This Time Around (8 page)

“Ummmm, so many to choose from. Why do you have to do this to me, Miss Helen?” Connie whines. “How many?” she says, without taking her hungry eyes off the cakes. I know she is asking me how many she can pick. I am a sucker for making her happy.

“Mmmmm, let me think,” I say.

“Oh, Mum, really? They look so yummy just sitting there. Look at them. They are calling to me.” She pouts.

“Fine. You can have two and only two, Missy.”

“Okay. Miss Helen, can I have the pink cupcake with hearts on, please? And the apple turnover, please?” Connie asks, looking rather happy with her choices.

“Of course. And for you, Penny?”

“Can I have the custard tart and a cinnamon roll, please?”

“Coming right up,” she says. The bell above the door jingles and I hear someone calling Connie’s name. I turn to see Liam standing there with a mini-him standing by his side. Liam sees me and a beautiful smile crosses his face. He steps towards me and I hold my breath until he is standing right in front of me. I lick my lips as I take him in. Today he is wearing a red and white checked shirt with brown cargo shorts, paired with red and white Nike sb’s.

“Babe,” he says, smiling down at me. Liam is just over six feet tall and the top of my head comes to his chin. I bite my lip and tighten the grip I have on the strap of my bag. He lifts his hand up and his thumb and forefinger pulls at my bottom lip, releasing it from my teeth.

“In the immortal words of Christian Grey, ‘I want to bite that lip,’” he winks at me and I burst out laughing. A sexy smile creeps across his face and then he laughs along with me.

“Morning, Bambi.” He leans in and kisses the corner of my mouth. Tingles shoot through my body and my face flushes. Liam sees the blush and he slides his knuckles across my skin. “Fucking, beautiful,” he whispers, so that only I can hear him.

“Morning, Liam,” I say, keeping our eyes locked. The world seems to fade away, as cheesy as that sounds, it truly does. This is what Liam Bradley does to me. During our one night together all those years ago, he did the same. I forgot to be me, and in some ways I am grateful that he made feel that way. After what seems like forever that we stare at each other, giggles bring us out of our sexual tension filled gaze. Liam looks over his shoulder at the two kids giggling at us, I look around Liam’s body and see that Connie is whispering something in the boy’s ear.

“You want to share with the group here, Knox?” Liam asks his son.

“I was only saying that you and Connie’s mum are sooooooo in love.” Knox and Connie high five and I feel my blush deepen. Oh my God, these two kids just embarrassed me in like two seconds flat. Bollocks.

“You got a problem with that, boy?” I snap my head back to look at Liam, and he just winks at me.

Oh the bloody bastard.

“Nope. Miss Miller is pretty. You like pretty girls,” Knox states proudly, but he doesn’t see the effect his words have on me. My heart sinks into my stomach at the thought that Liam has been bringing women back to their house, and Knox has seen them. Who does that? Well Liam freaking Bradley that’s who. Liam looks at me and then back to where the children are standing. I see Connie frown as she looks at Liam. That girl is way too old for her years.

“Pen, it isn’t like that. Listen I…” I cut him off.

“It’s fine, Liam. You can see whoever you want, it is none of my business. Connie, let’s go I want to finish up so we can go home.” I walk around Liam but he snags my wrist.

“It isn’t like what he said,” he states. “Meet me in the park in one hour? That gives you enough time to finish shopping. We can talk and the kids can play.” I nod and step around him, this time he lets me pass. I pick up the box with our cakes in and step towards the kids.

“It was nice to kind-of meet you, Knox. Connie and I will see you and your dad in a little bit, okay?” I wave to Helen and Connie follows me out of the bakery. My heart is racing and I know I have to calm it down before I give myself a bloody heart attack. This is all I need.

I walk away from the bakery with Connie in tow, praying that she doesn’t ask too many questions about Liam. She has never seen me with a bloke before. I go out to pubs and clubs, but I never bring any men around her, not that I go out with a lot of men. I tend to flirt and enjoy the night, but it rarely and I mean very rarely goes further than that. The more shopping we do, the more my heart speeds up at the thought that I am about to meet up with Liam in a short time.

