Loving Liam (Cloverleaf #1) (23 page)

***

Liam

Liam sat behind his desk in the quiet classroom as his students took a practice test in preparation for the major state test. He stared out the window, watching the rain pelt the glass. He then turned his attention to the large stack of neatly signed papers in front of him. He was setting a plan in motion. A plan he hoped would set him and Rachel on the right track. He may not fully agree with her decisions, but knowing that conceding to them might bring them closer eased his conscience.

***

Rachel

Rachel strolled into work the next day feeling even more down in the dumps. She was wet and cold and had slept horribly the night before. Today was the dreaded Valentine’s Day. A large vase filled with flowers sat proudly on Karen’s desk, and Rachel groaned as Karen peeked out from behind the mailboxes, her arms filled with memos printed on pink paper.

“Happy Valentine’s, Rachel,” Karen sang happily.

Rachel nodded and shuffled to her office without replying.
Must Karen be so perky today?
she thought as she closed the door behind her. When she looked at her desk, she saw several goodies waiting for her there. Her frown softened as she sat down to get a good look at them. Karen had given her a small vase containing a festive floral arrangement, and a few parents had given her boxes of chocolates. She couldn’t help but feel touched by the sweet gesture.

She then noticed a small crystal and silver paperweight sitting atop a stack of papers. Confusion washed over her as she read the inscription:

You have my heart
.

She turned her gaze to the papers beneath and couldn’t believe her eyes. They were the progress reports from Liam’s fourth grade students.

A smile appeared on her face. Maybe this Valentine’s Day wouldn’t be so terrible after all.

***

Liam

Liam was organizing the treats he’d brought for his students when he heard a soft knock at his door. Butterflies swirled in his stomach, and he smiled broadly and turned as Megan slithered in. A brilliant red sweater and pink skirt hugged her body, and she wore her long brown hair in loose waves. Tiny heart-shaped diamonds twinkled at her ears.

“Good morning, Liam. Happy Valentine’s,” she cooed.

His broad smile vanished as disappointment overtook him. “Morning.”

“Why so cranky? You were just smiling a second ago,” Megan said, sounding slightly offended as she inched closer to him.

“Sorry, thought you were one of the kids,” he replied coldly and turned back to his task.

“Need any help?” she offered as she touched his arm.

He shifted his body away from her grasp. “No, I got it, but thanks.”

“Okay,” Megan whined, “well, I guess I will head back to my room. Just wanted to wish you a Happy Valentine’s.”

“Same to you. Hope your students have fun today.”

“Oh, I almost forgot, what are you bringing for the bake sale tomorrow?” Megan asked, clearly scrambling to find any reason to continue their conversation.

“My mom’s bringing in lemon bars, I think,” Liam replied, finally looking back at her.

“Yummy.” Megan licked her lips slowly.

Liam had had about as much as he could stand. “Well, I really need to get some stuff done. They will be here any minute now.”

Looking disappointed, Megan sashayed out of his classroom. That woman put it all out there, and Liam wanted nothing to do with any of it. Granted, she was sexy, he supposed, but she wasn’t anything like the woman down the hall, with the sun-kissed pixie haircut, overgrown bangs, and the beautiful, deep cobalt eyes.

***

By the end of the day, Liam had had his fill of overly hyper students bouncing everywhere in a love-infused sugar high. He was grateful when the last bell sounded.

“Don’t forget, you guys, bake sale tomorrow night. Give those fliers to your family, and tell anyone you know,” Liam shouted over the sounds of backpacks being gathered.

After the last of the students fled, he began tidying up his classroom, pushing in a couple forgotten chairs and picking up candy wrappers and scraps of paper. He was savoring the quiet when he heard a soft knock at the door. Mentally preparing for the return of Megan, he was surprised and relieved to see Rachel. Her soft, pink sweater highlighting rosebud lips that were turned upward in a nervous smile. He watched as gray pants that fit snugly around her hips and legs made their way toward him.

“Liam, are you busy? Did I interrupt you?” she asked cautiously.

He could sense her fear.
Why
, he thought,
why would she be scared of him
? She was the one who held his heart now; she had all the power. Didn’t she know this? He was frightened by how deeply she made him feel.

“No, not at all. Please come in.” He led her toward his desk after he closed the door. As she wrung her hands, he noticed how supple they were. He wanted to touch her and feel them on his body again.

“I wanted to thank you.” She didn’t meet his eyes.

“Rachel, there’s so much I want to say—”

“Liam, I appreciate what you did. But I can’t really discuss the other night, if that’s okay.” Rachel looked down, picking imaginary lint from her pants, still avoiding his gaze.

“Oh Rachel, I want us to talk about it. I need you to know how you make me feel.” Liam leaned in closer. Her light perfume smelled like summer, floral and warm.

“I’m so sorry, I just can’t.” Rachel pushed past him with a speed he wasn’t prepared for and fled the room.

He could practically feel the light leaving him and a cold, sinking weight of loneliness replacing it. The only silver lining he could see in this internal storm was that she’d finally come to him. They were making progress, slowly but hopefully surely.

***

Rachel

Rachel went to the grocery store right after work without saying good-bye to anyone. As she navigated the aisles, her phone buzzed loudly in her purse.

“Hello?” she answered after fishing it out quickly.

“Happy Singles’ Awareness Day,” Chelsea shouted on the other end.

Pulling her phone away from her ear, Rachel shook her head. “Thanks. How has your day been?” she asked as she gathered more items from her list for the muffins she’d be baking.

“Eh, you know, it’s lovers’ day, and I don’t have one, so I guess not an entirely great day. Where are you? You sound distracted.”

