When They Weren't Looking: Wardham Book #3

by York, Zoe

  “At school.”

  He crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. “Fuck, that’s scary, eh?”

  “Yeah.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Maybe I should have called you yesterday. I needed a hug.”

  He tightened his grip. He never wanted to let her go. This was agony, because after they’d made love again, he thought that’s where they were, but if she didn’t think of him when she needed support…

  “Liam…” If she told him to back off, he was going to have a tantrum, he didn’t care how immature she thought that might be.

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re not wearing a shirt.”

  That was true. He’d gotten warm while working. Hope, and something else, stirred inside him. “I took it off.”

  “And you’ve got quite a nice toolbelt…”

  He glanced down, taking in her bright eyes. How she was nibbling on her lower lip. Fuck him. “Evie, do you have a construction worker fantasy, by any chance?”

  “Little bit.”

  “How much time do you have?”

  “Not much.”

  He could do a lot of things in not much time. If he put his mind to it.

  “But that’s not…That’s not why I came here.” She reached up and pulled his head down to hers, giving him a lingering, promising kiss. “And it’s not going to happen. Not today, although…”

  “Yeah.” He was going to wear the toolbelt every day until she jumped him. “Okay, we’ll save that for another afternoon.”

  She rubbed her hand across his chest, leaving a trail of goosebumps in her wake. “Soon, I promise. Before I get too uncomfortable to care.”

  “I like the sound of soon.”

  Evie took a step back before she molested him, and got back to the point of her visit. “I’ve got an hour break before my next class, thought you might want to go for a walk, grab a coffee.”

  “Be seen with you in public?”

  She offered a sweet smile. “Sure, why not?”

  “People might get the wrong idea about us.”

  “I don’t care what people think, Liam. I truly don’t. I may have in the past, or maybe that was just my heart being silly, but I’m just…it’s me that’s complicated, okay?”

  “I don’t think you are, not really.” He slung his toolbelt over a nearby ladder, grabbed his jacket and put it on before pulling her close for a hug. “No more than me, anyway.”

  She didn’t get a chance to think about that before he was herding her out the door. The air had a decided nip to it, and when Liam wove his fingers through hers, she didn’t resist. Warm and strong, with rough callouses that reminded her of his gentle touches, his hand felt exactly right wrapped around hers. Her resistance had melted, and it didn’t flood her with panic. She nudged her shoulder into Liam’s arm, and he flashed her a smile. “This is nice. Rustling leaves, cool breeze, going for a walk together.” Not wanting to be left out, the baby jabbed her in the cervix, and Evie winced.

  Liam immediately stopped and took her in his arms. “You okay?”

  “Mmm.” She half-groaned, half-nodded. “Just some baby movements hurt more than others.”

  “Anything I can do?”

  She shook her head, and they resumed walking. “Want to talk about names?”

  “I was thinking Claire would be a good middle name.”

  “My mom would like that.” Evie stumbled to a stop again. “Oh god, Liam. I don’t know what your mother’s name is!”

  He shrugged. “Amelia, but we won’t be using it.”

  The disquiet any mention of his parents caused was something that Evie would have a hard time getting used to. She believed him that there was nothing to talk about there, but it was so far from her realm of understanding that she literally tripped up on it from time to time. But as long as she refused to talk about their relationship, she could hardly press him to talk about his family. “Okay, what about first names?”

  “I have some thoughts, but do you have any names you wanted to use with either of the boys?”

  “Maya was my girl name for Connor, and Anna for Max, but I’d feel funny re-using one of those, if that makes sense.” Evie smiled. “I have tossed up Lexi and Becca, what do you think?”

  He winced. “I like Anna better than either of those. I want my daughter to have a name that she could be Prime Minister with.”

  “Hey! I can see a Prime Minister Lexi McIntosh!” He didn’t say anything for a minute, and when she glanced over, he was wearing the biggest shit-eating grin she’d ever seen, bigger than at the ultrasound. “You like the sound of that, eh?”