“Mum, can we go to the park now? I want to play on the swings with Knox and I know you want to see his dad.” She smiles at me like she is hiding a devious plan behind her innocent face.

“Okay, fine. Let’s go. So is Knox the boy that Lydia likes?” I smile at her.

“Yep. So let’s go so I can talk to him about her. Plus, you like his dad so he can’t be that bad.” She skips away towards the park.

Yeah, I do like Knox’s dad. Oh, God do I like him. Over me, under me, hell even behind me. I shake my head to clear my dirty thoughts and follow my daughter to the one man that can make my body sing with desire with just one look.

Oh bloody hell, I am in trouble.

Sitting here on the park bench watching Knox run around the swings waiting for Penny and Connie to join us, my heart is racing like a fucking Formula One driver racing around the Silverstone track. I wipe my sweaty palms over my shorts and take a quick look around to see if they are coming. I do a double take when I see them walking towards us. Fuck me she is beautiful. She is wearing a white t-shirt that hugs her perfect round, firm breasts. It clings to her small torso. She is in a pair of blue skinny jeans with holes in the right places and a pair of white canvas shoes.

Connie looks up at Penny and says something and Penny nods her head with a smile. In a flash, Connie is running towards me with a huge smile on her face, her long black hair flapping in the wind behind her. She comes to a screeching stop in front of me and I reach out to stop her from going arse over tit.

“Whoa there, Con. Why are you in such a hurry?” I ask her.

She takes a deep breath. I move her hair back from her face and her smile gets bigger.

“I just wanted to say hi, Liam. Oh and…bye, Liam.” She bounds off towards Knox who is on the swings. I chuckle at her. A shadow looms over me and I look up to see my Bambi standing next to me. Her sunglasses cover her eyes and she’s wearing a shy smile. Her beauty has haunted me for years after our one night together. I could still feel her, smell her for years later. The time on the road with the bands never once took my mind from her, even with all the random chicks I shagged. Most of the time it was Penny’s face I saw when I was coming. I know that on a few occasions I called out her name.

“Hi.” Her voice pulls me from my thoughts. I smile up at her and pat the bench, telling her to sit.

“Hi. Have a seat. Connie is over there with Knox.” I point to our kids. Fuck, why does me saying that feel right? Natural. I smile at Knox chasing Connie around the park. Her high pitched laugh fills the air around us. I lean forward and place my elbows on my knees.

“They seem to be having fun,” comes a voice from my side. I got totally lost in the sight of these two kids playing together, getting thoughts rushing through my head about them being brother and sister. I look over my shoulder at Penny and smile my kicker dropping smile at her. Shit, it is only her knickers I want to drop for me.

“Yeah. That's a good thing, since they will see a lot of each other,” I tell her.

“Oh really?” she smirks at me. I turn to her and lean against the back of the bench. Reaching for her sunglasses I take them off her face and slide them into the ‘V’ of her top. My finger grazes her skin and goosebumps spread across her skin and the contact makes my dick twitch. The memory of how her skin feels floods my senses. Shit.

“Yeah, really Bambi. I think
we will
be seeing a lot of each other.” I wink at her and she smiles at me. I sit back on the bench and our shoulders touch. I feel the shiver that runs through her body and I smile to myself, loving the way her body responds to mine. Feeling like a top man I place my arm around her but resting it on the back of the bench, not quite resting on her shoulders.

We watch the two kids play together for sometime, without talking. Just enjoying the freeness that Knox and Connie have. I also notice that Connie’s hair matches mine and Knox’s. Shit. How do I start that kind of conversation without causing anyone any kind of heartache? It must have been hard for Penny to bring up Connie on her own, but it is also hard on my heart thinking that if, and I mean if Connie is mine, that I have missed nearly ten years of her life. I practically brought Knox up on my own. Yeah, Grampa was there with me but hell, he was up there in years and couldn’t do much.

