Liam turned. His lips parted with a breath. “Kate.”
Her heart hammered in her chest. In those torturous seconds, she wanted to fly into his arms. Her eyes watered. Before she could collect her thoughts, a huge sob wracked her chest.
Liam raced over. He grabbed her by the shoulders, holding her gently. “Baby, please don’t cry.”
“You sold them. Your casinos.”
“Yes. My pal Alex took them off my hands.”
“Why?”
His lips turned up on one side into a grin that made her belly ache. “I did it for you, Kate. I did it all for you.”
Kate pulled away. “But I didn’t want this! I didn’t want you to throw away your life for me, Liam. These casinos, you built them up from the ground. They’re part of you.” She crumpled to the carpet and buried her face in her hands.
He joined her on the carpet, sitting in front of her, and pried her hands from her wet face. “Kate, the casinos aren’t me. They’re bricks and mortar and poker chips. They’re illusion and dream.”
He tipped up her chin to make her look at him. His husky eyes no longer bore any hint of fatigue. He looked good. Refreshed. Sexy as hell.
“Look, I sold the casinos for a couple of reasons. I didn’t want you to worry, but I’ve been having some chest pains for a while.”
She stared at his chest, wishing she could see right through it to his heart, to see if it was pumping properly.
“My doctor says I’m okay, but too stressed. He’s been trying to get me to slow down for a while now, so I am. I let these casinos take over my life. Hell, I have a condo I never see. I’m always here.” He stroked her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. “My dad died of heart problems at a young age. I refuse to go down the same road.”
Okay, she could accept that reason.
“Secondly,” he continued, his deep voice making her feel better already. “Like I told you, I always felt bad about taking Shauna’s money to start my business. Well, I’ve decided I need to forgive her. That’s never been easy for me. So in order to finally let her go, I needed to put her money to better use. I’m very comfortable after the sale of the hotels, so I took the amount Shauna gave me and I donated it to New Horizons.”
“That was you? Rod told me about the donation, but I never dreamed... Liam, that was a lot of money.”
“It’s only the beginning. I want to support your group, Kate. It’s time I gave back. You were right. I ignored the problems under my own nose for too long. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against casinos, but I want to help the people whose lives have been impacted by them.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
Liam drew closer and pulled her onto his lap. “Then let me say a few more things.” He slid his arms around her waist and she wrapped her legs around his hips. “Kate, you told me I needed to hit rock bottom with Michelle. You were right, but that wasn’t my true rock bottom. Rock bottom was when I watched you walk away.”
“Oh, Liam, I’m so sorry.”
“No, don’t be. Turns out I have an addictive personality, and you were my addiction. I treated you like my own personal casino. It was too much, too soon. All of it, including the wild animal sex.” He grinned and the balls of his cheeks reddened. “Although I did enjoy that part.”
“It was okay,” Kate teased.
“Okay, she says.” Liam leaned in and teased her earlobe with his teeth. “I really want to start over and see if we can work our way back to the insane monkey sex.” She giggled and he danced his fingers under her shirt, smoothing them over her waist. “I do love you, Kate. I don’t want to fuck this up.”
“I love you, too.” She gave into temptation and brushed her lips over his neck and collarbone. “I was miserable without you.”
“Me too. Woman, you brought me to my knees. Ask Wade. I was a bear without you.”
Even as she laughed, she continued kissing him, letting her tongue trace the long lines of his neck.
Liam gripped her and pushed he back a bit. “Dammit, sugar. If you keep this up, you’ll be naked instead of letting me do the honorable thing.”
She licked her lips, savoring his taste. “And what would that be?”
He brushed his thumb over her wet lip, his gaze concentrated on her mouth. “I want to take you to dinner. Somewhere other than Vice. I want to discuss our future.”
“Ourfuture?”
