Back to Life by Mellie George

felt guilty, and I knew I would have to suffer through this dinner with my
father that I haven’t seen in a decade for her.
    “Mom…”
    “Liam,
I don’t ask you for much. Please do this for me.”
    I
sighed in defeat. Damn it! “All right. I’ll come. Where do you want to
meet?”
    “Can
you come to Noir et Blanc at eight?”
    “Sure.
That’s fine. I’ll see you tonight.”
    “Tonight.
I can’t wait! Thank you, Liam,” she said.
    “Sure
thing. Goodbye,” I grumbled, and hung up the phone. “Shit!” I cursed aloud,
setting the phone down a little rougher than I had intended.
    Startled,
Rory said, “Liam, what’s wrong?”
    “I
totally forgot it was my mom’s birthday today.”
    She
hopped off the breakfast bar and walked over to me. “And, you’re upset that you
forgot to get her a present?” she said, trying to lighten the mood.
    “No.
I just got guilt tripped into going to dinner with her and my father.”
    She
wrapped her arms around my waist. “Oh no, Liam. I’m so sorry. Are you going to
be okay?”
    I
kissed the top of her head. “Probably not.”
    “I
know how you feel. I don’t even talk to my parents anymore,” she admitted.
Before I could ask her to elaborate, she looked up into my eyes as she ran her hand
along the bottom of my shirt.
    Suddenly,
I had a thought. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get through this without someone
there to help me through it. “Come with me tonight?”
     

Chapter 7
     
     
    Rory
     
     
    “What?
Are you serious?” I asked him. We weren’t even technically dating yet. We’d
only kissed two times and made out once, and he already wanted me to meet his
father?
    “Rory,
I can’t get through this alone. If you aren’t there to keep me calm, I know
I’ll end up knocking him out. Please?” he said.
    “But
your mother…she’ll find out about us for sure if we show up together. Are you
sure you’re ready for that?”
    “I
don’t care if she knows about us, Rory. I am happy that I met you, and my
mother happens to love you. That’s just a bonus. But, I can’t force you. If you
don’t want to, I’ll understand,” he said.
    I
didn’t want our first night out together to be at a stuffy ass dinner with his
parents, but somewhere deep inside me I was touched that he wanted me there. I
felt happy knowing that I was the one he thought of to keep him calm. And, we’d
had such a great night last night and he’d taken such good care of me…it was
the least I could do. “Okay.”
    “Really?
You’ll come with me?”
    “Of
course I will.”
    He
wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on top of my head. “Thank
you, Rory,” he said. “I owe you one.”
    “You
do,” I teased. I ran my hand along his torso and was about to try and pull him
into a full on make out session when he stopped me.
    He
smiled a crooked smile at me and took my hands in his. “Listen to me, Rory. I
want to take things slow with you. You haven’t been with anyone in a long time,
and I want it to be right. I don’t want us to just have sex. The first time we
are together, I want us to make love.”
    His
words made shivers go down my spine and stopped me dead in my tracks. “Whoa.”
    He
held onto one of my hands, lacing our fingers together. With the other hand, he
began to lightly trace a path up my arm and he stopped at my cheek. In my
peripheral vision I saw him start to get hard, and that turned me on badly .
I placed my hands on his waist, wanting to slide my fingers past the waistband
of his pants and feel his length in my hand. He must have known my intent from
the look on my face, because he took a hard swallow and stepped back, dropping
his hands at his sides. “Maybe I should get you home.”
    I
ran my hands through my hair and took a step away from Liam. He was so damn
sexy that it was becoming increasingly difficult to be near him and not drop to
my knees and take him into my mouth.  The thought of pleasuring him was making
me wet, and I fanned