Page 34 of Hold

“I’ll treat him exactly as I was treated when I was an apprentice.”

She paused. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

He laughed. “No torturing, I promise. Just hard work. And a paycheck. And being too busy to think about what he doesn’t have in his life. Because what he does have is pretty great.”

She smiled at him, then sobered. “Don’t let your dad make you feel small.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Is that what I do?”

“It sounded like it.” She put her hand on his chest. “You did everything he asked of you, and you still do. It’s okay that you want to do something for yourself now.”

“He thinks I’ve betrayed him. I’m his only child, and I don’t want to continue the family business.”

“It’s not betrayal. That’s not how it works. Don’t let him let you believe that.”

Finally, finally, she pressed her finger to one of the spaces under his lip. The gesture seemed more intimate than all the kissing they’d done so far. Liam sat very still while she ran her fingers over his face, feeling where his beard began and ended, until she could—and later did—recall every inch in her sleep.

The next time he took her hands in his, she knew the evening was ending. “I have to go,” he said.

“You sure do.” She grinned. “I’ve got kids sleeping upstairs. What were you thinking?”

“I haven’t thought straight since I met you.” He smiled back.

“Ditto.”

She extricated herself with a heavy heart from his embrace and they stood. With the change in position came real life and the responsibilities that went with it. Thea’s face fell. “I can’t date you,” she said at once. “The boys.”

He nodded. “I know. We said this was going to be complicated, right?”

“Not complicated. Impossible.” Dammit. It had been so nice to rely on him for a few minutes.

“Not impossible. We just have to go slow.” He was still holding her hands, and he shook them a little. “Trust me.”

“How can you be so positive? This has disaster written all over it.”

One corner of his mouth quirked up. “Believe it or not, before about six months ago, I was considered an optimist. I’ve tried it the other way, and I still couldn’t convince myself to stay away from you. So, yeah, Thea. We’ll figure it out.” He kissed her again, a gentle, chaste kiss, a squeeze of her hands, and he let go. “Have Jake ready, eight o’clock Monday morning. I’ll give him an hour extra to sleep, since it’s his first day.”

He left her in the middle of the room, her whole body tingling. She’d never been so terrified or so exhilarated in her life.

Chapter 10

As promised, Liam arrived at Thea’s house just before eight o’clock the following Monday. And as promised, apart from a quick text to confirm that he was coming, Liam hadn’t tried to see her again. So to say that he was keen for her to open the door so he could get a good look at her for the first time in almost a week was an understatement.

He’d never seen her in work clothes before. She wasn’t in a power suit or anything, just a pair of slim black pants that made her legs go on forever and a pale-blue blouse that tied to one side of her neck. Right where he’d nuzzled her last week. He had trouble taking his eyes off the spot long enough to meet hers.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” she answered, and the welcome in her eyes made him itch to snake an arm around her waist and pull her closer. He’d been the perfect gentleman last Wednesday and had spent every night since dreaming about being everything but.

“Hi, Mr. McConnell!” piped a voice from behind her. And in a second, Benji was between the two of them, beaming up at him with Thea’s eyes. “Are you really taking Jake to work with you today?”

“That’s right.”

“Can I come too? Mom said I couldn’t, but I can, can’t I?”

Liam met Thea’s eyes for a second. She grimaced. He crouched down to Benji’s level. “I’m sorry, Benji,” he said, inwardly cringing as the kid’s face fell. “Smaller kids aren’t allowed on site. There are a lot of holes and bare electrics and things you could hurt yourself on.”

“I’ll be careful!”