Page 13 of Falling for Love

“Excuse me?” My eyes fell to Liam’s.

“You heard me,” he said, his grin widening. “Don’t act so shocked. You know you’re adorable.”

“Liam, you are—” I stopped, realizing my son was inhaling every word between us.

“Charming? Ruggedly handsome? Great with pillows?” he interrupted, throwing me a playful wink.

“Like I said earlier, impossible,” I finished, shaking my head.

“And yet,” he said, mimicking his earlier words, “like I said earlier, here I am.”

Hayden giggled, clearly enjoying the back-and-forth.

“Mom, are you going to help or not?”

“Fine,” I said, throwing my hands up in surrender.

I reached for a pillow and gently swatted at Hayden as Lance barked and jumped on Liam, who crawled behind a chair for security.

Hayden rolled around with a pillow wrapped around his chest as I darted to the chair Liam was hiding behind.

“Don’t get used to this,” I said,

Liam’s fingers brushed mine as he swatted at me with a snowflake pillow, and the contact sent a spark up my arm, and I caught a knowing look in his eyes.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said, his voice even softer now. “If it weren’t for nearly slicing my hand off today, you’d still be ignoring my calls.

I laughed and shook my head as Hayden climbed on my back, and Lance tackled Liam.

“Welcome to my world,” I said, laughing and loving every second.

“I wouldn’t want to spend my night doing anything else.” Liam’s eyes fastened on mine, and I wondered if he meant it.

Chapter Three

Liam

I leaned against the kitchen counter, staring into the half-empty bottle of hard apple cider in my hand. The silence of my house felt deafening compared to the lively chaos of Evie’s place.

Her laugh.

Hayden’s giggles.

Even that goofy dog’s antics had filled every inch of the house.

Now, with just me here at my place, it suddenly felt… empty.

I took another swig of the cider, letting the cool liquid slide down my throat as I tried to piece together what had just happened.

She’d let me come over for dinner—voluntarily.

That was something, right?

And she’d smiled, laughed, even teased me a bit.

Or was I imagining it?

She could have just been being polite.

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