Not Just a Friend

by Laura Jardine

  Chapter 7

  “What’s her name?” Gavin asked.

  Liam took the heart-shaped springform pan out of the oven and placed it on a rack to cool. He closed the oven door then turned to face his cousin.

  Gavin had stopped by a couple of minutes ago, asking if Liam wanted to celebrate Valentine’s Day by getting drunk at a sports bar and watching the Leafs lose another game.

  Liam folded his arms over his chest. “Who said there was a woman?”

  “You’re baking. And not just any old cake. No, you’re making a heart-shaped cake on Valentine’s Day. You can’t tell me there isn’t a woman.”

  “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

  “I know you don’t have a girlfriend, you dumbass. But there’s a woman you want to be your girlfriend.”

  Clearly he wasn’t going to fool Gavin.

  Yes, Liam planned to say something to Maya today. He was afraid she’d break his heart and they’d stop hanging out. But she was the woman he wanted, and it was time to do something about it.

  He walked to the couch and sat down. His cousin followed.

  “Yes,” Liam said. “I have a friend I like. We arranged to do something tonight since neither of us is in a relationship.”

  “What did you arrange to do?”

  Liam shrugged. “Eat dinner. Have sex.”

  He waited for Gavin’s jaw to drop.

  Yup. Didn’t take long.

  “Let me get this straight,” Gavin said. “She’s your friend. And you’re already sleeping with her?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Dude, you don’t need a fucking cake to win her over. I’m sure she thinks you are in a relationship.”

  “She doesn’t. Trust me. She goes on dates with other men.”

  “Even better. Sex without expectations.” Gavin slapped him on the back. “You got it made!”

  Liam leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. “But I want more.”

  “I’m sure the idea’s crossed her mind. Maybe she thinks you’re too much of a loser to bring home to meet her parents.”

  “Hey. I’m not a loser. I have a respectable job and—”

  “You’re a high school math teacher. That has dork written all over it.”

  Liam glared at Gavin.

  Gavin elbowed him. “You know I’m kidding, right? Lots of woman dig that kind of thing. You’re the sort of guy women say they want to settle down with. In their twenties, they may be drawn to bad boys, but ultimately they want to end up with someone more like you.”

  “Thanks for the pep talk.”

  “You’re welcome. So how do you know this girl?”

  “We went to high school together.”

  “Are you saying you’ve liked this girl for fifteen years? That’s pathetic.”

  “No, no,” Liam said. “I liked her when I sat beside her in calculus class. But I was too chicken to say anything, and when I went off to university, I forgot about her. Then I ran into her again—”

  “And realized she’s the love of your life and all that crap?”

  “No. We just started hanging out, and then we started sleeping together and—”

  “Hold on.” Gavin held up a hand. “How the hell did you pull that off? I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe I need to take some tips from you.”

  “It was her idea. She hadn’t dated for a while after breaking up with her fiancé, and she missed having sex. So she asked, and I said yes.”

  “You need to introduce me to this woman.”

  Liam didn’t like the sound of that. “If you try any—”

  “Hey, no need to freak out. Of course I’m not planning to do anything with her. Just curious what a woman who has a friends-with-benefits relationship with you is like, okay? I bet she’s good at calculus, and that turned you on when you were seventeen.”

  “Maybe a little.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Maya. And of course she’s smart and beautiful and funny.” Liam would probably turn bright red if he gave a more detailed description of Maya.

  Scratch that. He would turn bright red anyway because Gavin was now opening the pink envelope on the coffee table and pulling out the sheet of paper inside.

  “Put it down,” Liam said, though he knew there was nothing he could do to stop Gavin.

  “I…complicated math equation that I do not understand…you,” Gavin read. “What the fuck?”

  “It’s a formula for a heart shape.”

  “And she’ll know that?”

  “I’ll hand her a graphing calculator.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “I am. I graphed it on the back.”

  Gavin turned the paper over. “My God. I can’t believe you. This is how you try to win over a woman?”

