Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
F rigging hell, she couldn’t believe Liam was here, in her house. Making stilted conversation with her family… okay, her mum, as she was the chatty one. She was also the one to blame for putting them all through the ordeal of the last twenty minutes. The fact Liam hadn’t actually turned around and walked straight out again after being threatened by her five-foot-nine, sixty-year-old dad, was remarkable in itself.
Even more remarkable was the fact that Liam had engaged in the conversation. He wasn’t Mr Chilled and Relaxed, never would be, it wasn’t his style, but he was courteous, polite, respectful. In fact, if it was possible to love him any more, she would have done after he’d valiantly not only eaten the stew, but requested a second helping.
Lauren’s eyes had nearly popped out, her dad had raised an eyebrow and her mum had giggled like a schoolgirl.
But enough was enough. I’ve come for you . Her heart crashed against her ribs. She was a mess of emotions; hope, longing, fear that she’d read the situation wrong.
She was making herself dizzy with all the scenarios playing out in her head.
Jerkily she jumped to her feet, the chair scraping across the tiles. ‘Interrogation time is over. You asked for five minutes, you’ve had way more than that.’
Her mum smiled. ‘That’s because Liam knows a good stew when he sees one. But fine, yes, you two go off and have your talk. We’ll clear up.’
As everyone stood and began to pick up the plates, Jade narrowed her eyes at her mother. ‘Do I have your guarantee we won’t find you camped outside the door with a glass to your ear?’
She chuckled. ‘Promise.’ Then she walked up to her and whispered. ‘Nobody has ever forced two helpings of my stew down their neck. That man is completely in love with you. And I heartily approve.’
In love with you. The words rang in her ears. Was he? Or was he a man who’d had manners drilled into him by boarding school, and his grandma.
Heart in her mouth, Jade glanced at Liam, who stood stiffly by the door, watching her. He appeared taller than she remembered, his physique more impressive. His looks far too glamorous for a three-bed terrace in Twickenham.
Silently she walked past him and into the living room opposite, her heart hammering so hard she was sure he could hear it. The door shut with a loud click.
‘What was worse, Mum’s cooking or her questions?’
He slid his hands into his jeans pockets. Note to self, faded denim jeans were her new favourite clothing on him. ‘Her questions. The stew was fine.’
Jade choked out a laugh. ‘Said nobody about Mum’s stew, ever.’
‘Yet, you all sit down and eat it.’
‘Only because she’d sulk for weeks if we didn’t.
‘Your family is very?—’
‘Crazy? Ridiculous?’
‘Protective.’
She thought of her dad, the beautiful words he’d said. The fact he’d faced up to a man half a foot taller, twenty-five years younger and significantly fitter. ‘I guess they are. That’s what you do for the people you love.’
A pair of shimmering silver eyes burned into hers. ‘Yes.’
Inside her chest, her heart tumbled. That’s what he’d done for her, she realised, with Lauren, then with Henry at the wedding. He’d stuck up for her, protected her. Just like she had, him.
‘You left early.’
‘Only a day.’ Oh shit, had she got this wrong? ‘Is that why you’re here? To sue me for breach of contract?’
He stared at her incredulously. ‘You think that’s why I travelled three thousand miles?’
‘To be fair, I don’t know because you’re not telling me, so all I’m left with is guesswork.’
He was so formal, so rigid. She wanted to fling her arms around him but she still wasn’t sure whether she was reading him wrong.
‘You asked for a signal, Jade.’
You need to work on giving out better signals. ‘You’re my signal?’
His shoulders slumped. ‘Fuck. I’m going to kill Jeremy.’
‘What? Why?’
‘He said I needed to make a grand gesture.’
That bubble of hope was rising again. ‘You’re my signal and my grand gesture?’
‘Yes, sort of.’ He looked rattled, she thought. Beautifully, adorably rattled. ‘I brought something else, but now I’m thinking about it, that’s more an icebreaker. An apology for being such a dick. My head was so far up my own ass I couldn’t pull it out in time.’
