The Coldest Summer✓

Fifty-nine

"Yes! I love Mac and Cheese."

God, he sounds like a baby now.

"Good. Let's go." I try to move but he slams me back toward him. "What?" I giggle at him, my hair sprawled all over his face.

"I love you," he whispers so smoothly that my breath hatches. "And I want to take you again, but after we eat."

Heart sears through me like a steel pipe and electric current. "I love you, too. And I can't wait for you to take me again."

My evening turns splendid, much to my surprise. My boyfriend assists me throughout our dinner preparations, while teasing me with words and touches whenever he can. It's already ten at night but none of us care about the time.

"Is it ready to bake now?" Liam asks, veering over my shoulder as I mix the cheese with macaroni.

I giggle lightly, his breath on my neck scorching and distracting. And fuck, he's shirtless! Are assistant chefs allowed to cook half-naked? I mentally sigh.

"Yeah. It's almost ready now. I think I had a bottle of white wine to pair with it," I reply.

"Whatever you say, Ms. Jones. You're the expert here," Liam answers and this is my world.

He's simply enough.

"Now what?" I ask after shutting the oven to let our dinner bake into that golden yellow crust I love so much.

"Well, tell me what you did during my absence. How many times did you kill me and how many times you wanted to murder me. Tell me everything." He's holding a juice glass as he says this, trying to soothe his hunger.

"Why would you want to know that?" I fail to smother my laugh. This man!

"Because I want to know?"

"So that you can smile and enjoy knowing how crazy I am for you? Not gonna happen, Mr. Darcy, so no! I'm not telling you anything!" I cross my arms on my chest and he laughs boyishly, standing across from me. "I'm just curious. Did you think of me even once when you left?" I ask him curiously, all jokes aside.

"All the time, Kira. When I say it was a state of emergency that had me leave, then I mean it as it is," he replies. "We could've lost a huge investment if I didn't go to New York, and we've worked so hard for that to have allowed it to waste."

I study him carefully but I can't bring myself to doubt him. Goner! I am a goner.

"If you say so. And don't worry, I didn't cry a river or anything just because you left me, so you can tell your big male ego to go on a vacation in Africa and enjoy the beautiful wildlife."

He booms into a loud laugh.

At the end of the day I sleep with a smile on my face after a round of goodnight sex. God knows how addicted I've become to the point of needing birth control pills as soon as possible before we make a mistake. But we use protection each time, excluding that night in his hotel room.

I spend almost ten minutes doing nothing but staring at sleeping Liam when I wake up in the morning. I play with his hair, his eyebrows, and my smile brightens. It's a call from Sam that distracts me from my childish endeavors, and I know she wants the details.

"Hey, Sam," I utter lazily while struggling with Liam's T-shirt, which is the only comfortable thing to cover my nudity.

So buttered and well-fucked! Sneers my subconscious as I flush without a reason.

"Hey, I know I'm intruding but I'm just too hungry for information," Sam says, and I can't help but laugh. "Good morning, Kiki. Am I third-wheeling right now? They say it tastes better in the morning and well. . . I think I agree."

"You're crazy." I manage to slip into the shirt and wander towards the living room. "He is sleeping, so you're not." My voice is low.

"You've sorted things out, right?" Sam sounds worried.

"Yes, miss Cupid," I answer, dropping heavily on the couch. "So, why don't you tell me how you did it?" I'm utterly curious.

"Did what?" Sam asks.

"Come on! How did you contact Liam? And when?" I urge.

"Magicians never reveal their secrets, Kiki," she says. "But in short, I had to use my connections as the Executive Assistant I am."

"How informative," I mutter, and she laughs.

"I had his business card," Sam says. "So I sent him an email yesterday, and gave him my piece of mind. Well, he called as soon as he landed yesterday; that's why I picked him from the airport. I think he was on his way here even before he received my email, so technically, I haven't done anything."

"Regardless. Thank you," I mutter, for we've come a long way for her to do even that much.

"Nah, it was the least I could do," she replies and it melts my heart. "Hey, I was mistakenly watching the news a while ago, and I saw that surfer friend of yours giving an interview. I think he's back from Brazil."

"Oh, yeah, it was him." I tell her of my encounter with Pedro at the beach, followed by other cheesy gossip.

By the time we're done talking, I feel like my life's back on the right track. To my beautiful surprise, Liam is already up, staring at me with a satiable smile on his alluring just-woke-up face. I smile back, taking in the sight of his ruffled hair and lazy eyes.

"Good morning," he utters.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"Very well. You?"

"Great. Except . . . I think we need to talk, Mr. Darcy. You and me alone," I tell him seriously.