TAKE TWO_ Who says you can't ma - Heather M. Orgeron Page 0,22
suit—shirtless, in a pair of low-slung gray sweats with a steaming mug of coffee in one hand and a glazed donut in the other. His hair is sticking up in all directions, and he could use a shave. Lord knows it would go a long way to helping me control this constant urge I have to run my fingers over that damn delicious stubble of his.
My best friend waggles her brows at me. “Morning, Liam,” she singsongs, as he passes us on his way back to the bedroom.
I glare at his back. “Keep eating all that crap food and you’re gonna lose that V you’ve worked so hard for.”
Liam pauses, looking down at his chiseled abs and the drool inducing lines in question, and smirks back at us over his shoulder. “I ain’t worried.” He takes a bite of his donut then runs his tongue along his lips to pick up the leftover sugar and my pulse soars. “I’m a married man now. I can let myself go.”
Shaking my head, I bite back a laugh. “Really?”
He shrugs. “Who needs a V when you can eat like a king and still have a U?” He fills his mouth with another bite. “Mmm,” he moans around the food. “Yeah, that dad bod doesn’t sound too bad right about now.” With a wink, he leaves the two of us drooling after him.
“Tell me you’ve been hitting that?” Hannah whispers after she picks her jaw up off the floor.
“Ugh,” I groan, stumbling over the dog on the way to the kitchen to make my morning cup of tea. “Not.” I scowl at her over my shoulder while filling the kettle with water.
“Why the hell not? That is the very first thing I’d have done.”
“Well,” I say, after setting the kettle on the burner. “First of all, as far as I’m concerned, we’re married in name only. I don’t know why I have to keep reminding everyone of that. Secondly, I don’t want to—to fall back under his spell…”
“You’re afraid you’ll end up dickstruck,” she interjects. “I’m on to you, sista.” Hannah takes her first two fingers and points them at her own eyes then toward me as if to say, “I’m watching you.”
Biting my lip, I ignore the little flip in my tummy and retrieve two mugs from the cabinet above the stove, dropping a spiced apple tea bag into each. My mouth starts to water as the aroma wafts into the air. “Precisely…and even if I wanted to—which I do not,” I say, pointing at the yippy little baby-dog staring at me, “we now have a shrieking ogre that more than kills the mood.”
“Hmm.” My best friend rests a finger against her lips. “Have you tried putting one of your shirts in the kennel or a stuffed animal for her to sleep with?”
“What?” Why the heck would I think to do that?
“When I got Savage, I got him one of those build-your-own bears from the mall. They put a heartbeat sound machine thingy inside of its chest. The vet suggested it at his first checkup.”
“And that worked?” Her little bulldog is pretty well trained. Might be worth a shot.
“Slept like a baby,” she gloats, taking a sip from her tea before spitting it right back into the cup, gagging. “Eww. What the hell is this?”
“It’s spiced apple chai.”
“Tastes like fucking potpourri.”
“Where have you been all day, love of my life?” Liam shifts in his chair, raising his hips to pull his wallet from his back pocket and check for his credit card when he sees all the bags I’m toting.
I can’t help but to laugh at the relief on his face once he finds it still tucked inside. “Hannah and I went out for supplies for Beasty.”
“Beasty?”
“You know, that little brute by your feet.”
The dog’s head pops up at the sound of my voice, and once again she’s nipping at my heels.
“Look what I got you.” I remove the stuffed monkey from its box and press his hand to turn the heartbeat on and then drop it at her feet.
“You brought her a teddy bear?” His face softens, like he actually believes I’ve gone and fallen head over heels in love with the annoying thing. “It’s twice her size.”
I shrug. “She’ll grow into it. Hannah says it will help her sleep at night… make her feel like there is someone else in the kennel with her. It’s worth a—No! Bad dog!”
At the sound of his loud guffaws, I swivel my head to find