Page 77 of Bake You Mine
She shrugged. “Not really.”
“Good. But, Aubs, seriously, you’re beautiful.Mykind of beautiful.” He rested his hand on hers, and she relaxed.
“Mom! Liam! Come on, they’re waiting for us!” Daphne jumped up and down on the porch.
Liam and Aubrey took off at a run. They laughed as they raced toward the door.
twenty-two
It wasn’ta coincidence that Aubrey lost her virginity the night she went to a haunted house with her high school boyfriend.
There was something about getting the ever-loving shit scared out of her that turned her on a little. As a bonus, it gave her anxious mind something to do, with “real” perceived threats around every corner.
And sure, maybe she had a thing for men in masks. She should get one for Liam.
After her initial scare, Daphne delighted in every spook, especially her favorite, the creepy animatronic granny in a rocking chair, beckoning children closer.
Daphne was tuckered out in the backseat, allowing Aubrey to scratch that itch once her kid was settled in for the night.
At a stoplight, she examined Liam. The bluish glow of his phone lit up his smiling face. This seemed natural, the three of them together like a family.
“I was going to drop her off and then grab some things. Is that okay?”
He stowed his phone. “Sure.”
She turned around to jostle Daphne awake. “C’mon, let’s go inside.”
Daphne groaned but complied, taking off sleepily toward the house.
“I’ll be right back.” She squeezed Liam’s knee and took off for the house.
Her father closed the door behind her. “Did you have a good time?”
“We did. Daphne loved getting scared.”
“You’re going to sleep over at his place?”
“If you’re okay keeping an eye on Daph,” she said. She didn’t want her dad to think she was taking advantage of him. Even if Daphne took care of herself at this point, it could hardly be called babysitting.
“Of course, I am. You deserve a night out.”
Liam liked discovering Aubrey in his bed, resting on her side, with Teddy curled into the crook of her knees.
There’d been a small fire to put out at Elevation, one of his busboys threatening to quit after rude treatment from a customer. Damon and one of the new sous chefs, Enrique, had handled it perfectly, but the busboy needed Liam’s reassurance to smooth things over.
Coming home and seeing Aubrey settled in gave him a funny feeling.
The best kind.
Aubrey rolled over. “How’d it go?”
Liam grinned. He started to answer. Then he found himselfdistracted by the sight of her. She wasn’t wearing one of her usual T-shirts to bed.
He stepped closer. “Is that my shirt you’re wearing?”
She smoothed her hand over her chest, where her breasts stretched out the band’s logo.
Fuuuck.
