Page 35 of Present Tense

She winks at me. “We’ll let Liam decide,” she says confidently, but I have an ace up my skirt.

I remove my pashmina and snap my bra. “Be forewarned. I have the upper hand right now.” Other Cat stares at me and I feel a smidgen of respect from the cat.

She nods to me like a gladiator admitting defeat. “Checkmate.” She nods. “I can’t promise Lisa will be on board. She’s protective of Liam since the divorce. She had plans for his love life. She’s rather tenacious.” What a crock of shit.

“I’ll reach out to Lisa after Liam comes back from Chicago.” Her eyebrows raise and then she nods. At least I know Lisa won’t sleep with this boyfriend.

“It seems he’s damning the consequences.” She winks at me. And I don’t know if it’s supportive, or a wink that says ‘No worries, there will be men coming by to chloroform you while I steal Liam for wassail and a bad date in Cherry Hill.’

“Well, it appears you have plans. Probably someplace too fussy.”

“I’m happy we talked.”I say.

She smiles and says, “This has no choice but to move swiftly. It started long ago. It started when he held your hand crossing the street. It started when you laughed at his jokes before he knew he was funny. It started when the two of you exchanged your innermost thoughts writing letters to each other for years. My darling girl, you’re simply picking up where you might have left off.” She walks back toward the kitchen, and I follow—touched, baffled, and dumbstruck by her words.

She squeezes my arm and says, “Tell my son I’ll be expecting a phone call. Don’t disappoint me. And I don’t know if I can give this all a stamp of approval just yet. But don’t lie to him about anything.”

“I won’t.”

“Tell him everything. His wife hid things.” He doesn’t know my full history with his sister. I’ll tell him eventually. That’s my only hidey thing.

She hugs me. This woman has hugged me hundreds of times, but now it feels weighty. With that, she turns and leaves. I finish my wine in one sip and pour another to detangle my nerves.

24

LIAM

She floats across the room and pulls down my scarf to reveal my next present.

She gasps.

“What did you do? Oh my God.” She instantly puts her hand on my pristinely shaven cheeks, then feels my whole face very gently.

“So soft.” She outlines my lips, and I kiss her finger.

“Do I look ok?” I ask.

“You look amazing!” I pull her closer. She kisses me with a ridiculous amount of intensity. “But you looked amazing before, too.” I grin at her. “But you feel better than I thought. You look so young.”

“No gray.”

“No, it’s your sweet face. The one I know.”

We kiss intimately because there’s no resistance or scratching. It’s intoxicating. I can only imagine what it’s like for her.

“The stockings!” she yells. And with that kiss and statement, I’m turned on again. This woman makes me insatiable.

“Tell me you put them on. Never mind, I have ways of finding out.” I turn her around quickly and my hand goes up her skirt. She nuzzles my neck as I explore her hair, twisting it in my fingers. I rub my face on her neck as she tosses her head back.

“Liam,” she groans my name—it’s quickly becoming my favorite sound in the world. “We’re going to be late.”

I explore farther, moving my hand down and she gets breathy. “I can think of worse things.”

She sighs and tries to walk away. My hand’s reluctantly removed. She pulls her skirt down and puts her hands on her hips. “I’m hungry.”

“Me too.” I charge at her again, thrusting my hand back where it belongs. “And I am going to eat right now. This is my pussy. You don’t get to say when she wants to be touched. I do. And I want to touch her right now.”

She grins. “Sorry. Forgot.” She throws her arms around my neck and gasps as I finger her. She’s insanely wet. Her kisses amp up while I circle her clit. She moves into my hand with her hips. I slip a couple of digits into her and thrust in and out. It feels glorious.