He slammed on the brakes at the entrance to his property, just at the gate. Slowly, he turned to face me, his gaze thunderous. “When I said there was no one, I meant there was no one. Is that clear enough for you?”
“I—” I closed my gaping mouth, unsure of what to say.
The intensity in his eyes made it perfectly clear I wasn’t meant to respond in any way other than agreeing with him. I found myself slowly nodding, believing every word out of his mouth. If he said there was no one else, then there was no one else.
But that raised a whole host of other questions.
Not that I had time to think about any of them. We were pulling up to the house before I realized we were even moving. I was too dumbstruck by the fact that he actually hadn’t been with anyone else from around town.
Because of me.
At least, that’s what I was taking from his bold statement. I suppose other women might read more into it than I did. But I was holding back until I heard the words from his lips.
“Stay there,” he muttered as he shut off the truck.
I nodded, still stuck on those words.There was no one before you.No one before me. As in…no one ever? What about?—
The door was flung open, and Liam stood in front of me, holding out his hand, patiently waiting for me to take it. Sliding out, I allowed him to catch me by the hips and lower me to the ground.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you quite so quiet before,” he teased.
Taking in every button on his shirt, I raised my eyes up to the collar of his shirt, where his Adam’s apple bobbed as he chuckled. I raked my eyes over his strong jaw peppered in a day’s growth of hair, over his thick lips, and his curved nose with a slight bump at the bridge.
Finally…finally, I met his dark brown eyes, staring into them for the first time since we danced together. I was in his arms again, but time stood still as we gazed at each other.
“Are you two coming inside, or should we feed dinner to the chickens?”
I flushed bright red, dropping my gaze. I was never shy around Liam, but for some reason, being caught by his family made things worse.
“We should go inside,” his low voice rumbled.
I nodded, finally looking back up at his handsome face. “Maybe we’ll get a surprise and my parents will be in there as well.”
He smirked at that, taking my hand in his as we walked to the front porch where his sister Krista waited for us with a satisfied grin on her face.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I interrupt a moment?” she asked Liam, but then she turned to me and squealed, grabbing my hands in a tight squeeze. “I knew this would happen. I told him before to ask you out, but he never would. So, I tried setting him up with all these other horrid women around town?—”
“Krista,” Liam cut her off. “If you say it all now, what will we talk about at dinner?”
“Oh, so true.” She turned with a flurry, heading inside.
Her voice rang out, letting everyone know of our arrival, not that she needed to announce it. Her mother’s face was smooshed up against the glass when we walked up to the house.
Speaking of…Clara Parker rushed over to me, her hair pulling from the pins in her hair in a frizzy mess.
Wrapping her arms around me, she squeezed me tight before stepping back, holding me at arm’s length.
“Well, I just knew this day would come. I didn’t expect it to take so long,” she huffed, “but never mind. Here we are.”
“It’s nice to see you again, Mrs. Parker.”
“Clara, please. I think we’ve known each other long enough for you to call me by my given name.”
Then she turned to her son. “I don’t know what took you so long to bring this dear girl around, and we won’t talk about it now, but I hope we can all move forward now.”
I bit my lip, holding back my laughter at her scolding. Then I was dragged off toward the kitchen where the most delicious pot roast was cooking. As she rambled about giving me the recipe, I tried to listen, but my eyes drifted to him.
And he was staring at me.
