Page 27 of The Havenport Collection

Liam

I felt incredible. Who knew that all I needed was some great sex with a gorgeous, sarcastic woman to break me out of my funk? Oh right, everyone.

Between the revelation that Cecelia Leary was even sexier than I imagined and the incredible success of Oktoberfest, I was on cloud nine. It was as if, after four years, I could finally breathe. The daily panic that sat on my chest like a weight was finally gone, and I could just be me again.

It also didn’t help that she was completely adorable.

We had decided to go out and get coffee and some food when she realized all she had was her beer wench costume from Oktoberfest. As much as I would love for her to parade around in it, we decided it wouldn’t be the best look at ten on a Sunday morning.

So I gave her some sweats and a Binnacle Brewery T-shirt.

She had to roll the sweatpants up on her waist, and it was pretty cute.

Standing on the street corner in my clothes, her wild curls all over the place and beaming at me, I felt an instantaneous warming in my chest. Like something had burst open inside me.

I realized then I could never go back to the way things were before.

I could never go back to being just friends or just coworkers.

In less than twenty-four hours, this woman had turned me inside out, and I had never been happier or more confused.

Our physical connection was incredible, but I just loved spending time with her.

She challenged me on every level and pushed me to be my best. I wanted to talk to her and joke with her, and yes, of course, fuck her senseless every chance I got.

We made our way through town, past the common and the wharf. There were people everywhere, enjoying the fall colors and a few days of unexpected warmth. A boot camp group with a few people I knew ran by and waved.

“Was that Grace Hawkins? I think she was friends with my sister in school.”

“Yeah. She is married to Billy Forte. She owns the fitness studio on Water Street now. These outdoor boot camps are super popular.”

Her eyes traveled up the street where several senior citizens were lagging behind the main group. “I can see that. I’m glad things haven’t changed in Havenport. If people weren’t running charity road races and brewing kombucha in their backyards, I’d be concerned.”

“Yup. The elderly population continues to put us young guns to shame every chance they get. It also doesn’t help that a few of them could drink me under the table.”

“I wish I could say I didn’t believe you, but I’ve seen my grandmother and Nonna Rossi put away sambuca.”

I grabbed her by the elbow and steered her into High Tide Coffee.

An old-fashioned storefront on Main Street, it was already wall to wall with customers needing their morning caffeine fix.

As a town in Massachusetts, Havenport was obligated to have at least two Dunkin Donuts, and there was a Starbucks off the highway.

They mostly attracted the tourists, while locals came to High Tide to caffeinate, gossip, and eat Miss Betty’s award-winning scones with clotted cream.

High Tide was owned by Leah and Dave Bell, a punk couple in their midforties.

They were covered with tattoos and piercings, and Leah had purple hair.

They moved to Havenport and took over the business from Dave’s Aunt Betty, who operated it as a tea house for almost thirty years after emigrating from Surrey.

After Betty retired, they convinced her to keep baking scones and include some vegan and gluten-free options, and Havenport turned out every morning to get the first batch.

As a result, High Tide was a dizzying combination of grunge-era Seattle coffee shop meets prim New England seaside bed and breakfast. Industrial style stools and large chalkboard signs warred with cabbage rose print wallpaper and framed watercolors of seabirds.

The effect was a little disorienting but also extremely fun.

Several generations of Havenport citizens were already lined up for sustenance.

When Dave saw me walk in he shouted, “Liam, the usual?”

“Two,” I signaled back.

“You don’t have to wait in line?”

“Nope. Dave’s a friend. He comes and hangs at the brewery a lot.”

She looked impressed, and I stood up a little taller.

“He is a client of Callum’s as well. So he is basically family.”

We found a small table in the corner and crammed ourselves into the tiny chairs. Dave came over and personally delivered our coffees. “Cheers. Great to see you, Liam.”

“I hope you don’t mind an Americano.”

“No, not at all.” She took her first sip and a slow smile spread across her face. “This is so good. Given how little I’ve slept in the past two weeks, I probably need about ten of these.”

“You can have as many as you want, gorgeous.” I take a big sip but I didn’t even need it. Staring into the hazel eyes of Cecelia Leary was like a shot of espresso.

“So,” she said, looking awkwardly at her coffee cup, “we should probably talk about last night.”

“Um…sure. If you want to.”

“Well, I do. It was amazing.”

I lowered my voice to a whisper, aware the people in this town love to gossip. “Fuck yes, it was amazing. This morning was also pretty great too.” I winked and took a sip of my scalding coffee.

She leaned in closer. “So amazing.” Her eyes sparkled, and I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and run home for another round. “But—”

“Stop right there,” I said, blatantly interrupting her. “I want it to happen again.”

She pushed her hair behind her ears. “And so do I. But I am not in a place to start a relationship right now. And I know you aren’t either.”

I nodded, not sure what to say. On the one hand, she was right—I probably was not in a good place to start a relationship. But on the other, I woke up next to Cecelia this morning and all was right in my world. I would make it work if I had to. I needed to play it cool. “So what do you want to do?”

“Well, I hate the term friends with benefits.” She shifted uncomfortably and avoided my eyes.

I tipped her chin up to meet my gaze. “No. Absolutely not. You are my friend, and I think we both enjoy the benefits. But I am not doing that. We have a connection, Cece. You know it, I know it, the entire town knows it.” I gesture around to the dozen or so people sitting quietly staring at us.

“Okay, okay. But I can’t do anything serious. I am leaving soon, and you have to stay focused on the brewery.”

“I understand, but I think we need to at least give this a chance. Also, the town is going to start planning our wedding, and there is no way to avoid that.”

She looked around, registering the faces absorbed in our hushed conversation. I swear I saw Burt snapping photos with his phone.

