Page 64 of False Confidence

Shit. Guilt toiled in Liam’s stomach. Had Jasmine not wanted her to know for some reason? He’d half expected her to roll over when they were finished and call Maggie immediately, if he was being honest. There must be something wrong if she hadn’t told her at all. Liam filed it away, something for them to talk about later. “Maybe she wanted to tell you in person,” he reasoned, but Maggie looked no less concerned.

“I’ve seen her like three times since then. Weird. I’ll try to grab her for lunch tomorrow.”

“Thanks,” Liam said, relieved. “And maybe we could all do dinner with my moms this weekend or something? I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable around them and my dad.”

“That sounds good. Hey, earlier, when you were talking about Jazz being worried about your parents finding out, you said together,” Maggie said, with a weighted expression. “What does that mean, exactly?”

“It’s… complicated,” he admitted, drumming his fingertips on the dark wood table. “It’s definitely more than sex for both of us. We just haven’t talked about it.”

“You mean aside from when she accidentally said she loved you while she was sick and you said no take backs?”

At least she was telling Maggie some things. “You can’t deny that’s going to be a cute story to tell our grandkids someday.” Sure, it hadn’t been a real I love you, but it definitely implied that she saw him as more than a friend she was sleeping with.

Maggie laughed, rolling her eyes. “True. What’s your plan? As a fellow woman with more baggage than an airport who has been wooed by a very charming, if a little intense, Michaelson man, I’m going to suggest you take it slow.”

“Only a little intense? Wow, we really need to do better than that. But yeah, slow is the plan. We went on a date on Sunday.”

Maggie sat forward, her hands flat on the table. “Are you kidding me? Fair enough keeping her sex life to herself, considering you’re my… you know, but she didn’t tell me you went on a date?”

“In her defense, I didn’t tell her it was a date,” Liam added quickly, and Maggie narrowed her eyes at him.

“Oh. That’s… unconventional. But this is Jazz we’re talking about, so it makes sense, I suppose. Was it a good first date, at least?”

Liam couldn’t stop a smile from spreading over his face. “The best.”

Maggie reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “You look really happy, Liam. And I’m happy for you, but be careful. Please. You’re two of the three most important people in the world to me and I just… Please be careful.”

“I will. We will, I promise.”

Maggie nodded, looking reassured, and stood up. “This was a lot. I need coffee. So, tell me all about this date,” she said, grabbing two glasses from the cabinet. “But for the love of God, leave out the dirty parts. I can just about handle hearing them from Jazz.”

“I’m in the bedroom!” Jasmine called when he closed the front door behind him.

Liam yawned as he stepped over her purse, discarded by the door, and headed down the hallway toward his bedroom. It had been a long day of dealing with difficult clients who wanted bespoke pieces, without bespoke price tags, and he’d barely spoken to her all day, other than a quick message at lunch to ask if she wanted to stay at his place or hers. There was no question of them spending the night apart at this point. Anytime they did sleep alone at their respective apartments, they both slept like shit. He missed her too much.

He smiled at their chalkboard, hung on the back of his bedroom door at Jasmine’s suggestion:

Rule number one: no faking it.

Rule number two: talking about how you feel isn’t optional.

Rule number three: we’re in this together.

Rule number four: no take backs.

Rule number five: conversing before coming.

It was filling up fast, a snapshot of the days they’d spent together since starting their arrangement.

“Do you want to go out for dinner ton—” Liam stopped in his tracks as he pushed the door open, every thought emptying from his head. Jasmine was lying on the bed, not a scrap of fabric on her.

“I think we should stay in,” she told him with a wicked smile. And then she spread her legs.

He strode forward, reaching for her, but she held up a hand. “Nuh-uh. I remembered something this morning—something you told me a while ago that I never got to see.” She nodded to something behind him, and Liam realized she’d dragged a chair in front of the bed. “Get undressed and sit.”

She’d never taken control like this, but Liam was quickly learning that, as dominant as he was, he could be into just about anything where Jasmine was concerned.

He did as he was told, stripping off and taking a seat. Then narrowed his eyes as he realized how far away he was. “I can’t reach you.”

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