.

  He wouldn’t lose her this time. Now they had RG and that made it necessary that they be together. One way or another, he would convince her she belonged with him.

  Sometimes he got impatient. It was his nature to be so. But mostly, it didn’t matter to him how long it took her to finally realize he was the one for her. Getting there definitely was half the fun.

  With a sigh, she pulled away.

  “Get back here,” he commanded and dipped close to claim her lips again.

  She only slid her hands up between them and pressed them flat to his chest, exerting undeniable pressure, the kind a man had no right to ignore. “I have to go, Liam.” She gazed up at him, those blue-green eyes so serious. Her soft lips were red and swollen and he was on fire to taste them again.

  That wasn’t going to happen tonight, though. Reluctantly, he released her.

  She stared up at him, looking earnest and adorable and turned on and embarrassed. “I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

  He dared to put a finger against those perfect, swollen lips. “I’m glad you did.”

  “But we—”

  “Karin.”

  She blew out a hard breath. “What?”

  “It was a great kiss. Let it be.” He pushed her mug and saucer toward her along the counter.

  “Fine.” She took the tea bag out of the mug, plopped it on the saucer and took a sip.

  He heard a reedy cry from the baby’s room.

  She heard it, too, and set down the mug. “Time to go.”

  Could he get her to stay if he tried? Probably not. He’d pushed her enough for one night.

  * * *

  A few minutes later, in the baby’s room at the main house, Karin nursed Riley and thought about Liam.

  She really shouldn’t have kissed him, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to regret that she had. That kiss had been amazing. She refused to feel bad about it.

  She just needed to make sure it didn’t happen again.

  That wouldn’t be easy. Liam was proving to be a lot more persistent than she’d ever imagined.

  Since the day he learned that she was having his baby, he’d gone right to work insinuating himself into every corner of her life. Her brother, her daughter and her dad had definitely fallen under the influence of Liam Bravo’s charms.

  Sten was all for the guy, lecturing Karin to treat him right, renting him the damn cottage without consulting her. Coco had what amounted to a kiddie crush on the man.

  And since the day after Karin and Riley came home from the hospital, Otto and Liam had developed their very own private tradition: morning coffee, the two of them. Her dad would head over there at the crack of dawn. He’d stay for an hour or so and get back to the main house in time for breakfast.

  When it wasn’t raining, he and Liam would sit out on the mist-shrouded deck of the cottage together. Most mornings, Karin could hear them faintly, talking and laughing, like they were best buds or something.

  Ben was the only one who held the line against Liam. Her older son was always polite around any grown-up. But he hadn’t really warmed to Liam. He was civil around the baby’s father and not much more.

  Ben’s reserve didn’t stop Liam, though. He was always asking about Ben’s latest science project and listening with rapt attention when he finally got Ben to open up a little about it. Twice already, he’d picked up Ben and a couple of teammates from soccer practice when Otto was stuck late at the Boatworks.

  Okay, yeah. The more she thought it over, the more she came to the simple conclusion that Liam Bravo was amazing. He was amazing and she had a crush on him just like her daughter did.

  But really, how long would he be living next door? When would he realize he missed his easy, independent single lifestyle?

  Karin just needed to keep herself from counting on him too much. That way, when he finally agreed on a parenting plan and went back to his own life, she wouldn’t be brokenhearted, wouldn’t miss him too much.

  She just needed to watch herself, not let herself start squabbling with him. Squabbling with Liam was far too much fun. And kisses? No more of those. And she really had to avoid any more trips down memory lane. They had far too much history and it made her feel way too fond of him to reminisce with him about stuff that had happened way back when.

  No kisses. No reminiscing. No banter.

  “I can do that,” she said out loud to no one in particular—strongly enough to give Riley a scare. He popped off her breast and blinked up at her, startled.

