I dropped back in my seat. “We have no leads at all on where I went when I moved to Chicago.”
He slowly shook his head. “The only thing I know to do is maybe drive around Chicago. See if something sparks a memory. We should probably check the banks to see if you have an account set up. You can’t access it without an ID. Did you happen to notice your birth certificate in the boxes? We should check that again and maybe try and get you a replacement license.”
A bitter laugh escaped. “I don’t even have an address to give them, Liam. And as far as remembering, if my hometown doesn’t, I doubt the place I lived just a few weeks will.”
Liam looked down at his food, a look of defeat on his face.
“I’m sorry, Liam. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.”
He lifted his gaze to meet mine. “You didn’t snap, Mallory. You’re frustrated, as am I. But listen, I had a thought today…would you be alright if I had a moving company bring your items to Montana? We could go through the boxes more thoroughly back home.”
A rush of warmth raced through my body. “Home?”
He gave me a shy smile. “Well, if you like it there…I figured you could stay.”
“I would love to. But how can I afford to pay you for staying there? I’m not going to live in your house for free.”
He brought his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed, staring off in thought. His eyes lit up when he said, “You could be my assistant! MaryAnne has been bugging me to hire one for months.”
A bubble of excitement built in my chest. “I could do that.”
We continued our lunch and talked about what being Liam’s assistant would entail. When his phone rang, he looked surprised. “That’s strange, it’s my brother.” He stood and walked to the other side of the hotel room. “Hey, Chad.”
I finished off the last of my fries and closed the containers, putting everything in the small trash can under the desk.
“No, I’m out of town right now visiting a friend.” He winked at me, and I smiled as butterflies swarmed in my stomach.
Last night had been torture. Pure torture. Sleeping next to Liam, both of us fully clothed, while the smell of his soap and natural woodsy scent kept my entire body wound up so tight, I could hardly sleep. I knew he felt the same, because he tossed and turned nearly all night, until he finally wrapped his arm around me and drew me up against his body. Then the sound of his breathing slowed, and he was soon asleep.
I, on the other hand, had to press my legs together tightly to ignore the ache in my core.
“I should be back in town in a couple of days. I’ll call you then and we can talk about it.” Liam walked up to me and tucked a loose curl behind my ear. “Okay, I’ll text when I get back. Tell Krista I said hello. Will do. Bye.”
Pulling the phone from his face, he tapped it and placed it on the table. He looked like the call had bothered him somehow. I knew he and his brother didn’t get along, and I wondered why in the world his brother was calling now of all times, since, according to Liam, they hadn’t spoken in years. But I didn’t ask.
Then he looked at me, and whatever troubling emotion that was on his face slipped away, replaced by the smile. “I need to kiss you.”
Feeling like the room had tilted slightly, I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck. “By all means, kiss away.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Liam
Mallory and I headed back to Chicago early the next day and checked into The Drake. I loved seeing her eyes light up at the beautiful historical hotel. We drove around, then did some touristy things, including a river cruise, went up to the Skydeck, did the hop-on hop-off bus tour, and were currently sitting on the steps of the famous Chicago Bean. Nothing had sparked her memory.
“Josh has a flight plan for tomorrow, and we have approval to leave at ten in the morning,” I said, popping some more of the Garrett popcorn we’d bought earlier into my mouth.
She let out a deep breath and rested her head on my shoulder. “I’m sorry we didn’t learn anything new.”
“We did learn somenew things.”
“I suppose so. You know, you really should call your friend who lives here. If that was me, I would be hurt knowing you were here and didn’t call to at least say hello.”
I laughed. “You think so?”
She looked at me and smiled, and my heart tumbled around in my chest.
“Okay, I’ll give her a call.”