She stared back at him, feeling as unsure as he looked. The signals were positive, but the message itself unclear. He’d come to ask her back, but in what capacity? For how long? ‘Should we start with the icebreaker, then, it seems appropriate.’
He nodded and darted out, returning a few seconds later with a small box wrapped in silver paper and adorned with a beautiful pink bow. ‘I had nothing to do with the wrapping. That was the lady who made it.’
‘Made it?’
He huffed out a breath. ‘Just open it.’
She’d never been one for delayed gratification so she tore at the packaging, gasping when she saw the keyring nestled inside. ‘Holy shit, it’s a bookworm. An actual bookworm,’ she whispered, eyes travelling along the small furry body and over the bespectacled face before drifting down to the little arms that clutched at a soft furry book. ‘Sparks is going to have his nose well and truly put out of joint. If caterpillars even have a nose, but you know what I mean…’ She trailed off and looked up at him. He could have easily bought her something extravagant that required little effort. Yet he’d bought her this. ‘Thank you.’
Again those silver eyes rested on hers, a soft sheen to them that sent a ball of emotion shooting into her throat.
‘I should have told you I love you,’ he said roughly, taking a few steps towards her until he was right there, the soft material of his shirt brushing against her fingers. His warmth, his smell, sending her hormones into meltdown. And that was before he trailed a finger down her face. ‘Run the bookstore, if you want, but come back with me, please. Build a life with me.’
Her heart tumbled. Love, joy… explosions of both detonated inside her until she felt she might burst with happiness. It was almost too much to take in. The fact he’d travelled all the way over to see her, endured meeting her parents, found someone to make her a bookworm key ring. God, she was going to cry. Not pretty tears but great hulking waterworks that would make a red blotchy mess of her face.
* * *
Liam was about to have a heart attack. There was no way his body could cope with the pace the organ was currently pumping.
‘Say something,’ he croaked out. ‘You’re killing me here. Oh fuck, not tears.’ His heart plummeted. ‘I don’t know what tears mean. Please, Jade. Shit.’ He wrapped his arms around her, crushing both her and the damn worm against his chest. ‘Tell me you’re okay.’
She sniffed. ‘I’m not okay.’ He reared back, only to find her giving him a watery smile. ‘Okay is definitely not the right word for how I feel. Okay is a middle-of-the-road word. It’s like “fine”, and I’m not fine. I’m far from fine or okay.’
‘Jade,’ he warned. ‘I’m on edge here.’
Her smile grew wider, though alarmingly the tears kept gushing down her cheeks. ‘I’m not fine, you muppet, because I’m frigging ecstatic . Euphoric, elated, and probably a bunch of other e words I can’t think of right now because I’m so excited .’ The smile she shot him pulled the breath from his lungs. ‘I’m utterly and completely in love with a man who loves me back. A man who’s flown across the Atlantic to give me the most beautiful, thoughtful gift I’ve ever received. Aside from my teapot, obviously.’ She looked down, fingers fondling the worm, and sniffed again. ‘Your signal, your grand gesture to come here, it was amazing, but you had me at the icebreaker.’
‘I did? I have?’ He was too shocked to fully take it in. ‘You don’t need time to think about it?’ What the fuck was he doing? ‘Forget that. Don’t think any more. I’m taking your first answer.’ He rested his head against her forehead, his whole body settling, relaxing for the first time in a week. ‘I love you, Jade Taylor. I have for a while now, ever since you gave me those audiobooks for Grandma. Probably before that. Even when you were fighting me, I was falling for you.’ He touched his lips to hers, felt the tingle of it shoot down his spine. ‘I’m sorry I was too much of a coward to tell you before.’
‘We were both burned by the past, both wary of giving away our hearts.’
His mouth found hers again and this time he felt the urgency, the pulse of lust along with love. The need to claim her not just with words, but with action. ‘Can we get away from here?’