  He laughed, a big sound from the depths of his belly. “All but the Lexi part, yeah. You don’t want to give her your last name?”

  She nodded. “I will, as a middle name.”

  “You didn’t change your name when you got married?”

  “No, not really. I answered to Mrs. Simmons at the school and church picnics, but my driver’s license stayed Evie Calhoun the whole time.” She glanced over to gauge his reaction, but he wasn’t looking at her, he was staring straight ahead.

  They were almost to the main street when he quietly said under his breath, “Would you ever change your name?”

  She didn’t answer right away, although it wasn’t because she needed time to consider her response. She didn’t, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, either. “No…it’s just not who I am, ya know? Why…would you want me to?”

  “Careful there, Evie. That’s getting dangerously close to a serious talk.” He tugged her close and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I’d like to dress you head to toe in McIntosh plaid and slap a Property of Liam bumper sticker on your gorgeous ass. Yeah, I’d want you to change your name if we got married. I’d also want to keep you naked and in my bed, making more babies. But that’s just the product of our culture. You can tell me to cram it and that won’t change how I feel about you.”

  “You’re something else, you know that, Liam? I…” The main intersection of Wardham wasn’t the place to have this conversation, but it needed to happen soon. “Let’s go grab a hot chocolate and argue some more about names.”

  He squeezed her hand. “You sure? Nothing more that needed to be said there?”

  “It’s just that I appreciate you, more than you know.” She swallowed hard. What she wanted to tell him deserved to be front and center, a main stage production. Followed by a very private celebration.

  He shot her a quizzical look, then nodded. “Okay. Off we go.”

  There was a line inside Bun, but Liam pushed Evie toward one of the bar stools. “Save us a spot, I’ll get us drinks.”

  “I said hot chocolate but I really want—”

  “Carrie’s Mother’s Tea blend.” It smelled like moldy hay, how could he forget it? But it made her happy, and if she wanted him to, Liam would drink it himself. Maybe with a heaping spoonful of honey. “How about an oat bar with it?”

  “Wow, you’ve been paying attention.” She smiled up at him. If only that smile meant more than appreciation. He tamped down that bitterness. The rest would come in time. For now, he needed to appreciate a bit more himself. That they were finally dating, or whatever this was. Exactly what you asked of her. And now that he had it, he wanted more. He wanted her heart, and not at some point in the future. Now. Ungrateful bastard.

  He paid the part-timer at the counter for their drinks, then turned to join Evie, but she wasn’t alone anymore. She had her arms wrapped around a man who was whispering something in her ear. Were all the men of Wardham giants? Liam had never felt small before he moved to the sleepy village. He stretched to the full extent of his six feet and took a deep breath. He didn’t have any right to get upset about her hugging a friend, not even one with whom she had an intimate history. Because that’s all that it was—history.

  “Liam!” She turned toward him, flushed and glowing. “Look who I found. This is Evan. Ev, this is Liam.”

  The other man extended h
is hand. Liam recognized his grip as practiced, professional. Smooth, like his smile. But his eyes crinkled as he looked back at Evie, and there was no challenge in his posture. “Nice to meet you. Evie’s told me…well, not a lot, but what she’s said has been good.”

  “Same. Except she’s told me a lot.”

  Evan lifted his eyebrows in surprise. That’s right, dude. I know all about you and I’m not threatened, either. Liam could lie with the best of them. At the moment, he was feeling a bit threatened, but not really by Evan. By the weeks ticking by, the impending arrival of their baby, and the fact they were just starting to date now. “Good, then. And you’ve met with Ty a few times.”

  Liam slid a glance in Evie’s direction before responding. “Hopefully I can help you guys out with your expansion next year.”

  “That would be great. And you guys will come out to the winery for New Year’s Eve?”

  Evie shook her head. “Probably not this year, Ev.” She tugged Liam closer and leaned her head against his chest, and he fought back a stupid grin. “I think we might stay in.”

  Evan pulled out his phone and shot off a quick text message before nodding. “Well, hopefully we’ll catch up again real soon. Nice to meet you, Liam.”

