Hit & Run Bride (Hit & Run Bride Contemporary Romance Series) (15 page)

“That must have been really hard. You were just a kid.”

She felt him shift behind her. Like maybe he was shrugging. “At least I had my mom. Through everything, she’s been my rock.”

Becca smiled. “She sounds awesome.” She made a mental note to try not to bitch slap Liam’s father if she ever had the displeasure of meeting him. “Thank you for telling me.”

For several moments, they lay like that, his arm wrapped around her. “I’m glad you stayed,” he whispered.

“Yeah, well, there was this hot, naked man in the bed, and he kept promising to feed me chocolate, so what choice did I have?”

His chuckle rumbled low and deep, and the vibrations reverberated along her back. He kissed her gently on the shoulder. “So what you’re saying is you’re here under duress?”

Becca giggled. She’d never been this easygoing in bed. Usually, she was running into the bathroom to make sure her wild tangle of curls was in some semblance of order, or at least trying to wash the morning gook from her eyes.

But with Liam, she didn’t need to do that. Not that she wasn’t tempted. But honestly, she’d rather just stay in bed with him. “Not exactly under duress, more like I was coerced under false pretenses.”

Behind her, he scoffed. “I’ll show you false pretenses.” He started nibbling at the sensitive spot behind her ear, then when she relaxed against him and sighed, he tickled her.

She squealed with laughter and pulled away. “No, no, no. Please. Oh God. I’m really ticklish.”

He laughed. “I can see that.” He tried for a sobering smile. “Come on back. I promise to behave.”

Becca pouted. “No one said you had to
behave
now.”

He pinned her with a hot gaze. “If you don’t have to be at work any time soon, then say the word. I didn’t have nearly enough of you last night.”

Becca blinked as a hot flush burned her cheeks. Then she tried to make her brain work. Now what had he said again? Something about work? Oh that’s right. She had to go to work. “Work. Damn it. What time is it?”

He glanced back at his clock. “7:15.”

She sighed. “I’m going to be late if I don’t get out of here.”

“I can be quick.” He winked at her.

“Apparently you can’t.
You
kept me up half the night, Liam.”

He grinned unapologetically. “I can make it worth your while.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet, but I have to go.” What she really wanted to do was wrap herself around him and never let go. In his arms, she felt alive and sexy and perfect just the way she was.

But no. She had a job to do. And with a high likelihood that she would see Holden running around the hallways today, she needed to be on her game. Not flustered because of hot morning sex that made her late for work.

Liam leaned over and gave her a soft, undemanding kiss. “Friday, I’m picking you up after work, and you better not have any plans on Saturday morning.”

Wow. Yeah, she was so down with that. “It’s a deal.” Now how to get from the bed to the bathroom with the sheet wrapped around her? It was one thing to make love against a window. And again in his bed. And then wake to him lapping at her slick folds. It was something else entirely to stalk out of bed, in the bright sunshine, with her jiggly bits in plain view. She knew it was silly. But still. “Uhm, maybe it’ll be faster if I shower here. Do you think you can grab me a towel?”

Liam slid out of bed in all his naked perfection and got her a towel out of the closet. While he did that, she managed to wrap the sheets around herself and stand on wobbly legs.

He handed her the towel, which she took gratefully. He studied her before he spoke. “I love how you look, Becca. You don’t need to cover up. I’ve seen every inch of your gorgeous body. And I plan to see it again and again at every opportunity.”

She flushed again. “Yeah, okay, I hear you.” But like hell she was letting go of the sheet.

Liam shook his head. “I’m going to make coffee. Do you want some?”

“God, yes.”

“Let me guess, another food group next to chocolate and wine?”

“You better believe it.”

When he was safely in the kitchen brewing her some nectar of the gods, she sprinted into the bathroom. After the fastest shower in history, she slipped into her clothes. Note to self—next time, keep gym bag in car. At least she’d have something new to wear. She snatched her phone off the nightstand and quickly checked her texts.

One from Holden. She swiped delete without even reading it. There were seven from Van.
Shit
.

V
an: Sorry I missed your call. Phone died. You okay?

Van: Becca, you okay? Call me back.

Van: Seriously? What happened? Where are you?

Van: Holden just called me freaking out that he couldn’t find you. He assumed you were with me.

Van: Or is this some elaborate ruse of his and he actually has you chopped up in his freezer. It’s always possible he’s a serial killer.

Van: Are you with Sexy Swimmer Liam? (Picture me snapping enthusiastically)

Van: No. Seriously, I’m worried.

Becca hit Van’s speed dial.

It only rang once before she picked up. “Girl, where have you been? Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been? Unless of course you’re with Liam, then go you.”

Becca laughed, then whispered, “I’m fine. I was with Liam.”

Van whooped. Becca could picture her booty dance.

“And you pulled the trigger with Holden obviously because homie was looking less than pleased when he came around last night.”

What? “He came looking for me too?”

“I guess he figured if you weren’t at home, you were with me.”

And under normal circumstances he’d have been right. “Okay, I’ll deal with him.”

Van was silent for a beat. “Why are you whispering? Are you still with sexy Liam?”

“Yeah, I’m still here. Look I’m on my way home. I’ll give you the down low at work.”

Van laughed. “You are a bad girl. And I love it. A sleep over. Already? Before the first date. Can I be you when I grow up?”

“Shut up.”

Van chuckled. “At least you’ll be all relaxed when you present the project progress this morning.”

Becca groaned. In all the madness of last night, she’d completely forgotten. She was ready, but she wasn’t in the mood to lose her happy glow. “Yeah...relaxed. That’s one way of putting it.” She hung up and checked her hair in Liam’s giant, full-length mirror one more time before heading for the kitchen.

