DATE NIGHT
A Suspension Bonus

“I don’t know about the tension in the stirrups.” Liam frowns down at his handiwork as he adjusts Arlan in the baby carrier. “Does he look comfortable? Can you quantify how comfortable he looks?”

“He’s fine, babe. He just pooped, nursed, and burped. Now he’s got a plastic giraffe in his mouth and an uncle to snuggle.” We haven’t gone on a date since Arlan was born. Which, to be fair, who has time to go on a date with a newborn around? But there’s a new restaurant opening across the street from Cal’s condo and we decided to go out to dinner. 

By “we decided” I mean I made a reservation, and told Liam, who began to panic. Liam has spent the past ten minutes adjusting the straps on the baby carrier, reaching around his brother to tweak the tension. And, because I procreated with a structural engineer, we can’t just put Arlan in a baby carrier off the shelf. 

Cal tugs on his nephew’s toes in the homemade stirrups. “You made these, Yummy?” Liam nods, standing with his hands on his hips, studying our son and his brother. “You think we’re ready for our walk around the block yet?” Cal grins and twirls, making Arlan laugh and drop the giraffe. He’s still working on the concept of holding things. 

“Ok,” Liam says, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I want you to call us with any questions. There is no stupid question, Callum. As you know, I’ve made a chart for Arlan’s sleeping and diapers and eating.”

“He’s got this,” I say, tugging on Liam’s arm. I’m not sure why I find his anxiety so endearing, or why I’m so comfortable leaving my child with the least responsible Brady sibling. But Cal was also the most willing and so here we are. “I want to eat, babe.”

Liam snaps his eyes to me. “Right,” he says, nodding. We leave Cal with the diaper bag, the baby, and the binder of instructions that Liam put together for our two-hour date. As we walk across the lawn of Cal’s building toward the new restaurants, I feel like I’m floating. 

“Have I told you you look amazing today,” he says, squeezing my hand. “Because you look amazing.”

I feel pretty amazing. “I’m wearing earrings,” I say, tossing my head so the earrings dangle. “I feel so free.”

He leans in close and kisses my neck, right below my earlobe, sending shivers down my spine. His scruffy beard tickles my skin as he inhales. “You wore that new lavender spray I got you, too,” he murmurs, and I smile. 

We approach the hostess and he’s all business. “Brady, party of two,” he says, pulling an arm around me protectively. As we’re seated, he tells me I can eat both the rolls if I need. “I know it takes a lot of energy to produce breastmilk,” he says, nodding. 

That feels like the understatement of the century, but I happily butter both rolls, nearly drooling at the thought of the carbs hitting my system. I bite into one and moan. “You think Cal’s picking up women, using Arlan as a lady magnet?”

“Hm,” Liam frowns. “I hadn’t considered he might do that.” Liam taps his fingers on the table. “Should I call him and discourage that?”

I shake my head. “We’re on borrowed time, Yum. I want to eat bread and find someplace for you to bang me.”

His eyes flare and his entire demeanor shifts. Liam leans toward me. “You want to do that? I mean…you want…in public?”

I think back to the time we made love in the woods on one of our hikes. I was so insatiable when I was pregnant with Arlan. And after his birth, I’ve been wading around in postpartum fog. I’m ready to be sexy again. “Not necessarily in public,” I say. I wrap my ankle around his leg. “I just want you.”

Liam tosses his menu on the table and signals for the server. “We’ll have the chef’s choice and the house wine you think goes best with that,” he says, never taking his eyes off me. When we’re alone again, he leans close. “I’ve been trying to give you space to heal,” he says, dropping a hand to my knee. “I want you so badly, Maddie. I feel like I’ll detonate.”

As we wait for our food, we talk about his project with the utility lines. We keep sneaking secret touches under the table, his hand on my leg. My foot snaking up his. I’m due to return to my job in a few weeks, and we talk about that, too. 

Our meal is served—a seafood feast paired with local veggies, all topped with herbs grown outside and fresh-made gnocchi. Ordinarily, I’d savor a meal like this, eat it slowly while I enjoy the feel of my blood sugar creeping back up. Today, knowing I don’t have to worry about my son for awhile, my thoughts belong entirely to Liam. 

I’ve loved becoming parents with him, watching him transform into a father. It’s sexy as hell the way he curls around me and Arlan in bed, talking to us while we’re nursing. It’s even sexier when he handles all the diaper changes in the middle of the night, saying, “You handle the input. I’ll handle the output.”

Are his spreadsheets about diapers and sleep duration annoying? Yes. Yes they are. But we’ve worked so hard on communication together. I can see that these data points are a way he shows his love for us, a way he feels safe and in slightly more control over the whirlwind that is a tiny baby. 

I’m more than ready to resume a physical relationship with Liam. I’m desperate for him. Sensing my urgency, he signals for the check as I tuck in to the final flakey forkful of salmon and I raise my eyebrows at him. 

“I’ve thought about it, and I think we should deflower the rec room in Cal’s building.” He nods and tugs my hand, aiming us across the street toward the common space in question. 

“Deflower?”

He nods. “The weather is excellent today and people are likely to be outside or enjoying their own balconies.” He looks at me, considering. “I could bend you over the couch, Madison.”

“Oh my god, I love that plan,” I tell him. And it’s true. I love that he reaches in his pocket and produces a tiny pack of Skittles for me. I love how he checks the room for people before turning out the lights and dragging a chair in front of the door. 

And oh, do I love how he pulls me against him in a fierce kiss, his heart pounding through his button-down shirt, his breath coming in heated bursts as his tongue delves into my mouth. “Maddie,” he breathes. “You are magnificent.”

I think I swoon a bit at that, because I feel his arms tighten around my back as he walks me toward the couch. We tumble onto it together, and I relish the weight of him on top of me. I wrap my legs around him, pulling him against me with all my limbs. “Liam, I need you,” I gasp, rocking against him, feeling him stiffen.

He reaches between us, his palm grazing the damp heat between my legs, and he grins wickedly as his hand keeps going, up toward my breast. He teases and I thrash against him, seeking friction. Wild with need. “Liam, come on. It’s been months,” I pant. 

He backs away from me, fumbling for his wallet. “We should use a condom this time,” he says. 

“Agreed,” I say, yanking his pants open while he deals with the wrapper. I free him from his boxers, and lick my lips as he rolls on the condom. 

“This probably won’t last long,” he says on a sigh. I pull him in closer, kissing him as I try to get my underwear off. 

“I don’t need long,” I tell him. “I just need you. I just need this. Right now.”

And then I can feel him entering me. We sigh against each other, reuniting, both of us so different from the people we were the first time we did this. We have become more, together, and it’s been hard, but it’s been so amazing to learn to be partners with Liam. 

“Maddie, you feel so good,” he groans, and I nod. “So god damned good.”

I drop my hands to his ass, loving the feel of his tight buns as he moves inside me. I let my head drop back and I melt into the sensations, into the careful way he knows how to draw pleasure from me. Liam has spent hours studying me, studying us. “This is perfect,” I whisper, and then I gasp as he touches me right where I crave it most. 

We crash over the waves of pleasure together and after, sweaty and exhausted, we laugh in each other’s arms. I run my fingers through his hair and smile at the dark lashes our son has inherited. “We should go find Cal,” I whisper, not moving. 

Liam shakes his head, closing his eyes and resting on my chest. “We’ve got 17 minutes left in our arrangement,” he says. “I want to spend them here with you.”

Continue the Brady Family series with Kellen and Elizabeth’s second-chance romance, Inspection.