Page 52 of False Confidence

“You let me in. You trusted me enough to let me in and to let go with me. I’m so fucking proud of you, Jasmine, but I’m also so honored and grateful that you could do that with me. Thank you.”

He couldn’t see her face—intentionally on his part, because he knew this would be easier for her to hear if he wasn’t looking her in the eye—but he felt the sharp intake of breath that caught in her chest.

She was silent for a moment, and, when she answered, he knew she was forcing her voice to sound calm and collected. “Does this mean I’ve earned your cock in my mouth?”

Christ. “Behave tomorrow and we’ll see what happens when we get home.”

“Home from where?”

“It’s a surprise,” he said, nipping her earlobe. It was a surprise for both of them, considering he hadn’t actually planned anything yet. But he wanted to take her out, needed to take her out. As much as loved being tucked away behind closed doors with Jasmine, he never wanted her to feel like this was all he wanted.

“Liam?”

“Yeah?”

Jasmine loosed a long breath. “I’m not used to believing people when they say nice things to me. Mostly, I think they’re just saying it out of obligation and don’t actually mean it. But you… I believe you when you say it. Thank you. You know Maggie will always be my bestest best friend, but you’re a very close second.”

Liam held her tighter, his heart thundering. He was constantly toeing a line of wanting to scream about how obsessed with her he was and playing it cool so he didn’t scare her off. “I would never dream of trying to take Maggie’s spot, but I’m happy to be next in line. Even if you hold my top spot,” he added with a faux-dramatic sigh, and she laughed, kicking his shin and then gasping when it caused him to shift, his cock pressing deeper into her.

“I don’t suppose there’s any way that you don’t think there’s a correlation between me talking about my feelings and finally having an orgasm?”

“No, there’s no way. It’s one hundred percent that and we’re going to keep talking shit out.”

“Fuck.”

“I tell you what,” he began, running his fingers through her hair. She’d brushed it before bed and his fingers glided straight through. “Before we have sex, every time, you tell me something, and I’ll tell you something.”

“Rule number five: conversing before coming.”

Liam laughed, and Jasmine tightened around him as she felt the vibrations. “That certainly is a way to put it.”

“I expect everything you share to be as cute as you being obsessed with Snoopy, for the record.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Now it’s sleep time, darling. I’ve got big plans for you tomorrow night and I need you nice and rested.”

“Promises, promises,” she sassed, bringing his hand to her lips and kissing it.

Jazz rolled her neck and shoulders as she stepped out of the yoga studio into the streaming Seattle sunshine. God, she’d needed that; Liam had well and truly put her body through it the night before. If they were going to keep this up (and she really, really hoped they were), she was going to have to make Sunday morning yoga a regular thing. She just needed to convince Liam to come with her. She needed to see him bending over in front of her in tight pants with calming music in the background.

She glanced at her phone, checking the time and weighing her options. It was just before ten, and Liam had gone to his moms’ for breakfast since she’d been at yoga. She was already counting down the hours until she’d get to see him for whatever he had planned—eight hours, thirteen minutes to be precise, and she was well aware that she was acting a little clingy and codependent, but as long as she didn’t show it, what was the harm? She could manage a morning and afternoon without him. Besides, she had a lot to update Maggie on.

Her best friend answered on the second ring. “Hey, you’re up early.”

“I had an eight-thirty yoga class. Do you want to grab brunch this morning? I’m not far from your place.”

“Brunch sounds amazing, but I can’t. I’m just heading out to meet up with Nadia. We’re getting breakfast and meeting a couple of her colleagues for an early matinee of some Italian play thing.”

“I don’t know what to say to that,” Jazz said, dumbfounded.

“I know, I know. It sounds awful. Why do you think I didn’t invite you? I’m only going because Nadia’s celebrating starting her new business. Did you know she has three now? She has her realtor business, her website where she sells courses for other realtors, and she just opened this gorgeous online stationery store. You’d love her notebooks. They’re beautiful. She’s even in talks for a book deal. I don’t know how she does it all. Just give me a sec to say goodbye to Cal.”

Jazz rolled her eyes. If only everyone was as perfect as Nadia was. She started down the sunny street, the bag and mat slung over her shoulder knocking against her back. Though most parking in Seattle was free on Sundays, it was still a nightmare to find a spot. She’d gotten lucky finding one a ten-minute walk from the yoga studio, and there was a cafe on the way back to her car. Even if Maggie couldn’t make it, there was nothing stopping her from getting breakfast by herself. She was great company.

She stopped between the cafe and a tattoo parlor, leaning against the wall just as Maggie picked back up and she heard her front door closing behind her. “Sorry about that. You know what he’s like with goodbyes.” Even if Jazz didn’t know what Cal was like, Maggie being so breathless was enough to put two and two together.

“I’ll never begrudge you making me wait so you can make out with your sexy ass husband,” Jazz replied, just thankful they were no longer talking about Nadia and her laundry list of achievements, and Maggie laughed.

“Can you still call Cal sexy when you’re sleeping with his son?”

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