by Sarina Wilde
And what was she frightened of? He was a marvelous little kid. He wouldn’t make fun of her, probably wouldn’t even look at her as though anything were out of the ordinary. Wyatt, she’d already discovered, was a very different little boy, in some ways mature far beyond other children his age.
But he would still look at her, still see the scars.
The house phone rang. Greer tried to slow everything down, but she knew when she answered she sounded breathless.
“Carle Residence.”
“Hi, sweetie.”
“Chas.”
A pause on the other end. “Greer? What’s up? You sound a bit panicked.”
“I am…count with me.”
The next couple of minutes, Chas walked her through slowing and deepening her breathing while he had her count with him.
“Better?” he asked at last.
“Yes.”
“Mind if I ask what brought it on?” She heard only caring in his deep voice. Greer could picture the warmth shining from his sky blue eyes and was able to take a slow, deep breath.
“Liam wants me to go swimming with him and Wyatt.”
“Ah… Is it the swimming or having to reveal your scars in the light of day?”
“I’m worried about…” She trailed off. “Both I guess. I haven’t been swimming since the accident, but I’m also worried about Wyatt. What if it makes him scared of me?”
Chas’ deep chuckle floated through the phone line, helping her to calm. “He won’t be scared of you. If you could have seen the way he was tucked into you so trustingly last night, you’d know that, Greer.”
In the background, she heard the sound of someone being paged.
“I gotta go, sweetie. We have a trauma case coming in. If you don’t hear from me again tonight, I’ll give you a call in the morning.”
“Thank you, Chas.” After she’d heard the disconnecting click, Greer breathed deeply. He was right. Wyatt was special. He would ask questions, not because he was mean—because he was curious.
She stepped out the rear door onto the patio, carrying the towels she’d brought with her. As soon as Wyatt saw her, he came running. She caught him in her arms and swung him on her hip.
His little fingers touched her scarred skin with a featherlight brush. “You gots a boo-boo.”
Her stomach churned, but she smiled at him. “It’s okay, Wyatt. It happened a long time ago.”
“Did you get a Band-Aid?”
“Kind of.”
He nodded and gave her shoulder a kiss. “I make it better.”
Greer had to stop, blinking rapidly as tears sprung to her eyes. Not a single one of her friends from the past had even wanted to look at her injuries. Not until she’d stepped into this house had she felt such acceptance, even from her own parents. It was almost as if the scars had made her less than what she had been, inside and out. Yet Wyatt had put the cap on everything she’d felt from Liam and Chas.
When she had herself under control, she glanced up. Liam watched them. Worry narrowed his eyes and tightened his mouth. When he noticed her looking at him, he arched a brow as though to ask if everything were all right.
She nodded to him. “I’m good, Liam.”
And that was it. One of the things she’d feared most in the years since the accident was how others, especially children, would react when they saw her. Now she had an answer. For Wyatt, it turned out to be no big deal, and she guessed it would be the same with a lot of people—young or old.
The knowledge was curiously freeing, as if a burden had been lifted from her, a burden she’d been damn weary of lugging around. She grinned at Wyatt.
“Let’s go swimming. You do like to swim, don’t you?”
He nodded. “I only gets to go on the steps. But I gots swimmies.”
Greer heard the protest in his statement. Obviously Wyatt wanted to do more than stay on the steps. She glanced at Liam who sat on the edge of the pool idly swinging his long calves in the water.
“May I take him in with me if we put the swimmies on?”
“Use your judgment, baby.” The I trust you was implicit, and man how it warmed her from the inside out. He trusted her with his son.
Greer smiled at him as she led Wyatt over to the flotation devices and helped him tuck them up his arms so they wouldn’t fall off.
“There you go, big guy,” she told him. “You’re ready to swim with me.”
While it was obvious he enjoyed the water and had no fear of it, it was also obvious he didn’t know how to swim. After she’d played with him for a few minutes, Greer guided him back to the steps.