  “I want to be different. I bet she’s never had a guy make her a heart-shaped cheesecake and give her the formula for a heart.”

  “I certainly hope not.” Gavin regarded the paper for a moment before tearing it up. Well, Liam could make another one. It wouldn’t take long. “You really need some moves.”

  “Have you had sex in the past week?”

  “I see your point. But it just sounds like you got lucky there. And this isn’t about sex—it’s about taking the relationship to the next level.” Gavin shook his head. “I can’t believe I said that.”

  “Neither can I,” Liam said. “It’s not something you know much about. Unlike you, I’ve actually had a few serious relationships.”

  “Still, I think you should try another approach. The guys she usually dates—what are they like?”

  “I’ve never met any of them. Her ex-fiancé was a cop who turned out to be a drug dealer. Obviously she doesn’t want a guy like him.”

  “But she might want a man who’s masculine rather than cute. Maybe that’s what you need to get her to think of you differently.”

  Liam was loathe to admit it, but Gavin might have a point. Perhaps he needed to act a little tougher. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure he could manage that without coming across as a complete idiot.

  Gavin snapped his fingers. “I got it. You probably fuck her all wrong.”

  “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation,” Liam muttered. “May I remind you that I’m the one who’s had sex in the past week. Not you. We keep doing it, so she must like it.”

  “Clearly you’re not terrible. But maybe you need to kick it up a notch. Fifty Shades of Grey stuff? Handcuffs—that’s probably why she dated the cop. Whips. Chains. Biting. Spanking.”

  Liam put his hands to his ears and howled in frustration. “Shut up.”

  “It doesn’t take much to make you uncomfortable.”

  “You just figured that out? I thought you knew and had been taking advantage of it for years.”

  Gavin chuckled. “Okay, you got me.” He walked to the kitchen and came back a minute later, carrying a plate with a slice of cheesecake.

  Oh no you didn’t… Liam wanted to punch his cousin in the face. But he wasn’t the kind of guy who did a thing like that. Now was not the time to start acting tough.

  “Did you seriously ruin my cheesecake heart?”

  “I seriously did. This is all far too lame.”

  “Good thing I hadn’t taken out the red and pink streamers yet.”

  “The disturbing thing,” Gavin said, lifting a forkful of cheesecake to his mouth, “is that I can’t figure out whether you’re joking.”

  Liam wasn’t joking. That had been part of his plan: a cheesecake in the shape of a heart, a mathematical formula for a heart, and pink and red streamers. If he could manage it, he’d make the streamers into the shape of a heart. But he didn’t feel like telling Gavin that.

  “Let me give you a tip,” Liam said. “Women love men who bake. Amber was sick once, and I brought her muffins. Just muffins—nothing fancy—and she went crazy over them.”

  Gavin chewed thoughtfully for a minute. “You can bake really well.”
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  “Thank you. Though the cake would be better if it was refrigerated for a couple of hours. The plan was to eat it after we’d done…everything else.” Hopefully Maya would like the cheesecake too. Except he no longer had a whole heart to offer her, thanks to his jerk of a cousin.

  Gavin put down his plate on the coffee table. “I don’t think this would work on the women I date. Especially not the math mumbo-jumbo. But maybe you know what you’re talking about when it comes to Maya. I’m sorry I ruined your plan.”

  As Liam was debating whether he should redo the note and present Maya with a partially-eaten cake, the phone rang.

  Shit. She was early. He buzzed her up, then turned to Gavin. “Time for you to get out of here.”

  “I’ll leave. As soon as I meet her.”

  There wasn’t time to argue. “Fine. You can meet her.”

  Liam walked into the kitchen and looked at the cake. How had Gavin managed to make such a mess by cutting a single slice? It looked like crap now. No way was he giving this to Maya to express his feelings for her. Instead, he quickly cut it up, put it in plastic containers, and threw it in the fridge. Rather than giving her a broken heart, he could tell her he had some leftover cheesecake for dessert.

  He would put the whole I-love-you thing on hold. He’d do that some other time. Or maybe he would give up on the romantic gesture and just tell her. No fancy plans required.

