Page 8 of Tempting Him (Illicit Desires)

With a shrug, I replied, “I was married. It wasn’t like it needed to be common knowledge.”

“And now?” Liam pressed.

“Now, I’m single, and if I have an itch, I can scratch it, can’t I?”

“I see.” Liam shifted a little nervously. He puffed out a breath and put his hand back on the front door. “As much as I don’t want to leave, I think I still should, before I end up taking this way too far.”

My breathing hitched at the thought of what might be involved in taking things with Liam a lot further than just kissing him in the hallway. Temptation was going to be very hard to resist with him. I took the same step back I had just moments before to allow him to make whatever move he needed to.

He stared at me intensely. “Rich, I don’t want to leave. But Annie is my best friend in the whole world, and I need to think about this with more than my dick before it goes any further. But I do want to take it further.”

I had to respect his resolve. He was being a better friend than I was a father in that moment. The thought of having a conversation with Annie about the possibility of me having a relationship again crossed my mind.

“You’re right, and I should probably have a chat with her about me seeing someone again too. But I think your cock and mine are probably having very similar ideas right now.”

“Fuck.” He closed his eyes and his tongue traced over his lips.

Christ, he was going to get me in trouble.

He lunged forward, giving me a quick peck on the cheek, and mumbled some goodbye, then disappeared out the front door without giving either of us the chance to change the other’s mind.

ChapterNine

Liam

It wasn’tthat I felt the need to run from Rich as fast as I could. To be honest, the ability to run with the raging hard-on he had left me with wasn’t possible anyway. It was more that if I didn’t think carefully about the consequences of my actions and everything I was hoping to happen with Rich, then I wasn’t only going to lose the man I was fast becoming more than just attracted to, but there was the chance of fucking everything up and losing my best friend too. Annie had been in my life since I was a toddler. Not having her around me every day would be incomprehensible. What if something happened? What if Rich broke my heart? What if I broke his? I needed to make sure I had all the answers to the worst-case scenarios of this situation.

But then another thought came to mind. What if I didn’t act on it? How would that affect my ability to be around Annie and Rich if all I was doing was pining for a man I was never going to be with? That wasn’t going to do my friendship any good either.

The next day,Annie called me bright and early. “Hey, babe,” she half sang cheerfully down the phone.

“Someone’s in a good mood this morning.” I smiled in reply.

“Someonegot a little something last night, so she has reason to be.”

I grinned. I was glad one of us was getting what they needed after the night before my balls were bluer than the Blue Man Group. “Oh, is that so?” I teased. “Come on, spill the details. Did you meet a fine young man when you were out last night?”

The pause before she answered didn’t go unnoticed, and I prayed I wasn’t about to hear the words I knew were coming next.

“Actually, it was Declan.”

I let out a sigh and rolled my eyes. Yep, there it was, the answer I didn’t want to hear. “Oh, Annie.” I couldn’t hide the disappointment in my voice when I spoke to her.

“Oh, fuck off, Liam. It’s only a bit of fun. I’m not about to marry him and have his babies. It’s just sex and drinking. Haven’t you ever had an itch you needed to scratch?”

The answer was a resounding hell yes. The difference being knowing what might happen if I did, I held off. For now. “Of course I bloody have. But Declan?” My voice trailed off.

“I know, I know! But he was there, I was pissed, and it seemed like a good idea. I doubt I’ll be going back for more, but I wanted to call you and say sorry for leaving you in the lurch last night. Can I make it up to you?”

I couldn’t stay mad at Annie for anything, and she knew it. “You’d better.” I smirked. “Just promise me something?”

“Anything.” She answered without hesitation.

“Be very careful with Declan. And for the love of Christ, I donotwant to hear anything about how he is in bed!”

A loud laugh came down the phone line at me. “Deal. Absolutely!”

“Talk to you later, then. Love you!” I smiled.

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