  “Oh, honey, it’s okay...” Laughing softly, she guided him back to her nipple. “You’ve got a good dad and your mama loves you,” she whispered to her baby son. “It’s all going to work out just beautifully, you’ll see.”

  * * *

  As a rule, on Halloween, Karin or her dad would take the kids trick-or-treating along the streets above Sweetheart Cove. This year, Ben had declared himself old enough to take Coco without adult supervision and Karin had agreed to that.

  But this year, it was raining. Steadily, in buckets. Coco whined all day and Ben looked grim and unhappy.

  Around four, Liam showed up at the sliding door that opened onto the deck. Her dad let him in.

  “Riley’s sleeping,” she said to Liam, when the two men joined her in the kitchen area where she was standing at the open fridge trying to decide what to whip up for dinner.

  “No problem,” Liam replied. “I’m not here to see the baby.”

  “We need to talk to you.” Her dad shot a quick glance around the living area. “Are Coco and Ben still in their rooms?”

  “Umm-hmm. I believe Coco is actively sulking because the rain very likely will mess up her Halloween. Ben’s not happy about that either. He’s focusing his frustration on working out issues with his latest science project, I think.”

  “As long as they’re not in earshot, good.” Her dad kept his voice low, just between the three of them. “We need to talk about tonight.”

  “There’s a kids’ Halloween party at The Valentine Bay Theater,” Liam said. “There’ll be games and some skits and a really simple haunted house—nothing too gory. And bags of treats for everyone.”

  Karin shut the fridge door and turned to face the men. “Right. I saw a flyer somewhere about that.”

  “It’s a Hailey and Harper production, essentially,” Liam explained. “Eight bucks a head to get in.”

  Otto said, “Liam and I were talking about it over coffee this morning, that it might be an option if the rain didn’t stop. The kids could wear their costumes and do something a little different this year. Liam and I will take them and you can have the evening to yourself.”

  “We figured you might not want to take the baby out on a rainy night,” added Liam. “And just as another option, if you’d prefer, I can watch RG and you can go with your dad and
the kids.”

  She’d yet to get out her breast pump and she didn’t really feel like dealing with that at the moment, anyway. Not to mention, Riley wasn’t even two weeks old. She wasn’t ready to be away from him for that long.

  Liam read her so easily. “Too soon, huh?”

  She nodded, though a Halloween party really would cheer the kids up. And to steal a couple of hours for herself?

  Talk about a new mom’s dream-come-true. “I have to admit, the idea of me and Riley and the second season of Killing Eve, that’s pretty tempting.”

  “We thought so.” Her dad seemed pleased.

  “So we’re on?” asked Liam.

  She hesitated. Liam made it way too easy for her to say yes to him and his plans.

  And come on. What in the world was wrong with that, when his plans inevitably involved ways to help her make life better for herself and her family?

  “Thank you,” she said to both of them. “I think it’s a great idea.”

  Liam stayed for dinner—it only seemed right to feed the guy, what with him giving up his evening to take her kids out for Halloween.

  They set off, the four of them, at a little before six, Coco dressed as Jewel the Dalmatian and Ben, in a light blue jacket and bow tie, as Bill Nye, the Science Guy.

  Once they were gone, Karin grabbed a bottle of ginger beer and sat on the sofa. Sipping slowly, she listened to the steady drumming of the rain on the roof and thought that never in the history of women had there been such a perfect moment. Everybody gone except her baby, who was sleeping.

  After she finished her pretend beer, she spent an hour on the phone catching up with Prim and Naomi. Then she made popcorn and watched three episodes of Killing Eve, only getting up to pee and to feed and change Riley when he cried.

  It was after ten when the Science Guy, Jewel the Dalmatian and the two men arrived home. Of course, they’d stopped for ice cream after all the excitement of Harper and Hailey’s Halloween extravaganza. Even Ben was jazzed up, sucking on a Starburst from his bag of treats and raving about the cool ways Liam’s sisters had used dry ice to make fog.