“So, what have you been up to?” I ask, breaking the silence. Penny takes her eyes from the kids and they land on me, and I swear to fuck my heart forgets to beat for a split second. It is the same feeling when you are at a concert and the bass from the speakers can be felt through your body, like a live pulse.

“Not much really. I work as an A&E nurse down at the hospital, I start back on Monday. It was hard training to become a nurse when Connie was a baby, but my family helped. My parents were a Godsend. My sister Darla and her husband Matt are amazing with Connie. And you know Adrian and Rachel,” she shrugs her shoulders, while looking away.

“Okay, well that’s cool but I want to know about you. Tell me about Penny Miller. You never did answer my question about Connie’s father. Are you seeing anyone? Because I want to know whose arse I have to kick, to get him to leave what’s mine alone.” I feel her tense next to me, but she needs to know that we wasted ten fucking years and we aren’t wasting anymore. She has been all I have thought about since that night. I turn my body to face her, my knee sitting right next to her thigh. I can feel the heat radiating off her. I lift my hand to her thigh and I run my finger over the hole in her jeans. The small amount of skin pebbles under my touch and I smirk at her.

Penny eyes follow my finger and her breathing picks up. I take a quick look to check on Knox and Connie and see that they are playing nicely together, climbing all over the climbing frame. Seeing them together makes me smile.

Family.

I turn my head back to Penny. Our eyes lock and she licks her perfect lips. Leaning in I run my nose across her jaw line breathing in her scent, and Jesus fuck does she smell good.

“Liam.” Her words come out in whisper.

“Bambi.” I kiss her again and she lets out a sigh. My hand that was playing the skin on her leg is now tightly wrapped around her thigh. She crosses her legs, effectively trapping my hands between her thighs. I move my thumb over her jean covered leg and she shudders. I smile against her skin.

“Liam, we should stop. We are in a public park and I really do not want the old biddies gossiping about us.”

“Don’t give a fuck. Let them talk, the quicker the word spreads the better, babe. I know I sound all alpha male and crap, but baby, I am not letting you go again. That last time my life was messed up and I couldn’t pull you down with me. But, now I want this. This is our time, Penny. Are you with me?” I pull my head back and look her in the eyes. I see the hesitation on her face but I do understand her reserve, I am not a complete arsehole.

“Listen, I understand that you are afraid to jump in head first with me, and I get that. We have those two to think about,” I say, pointing to Knox and Connie. “How about we take one day at a time? How about I take you out next week? I know you are back in work on
M
onday, but maybe I can take you out on one of your days off,” I tell her, hoping like hell that she agrees to go out with me. I know that Penny is a no frills-type of girl, that is clear to see. So maybe a film and a bite to eat at a pub or something.

“Okay, Liam. One day at a time. Do we tell the kids or should we wait?” she asks.

“I think we should tell them. I have always taught Knox to tell the truth, and hiding things only makes them worse when the truth comes out,” I say. Praying that finally answers my questions that I have asked her.

“That’s a really good thing to instill in kids these days. I am the same with Connie. Plus I know when she is lying to me.” She winks at me.

“Okay, so we do this. We tell the kids after our first date. But I have to ask again, babe. Are you seeing someone?” I try not to hold my breath as I wait for her to answer me.

“Really Liam? Do you think I would agree to try this with you while I had a boyfriend?” She stands from the bench and glowers down at me. I can’t help but smile up at her, she is feisty unlike she was ten years ago. She was a shy one back then. Motherhood is sexy as fuck on her.

“Babe, there is a difference between having a boyfriend and just seeing someone, and you know it.”

“Fine. No, I am not seeing anyone. It is hard to have a social life, with work and Connie. But at least I don't have to have the awkward conversation with you about me having a daughter,” she laughs, and I swear that sounds goes straight to my dick. Which I would fucking love any other time but shit, we are in the middle of a children’s public playground. I chuckle to myself which earns me a weird look from Bambi. I put my arm around her waist and pull her closer to me, her body fits pretty fucking perfect against mine. She wraps her arms around me, resting her tiny hands on my hips. Shit, having her touching me is doing nothing to ease the hard-on I have in my shorts.