‘Um.’ She kissed him back, her tongue tangling with his, her hands sliding down his chest before slipping open a few buttons. ‘Where did you have in mind?’
Her fingers found his bare skin and he hissed out a breath. ‘My hotel room.’ He lifted her up, hands beneath her butt, and when she wrapped her legs around him, he walked them to the wall and thrust his hips against her, making them both moan. ‘Need to get out of here now, before your parents burst in and I lose the brownie points I gained from two helpings of stew.’
She giggled, pushing her own hips against his and causing him to harden even further. He was in her parents’ front room, and so close to losing it he should be ashamed, but he was too fucking happy to care.
For a few minutes they made out, his hands tangling in her hair, their hips doing a rhythmic dance. Finally, he drew back, groaning with frustration as she slid slowly down him and onto the floor.
‘Let me just grab a few things.’
‘Like?’
She rolled her eyes. ‘PJs. Underwear.’
‘Don’t plan on you wearing any.’
‘Toothbrush.’
‘You can borrow mine.’
‘Make-up.’
‘You’re fucking gorgeous enough without it.’
She beamed and patted her heart. ‘Okay, then, Romeo, let’s go. We might be able to sneak out?—’
There was a tap on the door. ‘Anyone in there want dessert?’
Goddamn it. Jade slid him an amused look, clearly struggling not to laugh. ‘Her puddings are better than the stew.’
‘You’re what I want for dessert,’ he almost growled.
‘Um, thanks, Mum,’ Jade shouted back, ‘but we’re heading out.’
She smoothed down her hair and he attempted to adjust himself into a position that didn’t say raging erection .
She looked down at his fly, licked her lips and gave him a cheeky smile before opening the door.
It was an agonising few minutes while they waited for an Uber. When it finally arrived he almost bundled her into it. After confirming the hotel with the driver, he was about to put his phone back in his pocket when he saw the notification.
‘Um, dare I ask what Operation Double BJ is?’ Jade asked, reading the message.
‘You can ask.’
Hastily he replied to Jeremy’s question.
Operation Double BJ a success. Over and Out.
Jeremy’s reply was even quicker.
Whoa, not over and out. I need details. Was she impressed with your grand gesture? How much grovelling did it take? When are you guys coming back? Did she like the key ring? If not, I told you it was a dumb idea. If she did, I agreed it was a fabulous one.
He rolled his eyes as an impatient Jeremy came back again.
Er, hello?
With a shake of his head, Liam powered off the phone.
When he turned to Jade, she was grinning. ‘You really should reply, you know. He’ll only sulk if you don’t.’
‘I’ll message him. Later.’
She gave his side a gentle nudge. ‘You really are besties, aren’t you?’
‘He’s a friend. I’ll admit to a good friend. And that’s the last we’re going to talk about him tonight.’ He dropped a soft kiss on her mouth. ‘From now on, the only man I want you thinking of, is me.’
‘Deal.’ She reached into her pocket and dropped the key ring with the brown furry worm onto his lap. ‘You and Wormy. My two favourite men.’
He stared down at the four-eyed creature and sighed. Then again, if that was what had tipped the balance into her being in this taxi with him or not, he figured he had a lot to thank the thing for. ‘As long as my name is first.’
She leant into him. ‘You will always be my number one. So, when do we go home?’
The word curled around his heart. ‘Whenever you want. I bought an open-ended ticket.’ He wrapped an arm around her. ‘I wasn’t sure how long it would take to convince you.’
‘Ye of little faith. You should have realised I was totally in love with you. I gave you enough hints before I left. A man it’s so easy to love, it’s ridiculous ,’ she quoted, settling further against him.
‘I was too scared to believe it.’
She turned to him, her expression soft. ‘Give me two days. One to resign, one to spend the day with my family.’
‘Whatever you want.’ His heart feeling deliciously full, he kissed the top of her head. ‘As long as you come back with me, you can take as long as you want.’