She’d been too involved with Liam, too preoccupied with observing the way his eyes lit up whenever he heard her laugh, too aware of his every movement, word and touch.
She was falling in love, Natalie realized groggily. It was a little intimidating, not knowing where the path with Liam would end.
His hand grasped hers, as if he’d gleaned her thoughts and was telling her he was on the path with her. She opened her heavy eyelids and smiled sleepily when she saw that while his head rested on the recliner, his chin was tilted and he was watching her.
“Tomorrow is the fundraiser at the Family Center,” she murmured, surprising herself a little with her choice of topic. Perhaps her anxieties about becoming i
nvolved with Liam weren’t as far from the surface as she’d assumed.
“Yeah, but I still have you to myself for the rest of today and all night, so I’m trying not to dwell on having to share you for a while.”
She smiled. He returned her smile and caressed her wrist with his thumb. It felt sublime, lying here under a warm sun and having Liam look at her the way he was in that moment. Still…some of her insecurities leaked into her bliss.
“Do you suppose your mother will be there?” she asked slowly.
“She’ll probably stop by for a bit. She’s still not entirely comfortable with the idea of Mari opening the Family Center, but she does her best to be supportive. Besides, my mom would never miss a chance to spoil her granddaughter,” Liam said, referring to Marc and Mari’s sixteen-month-old daughter, Rylee Jean.
“Will it be uncomfortable for you? Being there with me?” Natalie asked in a hushed tone.
“I can assure you that being with you makes me extremely comfortable.”
She threw him an exasperated glance. “I was referring to you being uncomfortable after what happened between you and your mother the other day.”
“I know. I’ll deal with it. Will it be okay with you?” he asked after a moment. “Your brother will be at the fundraiser as well.”
“I can handle Eric. He’ll behave,” Natalie said quietly. “It’s just that…your mother…those things she said to you the other day…”
“You’re worried my mother won’t behave?” Liam asked with grim amusement.
“I know she’ll behave.” She gave him a furtive glance. “But…if you two have a falling out, it’ll have been my fault, for asking you to take on this investigation. I knew that in the beginning, but now…things are different…”
He turned onto his side, facing her. Despite her rising anxiety, she couldn’t stop herself from admiring him wearing nothing but some low-riding, black swim trunks.
“Things are different.” A small smile flickered across his mouth. “What’s different, Natalie?”
She bit at her bottom lip.
“I care. That’s what’s different.”
For a few seconds, he didn’t speak. Then he reached for her.
“Come here,” he said.
She couldn’t resist his beckoning. She laughed after he’d pulled her on top of him and she landed on him in a graceless heap.
“Ouch…hey, watch the elbows,” he mumbled as Natalie squirmed, trying to find a comfortable position.
“I’m trying not to crush you.”
“You’re too small to crush me.”
“I’m not too small to break this deck chair,” Natalie said, eyes going wide when she heard the springs creak.
Liam’s low laugh struck her as delicious. She stopped squirming and rested her head on his warm, hard chest, absorbing the vibrations of his mirth. He smoothed her hair back from her face.
“There. That’s better,” he said.
Natalie sighed in contentment, sandwiched as she was between Liam’s heat and the sun’s.