I continued. “So if people ask, we are dating casually and seeing where it goes.”

“But it can’t go anywhere, Liam.”

I wracked my brain to give her some reasons why it could work. But I knew I had to tread carefully with her. “You say that, but let’s give ourselves a chance. Let’s enjoy this time and have some fun. It’s not even October yet.”

She seemed comforted by that. “Okay, you’re right. I would be honored to casually date you, Liam.”

“Back atcha, babe.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes, drinking coffee and staring.

Our chairs were pushed up against one another in a crowded corner, and my arm rested lightly around her shoulders.

I leaned in to catch a whiff of her hair, and she nuzzled into my chest. Sitting with her was just so perfect.

When was the last time I felt so giddy and at peace at the same time?

I leaned in and kissed her temple. It was an intimate gesture, especially in such a public place, but I couldn’t help it. I craved her.

Unfortunately, the peace was short-lived. All of a sudden, a large figure descended on our table. My brother. “What’s up, guys? Enjoying your coffee?” Declan grabbed a chair, flipped it around, and straddled it right next to Cece. I could feel my face fall.

“What are you doing here, Declan? I assume you need coffee. The line is over there.” I tightened my grip around Cece’s shoulders.

“Callum and I stopped by to see you, actually.”

“Really?”

“Yup.” I sat in silence contemplating how I could drag his Neanderthal ass out of here without making a scene.

“Mom called us.” He smiled. “And she told us that you are dating the lovely Ms. Leary here, so we just wanted to come and confirm with our own eyes.”

Just then, Callum walked over looking like he stepped off the cover of a magazine. “Declan, don’t scare the poor girl.”

He handed him a large cup of coffee. “Here you go, Dec. Black like your soul.”

“Ah, just the way I like it.”

“So, now that you guys are together…”

I needed to stop this immediately. “Actually guys, Cecelia and I are just casually dating. She is my friend and my employee. Please don’t pressure her. In fact, just leave now, and we’ll be good.”

Callum rolled his eyes at me and turned his attention to Cece, who had been sitting silently. He gave her a big smile, and I was half afraid he would kiss her hand or something stupid like that. “We’re here to formally invite you to family dinner next Sunday. Mom insists you join us.”

“No,” I shouted a little too loudly. “She is not coming to family dinner.”

Cece seemed offended. “It’s not a big deal, Liam. I can come.”

Declan and Callum exchanged evil smiles. “The Captain is so delighted and is going to wax the boat this week to make sure she is shipshape for you.”

“Sorry. I’m not following.” She looked at me with total confusion, and I knew I was sunk.

“Our family does family dinner on my dad’s sailboat. It’s family tradition when the weather is nice. We go out on the boat, and my mom packs a picnic and it’s a whole thing. You do not have to come.”

“That sounds fun.” She turned back to Callum. “Please tell your mom I accept.”

“Cece, you don’t know what you are agreeing to. We will be out on the ocean. There is no escape.” My heart was racing and I was panicking. These assholes were going to ruin this for me. I finally met the woman of my dreams, and they were going to ruin it.

She ignored me as I started to sweat. “I would love to come. It’s been years since I’ve been out on the water.”

I want to punch those fuckers in the face. This was so typical. They had been ganging up on me my entire life. I finally got one good, amazing thing all to myself and they came here to make me look like a jackass.

Cece was, of course, not fazed at all. She handled everything with good humor. When she excused herself to go to the ladies’ room, I decided to lay it down for them.

“You assholes need to get out of here. You are going to scare this nice girl away.”

“I think you can do that yourself, dumbass.”

“Shut up. You two are dicks, you know that? Let me have this one good thing in my life.”

They stared at me, clearly not connecting the dots.

“And she’s not coming on the boat. The last thing this poor girl needs is to be in the middle of the ocean with our crazy family. We are not serious. She’s not staying.”

“You say that, but the way you look at each other indicates otherwise,” Callum said.

Declan nodded sagely. “Hey, this way you know if she’s for real. If she really likes you.”

Callum patted Declan on the back. “Yes. And you know Mom will be nice. She’s a Leary. Trust me, she is thrilled that you are dating the daughter of her best friend.”

“Casually dating,” I remind them.

“Sure thing, bro.”

“It’s not serious,” I insist.

“Then what are you doing?” Declan snapped. And just like that, they turned on me.

“Yeah,” Callum piled on, “the Learys are good people. You can’t mess around with Cece. Especially after what happened with her dad.”

Declan piped in, “Yeah. She is pretty and nice and smart. Don’t fuck with her, dude.”

“I don’t plan to. I like her a lot. We just haven’t discussed anything, and she’s planning on leaving in a few months.”

“Well, find your balls and ask her to stay.”

I sighed and shook my head. I couldn’t win with these two.

“Obviously you’re not me. You don’t have my skills. You also don’t have Cal’s looks. But you’re okay, you’re a good guy, and your beard is very full.”

Callum hit him and took over Declan’s misguided pep talk. “She’s clearly way out of your league, but she’s here with you in public, right? So that’s a victory.”

I glowered. “You guys need to leave. And for the record, you should not be giving out love advice. Cal, you’re divorced.”

“But at least someone wanted to marry me.”

“And Dec, you can’t keep a woman around for more than one night.”

“Don’t need to. There are always more out there.” Declan nodded in the direction of the line, where at least three different women, ages eighteen to eighty, were staring at him with blatant lust. I clearly had to change tactics.

“Please just go home. I promise my intentions are honorable. I like her so much, and I’ve never felt this way before. Please, please, please, don’t fuck this up for me.”

They looked at each other and then got up to leave. “Okay, okay, bro. We love you. And you are probably going to fuck it up for yourself. You won’t need our help.”