“Why don’t you play on the steps with some of your toys for a few minutes while I talk to Daddy?”
“Okay.” Boat noises accompanied the splashing of his toys through the shallow water on the steps as Greer swam over to Liam. Hanging onto the side of the pool she grinned at him. “Are you coming in, or do you need swimmies too?”
In answer, he braced his arms on the side and lowered himself in next to her. Tilting his head close to hers, he murmured, “I’m one giant flotation device. Wanna see my air valve?”
Greer smacked him on the shoulder. “That is so wrong.”
He grinned, running his fingers down her cheek. “I like watching you with Wyatt. He likes you.”
Heat curled from her belly to her cheeks. “He’s a great kid. You should have him around more.”
Liam’s mouth thinned, a sad look in his eyes. “I’d like to. I had to fight for what I’ve got.”
Greer couldn’t hide her surprise. “Pardon me for saying so, but your ex doesn’t really seem to be very interested in him. Why would she…?”
“To punish me.”
“For Chas?”
He shook his head. “We were separated before Chas ever entered the picture. No, I really think it’s to punish me for getting her pregnant to begin with.”
Greer gazed at Wyatt with his dark curls and his blue eyes as he played happily, splashing the water and turning his cars into boats. “I don’t understand.”
“Wanting to punish me?”
“Not wanting her pregnancy.” Greer swallowed. She and Markus had talked about having a family. It was one of the reasons they’d taken their relationship to the next level.
Liam’s gaze was intense, searching her expression before he murmured, “No, you wouldn’t understand, would you?”
Greer knew it was a rhetorical question, so she remained silent, keeping one eye on Wyatt to make sure he was staying at the top of the steps. He was such a darling, how could anyone not want him? But she had sensed, more clearly than she would have guessed, Julie regarded her son as a job more than a joy.
“Have you ever thought about having kids?”
“What?” Greer’s eyes widened, Liam’s question catching her off guard. He repeated the question, his dark gaze warm. She swallowed, ducking her head so he couldn’t read her expression. “Markus and I talked about it.”
His fingers tilted her chin so he could see her face. “And did you? Want kids?”
The tears were back, damn it. Greer blinked them away. “We wanted a family.”
His thumb brushed beneath her eye, then rubbed along her lower lip. “You would be a wonderful mother.”
Greer eased away from him with a smile designed to cover her true feelings. “It’s a moot point. My life has changed. I’m no longer the same person, Liam.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the pool wall as if he were about to say something else.
“Greer! Play wif me.”
It was an excuse to escape, and she was absurdly grateful to Wyatt for providing it. Liam’s questions were touching too close to home on things she’d tried to shut in her past.
Liam let her go, cursing himself for poking and prodding her so much. As she sat next to Wyatt on the steps, he had a vision of her, rounded with his or Chas’ child. But seeing her pregnant didn’t matter so long as she was with them, creating a new
image of what it meant to be a family. He and Chas had been forging one on their own, but deep down both of them had known the picture wasn’t really complete.
Then Greer arrived, big-eyed and breathless. She made his heart pound. What he felt was more than lust. Liam realized he couldn’t possibly let her go any more than he could let Chas go. They belonged together. All three of them.
He hoped Chas felt the same way, and he prayed they could both convince Greer to be part of that image. Liam sighed. He wasn’t a patient person, except when it came to sculpting, but wasn’t that a bit of what was going on here? Greer had come to them locked inside so many protective layers, but as each day passed, they chipped away her shell. With every layer he uncovered, Liam fell a little more in love.
How absurd was that? But it had been the same way with Chas. Liam had known right away Chas was someone special. Had he not been expecting someone so different from who Greer turned out to be, he might have seen how special she was the instant he saw her. Now he just needed to make sure they kept her.
“Getting dark. We should probably head inside.” He glanced at Wyatt. “‘Bout your bedtime, son.”
