Relinquishing Liberty (15 page)

Shayne:
Well how about you cancel your plans with your laundry and make plans with me.

Shayne:
I won’t have a phone signal, but I should be back in the marina around 7:00. Let me know what you decide. I’d love to see you, sweetheart.

God, he had no idea how bad I wanted to see him…touch him…taste him…

Holy shit, what is happening to me!?
Oh man, I had it bad! I have to get these naughty thoughts out of my head before I get carried away. If he only knew what I was picturing doing to him right now…

Me:
How about dinner and a movie…at my place?

Maddie already told me she would be out for the night, so I had the apartment to myself. I had to clean up around here first and figure out what I was going to cook for Shayne. Then I remembered he had mentioned a dish his mother used to make that he hadn’t had in ages.
Perfect!
It was my turn to impress him with my mad culinary skills.

Now if I could only keep my hormones in check…

Around 6:45 I heard back from Shayne. He said he just finished up for the day and was stopping at his place to shower before heading over. It seemed silly for him to go all the way home and then waste more gas driving to my apartment. I’m not sure why I even suggested it, but I offered to let him shower here to save time. It’s not like I was over-eager to see him or anything. Oh, who was I kidding…I couldn’t wait to get his sexy ass over here!

When I heard him ring the doorbell, I buzzed him in, letting him know the door was unlocked. I ran back in the kitchen before his surprise dinner went up in flames. I heard the door click shut and footsteps lazily creaked across the floor.

“I hope you brought your appetite! I made enough to feed an army!” I waited for a response, but all I got were the chirps of crickets.

Seconds later, one arm wrapped around my waist pulling me into his chest, while the other brushed my hair over my shoulder. This time I didn’t freak out when I looked down and saw the beautiful artwork that enveloped the muscles of his forearm. Warm, soft lips pressed flush against my skin. I tilted my neck further, giving him better access as he left a trail of moist kisses leading down to my shoulder. He left my whole body tingling and insides melting.

“What are you making there, beautiful?”

“It’s a surprise.” I looked over my shoulder and smirked at him.

“You know, I have ways of getting you to spill your secrets.” His fingers lightly scraped along my ribs, causing my whole body to shutter.
Shit! He discovered my weakness!

“Ah, so you are ticklish! I am SO going to use this to my advantage!”

I playfully smacked his hands away. “Don’t you dare! Aren’t you supposed to be taking a shower or something?”

“Why? You don’t like the way I smell, sweetheart?” He grabbed me and rubbed his hard body up against me, causing me to giggle uncontrollably into his chest. I breathed in deep…
God, I love the way he smells
. A musky scent that was all his own, like fresh ocean air mixed with his delicious cologne.

“Come on, stinky, I’ll show you where the bathroom is.” I grabbed his hand and led him down the hall to the bathroom. I pulled out some fresh towels from the linen closet and placed them on the counter next to the sink.

“Feel free to use anything you want. Everything on the bottom two shelves in the shower is mine.”

“Thanks, sweetheart, I appreciate it. Now get back in the kitchen where you belong!”

I smacked his arm before he shut the door laughing. If I didn’t like him so much, I probably would have taken offense to that pig-headed comment of his.

I finished up the rest of our dinner and set everything out on the table. I heard the bathroom door creak open as I walked to my bedroom, which just so happened to be directly across from the bathroom. I looked over and a cloud of steam billowed out of the doorway. Shayne was standing there in nothing but a towel wrapped low around his waist. Beads of water were spread across his russet skin, tanned from hours spent on the boat. He had more tattoos spread across his chest and back that I hadn’t seen yet.

One stood out amongst the rest; a beautiful black and grey portrait of a young woman’s face over his left pectoral. I was amazed at the amount of detail put into this tattoo; it was so lifelike. It was obviously someone important enough to him that he had her face permanently branded on his body. An old girlfriend perhaps?
God, I hoped not!
I would never be able to look at that gorgeous rock hard chest the same way again. I broke my gaze, not wanting to delve any deeper into my jealous assumptions.

“See something you like, sweetheart?”

“Oh…um…I…I was just c-coming to let you know dinner was ready.” I stuttered, embarrassed that he caught me ogling him.

“Awesome, let me just finish getting dressed, and I’ll be right out. I just had to let a little steam out of here first.” He winked as he began shutting the door, and the last thing I caught was a glimpse of the towel hitting the floor. My heart was racing, and my mind was running wild. I was so close to seeing his entire glorious body bared before me.

“No problem. Take your time.”

I walked back to the table and sat down releasing the breath I didn’t realize I was holding in. Just being around Shayne literally took my breath away.

When he came back out, he looked delicious as always. He must have had an extra change of clothes in his Jeep because he now had on a heather-grey t-shirt and black basketball shorts. That man could wear a paper bag, and he would still look just as sexy.
Oh God, now I was actually picturing him wearing a paper bag!

I stood as he walked over to me. He glanced at the table, and when he saw that I had prepared his favorite meal, he was rendered speechless. He kept looking back and forth between me and the table, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His eyes appeared glassy when they finally settled on me.

“You made me chicken and dumplings?” He barely whispered. He was so overcome with emotion, and I could have sworn I saw moisture pooling in his eyes.
Oh shit, did I make it wrong?

“Well you said it was your favorite. I made a pecan pie, too,” I said with a sheepish grin.

“I can’t believe this. Liberty, I haven’t had this since the last time my mom made it. Shit, I must’ve only been five then. This looks fantastic!”

“Well, sit and eat before it gets cold, silly!”