  As her ex-boyfriend dodged his way through the line of customers, Evie snaked her arms around Liam’s waist. “You’re going to help them out, eh?”

  “I might be useful to them.”

  “You’re useful to me.”

  “That so?”

  “Mmm-hmmm. Want to come over tonight and we can talk more about that?”

  “Hell, yes.”

  From the other side of the raised bar, Carrie cleared her throat. He looked up, expecting a chastisement, but she was beaming at them. “I’d ask if you two need a room, but I’m seven months too late, aren’t I?”

  Evie screeched her friend’s name, and Liam hooted with laughter. God, he loved this town. Had it really been seven months since he caught sight of Evie on that barstool and lost his mind? Or found it, maybe? She’d changed his life so much, and she had no idea.

  He didn’t want to rush into the next proposal, but it was time to go ring shopping. So he’d be prepared, when the time was right.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  “What are you doing here?” Evie looked at Karen with suspicion.

  Her friend shrugged out of her winter coat, still coated with fat, fluffy flakes. “I come to classes from time to time.”

  “Only when you want to gossip.”

  “So sue me, I don’t have the grocery store mainline option anymore. Anyway, today I’m really here for Stella.”

  Evie grinned. Her unexpected disciple was teaching her first set of classes today, and as an early Christmas present, they’d made them free to the community. “She’s going to rock this. She might look meek and mild, but underneath that innocent farm girl exterior is the spirit of a jailhouse guard.”

  Karen glanced to the door. “Too late for me to leave?”

  “Don’t even think about it.”

  They laid out their mats at the back of the room. Evie wanted to stay out of Stella’s way as much as possible. Eighteen other people joined them, including Carrie and Mari, Eleanor Nixon, and Beth Stewart, the marketing manager at Go West Winery, who waved at Karen.

  “Is Beth a friend of Stella’s?” Evie asked.

  “I don’t think so,” said Karen. “She’s closer to our age.”

  “She’s never come out before. That’s awesome, I’m going to say hi.” Evie did a loop of the room to greet people, ending at Beth’s mat. “Welcome to our studio, Beth!”

  “Thank you. Karen was raving about the classes, and I’ve been doing a ton of overtime lately, so I thought I’d reward myself with an extra-long lunch hour.”

  “Good, you should do that more often. I can hook you up with a multi-class pass at a great discount.”

  Beth smiled. “No wonder this place is such a success, you really know what you’re doing.”

  “That’s high praise, coming from you. I hope you enjoy Stella’s class.”

  Evie padded back to her mat as Stella clapped twice and introduced herself. She outlined what the goals were for the session, reminded everyone that it wasn’t a competition with anyone but themselves, and promised to get them all sweaty. Everyone smiled at that except Karen.

  “You could sneak out, you know.” Evie whispered. “I’d judge you, but no one else would.”

  Karen laughed as they rolled backwards onto their mats. “I’ve got my reasons for being here.”

  Evie bit back a retort about exercise needing to be a constant part of one’s daily life. She was just a student today, time to turn it off. “That was nice, my little chat with Beth just then.”

  “Mmmm?” Karen pulled one knee against her chest and stretched, then the other, half listening to Evie as they followed Stella’s directions.

  “She didn’t comment on the giant belly or talk about the pregnancy at all. It was just business. I’m not getting a lot of that lately.”

  “That’s because business talk is boring.”

  “Says the woman who is dying to get knocked up.”

  Karen grinned. “It’s so much fun trying.”

  “This is a place of business, let’s keep it clean, okay?” Evie stuck her tongue out at her friend. “So how do you know Beth?”

  “Oh, you know, the winery.”

  They moved into leg lifts, and Evie reached for a pillow she used to alter some of the conditioning exercises to be more pregnancy-friendly.

  Karen dropped her legs to the mat. “I was out there yesterday, talking to her about New Year’s Eve.”

  “Bah. New Year’s Eve. Who in their right mind wants to stay up until midnight?”

