Liam unfolded himself from the floor and took the empty bowl back into the kitchen. He hadn’t been kidding about wanting a clean house. Mina patted Lucky’s back and listened to the water run in the sink and the slosh of Liam washing the bowl out. The little dog was skittish, jumpy, but always came back for another pet. She couldn’t blame him for being timid. Her heart cracked open whenever he butted his little nose against her palm, then danced out to be sure she was harmless.
“Of course I am,” she murmured to the dog. Liam came back into the room, and Lucky rushed to his feet. Liam scooped up the dog and brought him back in front of the fireplace. Her heart melted. Her heart was doing a lot during this visit to Liam’s cottage, and she barely felt in control of it. This wasn’t the same Liam she’d been so angry with back in high school. Could she really stay angry with him after all these years if this was the kind of man he’d turned out to be? One who ruffled the puppy’s fur and put him on the floor and petted him over and over?
“He’s great,” Liam said softly. She could tell that he meant it. One look in his eyes was enough to see that he’d already fallen for the puppy.
Liam Wells, head over heels for a little abandoned dog. Fourteen years ago, she’d never have guessed that this scene could play out. Now it seemed…somehow right. Exactly right. She watched Liam cradle Lucky in his arms, his face peaceful in the firelight, and another wish popped unbidden into her mind. A child with Liam. And not via the sperm donation. Just good old-fashioned sex. She could see it now. One child—maybe even two. Lucky playing at their feet. The family growing year by year until it was the perfect fit for all of them.
Wait. Wait.
Mina shoved her hands into the pocket of the hoodie. Raising a child with Liam Wells—flirty daredevil Liam Wells—was not part of her plan. It was one thing to use his sperm. In that case, he’d have no legal rights, and they’d have no entanglements. Any other way—no. She couldn’t do it. She was on her own. What was she even thinking, entertaining that kind of fantasy? Just because Liam was kind to a little dog didn’t mean he would make a good father. And it did not mean he wanted in on her insane plan. What was she going to do, ask him while they folded laundry together or something equally as domestic? I was going to use your sperm to get pregnant, but what do you think about making a go of it without the IUI?
Nope. Nope. Not now, not ever, not in a thousand years. The whole point of getting IUI was because none of the men in Mina’s life had measured up. She just could never imagine any of them truly being there for her. All of them had had plenty of chances. She hadn’t had parents to help her out, and then her grandmother had gone into the nursing home. Plenty of chances to step up. But nobody ever had. Not in a way she wanted to accept. Not in a way that let her still be herself.
She couldn’t go down that road with Liam Wells. She’d stand alone, just like she always had, and she’d be damn good at it. Plus, an anonymous donor with no entanglements was the way to go. Easiest for everyone. Best for everyone. Mina’s leg cramped up underneath her and she winced before she had the chance to stop herself.
“You okay, Mina?”
A glance into Liam’s green eyes told her his concern was genuine. “Fine. Totally fine,” she said through a smile she knew must look like an ugly grimace. “Just going to hop up, real quick.” But her leg wouldn’t unfold from beneath her body. Mina shifted awkwardly next to Liam who was holding Lucky and running his fingers over his fur. “Just—”
Liam laughed, not unkindly. The sound spread a warmth like spiked hot chocolate through her body. “You know, you could just ask for help.”
“No way,” Mina said automatically. “That’s not my style.” She planted a palm on the floor and pushed. The cramp—knot—whatever it was in her leg only tightened. “I’ve got this.” The world had to be kidding. Incapacitating herself by sitting down? This was the moment when her body would decide she was thirty and begin the slow process of tight joints and tighter muscles? She simply wouldn’t stand for it. If she could stand up.
“This is a terrible sight,” Liam said solemnly, and out of the corner of her eye she saw him tip Lucky onto the braided rug. Liam got to his feet. For an instant he loomed over her, and it was like the world was looming over her. Mina felt small and helpless and a certain revulsion of that feeling crawled up into her throat. But at the center of her, the deep center, where all her secrets circled the wagons and protected one another, she felt a strange relief. It was Liam. She’d known him for years. There must have been something to that fleeting wish to have a family with him, something her subconscious was trying to tell her.
Or maybe it was hot in here. A storm raged outside. She had nowhere else to go.
Liam bent down and hooked an arm around her waist, lifting her as easily as he’d shot baskets back in high school. Like he’d done it a hundred times. He was injured, for god’s sake, and she couldn’t feel a hint of strain in his muscles. Liam stood her upright and kept a hand on the small of her back. “Wow,” she breathed. Putting her foot down on the floor hurt more than having the leg cramp up underneath her, but she kept it planted there firmly. What was her other option? To hop around on it indefinitely? Already, the bruising ache of the cramp was beginning to fade.
The fading pain left lots of room for other feelings, too. Like the heat of Liam’s hand on her back, separated from her skin only by his T-shirt. Like the cold, clean scent of him, standing so close by. Like her heart, picking up the pace like a motorcycle out on the open road. Heat came to her cheeks like the fresh blaze in the fireplace. No, no, no. She did not have a crush on Liam Wells. Not after all these years. Not after what he’d done. Mina took a deep breath and tried to pretend this entire situation was a run-of-the-mill occurrence. Staying in Liam Wells’ house? Sure. Who didn’t go looking for a man’s house and accidentally slide into a ditch? It happened to the best among us.
“I got a cramp,” she said uselessly. “Got stuck there for a minute.”
Laughter zinged through his eyes. “So I saw. It’s just your night for getting stuck, isn’t it? Got stuck in the ditch. Got stuck in my house. Got stuck on the floor. What’s next?”
I could get stuck in your bed. The thought was so egregious she almost snorted. That would take the cake, wouldn’t it? She’d already been bold enough to ask Liam Wells about his sperm donor status. If things kept up like this, she’d be inviting herself right into his bed. The smile on his face faded into something with a sultry edge, and Liam dropped his hand from her back. It was like he, too, had realized what he’d just said. Lucky got up from the floor and nuzzled against Mina’s leg.
“The cramp better?” Liam asked.
“Yes,” Mina tried to say, but a yawn snuck up and wrestled itself out of her mouth. The wind kicked up outside, the world’s largest white noise machine.
“It’s been a long day. Why don’t we head to bed?”
Mina’s heart stopped, then banged forward again, a cymbal crash inside her chest.
“To sleep,” Liam said, a beat too late. A smile flickered onto his too-handsome face and disappeared. He pushed a hand through his hair. “Now, listen. I don’t have a spare room, but it’s a pullout couch. Here, let me—”