Shayne pulled a chair out from the table, but before he sat down, he wrapped me up in his arms and buried his face in my hair. I could smell my vanilla cupcake body wash on his skin. “Thank you, Liberty. You have no idea how much this means to me.” He smiled back at me lovingly, and my heart instantly melted.

When he took the first bite, he let out a moan and I had to squeeze my legs together to control the sensation that was slowly building up. God, that beautifully erotic sound ran straight through my body and caused an ache between my legs that I was now becoming accustomed to whenever I was around Shayne.

“Liberty, you are a goddamn goddess in the kitchen! This tastes just like my mom’s!”

“Well I’m glad you like it.” It warmed my heart knowing I could make him so happy just by cooking a simple meal. He enjoyed it so much that ate two platefuls!
Jesus, I don’t know where he puts it all!

“I hope you have room for the pecan pie. Why don’t you go in the living room and pick out a movie to watch, and I’ll bring you a slice?”

I walked into the living room with a slice of pie and scoop of vanilla ice cream for both of us, and he was staring at my extensive collection of Blu-ray movies in awe. I sat down on the floor next to him and handed him a plate.

“You alphabetize them?” He leaned his head over looking at me with his eyebrow raised.

“Well yeah, it makes it easier to find them that way. Why…is that weird?”

He laughed. “No, it’s just funny because I do that, too. I’m so anal about it, and I hate when people come over and mess them up.”

I had to laugh because Maddie was the same way. She had to be the most disorganized person I’ve ever met, and she knew I’d kill her if she ever moved one of my movies out of place because I always caught it right away. It was one of my biggest pet peeves.

“Well did you see anything you like?”

He slowly turned to look at me with his eyes roaming over my body. “Oh, I definitely see something I like.”

I shoved him playfully. “Focus, Shayne! I meant a movie that you like.”

“I was surprised to find The Expendables movies in your collection. So do you actually like them or was that just thrown in there for when you have guys over?”

“For your information, I happen to love those movies! You can’t beat a movie with all of those classic action movie icons!” I crossed my arms over my chest. “And what guys do you think I have over here? Other than Brett, and the occasional guy that Maddie might bring home, you’re the only guy that I’ve had here.”

He seemed more than pleased with that answer based on the wide grin that turned up the corners of his mouth. I didn’t know what guys he thought I was bringing home. He knew I wasn’t the kind of girl who had random hookups. I mean, I thought I made it pretty clear that I was a virgin, so it’s not like I was having wild orgies here. Obviously Brett would be over here on occasion since he was Maddie’s brother, but he had nothing to worry about there. Then I remembered the date today with Brett and wondered if I should tell Shayne about it. If I was going to take the possibility of a relationship with Shayne seriously, I would have to start by being completely open and honest with him.

“Um, Shayne?”

He placed The Expendables 2 in the Blu-ray player and turned to face me. “Yeah?”

“There’s something I need to tell you, but please don’t freak out.”

“Okay, well, you telling me not to freak out kinda has me freaking out.” He smiled, but his brow furrowed as he waited patiently for me to speak.

“Well…you see…I…um…well it wasn’t really…” I grew even more nervous. What if Shayne didn’t understand why I did it? What if he thought that I was leading him on, too?

“Liberty, it’s okay. Just spit it out.” He smiled at me so sweetly that it gave me the courage to just blurt it out.

“IwentoutonadatewithBretttoday!” It came out so fast I’m not even sure he understood what I said. He stared at me for a second like he was trying to absorb my words. He took both of my hands, lifting me up and walking me over to the couch.

“It’s okay, Liberty. I know we never made things exclusive between us so I have no right to tell you not to go out with anyone else. I’m glad you told me, though.” His smile was genuine.
Why the hell was he so understanding?
If I was him, I would have been flipping out and calling me every name under the sun.

“No, you don’t understand. I never wanted to go out on a date with him in the first place. I only did it because I know how persistent he is. Even Maddie agreed that he wouldn’t let up until he got his way. I think he finally got the hint that I’m not interested, though. Remember when I was texting you and said I was at lunch with a friend? Well, he was the friend I was talking about. After he realized it was you that I was texting, he admitted that he already knew I had feelings for you, and that he accepted whatever it is that’s going on between us. Oh Shayne, you should’ve seen him; he looked so defeated. It hurt to see him like that, but what else could I do? I just don’t have those feelings for him.”

“And you’re saying you have those feelings for me?” His face was tilted down towards his lap, but I could see him peering back at me through his dark lashes.

I took his face in both of my hands and shifted his gaze up towards mine so I could look deep into his eyes in search of an answer, and it didn’t take long for me to see the love I felt for him reverberated back. It was crystal clear.

“Yes,” I replied with certainty.

He smiled and leaned forward to kiss me ever so gently. He hovered there for a second, allowing me to breath him in. Then he whispered against my lips, “Liberty, how would you feel about making things exclusive?”

My eyes shot open, and I knew it was going to be a stupid question as soon as it came out. “Like boyfriend and girlfriend?”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Yes, like boyfriend and girlfriend. So what do ya say?”

“I’d like that,” I said calmly, but inside I was bouncing up and down like a little kid on Christmas morning.

The movie started and from beginning to finish we laughed until there were tears streaming down our faces. When the credits began to roll, we were both overcome with exhaustion. I cuddled up next to him with my head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. It was gradually lulling me to sleep, but I didn’t want to have a repeat of our last date where I fell asleep before the night was even over. It was already close to midnight, and I knew Shayne had to be up early for work. I probably should have called it a night, but I wasn’t ready for him to go just yet. Just as Shayne was pressing a kiss against my temple, I made a split second decision.