  But he liked his plan, and he thought Maya would too. He remembered how she’d smiled when she put the pink rose in the water bottle. Yes, she was different now. Yes, she’d been screwed over by a bunch of assholes. But he knew that romantic part of her still existed.

  However, much as Liam hated to admit it, Gavin might have a point. Perhaps he needed to be a bit manlier. Step things up in the bedroom.

  Oh, God. Was he seriously thinking of taking advice from Gavin?

  * * * *

  Maya frowned as she opened the door to the lobby. Liam had sounded a bit panicked.

  She was early, but only by ten minutes. The pizza—she’d stopped to get one on the way—hadn’t taken as long as expected, so she was ahead of schedule.

  She took the stairs up to his apartment rather than the elevator. A man she didn’t recognize opened the door.

  “Hey. You must be Maya.”

  “Uh…yeah.”

  “I’m Gavin.” He held out a hand. She wasn’t sure whether he wanted to shake her hand or was offering to take the pizza box; she handed him the pizza. “Liam’s cousin.” He turned his head. “Hey, Liam! Your girlfriend’s here.”

  “I’m not his girlfriend,” Maya said quickly. “We’re just hanging out because we have nothing better to do on Valentine’s Day. Eating pizza and drinking beer.” She lifted up the six-pack of Guinness in her left hand.

  “Liam, your girlfriend sounds pretty cool! Beer and pizza for Valentine’s?”

  Liam came to the door, and Maya felt a jolt of desire when she saw him in his jeans and a sweater. He was wearing a light pink collared shirt under the sweater—appropriate for Valentine’s Day—and that looked good, too. She couldn’t wait to take it off.

  “Gavin was just leaving. Right?” He clapped his hand on Gavin’s shoulder.

  “Of course!” Gavin said. “Just leaving. Going to the bar to watch the hockey game. You two have fun.” He winked at Liam, then stepped toward the door.

  As soon as the door closed behind Gavin, Liam said, “I’m sorry about that.”

  She shrugged. “No big deal. Though I’m curious to know what you told him. You’d clearly been talking about me.”

  Liam took the beer from her and set it on the coffee table. “I had to explain why I was unavailable to go to the bar with him tonight. So I told him about you. I said that I had a friend coming over, and I might have mentioned that we sleep together. The conversation went downhill at that point.”

  “Please tell me exactly what happened. I’m sure it will be fascinating.”

  “No,” he said firmly. “No way.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re having pizza. Then I’m going to fuck you.”

  Oh.

  Liam never said things like that. She was suddenly very aware of every inch of her body. It seemed like all the blood was rushing between her legs, and she felt empty. Needy. For the hot guy standing in front of her, who could give her exactly what she craved.

  Screw it. They didn’t have to eat yet; they could microwave the pizza later.

  She might be single on Valentine’s Day, but she was going to have a great time.

  Maya wrapped her arms around his neck. “Why wait when you can have me now?”

  His eyes darkened, and he pulled her close and kissed her mouth. His hands were all over her. One hand lifted up the bottom of her shirt, and the other struggled with the button on her jeans. She loved his desperation to touch her skin.

  “I like what you’re wearing,” he murmured.

  “Do you think it’ll look better on the floor?”

  Liam ran his thumb along the neckline of her V-neck sweater, and her nipples hardened. She’d worn this sweater because it showed off her cleavage, and she wanted to look sexy for him. No big sweatshirt today.

  “I’m positive it’ll look better on the floor.” He brushed his thumb over the peak of her nipple. She gasped, even though he was touching her through two layers of clothing. “Positive.”

  When he slipped his fingers under the cup of her bra and touched her bare breast, she clenched her thighs. Knowing exactly what she needed, he dipped his other hand inside her panties and ran his finger over her slit.

  “You know how many times I’ve come because of you?” he said.

  “Thirty-seven?” Okay. That was a stupid thing to say, but she wasn’t thinking straight now.