“Getting stuff for the bake sale.” Rachel scanned for the aisle that had the last ingredients on her list.

“How was work today?” Chelsea asked carefully.

“Okay, get this. I get to work and find a bunch of neat stuff on my desk, flowers, chocolates, all that good stuff, but the thing that really wowed me was what Liam left for me,” Rachel said as she considered two different bags of sugar. “Hey, Chelsea, what’s the difference between a name brand and store brand, like, say, for sugar or flour? Does it really matter when you are baking?”

“You know you’re asking the wrong person, right? I’m telling you, just wander over to their little bakery section and grab some cupcakes or something,” Chelsea said. “So wait, what did Liam get you?”

“Maybe I should call Mary,” Rachel thought out loud.

“Earth to Rachel, what did he get you? You’re killin’ me here.”

“A beautiful paperweight.”

“A what? Why?” Chelsea demanded, sounding irritated. Clearly, that was not the answer she wanted to hear.

“A paperweight. It was heart-shaped and said, ‘You have my heart,’ but it’s what it was on top of that really surprised me: those progress reports I’ve been after him about.” Rachel smiled at the thought of Liam.

“Oh, well, that’s nice, I guess. I really would’ve thought he would’ve done the whole dozen-roses bit or something super romantic. Hmm, I’m a little disappointed, actually.”

Rachel could almost hear her friend frowning. She shrugged. Chelsea didn’t understand how much Liam finally turning those in meant to her. Now she didn’t have to worry about reporting to the district without all of them, which also meant she didn’t need to fear losing her job just yet. The district still wanted to make sure the school did better on the tests, so she knew she would be on pins and needles waiting for the overall results and standings. “It’s a very big deal, Chelsea. I mean, he fought so hard against those. I was worried I was going to lose my job if I showed up empty-handed.”

“Okay, so this is big, then? Like, ‘it’s the end of the war, and now you can go and see if you can recapture the magic from last week’ type of big?”

“Yes. Wait, no. I mean, yes, it’s a big deal, and no, I don’t want to recapture the magic. I just think this is a step in the right direction for us to be able to coexist at work now.”

“Rachel, you do understand why he turned those in and did the paperweight thing, right? It’s not really my idea of a great gift from a lover, but he obviously has lost his heart to you.”

“First off, we are not lovers,” Rachel defended.

“Nope, you are. I’m afraid that what went on a week ago between you is what would define a lover, and it sounds like he’s an amazing one at that,” Chelsea rebutted, sounding quite pleased with herself.

“You are impossible, you realize that?” Rachel fought back a laugh. She felt warm every time she had to defend herself against the word
lovers
. Her body agreed with Chelsea but her stubborn brain refused to.

“But you love me.”

“I do, but for the record, Liam and I are not lovers. And I know he may have ulterior motives for turning those reports in, but I’m thankful he did.”

“Well, I will drop this for now, but it’s totally a ‘to be continued’ conversation, just so you know. I have yoga and need to head out.”

“You going to go out with the instructor again?” Rachel said playfully.

“First off, he’s an instructor, and secondly, he has a man-bun thing going on, Rachel. Not too sure I’m into this whole man-bun hairstyle. I don’t think I like a guy having better-looking hair than me. He actually suggested I needed to switch my hair products, can you believe that?” Chelsea laughed.

Rachel couldn’t imagine anyone having nicer hair than Chelsea, and considering how much she spent to make it look fabulous, she could picture how insulted her friend must have been. Then she thought about Liam’s slightly shaggy hair. She had a difficult time seeing him wearing it long and in a bun. He wasn’t that type of guy. Running her fingers through her own pixie cut, she realized she was way overdue for a trim. It was also getting a little shaggy.

After saying good-bye, she hung up with Chelsea and double-checked her list before paying, feeling lighter and happier after her chat. She was now ready to go home and bake.

***

On Friday night, Rachel entered the cafeteria with an armload of muffins, and Liam instantly jogged up to her.

“Here, let me help you,” he said as he grabbed several trays from her hands. “These smell great—and very familiar.” A boyish grin replaced the sexy one he had given her as he walked over.

“Thanks. I’m sure you are pretty familiar with that recipe. I hope I did hers justice,” Rachel said, following Liam to a partially filled tabletop to set the remainder of her trays down.

“I’m sure they’re great.”

Megan sauntered up to Liam, carrying a colorful tray of cupcakes frosted with a baker’s precision and decorated with the touch of an artist.

“Excuse me, Rachel,” Megan’s voice oozed sugary-sweet desire as she pushed past her. “Liam, could you help me carry these?”

Rachel watched as Liam assisted Megan, unable to help feeling more than a bit annoyed that he was helping her. After talking to Chelsea the evening before and then working so hard on Liam’s mother’s recipe, Rachel felt almost territorial toward him.

She was lost in thought when Karen came up to her with a large smile on her face.

“So is it true?”

Rachel’s brow furrowed with confusion. “Is what true?”

Still smiling from ear to ear, Karen said, “I think it’s so sweet.”

Now Rachel got it. “Oh, with Liam and the reports.”

“Oh goodness, no, not that. Even though that was also very good of him, and sweet I suppose. I’m referring to what you baked.” Karen’s soft-lined face seem to be glowing.

“The muffins.”

“Not just any muffins, my dear, but Mary’s. I spoke with Liam a couple of minutes ago. It really touched him that you made those. Everyone is raving about them too. Several have already sold.”

“Wow, I didn’t even think I could replicate her amazing muffins. It’s the first thing I actually learned how to bake, thanks to Mary.”