Page 27 of Velvet Chains

“I think I might’ve used up all my clever insults about your face.”

He smiled. “I’m offended,” he said. “I’m handsome, and as you know, I’ve never done anything wrong. You gonna make me drink alone?”

“After the last few days, I might drink all your tequila.”

“Perfect,” he said. “I’ve been looking for an excuse to get rid of it.”

I pushed away from the wall, crossed the room, and took a seat. It was too comfortable, the leather soft and perfect, nothing like the kind of places we were used to. Nothing like what we deserved.

“I like what you’ve done with the place,” I said, the sarcasm thick enough to taste.

Liam laughed, setting two shot glasses on the table in front of us, the tall bottle of tequila sitting between them. “You mean the part where it’s not condemned?”

“You should be an industrial cleaner. I hear there’s a lot of money in that.”

“What a coincidence,” he said, a twinkle in his eyes. “I already am.”

He flopped down next to me as I kicked off my shoes, shrugged out of my coat.

“Thanks for considering my carpet,” he deadpanned, looking down at where I’d tracked mud in.

“Mm,” I muttered. “You’re so welcome.”

Then I put my feet up on the coffee table.

Liam didn’t even try stopping me.

“You didn’t make me come back from the city for a work chat over shots, did you?” he asked.

I shook my head, my mouth dry. “No,” I said. “There’s a good reason. I’m just too sober for it.”

“Drink,” he said.

I tipped the glass into my mouth and let the drink burn the back of my throat. “Slàinte.”

“Slàinte mhath,” he said, taking a sip of his drink.

“Why were you in Manhattan?”

“Business, then pleasure,” he said. “The waitress just happened to be free. She was a maid at a fancy Manhattan house and the people she worked for happened to be away.”

“Sounds fun.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t bad. She didn’t love that I had to leave before it got dark, but such is life,” Liam replied. “Anyway…maybe that’swhy you seem so stressed. Maybe you just need to get laid. When’s the last time you had sex, anyway?”

I rolled my eyes. “Last night.”

“I don’t know if paying for it counts.”

I wished I could’ve laughed, but…I mean, where did I even start with telling him how this had all gone down? “I’m just going to say this one time, and I’m not going to clarify anything because I’m still wrapping my head around it.”

Liam watched me, not saying anything yet.

“Okay, so…I used to go out with this woman years ago. We broke up. Well, honestly, I dumped her. I, uh, stopped answering her calls. Anyway, it turned out she wasn’t calling me to get back together with me. She was pregnant.”

His eyes widened. “Wait. Really?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Really. And…”