I frowned. From what little I’d seen of Liam with Samuel, I couldn’t imagine a mother coming to the conclusion that Liam would be bad for their child. Maybe there was something that he wasn’t sharing with me. I mean, I’d just met the man. Maybe he was really good at hiding who he truly was.
“You’re staring.”
I blinked, forcing my mind to the present. Liam was watching me with his eyebrows raised.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered as I reached for my glass of ice water and took a sip.
Embarrassment coursed through me as I studied Liam from over the rim. He hadn’t pulled his gaze from me. It was as if he were trying to figure out if he’d said the wrong thing. I dropped my gaze to Samuel, who was fast asleep, tucked into the crook of Liam’s arm.
“Listen, I’m not going to lie and tell you that I didn’t have issues.” He sighed and shifted his body. “I was young. I was dumb. I didn’t think, I just acted.” He’d dropped his gaze to the table and slowly brought it back up to study me. “I’m not that guy anymore.”
All I could do was stare at him. There was something in the tone of his voice, the depth of his gaze, that told me he was telling the truth. We all made mistakes. We were all young once. One of the great things about getting older was benefitting from hindsight.
His ex was struggling to see what was so plainly written on Liam’s face—he was different. He was better. And I was one lucky girl to get to see that firsthand.
“I know,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.
Liam’s expression stilled as he studied me. Like he was waiting for me to retract my statement. But I didn’t. I just held his gaze. I needed him to know that I believed him. That his ex may feel that way, but I didn’t.
We didn’t speak about it again. Instead, we both focused on finishing our lunch. While the waiter was running Liam’s card to cover the bill, I stood up from the table to help Liam with Samuel. Liam shook his head before I was even near him.
“I’ve got him,” Liam said as he held Samuel up so he wouldn’t be jostled as Liam pushed his seat away from the table.
I lifted and lowered my hands a few times, but then I just let them fall to my sides in surrender. It was no use fighting Liam about this anymore. He wanted to hold Samuel, so he was going to hold Samuel. I would do well to just let it happen.
The only item Liam allowed me to carry after his card and the receipt were dropped off was the diaper bag. Liam kept Samuel tucked in tight to his body with one hand while he carried the car seat with the other.
Stares and whispers followed us, and cameras were out as we walked through the entrance of the restaurant to the street and then out to the black SUV parked along the sidewalk. One of the bodyguards who had opened the door when we first got to the hotel was waiting outside and pulled open the door as we approached.
Liam waited for me to climb in before he handed me Samuel’s car seat, which I buckled in. Then he handed me Samuel. We were ready to go, but a few fans got Liam’s attention enough that he smiled and walked over to them. He signed some autographs and took a few photos before he said goodbye and climbed into the car.
We rode in silence with Samuel between us. He’d woken up during the transition, but the hum of the car and the movement lulled him back to sleep. I relaxed with my right arm resting on Samuel’s car seat and my body tilted so I could watch the buildings go by outside the window.
It was nice, sitting here with a sleeping Samuel. I didn’t feel like Liam and I had to talk to each other. We could just be in each other’s presence, together.
When the car slowed and pulled up to a large skyscraper, I furrowed my brow and looked over at Liam. This wasn’t our hotel. Liam didn’t look at me as he unbuckled his seatbelt.
“Hang out here. I’ll be back,” he said as one of the bodyguards pulled open his door.
I watched as he walked across the sidewalk and disappeared behind the large tinted front doors. I glanced around, trying to see what the name was on the building, but from where we were parked, I couldn’t see anything.
Confused and a little hurt that he didn’t ask me—his assistant—to go with him, I leaned against the seat, tipped my head back, and closed my eyes.
I scolded myself.
Liam had every right to go somewhere without me. After all, he’d lived his life and run his business for years before he even met me. It was silly to think that he would involve me in every aspect of his business. I needed to be thankful for the opportunities he was giving me instead of focusing on the things he didn't share with me.
Needing a distraction, I searched around in the diaper bag for my phone. As soon as I found it, I pulled it out and started scrolling through social media. I needed to focus on someone else's drama for a change. Two seconds into scrolling, I suddenly regretted my choice.
There was nothing more surreal than opening social media and seeing your face plastered all over it with captions that read, Liam Carmichael’s New Baby Momma?
I blinked once. Twice. Three times. All in the hope that I was not actually seeing this.
But no matter how many times I looked away, the same picture greeted me. It was of me and Liam and Samuel at the restaurant. Liam was grinning at me while he held a smiling Samuel. And I?
Well, I was smiling too. It was the first picture I'd ever seen of the three of us, and it caused an ache to grow in my chest. We looked like a family. We looked like we belonged together. To everyone looking in, it did look like I was Liam Carmichael’s new baby momma.
But I knew the truth. And Liam knew the truth.
