Fifteen

Savannah

Early Monday morning, I place my heels and jacket by my purse at the front door. Liam’s in his track pants and sweaty T-shirt in the kitchen.

“I guess I should be thankful your first line of business wasn’t asking me to go on a run this morning.” I walk by him, pretending not to notice how the wet fabric is glued to his abs.

He unscrews the lid of his water bottle. My guess is it was a giveaway at Smokin’ Guns since it has the company logo. He has bottles of water in the fridge for any visitors, but he always uses that water bottle. Maybe he’s a closet environmentalist.

“That’s step three.” His voice is so serious, I turn around with my yogurt in hand and am relieved by his smirk. “Plus, you’re already a runner.”

“I am, but I like to do it alone.”

He nods. “I can respect that, but if you ever want company, let me know.” He tips his water down.

I’m not sure I could run with him alongside me. “What is your mile time?”

He laughs, screwing the top of his water back on. “I’ve never timed myself.”

“Really?”

He circles his finger in front of my face from across the room. “I see your confusion, but for me, it’s about being outside and getting a workout in because I’m way too lazy to go after work.”

“Do you listen to music?”

He opens the drawer and hands me a spoon. I accept it with a nod. Maybe we can stay on solid ground. We’re acting like grown-ups.

“Of course. You?”

“Podcasts.” I shove a spoonful of yogurt into my mouth to shut myself up. He’s going to think I’m a loser.

“Podcasts about what?”

I debate lying, but Liam is so observant, he probably already knows. “How to be a better boss.”

His head tilts. A clear sign that he pities me. Great. He’s going to go from being infatuated with me to another Lake Starlighter who feels sorry for me. “Admirable, but you should try music. I bet you’ll decrease your mile time.”

I shake my head, pointing the spoon at him. “That’s sly.”

“What?” His hands go up and he heads to the coffee pot. “Here or to go?”

“To go.”

“So I need to steal a bit of your time every day this week?”

“For?” I finish my yogurt and dump the container in the trash and my spoon in the dishwasher.

He hands me my to-go coffee mug after putting a splash of milk in it. “How soon they forget. The bet?”

Shit. I thought he was talking the charity. We really need to get going on that as well. “Um… how much time do you want?”

His eyes fall over my body, and he inhales a quick breath. “Stop baiting me to say something I’m not supposed to.”

“I didn’t.” But then I run the sentence through my brain again and okay, maybe I did.

“For step one, I’m going to ask you to bend the rules.” His teeth latch onto his bottom lip, and I’ve never wanted to unleash that flesh for someone as much as I do right now.

“Already, Mr. Kelly?”