She turned and went back to the living room and Liam seriously had no clue how he should feel, how he should act. Raking a hand through his hair, he headed for the bathroom. Apparently he was about to repair a gutter . . . which sounded a hell of a lot easier than figuring out what had just happened between Macy and him.

One thing was for sure, though. They’d crossed a boundary whether they were ready for it or not. He didn’t do casual sex and he knew she did. She was about to find out when he said “mine” he meant it.

But then what? Yes, he wanted her for more than sex, but he wasn’t staying. He’d already made that clear to his brothers.

Nothing had been set in stone, so there was no reason to tell her anything right now. Anything going on with his future in Savannah could wait. He wasn’t about to ruin this night.

* * *

Macy had no clue how she held her balance on the ladder with her shaky legs. She’d come to fix a gutter and ended up having amazing sex against the wall right outside her old bedroom. When Liam said he’d bring his A game, he hadn’t been kidding. But the longer he’d tortured her on the sofa, the more she realized just how quickly she could lose herself to him.

And she vowed never to let that happen again. So she’d taken the reins and still ended up beneath his power hold. Oh, but what a glorious place to be.

Macy examined her work on the gutter. Pleased, she gripped the rungs on the ladder and climbed back down. She’d barely gotten both feet planted on the concrete before Liam gripped her shoulders and pulled her against his chest.

“For the record, your ass looks amazing from down here.” He nipped at her lips. “And as long as you’re sleeping with me, you’re not sleeping with anyone else.”

Macy’s heart kicked up as she held on to his biceps to steady herself. “You’re implying we’re going to sleep together again.”

The side smirk that turned her heart over in her chest spread across his face. “I’m not implying. I’m promising.”

With a quick kiss, he released her, nearly sending her backward right on that rear end he’d just complimented. Before she could even grasp the fact he’d assured her another romp, he was pulling the ladder down and carting it off to her storage shed behind the store.

Macy touc

hed her lips and resisted the urge to smile. She would not give him the satisfaction of knowing that his ordering her around was a bit . . . thrilling. She’d never thought she wanted that before. Then again, she’d never been with anyone like Liam before. Any man she’d been with in the past had been easy to control, to manipulate. Perhaps that was the turn-on where Liam was concerned. He was a man of power, quiet, mysterious, yet still able to pack a punch when he chose.

When he came back out, she hadn’t moved. Liam stood in front of her, crossed his arms over that impressive chest, ink peeking from beneath his taut shirt sleeve. She knew full well just how potent that muscular body could be. She may very well have been ruined for any other man.

“Hungry?” he asked. “I’m still working on this recipe and I need a guinea pig.”

Macy shook her head. “I can’t keep up with you. One minute you’re yelling at me, then putting a Band-Aid on my hand. The next thing I know we’re having sex in your hallway. And then you want to help fix the gutter and now you want to make me dinner?”

Liam kept his head turned slightly just so the scar faced away from her. She could see his entire body, but he still tried to shield the imperfection.

“You’ve summed up the evening quite well,” he mocked. “Do you want to come up or not?”

Okay, maybe that attitude was sexy when they were naked, but she was back in control. “This isn’t a date.”

With a shrug, Liam started up the back steps leading to his apartment. Seriously? He had a habit of walking away when he didn’t want to answer her. What was with him?

“What’s the recipe?” she called before he reached the top.

His laugh carried down to her, but he kept his back turned. “If you want to know, you’ll have to come up.”

Fine. She would come up, but not because she wanted to spend more time with him, but because . . .

Damn it. She wanted to spend more time with him. She couldn’t even lie to herself at this point. After what they’d just shared, she didn’t want to cheapen it by leaving like the experience meant nothing at all.

Resigned to the fact she had clearly lost her mind, Macy started up the steps and let herself into Liam’s apartment. When she closed the door at her back, he didn’t turn. From across the room she watched as he pulled out ingredients, poured random things into bowls, whipped up something, and then set it aside. He made no move to even glance her way. Obviously he was in his zone.

Who knew watching a man cook could be so sexy? Liam was definitely a rare find. He had that whole mysterious, sexy, gentleman thing down pat and she was sliding deeper and deeper into uncharted waters with him.

“Are you going to come on in or just stand over there and stare?” he asked without looking up from the sauce he was stirring in a pot.

“I’m perfectly content with staring.”

With a slight grin, he shook his head and gestured toward one of the bar stools. “Take a seat and keep me company.”