Page 47 of Waiting For A Girl Like You (Haven House #4)

He shoved the T-shirt under the covers and handed it to her, panting.

“Rowan’s dropping the security block on your phone, so keep…

uh… it with you as you try on… shoes . Shoes?

Dresses. The dress.” Goosebumps broke out across his body as he shifted, pretending to be repositioning himself on the bed when, in reality, he was using the move as an opportunity to thrust against her palm.

“Did you want that tiara? I can buy you a tiara.”

“Get me a tiara, and I’ll wear it while I ride you.

” She flicked her tongue along his jaw as he rambled, tasting his skin while carefully keeping her face hidden from the camera.

“Can’t you just picture it? Me bouncing hard on your cock with your hand around my throat like a collar and that pretty little tiara sparkling as I come? ”

“ Yes .” He shivered, sucking in air through his nostrils as he tried to keep himself under control. “ Yes .”

Fisting her hair, he yanked her up to kiss, moaning into her mouth as he came. For the cameras, they kept it as a lingering kiss goodnight—or good morning as it were—with barely a brush of tongue, all while she wrung every last pulse from him.

Once it was over, he took the shirt from her and balled it up with one hand under the blanket. “You’re so going to get it for that.”

“Get what? A prize?” She flopped onto her back as he discarded the shirt in the laundry basket. “It can be the tiara. I’ll wear it proudly.”

Returning to bed, he pulled her up against his side again. “And I didn’t even need twenty minutes.”

She snuggled against him, secure in his hold. “Babe, you didn’t even need two.”

“Fuck me. Don’t tell anyone.”

A giggle teased its way out of her, spreading across them both until, before long, they were laughing like a couple of idiots. After what went down at the cottage between Rowan and Annabeth, she knew how much sound the security system could pick up.

And she honestly didn’t understand Annabeth’s thought process. She, her father, Liam, and Simone had stood around the screen, sipping their wine and watching the whole thing. Of course, they pretended not to have heard a peep when Rowan and Annabeth returned .

But her father had a horrible poker face when it came to these types of things and nearly gave them away, stumbling over his words as he awkwardly walked back to his room.

Jamison shielded her face from the camera with a flattened hand. “Did Rowan say anything?” she mouthed. “About Annabeth?”

Liam rolled to his side, mirroring her position. “When we were finally alone, I asked if he was okay. He just shrugged and said he’d wear her down, eventually.”

“You should have asked more questions!” she whisper-shouted. “If Samuel and Evie had gotten into a big argument like that, you would have been all up in his business.”

“That’s different.”

“How is that different?”

“Because I’m comfortable telling Samuel to fuck off when he’s being an idiot. Rowan’s a nice guy, and we’re working closely together.” He yawned, his eyelids growing heavy. “I don’t want to make things weird.”

She understood. If someone pried into their lives, she’d shut it down in a heartbeat. So would Liam. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t gossip for a second.

“What about Abe and Izzy?”

That had his eyes reopening. “Something’s happening there.”

“He cooked for her.”

“I thought that’s what I heard, but I didn’t believe it. Does he even know how to do that?”

“Apparently.”

Liam grinned. “Honestly, I did think this was how it’d play out.”

“Abe being smitten and Izzy being responsible for it?”

“Something like that.”

She lifted her head and pressed her lips to his. How had she survived without him for those six months?

In truth, she hadn’t survived. Not really. She’d been a shell, with surviving being the last thing she was doing. Liam was her entire world. Her best friend. Her lover. Her confidant.

Her forever.

“I love you,” she whispered. “And I think I need therapy.”

“I love you too.” The grin on his lips dimmed into something bittersweet and infused with love. “Can we also have sessions together? ”

God, he was perfect. Not just because he supported her unconditionally, but because he was also willing to admit when he needed support, too. Always ready to stand beside her, no matter how messy it got.

“Yes.”

“I don’t want to use the same therapist, though. I’ve got mine. We can find someone you’re comfortable with, but I’d like us to find a totally separate person from those two for couples counseling.”

“What an interesting strategy.” It was her turn to grin. “It almost sounds like a plan your mother would devise.”

“God, don’t tell her.”

“All these secrets you want me to keep.” She squealed when he tickled her under the sheets. “Fine! Fine! My lips are sealed.”

“Is that what’s wrong with us?” Settling beside her again, he laced their fingers together. “We have mommy issues?”

She snorted. “Duh.”

“And daddy issues.”

“Oh, hell yeah.”

“And in two totally opposite ways.” He blew out an exhausted exhale. “Mine was always there, pushing me as I was growing up, while yours was pushing himself and never around.”

