“I’m going to stay on this side of the table, okay? Don’t go scooting away from me,” he teases, and I hold up my right hand.
“Hey, I like my spot. It’s the perfect placement in the room I’ve learned.”
“Yeah?” He chuckles. “How so?”
“Well”—I point to the sliding glass door—“I can see outside perfectly so I know what the weather is doing. I can hear the music, see the bathroom door down the hall, and I’m the perfect distance from the candle. I can still smell it, but it’s not overpowering.”
His shoulders shake as a low laugh rumbles in his chest. “You’re very aware of your surroundings. Not sure if that’s something you’ve had to learn or just a beautiful part of your brain.”
His comment is interesting. Because, is it? Did I have to train myself to be aware of everything all the time because I could never feel relaxed? I’m so hyper-aware of the sounds, sights, and smells around me all the time. I never stopped to think if it’s a survival tactic I learned over the last decade.
My silence causes him to nudge me with his shoulder.
“You got quiet. What’s going on up there?” He gently taps my temple.
“Just thinking.” I shrug. “And you’ve mentioned my brain twice in the last thirty seconds. That a thing for you?” I tease, nudging him lightly.
“Honestly? Yeah. You’re smart, Dem, and it’s hot.”
A man interested in my brain and not just my body has to be the sexiest thing I’ve ever experienced.
My cheeks heat and I can feel the blush coating my entire face as I move my attention back to the puzzle, grabbing a random piece off the table, as if I have plans on where it goes.
Truthfully, though, I’m doing anything I can not to look at Liam right now. Because looking at him lately, especially today, has me wanting to kiss him. My free hand taps on the edge of the table while my other scrambles over the puzzle, franticallysearching for the spot to put this piece. I press it lightly into a connection that looks like it fits.
“Nope,” he says, leaning his back against the couch.
When I realize he’s right, I gently yank it out and move my hand to another spot, but before I place it, he perks up again.
“Not there either.”
“Would you like to try?” I bite back in a teasing tone.
He opens his hand. It’s twice the size of mine. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but it’s definitely not soft and dainty.
His fingers graze the inside of my hand as he picks up the piece and connects it with one of the top corner pieces. To be fair, I was barely trying earlier. And he does these regularly, he has a trained eye for it.
“We don’t always get a match the first time we try, and that’s okay. Eventually you find the piece that fits.” His voice is velvet as he breathes the words into the space between us.
Music plays in the background, a song I know and love. It seems like Liam catches the lyrics too as he loses the sarcasm in his expression and his eyes soften. His hand reaches up, almost with hesitancy as he lightly brushes a piece of hair behind my ear and goose bumps erupt on my skin.
His hand lingers near my cheek, and I instinctively bring mine over his as his hand touches my skin.
“Liam,” I whisper as I blink my eyes. “I shouldn’t want this.” He stares at me. “I’ve workedsohard to get where I am.”
“I know you have,” he says, nodding and slightly pulling back, letting silence settle in.
Staring at him like this would bring me to my knees if I wasn’t already seated. He’s beautiful. With a heart unlike anyone I’ve ever met before. His silence remains as he stares back at me. Eyes intensifying as he does, gold specks flickering against the green and blue hues in his eyes. I can tell he’s leaving every decision up to me.
“But I…” My breath catches and I feel myself lean into him. He smells like I’m in the woods after it’s been raining and my mind finds peace and comfort in that. I inhale a deep breath and slowly exhale. “I can’t stop thinking about you,” I admit, feeling freedom in those words.
“Dem, I haven’t seen past you since the day we met.” He leans back in, leaving only inches between us as his hand remains steady, cupping the side of my neck. “Back then, you were with someone else so I tried to stay away. Occupying myself with other women, comparing every last one of them to you. Since the second I learned you were divorced, I’ve just been desperately praying you’d finally notice me. I know what your career means to you. I know you’ve worked so hard, and I’ve been your biggest fan for the last five years. But this isn’t spur of the moment for me. It’s always been you.”
The last time we kissed, he said if any of my reasons for not doing it made sense, then I would’ve already left. I just want to feel happy again. I want decisions to be mine. Liam always considers my feelings; he lets me choose.
He was right then. And it’s true now too.
Icankiss him. Iwantto kiss him. Andfuck it, I’m going to.