As Wyatt’s lip began to protrude, Greer scooped him up and gave him a motorboat ride around the shallow end. When they finished, she laughed. “Come on. Clean up. I’ll help. See if you can get your toys in the bag faster than me.”
Liam hoisted himself onto the edge of the pool and simply sat for a moment watching Greer. She was a natural. He rubbed his chest at the ache of regret, but knew what he was feeling was silly. Sure she had lived just down the road from him for most of his life, but meeting her before now would have been pointless. She’d been in love with another man, and enough years stood between them, meeting when she was younger wouldn’t have changed a thing. He would simply have dismissed her as a kid.
Funny how fate worked. For that reason, he couldn’t even regret the scars on her back and shoulders. Because of them, she was in this place at this time. Had the accident never happened, chances were she would be married to her Markus and already mothering her own children. Now he and Chas had a chance to build something special with her. He wasn’t sure exactly how that would work, but the image made him smile.
He carried Wyatt while she toted the rest of their stuff.
“Grab a shower, babe. I’ll take care of Mr. Wyatt’s bath, then you can tuck him in while I clean up.”
She nodded, seeming relieved by the opportunity for some alone time. He didn’t doubt it. Coming out to the pool, her scars exposed not only to him but also to Wyatt, had taken a lot of guts. He was helping Wyatt out of his clothes and lifting him into the tub when his son surprised him.
“‘N’I stay here forever? I love Greer.”
Liam picked up the soap and a washcloth. “You know we’d love to have you here more, Wyatt. Your momma would miss you.”
“Uh uh.”
He rubbed the cloth over the soap then set the bar aside, keeping his tone casual. “What makes you say that?”
“Momma doesn’t love me like Greer does.”
Whoa. How to address that one? “Momma has a lot of things on her mind, so she can’t always be with you. Here…well, that’s Greer’s job.”
Wyatt’s lip stuck out. “Greer chased the monsters away.”
“You mean last night when you had a bad dream?”
Wyatt nodded, playing with one of his tub toys while Liam rubbed a soapy washcloth over his back.
“Greer made ‘em go ‘way. Momma doesn’t. Weeza neever.”
Liam rinsed the soap out of the washcloth and began to rinse Wyatt. “You mean her maid, Louisa?”
“Her. She puts me to bed.”
Not Julie. From the way Wyatt said it, he knew it was a common occurrence. Damn Julie. He’d acquiesced about custody, but it seemed obvious to him Julie was shuffling a lot of responsibility off on Louisa.
Still trying to tread carefully, he asked, “Where’s Momma?”
“Out.”
Liam shampooed Wyatt’s hair and rinsed it out. “We can talk about you coming here more often now Greer’s here to help, but I wouldn’t say anything to Momma about how much you like Greer. It might hurt Momma’s feelings.”
Liam sent a silent prayer God would understand the lie. His real fear was if Julie knew how much Greer meant to any of them, including Wyatt, she would use her to hurt them.
“A secret?”
He lifted Wyatt from the tub and dried him off. “Kind of.”
“‘Kay. Can I have a snack?”
“You bet, buddy. Cereal?”
Wyatt’s eyes lit. Liam helped him into a pull up and his pajamas then carried him to the kitchen. As if she’d anticipated their needs, a bowl and spoon were already on the table in front of Wyatt’s booster seat. Liam leaned into the corner near the sink and watched Wyatt and Greer. She was good with him, and it was obvious Wyatt adored her. Jesus, he’d have to find some way to keep Julie from discovering that. Somehow, she’d find a way to use it against all of them.
“I’ll get him settled and be back.”
Liam nodded. After they’d left, he wandered around the downstairs, going to Chas’ office. Julie had made it more than plain she either knew or certainly suspected what his relationship with Chas really was. He stroked the smooth surface of the desk. She wouldn’t dare make an issue of that, but if she suspected they were living as a threesome? He worried about what she could do, not to him—people expected artists to be eccentric—but her spite could affect Chas and Greer. The everyday world traveled in twos, not threes.
If Greer wanted to travel that road. Lord.