“Don’t forget the trauma,” she added. “We’ve got lots and lots of trauma.”

“Heaping amounts of trauma.” He went quiet, minutes passing as the sun rose, its light catching in the chandelier and scattering prisms across the ceiling. “I need to be out there.”

A part of her knew this was coming. Trapped at Haven House, unable to get his feet on the ground and be in the thick of the hunt, was killing him. Liam craved control. He was a strategist. And this threat to their family was personal.

“Before the women came, I heard snippets of your conversations,” she said, keeping her voice low. “With Samuel.”

His hand squeezed hers. “Don’t ask me about it.”

A tear slid free, but she didn’t let him see. She was a Fairweather and understood that sometimes, the less you knew, the better. Even if the unknown was terrifying .

“Promise that you won’t do anything that could take you away from me.”

Silence.

“William?”

“I can’t promise that.”

The finality in his tone told her not to push. Whatever he and Samuel had in their heads was firmly planted, and that was okay. She would work on breaking down the idea little by little. If she couldn’t, that was also fine because she had a secret weapon.

Evie.

Her sister would handle Samuel and end whatever he and Liam were planning with just a look. Samuel could take almost anything except his wife being upset. It was the ultimate chink in his armor.

“Yes, you can,” she said. “Or else I won’t marry you.”

And there it was.

Liam’s weak spot.

He was on top of her instantly, bracing himself above her with an arched brow. “I’m too tired to argue.”

“And I’m too tired to hear that you won’t promise not to die.” She bucked her hips. “I thought Bruce had killed you. I thought you were dead.”

He rolled off, grimacing. “You have to trust me.”

“That’s the problem. I do trust you.” She let him tug her close again, curling into his side. “But I also trust that you’ll run straight into danger and call it a solution.”

“I’m well aware of the cost. So is Samuel.”

Ah. So her brother was in on it.

“If you won’t tell me, maybe Evie will. Samuel doesn’t hide anything from her.”

She would swear she saw his eye tick in annoyance. “Leave Evie out of this. We’re ready for the birth, but we’re not ready-ready. Don’t upset her.”

“Fine.” In a grand huff, she rolled away. “Try to get some sleep.”

“ We will. Together.” Not about to let her get away, he followed, securing her back against his chest with his wounded arm. “Close your eyes and go the hell to sleep. ”

Smirking, she wiggled her hips, the curve of her butt fitting perfectly between his thighs. “Yes, sir.”

“Damn it,” he hissed as his body responded. “Stop torturing me.”

“Then stop planning something dangerous.”

He bit down on the soft spot beneath her ear, making her shiver. His hand slid under her camisole, cupping her breast and teasing her nipple into a peak.

“I’ll do my best.”

“Your best?” She tried to look at him over her shoulder. “Are you kidding?”

“Jamison, I want you to listen to me,” he said roughly. “There’s nothing on this earth I want more than you. Nothing I want more than to grow old beside you . You’re it. You’re my reason. My purpose. And I would never put myself in a position where I couldn’t come back to you.”

“But—”

“But I’m a selfish man.” Barely above a whisper, he snarled directly in her ear.

“And I will burn this whole fucking world to the ground to keep you safe. Samuel would do the same for Evie. We didn’t make this decision lightly, but we’re done playing by the rules.

We’re done giving a damn. We’ll protect our family, no matter the cost.”

She melted into him. “That’s why you left the Bureau. It had nothing to do with me. You just couldn’t play by their rules anymore.”

“It had everything to do with you.”

She turned to face him, smoothing her hand along his cheek. “I can’t live without you. I won’t.”

“You’ll never have to. But you will have to trust me.”

She would forever trust him, and while not knowing what he and her brother were planning was unbelievably hard, she would get over it.

“Okay.”

Dipping his head, he kissed her, the promise in it unable to be ignored. “Evie is coming at noon with the girls, and Rowan’s going to drop all barriers to our system. Anyone who wants to listen, watch, or even call into our phones… they’ll be able to.”

“And we haven’t done that since the night the women came,” she said, realizing exactly how important today would be. “Mighty tempting bait. ”

“Yes, you are.” He rubbed his nose against hers. “Super fucking tempting.”

“Are you going to track him?”

“Of course.”

“And then go running off to play the hero?”

He kissed her, nipping at her bottom lip. “Let me worry about that. You just focus on keeping him entertained while Rowan works.”

Jamison hated the cameras more than ever. They’d stolen their privacy, their intimacy, and now they were being turned into weapons—not just to protect them, but to provoke.

“If Michael even tries to make contact.”

“He will.”