Page 24 of Second Chances

It was on the tip of my tongue to tease him that he wanted to stay in the living room so he could finish the movie without me, but I feared he would think it was some sort of ploy for me to stay out there. Or worse, to lie in bed with him.

I grimaced. I didn’t want him to think I was desperate.

I vacuumed up the popcorn on the couch and floor and turned to him.

“Thanks for letting me have the bedroom. But no finishing the movie without me,” I told him. I even managed to put a smile on my face.

He grinned. “Deal. I’ll watch something else.”

I shook my head in mock disappointment. “I knew you wanted to sleep out here, so you could have the TV.”

He opened his mouth, but I walked away and over to the garbage.

“It’s a good thing I have my phone,” I added, so he didn’t think I wanted to stay out there with him. Because I really didn’t. Not to watch TV anyway.

I dumped out the contents of the hand vac and washed my hands. “Okay, I’m heading to bed then. See you in the morning?”

Liam almost looked sad, but after a second, he nodded. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

ELEVEN

LIAM

The next morning, I got up early and made breakfast for Chloe and myself.

Things had been awkward between us at bedtime after spending a great evening together. I should have never taken the joke of stealing her popcorn as far as I did. We were both playing around, but when she arched her hips and discovered I was hard for her, all the fun was sucked out of the air.

I was ready to apologize, but she cut me off from saying anything more. I’d gotten the impression she wanted to drop the whole thing, so I had. Sometimes, people needed a little time to digest things before they were ready to talk about stuff. I was planning to say I was sorry after we both felt less awkward.

And this morning, I was hoping we could start fresh with a new day. I figured the best way to start a vacation was with caffeine and food.

“What smells so good?”

I spun around from the stove to see Chloe standing a few feet away. I hadn’t heard her at all.

I smiled. “Coffee, bacon, and eggs.”

I held my breath, waiting for her approval.

“Sounds great. I am definitely starting with coffee.”

“Have at it. The rest of breakfast will be done soon.”

Chloe poured herself a cup and sat down at the dining room table. “So, what’s on the agenda today?”

“I looked at the weather this morning. It’s going to be warmer than last night, but it will cool off in the evening again. We can go and check out the nearest town. It’s on the smaller side, but I think it has some shops if you want to look. And there is a state park we can visit to go hiking, and there is also another town farther away with a historic district. Or we can stay here and finish our movie and go in the hot tub again.”

She tapped her fingers against her mug a couple of times. “I’m not sure about hiking, but I wouldn’t mind walking around town and checking out the local shops. It might be fun.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll get ready as soon as we eat.”

* * *

We got to town about an hour and a half later.

Chloe, who’d had her face in her phone for the last five minutes, looked up. “I was just looking online, and this town has quite a few places for its size. They even have a winery. We definitely need to go there before we head back to the cabin.”

“Should we do that first?”

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