  Liam took a step back. “Have you been counting how many times we’ve have sex?”

  “Maybe.”

  She wished he would he would go back to touching her. But he didn’t. Not where she wanted him. He merely put his hands on her shoulders.

  God, that had been a really stupid thing to say.

  “Way more than thirty-seven,” he whispered, then pressed a kiss to the base of her neck, another one farther up. “I couldn’t even guess at the number.”

  “Did you think of me when you jerked off as a horny teenage boy?”

  “Oh, yes. Of course I did.” He kissed her throat. “As an adult, too.”

  “Weren’t you thinking of Ginny Cuthbert, even when you were with me?” she said, then immediately regretted it. Why did she keep saying silly things? Liam’s touch was destroying her brain function today.

  “I thought I would…but no. I always think of you. And I’m over her now.”

  Maya let herself smile. She didn’t want him for herself, but she didn’t like the idea of him lusting over someone else. And as his friend, she was glad he’d gotten over his crush on a married woman.

  That’s what she told herself.

  Liam rubbed his finger over her cheek and smiled back at her. He looked at her fondly, but also with smoldering heat, like he could barely control himself. It was exactly how she wanted a man to look at her. In some ways, Liam was perfect.

  It was too bad they were only friends.

  “It’s just you and me,” he said.

  She would have replied, but his hand dipped between her legs again. She was damp from her desire for him. As he stroked his finger in and out of her, she tipped her head back and moaned.

  “Just you and me,” he murmured. “And the couch.”

  “The couch?”

  He started moving away from the door, and she walked backward with him until the back of her legs hit the coffee table. They toppled onto the sofa.

  “Yes,” he said as he moved on top of her. “I don’t want to wait to get you into the bedroom. I want you right here. Right now.”

  She shivered at his words. “Do you have—”

  “Yes. Now shut up and let me fuck you.”

  “Did I
tell you how much I love it when you swear?”

  “You did. But you didn’t say it turned you on. You just said it was amusing.” Liam pushed down the neckline of her sweater and her bra, and he swirled his tongue over her aching nipple. She was so sensitive today. “I hope you don’t find it amusing now.”

  “No.” She swallowed. “I don’t find it amusing at all.”

  Needing more of him, Maya struggled to pull off his sweater and shirt. She ran her hands up and down his bare chest, fascinated by his body. He wasn’t going to be on the cover of a fitness magazine. He didn’t have the muscle for that. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t gorgeous.

  She raised her head so he could take off her sweater, and then it was her skin against his as they kissed. And it was perfect, until…

  “Oww,” she said. “Did you bite my shoulder?”

  He sat up. “I…yeah. I thought you might like it. I’m sorry.”

  The moment was ruined, but then his mouth was on the place where he’d bitten her. His lips, his tongue. He was soft, and it was all okay.

  Liam kissed his way down her body until his head was between her legs. He made quick work of the rest of her clothing and parted her folds. He touched his tongue to her clit, caressed her with his mouth, his finger sliding inside her body at the same time. This was the way she liked it—she’d told him that before.

  But this time, it was different. It was more in every way. She was more sensitive, it felt more than amazing, he made her come more than once. When he rolled on a condom and sank into her, it was almost unbearably intense.

  “Don’t move.” The words rushed out of her. She couldn’t stand it if he moved. It would be too much. It would push her over the edge. What edge, she didn’t know.

  “You okay?” He skimmed his fingertips over her cheek. “Does it hurt?”

  “Yes…No…I’m not sure.”

  He started to withdraw, but she didn’t want that. She wanted him. She grabbed his ass and pulled him into her. Grabbed his shoulders, tried to touch as much of him as she could as he thrust in and out of her.

  “God,” he said. “I love having my cock in you.”

  Even when he was screwing her on his couch and talking dirty to her, there was something about him that was just so gentle.

  She was over that edge now. Falling. It didn’t hurt; it was just such a powerful sensation, the likes of which she’d never experienced before. She’d thought she wouldn’t be able to bear it if it got more intense, but she’d been wrong. It was incredible.