“Liam,” Margaret’s sleepy voice murmured. “What time is it?”
He glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. Strange how he knew about things like digital clocks and photographs. The angels had said they’d give him some knowledge of this century. “Eight thirty.” He leaned against the padded headboard.
Margaret’s throaty sigh and soft hand on his shoulder made his body stir. Even after all that had happened, he wasn’t immune to her charms. Although he was in love with the sweet Cora, Margaret Brady was a veritable siren, and he was a man, after all. A man who’d spent several lifetimes without the finer pleasures so tantalizingly displayed in front of him.
“Come back to sleep, early bird. Since I don’t have to work today, I plan to waste my entire morning in bed.” She rolled over and rose on her elbows, revealing the soft swell of her breasts. “With you.”
Liam cocked his head in surprise. In the past, Margaret had been a wealthy, married woman. She’d never had to work a day in her life. “Where do you work?”
She peered up at him from beneath dark lashes, her wide gray eyes sparkling with humor. Her lush, full lips slowly curved up at the corners.
Well, that answered that. Liam swallowed hard. She still had the come-hither smile.
“You know where I work, silly.” Margaret reached out and gave him a playful shove.
“Aye, I do.” Liam scooted down and draped an arm over her. “But let’s pretend I don’t. Tell me the story of how we met.”
Margaret stifled a yawn and laid her head on his shoulder, running a manicured hand over his broad chest. “Once upon a time, there was a drop-dead gorgeous, total hottie.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
Margaret lifted a delicate brow. “Who says I was talking about you?”
Liam gave her a sudden, tight squeeze and she laughed.
“As I was saying,” Margaret continued. “Once upon a time there was this total hottie who worked as a botany professor at Providence Falls University.”
“Ah, that would be your job,” Liam said with a nod. “You’re the botany teacher. You’ve always loved plants and flowers, so it makes sense.”
Margaret lifted her head. “Will you stop interrupting? I thought you wanted the story.”
“I do.” Liam took the quilt and drew it over them. “Go on.”
“So, this hot botany professor had to go to a business conference in Raleigh for a few days. One evening while she was at a bar, she met a tall, dark—”
“Incredibly fit and handsome—”
She covered his mouth with her hand. “Annoying man. This tall, dark and annoying man was named Liam O’Connor. At first, all he did was send her hot, smoldering looks from across the room. Then he sent her a drink, and finally, he walked over and tossed her the old ‘Do you come here often?’ pickup line. She was not impressed.”
He gave her a wicked grin. “Liar.”
“She wasn’t,” Margaret insisted, laughing. “He was a shameless flirt. But they got to talking, and over the next few hours, he unleashed his avalanche of charm. She found out he was planning on moving to Providence Falls, too, which was an intriguing coincidence. So, before the poor botany professor had a chance to order a third vodka tonic, he was taking her by the hand and leading her out the door.”
Liam raised a brow. “And then?”
“And then...” Margaret slid her hand lower to trace the defined ridges of muscle on his abdomen. “Then the botany professor took him back to her hotel room and was so blinded by his godlike physique, she decided it didn’t matter that he wasn’t smart or interesting.”
Liam gave her a warning look and slid a hand teasingly over her rib cage. He let it hover just over her ribs with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
Margaret’s mouth twitched as she struggled to keep a straight face. “And she didn’t care that his hair was a shaggy mess, either.” Margaret shrieked with laughter as he began to tickle her. “Because his hot body was—was—” she gasped for breath “—all that really mattered.”
He flipped her onto her back with expert precision and rolled on top of her, until her laughter eased and she began placing sinfully delicious kisses along his neck.
“That’s quite a story, Professor,” Liam murmured, trying to focus. It wasn’t easy when she was sliding her talented hands over his backside. “How does it end?”
She wrapped her long legs around his waist and rolled until she was on top again. “I could tell you, but I’d rather show you.”
Liam was just about to throw caution to the wind and embrace his new life with passion and enthusiasm, when a shrill ringing sound came from the bedside table. He tried to ignore it, instead focusing on Margaret’s mouth as she lapped her way down his chest. The ringing continued, and Liam muttered a curse under his breath.
Margaret giggled. “Did you just say, ‘bollocks’?”
He blinked down at her. “No.” If he was going to fit in, he’d need to adapt his manner of speaking. The angels had undoubtedly taken care of most of it, but they wouldn’t be instilling modern curse words in his head, which was a pity because curse words were often quite useful. Those, he’d just have to learn on his own.
“You should probably answer that,” she said, rolling away and sliding from the bed. “And since we’re both up now, let’s go get breakfast.”
Liam watched her rise, gloriously naked, to tread lightly across the plush blue carpet. She flicked on the bathroom light and it highlighted the enticing curves of her body. Before, he’d never actually seen her naked in full light. They’d always had clandestine meetings late at night when her husband was away.
“Liam?”
He dragged his gaze up to her face. “Mmm?”
“Your phone?” She pointed to the still-ringing phone, then closed the door behind her.
“Right.” He fumbled for it, automatically knowing which buttons to press. That was convenient. For a moment he just stared at the device in his hand, testing its weight and marveling at the vivid, flashing lights. He wondered what other skills the angels had bestowed on him to navigate this new world. The ringing continued until he finally swiped the screen and answered. “Yes?”
“Liam, it’s Hugh McLeod.”
Liam’s hand trembled as he held the phone to his ear. The squire. This was unexpected. He needed to tread lightly to figure out his role here.
“I told Cora,” Hugh continued. “She knows about you needing a place to stay.”