  A stricken look dropped onto Karen’s face. “Not you?”

  “Not any pregnant woman, honey. Bed time is nine thirty, if I’m lucky.”

  “Even with Liam, you know…?”

  She laughed. “Poor guy. We finally start dating, and it turns out that his girlfriend isn’t up for much after the kids go to bed.” She lowered her voice. “The afternoon sex makes up for that, though.”

  “So even though you’re getting bigger, it’s still…good?”

  Evie nodded. “It’s different, but still good. Great, actually.” She breathed through the next set of exercises. “The way Paul looks at you, I’m sure you’ll be boinking like bunnies right up until your due date.”

  “Well, I’m not pregnant yet. And actually…you’re serious about not coming out on New Year’s Eve?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  Karen muttered something between heavy breaths, but Evie didn’t catch it.

  “What?” She pressed the stretch a little deeper.

  “Vegas.”

  Evie let out a wheezing laugh. “No, if I’m not willing to drive the ten minutes to the winery, I’m definitely not going to Vegas. I don’t even think I can fly right now.”

  “No, not Vegas. Vegas.”

  Evie looked at her friend like she was insane. “What are you talking about?” Vegas. When was the last time they’d talked about that? A flashback to a wing night at Danny’s in September brought a dawning realization. She whipped her head around to her friend. “Really?”

  “It’s a secret.”

  “We didn’t even make a code word!”

  “I didn’t know I’d need one, this just sort of happened.”

  “You excited?”

  Karen grinned. “Uh huh.”

  “Does Carrie know?” Evie glanced at their friend on the other side of the room.

  “I told her this morning, I need her to bake a cake.”

  “So this secret…”

  “Probably won’t last long, but I hope it does. I had to tell Chase, because otherwise there would be no way he’d show up, and Audrey because if I didn’t let her help me pick out my dress, she’d probably disown me.” Karen laughed. “My mom guilted Davis into coming once she heard that the rest of us
were going together. That was handy.”

  “Well, I’ll be there.” Evie winced. “Although I don’t have anything to wear.”

  “You’ve got two weeks to find something. And schedule a nap for that afternoon.”

  It only took six days. On Christmas Eve, Laney and Kyle arrived with their dog Buddy, bearing presents for the boys and three dry-cleaner bags full of dresses that Laney thought might fit her sister.

  “I tried these on with a pillow undeneath,” she told Evie in a conspiratorial whisper when they were alone. “I think one of them should work for you.”

  Evie hadn’t told her sister why she was getting dressed to the nines for New Year’s. Laney probably assumed it was a hot date, and maybe it would be. She hadn’t spoiled herself with any pampering since she found out she was pregnant, but at the beginning of December, Liam had presented her with a basic child support agreement and a stack of post-dated cheques, plus one that covered to the beginning of her pregnancy. She’d tried to refuse it, but he’d kissed the arguments right out of her. And she’d let him, because she was done making life harder than it needed to be.

  Liam showed up while Laney and Kyle took a quick visit out to the Nixon farm, where they’d leave Buddy to have a holiday meal with Kyle’s parents’ dogs, and where they’d return later to spend the night.

  Liam had gone into Windsor on a secret mission, and from the giant toy store bag he immediately stashed in the basement, she knew what it had been. “Honey, they’re going to be spoiled by Dale’s family tonight. I don’t want to get caught up in that cycle.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said, pressing her against the kitchen counter, and that’s where Laney and Kyle found them, tangled up and a little breathless. The men shook hands, and Laney gave Liam a big hug.

  “Welcome to the family,” she said, and Evie blushed. They had slipped into a family-esque routine, but that conversation about how much he meant to her still hadn’t happened. Something always interrupted them. The kids. Sex. Her ridiculous habit of falling asleep as soon as she was horizontal. Work, and not just hers. Liam had offered his tenants a cut in their rent to move into the smaller but newly renovated flat below his, and now he was mad at work turning the other half of the house into two more units to rent out. He had someone moving in January first.