His smile was warm as he handed her a steaming mug. “So when do I get to meet this mysterious Van.”

“Oh. You heard me?”

He shrugged. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t eavesdropping. I just figured if there was anyone you were calling it was probably her.”

“We were supposed to sync up last night, but it didn’t happen.” She slid her feet into her shoes before taking a sip of coffee. “Thank you for this. And now, I have to go. I’m supposed to be presenting my progress on the Southland campaign this morning.”

“Oh, your big project. You ready?”

“On the one hand, yes. The website is coming along. The merchandising and the event planning is moving along too. The one sticking point is the endorsement. My team has called her office, I’ve called her office, even the president of Dive has called her office, but her assistant gave all of us the run around. I don’t think she’s particularly interested.”

He frowned. “I know she was on tour for her charity for a month. Maybe she’s just not back yet. My offer still stands. I can call her for you.”

Oh man. That was tempting. It would be so easy to let Liam swoop in and fix this for her. Kind of like she’d let Holden swoop in and help her career in the background. She’d never asked for it, but she’d reaped the rewards, and that had put their relationship off balance. She didn’t want that to happen with Liam. If he didn’t see her as a capable equal, then they would be doomed.

“Thank you, but I need to get through and convince her on my own. I don’t want you to strong-arm her.”

He crossed to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Becca, it’s nothing. She’s a friend. I’ll just be asking for a favor.”

“I know. And I love that you would do that for me. But I want to do this on my own.”

He sighed. “If you change your mind, just tell me. It’s only a phone call.”

He genuinely wanted to help. That knowledge warmed her. “You’re very sweet. How did I luck out so big?”

“I won’t call it luck. I’ll just call it your bad driving.”

Chapter Fourteen

Four days after their first night together, Liam was riding his motorcycle again to his job. His buddy at the body shop had fixed all the damage and tuned it up.

Riding a motorcycle was similar to swimming. There was a certain edge to it...an edge that came with freedom. You were in the midst of traffic and noise and you were very exposed, but a part of you was free. The wind in your hair, the bike under your ass...it was like being on top of your own personal world. Swimming was similar. You were aware of life going on around you, but you were able to live in the moment as you focused on getting from Point A to Point B.

Liam smiled into the wind skating past his face. Sex was also a lot like swimming. Maybe even more so since it involved physical activity.

Or maybe everything made him think of swimming because everything right now made him think of Becca. He couldn’t get enough of her, in or out of the pool.

She was still taking private lessons from him, but the lessons had gotten hotter and more intense. The past few evenings, there’d been more groping than swimming, and yet she’d made great strides. She was more relaxed in the water. Playful even. The last time he’d asked about her deadline, she’d batted those pretty brown eyes and told him not to sweat it. The deadline didn’t matter anymore.

He parked in a spot near the back door of the inner city pool. Manny had called and left Liam a message to call him back. One of Manny’s previous students who’d gone on to win a gold in the 2008 Olympics was now filming a documentary, following the lives of a select few Olympians-in-training. Manny wanted to include Henry.

Liam was pumped. He suspected he’d have to jump a few hurdles with Henry’s mom, but this opportunity—like landing Manny as Henry’s coach—was too good to pass up. Once potential sponsors saw Henry’s cute face on screen, they’d be knocking each other down to land him as a spokesperson. Sponsorship came with big dollar signs. Money that could help Henry’s family and secure the kid’s future.

Liam spoke to several staff members as he made his way to his dinky office. He called Manny first, got the details, and then called Henry’s mother. She was surprised, then excited. She promised to talk to Henry when he got home from school. Liam answered all her questions then set up a time for him to take her and Henry to L.A. to meet with Manny and sign all the documents necessary for Henry to be included in Manny’s group, as well as the film.

When he hung up, he leaned back in his chair. All the talk about opportunities and potential sponsorships made him think of Becca and her quest for a medaled swimmer for her ad campaign. Why hadn’t Addison returned Becca’s calls? She’d always been a friend, and a generous one at that. He knew that even if she couldn’t do the campaign or didn’t want to, she probably knew someone who would.

Liam fished through the contacts on his cell phone, found Addie’s personal number, and dialed. The call went to voicemail, and Liam left a message. “Hey, Addie. It’s Liam. Hope everything is okay with you. You seem to be out of the loop. Training, I suppose, and doing your charity stuff. Call me when you have a chance, okay?”

He’d just hung up when his mother called. “Hey, Mom.”

“Liam, are you okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I haven’t heard from you in several days. I was getting worried.”

Shit
. With everything going on, and Becca at his place every night, he’d been out of touch. “Sorry. Is everything all right?”

“Fine, fine. I was hoping you’d come for dinner tonight.”

Tonight. He had plans with Becca. He couldn’t cancel on her and couldn’t disappoint his mother, especially since he’d neglected calling her for four days. When was the last time that had happened? “Will Dad be there?”

“Not unless hell froze over.”

Liam chuckled. “Can I bring a friend?”

“Alex is always welcome.”

“It’s not Alex, Mom.”

Her voice went all sly and curious. “Reeeally? Please tell me it’s a woman.”

It was good to hear her sound like her old self. She’d love Becca—he was sure of it. “It’s a woman.”

She whooped into the phone, and in his mind, he could see her dancing around the room. “Thank God. Yes, bring her. I’ll break out the fancy plates.”

“Deal, but only if you let me bring the food so you don’t have to cook.”

“But I
want
to cook dinner. I’m feeling a lot better since I quit those meds Dr. Miller had me on. Let me do this. How does lasagna sound?”

She felt like cooking. That was a good sign. “You sure the smell won’t bother your stomach?”