Not Yet Yours

Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Harriet

I finish the last bite of my lasagna and put my cutlery down. I sit back in the chair and rub my belly.

“I’m so stuffed. I don’t think I could eat another bite,” I say.

“What about dessert?” Liam says.

I almost reply with I am dessert , but I stop myself just at the last second, aware that we are not alone, and instead, I just shake my head.

“I’d like to have dessert but unfortunately my belly says no,” I reply.

“Lightweight,” Liam says, and we all laugh.

When the waitress comes to collect the plates and take our dessert orders, I order a cocktail, and Liam, Max, and Cullen all order the white chocolate and honeycomb cheesecake.

We don’t have long to wait before the three plates and my drink arrive. My drink is a blood orange martini, and it arrives a brilliant orange color with a slice of orange decorating the glass. I take a sip and it tastes as good as it looks. The others are digging into their cheesecake and Max and Cullen are whispering to each other and giggling about something. Liam nudges me gently with his elbow and I look at him. He has a bite-sized bit of cheesecake on his fork, and he grins at me.

“Are you regretting it yet? Not ordering a piece of cheesecake I mean,” he says.

“Yes, a little bit,” I admit.

“Here, share mine,” he says.

“Oh no,” I say. “It’s my own fault for not ordering a piece.”

“Shush woman and do as you’re told,” he says.

He says it jokingly and I know he means nothing by it, but the commanding phrase does something to me that makes me fidget in my chair to take the pressure off my suddenly wide-awake clit. I can feel myself getting damp down there, and when Liam moves the piece of cheesecake closer to me, I don’t object. I can’t object because I don’t think I will be able to speak.

I take the piece of cheesecake off the fork and chew and swallow it and by then, I have calmed down a bit and I trust my voice to work now.

“That’s amazing,” I say in an almost moan.

I see Liam blink and his eyes become lustful and I think that maybe my words have affected him the same way he did me. I bite the inside of my mouth to keep from smiling at the idea.

Liam feeds me another piece of cheesecake and I let him, and then I pick my glass up and take a sip of my drink before holding the straw out in Liam’s direction. Liam raises an eyebrow and I nod.

“It’s only fair. You shared your dessert with me, so I am sharing my cocktail with you,” I say.

Liam laughs and takes a drink. He swallows and nods.

“That’s surprisingly good,” he says. “And generally speaking, I don’t trust brightly colored drinks.”

“You should take chances more often,” I say. “I know I’m going to.”

I look him in the eyes as I speak, and I’m talking about the drink and the dessert, and yet I’m not and we both know it. I shift in my seat again and this time, I’m not the only one. Liam pulls at the crotch of his jeans, and I have to look away because if I see he’s hard, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself from reaching out and touching him.

Cullen and Max have stopped whispering to each other now and we all sort of refocus on our group experience at once. Cullen smiles at me.

“So, you’re one of those girls huh? One that pretends they don’t want dessert and then eat someone else’s. I bet you order a salad and then sit and eat Liam’s fries too, don’t you?” he says.

He’s laughing and I know he doesn’t mean anything by it but that doesn’t stop me from responding.

“No, you’ve got me all wrong,” I say. “I refuse dessert so I can have a cocktail instead because let’s face it, cheesecake is nice and all that, but it doesn’t get you drunk. Oh, and I order my own fries and I guard those fuckers with my life.”

We all burst out laughing at that and I realize that I perhaps should have questioned Cullen on why he thinks it would be Liam’s fries I am stealing. I know we’re pretending to be a couple for the party, but that’s not until tomorrow night and we are having dinner just the four of us and we all know that the relationship is fake. I suppose it doesn’t hurt to keep the act up constantly though and then we are less likely to slip up in front of someone who isn’t in on this.

It's surprisingly easy to act like a couple with Liam and I tell myself that’s because I’m working hard on practicing the act for tomorrow, but the truth is, until just now at the mention of stealing Liam’s fries, I hadn’t even thought of whether or not we are acting like we are coupled up.

When the dessert plates and my cocktail glass are cleared away, the four of us are finishing up our last glasses of wine.

“What now then?” I ask.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I just want an early night I think,” Max says. “I’m so tired from the drive up here and I don’t really want to drink too much either because I want to be fresh for the party tomorrow,”

“Yeah, that’s a fair point,” I say. “I can’t imagine going to the party with a hangover and actually enjoying it.”

Cullen and Liam are nodding their heads in agreement with us and Liam signals to the waitress to bring the bill. She brings it and Liam and Cullen both reach for it, but Liam gets it first.

“Ha. Beat you,” he says to Cullen who pulls a face at him.

“I’ll make sure I get it first next time,” he says.

“You’ll have to be faster than that then,” Liam teases him.

Liam sorts the bill and the tip, and we leave the restaurant flag down a cab, and head back to the hotel. We cross the lobby and get into the elevator, and we say our goodbyes to Max and Cullen as we exit the elevator on the second floor, they remain inside to go up to their room on the sixth floor.

Liam and I make our way to our room and go inside.

“Do you want to use the bathroom before I brush my teeth?” Liam says.

“No, it’s ok, you go first,” I say.

He nods and goes into the bathroom. While he’s gone, I open the drawer where I put my underwear and my tank top. I pull out the top. I plan to wear it with my panties for bed.

Liam is back out of the bathroom quickly and I flash him a smile and then I go in. I use the toilet, strip off everything except my panties, and put my top on, and then I brush my teeth and then I take off my makeup, brush out my hair, and take my birth control pill. Once that’s all done, I go back into the bedroom.

Liam has taken a pillow from the bed, and he must have found an extra blanket in the wardrobe. He’s lying on the ground with the blanket over him. I go and sit down on the edge of the bed.

“Liam?” I say.

“Yeah,” he replies.

“Can you come here for a second, please?” I ask.

I hear the blanket being moved and Liam getting to his feet.

“Are you ok?” he asks, his face creased with concern as he walks toward me.

I wait until he’s close enough to touch and then I nod.

“I’m fine,” I say, as I reach out and hook my fingers into the waistband of his boxers.