Liam sat, leaning his arm on the chair and rubbing his forehead tiredly.
“Are you okay?”
Greer had just entered the room, her brow knitted in concern. Liam shook off his worries and smiled, patting his lap. “Come here, baby. Have I told you how great you are with Wyatt?”
“I love him.”
She said it so simply, so matter-of-factly. Liam wrapped his arm around her when she sat on his lap, tilting her head into his neck. An aching tenderness he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt filled him. He blinked away the moisture in his eyes.
“Stay with me tonight?” he asked quietly, wanting more than anything to be able to hold her close.
Greer wasn’t quite sure about Liam’s mood. In some ways, he seemed needier to her right now than Wyatt. Something was bothering him, but he obviously didn’t want to talk about it. No matter. She would stay with him not because he asked but because it was what she wanted too.
“Of course I will.”
He turned his head, running his lips along her cheek until he brushed her mouth. His fingers tangled in her short hair, holding her steady so he could plunder her with his tongue. Greer slid her hands over his shoulders and pressed her aching breasts to him.
“God, Greer. I want you here, now.” She felt the hard press of his swollen cock against her hip, and she thought of the toys she’d discovered in the desk. She felt the need in him. It was more than a hard-on, more than sex. It was in his eyes, and she wanted to see that warmth there burn even brighter.
“Play with me, Liam. Show me what to do with you and Chas.”
“Fuck!” He scooped her up carrying her with him as he shut the door. “Lock it!” he growled.
Greer’s nipples tightened at the lust in his gaze. As soon as he deposited her on the top of the desk, he was stripping her clothes off as if he couldn’t get her naked fast enough. She shifted and lifted, helping him until she was nude and open to his hot perusal.
“Now you.” God, was that husky voice hers? Her eyes were glued to him as he pulled his T-shirt over his head. Maybe it was from working with his hands and power tools so much on larger sculptures, but his upper body was well developed, muscles shifting and bunching in the mellow lamplight. When his hands went to the waistband of the sweats he’d pulled on, Greer stopped him.
“Let me.”
The soft, cling
ing cotton of his pants left no doubt of his already supremely aroused state. As she stripped off his sweats and his boxers, his cock sprang to attention, its tip already slick.
“Suck me, Greer.”
She sat in the chair, turning him toward her and cupping his sac in one hand while she licked along the length of his shaft and covered the head with her mouth.
“That’s it.”
Gently rubbing his balls, she slid her mouth farther, bobbing back and forth as she felt him swell even larger. His testicles tightened, so she pulled on his sac.
“That’s it, baby. Long and slow.” His hips pumped as though he were keeping the utmost rein on his control, and his fingers slid through her hair and over her scalp. “I like this, just you and me, but I want to have you and Chas do this together, have you both sucking me off. Then I can watch him fuck you. Would you like that?”
She lifted her mouth from him, looked into his slumberous gaze. “Yes. More than you can imagine. But right now? It’s you I want.”
He lifted her, set her on the desk and spread her thighs. She trembled from nerves and need, but the steadiness and gentleness of his touch relaxed her. Liam leaned forward, brushing his lips with hers. Greer answered the question in his touch by teasing him with her tongue and moaning as he deepened the kiss. His hands stroked restlessly over her shoulders and down her arms before moving in to cup her small breasts.
“I’m—”
“Perfect.”
She had been about to say small, but stopped, her neck and back arching as he moved over her throat. When his lips suckled her nipple, the tugging sensation pulled a whimper from her. Liam switched his attention to the other breast, but didn’t let up. His fingers moved over her belly, and Greer automatically tilted for him, eager to feel his touch between her thighs, stroking her pussy.
Back and forth, his fingers glided along her slippery folds, making her writhe as desire throbbed. She needed him…oh, yes. He pressed against her clit. She nearly sobbed in frustration as his fingers traveled back down, one slipping inside her, but a moment later he was tonguing the aching little bud of flesh. And then she did sob.