Chapter 14 Isaac #2
“I was.” Smiling, she sinks her teeth into her bottom lip.
“But the universe insists on bringing us together over and over and over again. So, for one night, you’re not Prime Minister Banks, you’re not my Isaac from college.
You’re just you, and I’m just me. We can go back to pretending we’re just friends in the morning. ”
My cock is leaking at the sight of her, while my mind is screaming, “It’s a trap!” But my heart is begging, “Don’t let her off the hook that easily.”
“Livy,” I warn, “it’s not that simple.” She slowly prowls back toward me, not stopping until we’re nearly toe-to-toe. “We’re not friends. I told you once, but it seems you need a reminder; I’m not touching you again until I know you’re mine.”
Her eyes search mine in question, grazing her knuckles up my abdomen. Still, I don’t give in. As her fingers reach my chest, she presses her palm over my heart. “We both know I have been since the first time you kissed me.”
None of this feels real and there’s a good chance I’ll wake up any minute now. Needing to live in this fantasy a little longer, I cover her hand with mine, and admit, “It was one of the best mornings of my life.”
She offers a sweet smile that reaches her eyes, making them sparkle. “No. The night before.”
“I didn’t kiss you on our first date,” I chuckle, mirroring her grin. If I leaned in, just a little, I could steal a kiss from her. Resisting Livy is becoming more difficult by the second.
Her eyes fall to my throat as she lifts her other hand, tracing the outline of my collared shirt along my neck. “Are you sure about that? I stayed up all night thinking about it.”
“I don’t remember,” I lie, recalling saying goodnight to her as if it were yesterday.
“Yes, you do, because you did it again tonight.”
“You mean this?” I press a single, soft kiss to the side of her neck and pull back. The urge to mark her pretty throat with a bright red bruise is overwhelming.
Olivia’s cheeks are flushed, eyes wild—just how I like them. I’m moments away from letting her win. Maybe this was her plan all along. “Yes,” she sighs, her breath catching on her exhale.
“What do you want, Livy?”
“I don’t know,” she admits softly.
My girl has always been an overthinker and I don’t want her to regret anything that happens between us tonight. “Go take a quick shower. I’ll be waiting in the other room until you’re done.”
I step back and with lust-filled eyes, she does the same.
Once she’s disappeared, I return to the living space and locate a straw for the margarita.
The faint sound of the shower filters into the room, and as I spear the little scored spot on the lid of my drink, the paper straw bends on impact.
I groan to myself, completely removing the lid and downing it in four quick gulps.
This is all a mistake. The only thing that kept me from practically mauling Livy was her hesitation earlier.
Now that she’s not only flirting with me, but inviting me to shower with her, I’m royally fucked.
If I was a smart man, I’d leave the room to her, but my heart and head are at odds.
To be fair, it’s not just my heart fighting logic.
My entire body aches for her. Every moment since she sat down next to me at the bar has only made it exponentially worse.
I love her—always have, always will—and not touching her is painful.
Needing a distraction, I search for a few plates in the kitchenette cabinets, but decide against it.
I can recreate our first date a little easier if we share our post-dinner snack straight from the container.
The shower shuts off as I’m setting it on the table.
It seems she’s taken the fastest shower in the history of man, and I work quickly to kick off my shoes before making my way back into the bedroom.
“Hey, Livy?” I call to the open ensuite door. “Would you like something to change into?”
“Yes, thank you. That would be amazing.”
I rummage through my bag and pull a pair of black joggers and a white tee, tossing them onto the bed. “I set something aside. Let me know if they don’t work.”
Returning to the other room, I prepare myself that she could still ask me to leave. Olivia and I staying in the same bed, with her wearing my clothes, is a terrible idea. How the hell am I supposed to be a foot away from her and not wrap her in my arms, holding her all night?
At my sister’s recommendation, I’ve read countless romance novels and binge-watched entirely too many romantic comedy movies.
In fiction, Livy would fall in love with me and we’d live happily ever after.
In reality, I only have tonight, and won’t see her again until March.
I still need to figure out how the hell I’m going to convince her that we can be together when I’m in another country.
I thought I had more time to come up with a way to make it work.
For now, I need to be okay with whatever she’ll give me.
Olivia joins me and I’m left speechless. She’s gorgeous when she’s wearing makeup and camera ready. But bare-faced, relaxed, wearing my clothes? I’m obsessed. I pull out one of the dining chairs and gesture for her to sit, resisting touching her while I push in the chair as she takes a seat.
“It’s been too long since we’ve shared a plate of nachos,” she chuckles, glancing over her shoulder with a bright smile lighting up her face. “It sounded good when I was looking at the menu. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.” I sit across from her—the only safe place for either of us. “I actually ordered some before I found out you did as well.”
In an instant, the levity drains from her face as she notices only one drink on the table. “I thought you said we’d have one drink together.”
“Oh, I already had mine.” Not wanting her to feel awkward, I get up and retrieve a beer from the small fridge. Once I’m seated again, I raise it in a cheers. “To you and all you’ve accomplished.”
Livy blushes, peels the cap off her margarita, and taps the plastic cup to my bottle. “Thanks, but I had help, you know.”
“It’s okay to be proud of yourself and celebrate.” Jaw tight, I hate how she qualifies her achievements; she’s arguably done more in the past decade than I have.
I open the to-go container, and the nachos are a far cry from ones we’ve shared before.
It still brings back memories—all good, except one.
The last night we spent together, I stupidly thought it would be romantic to relive our first date.
The only thing it did was make it hurt even more to walk away from her. A feat I didn’t think was possible.
“What’s wrong?” she quietly asks.
I blink away the thought, unsure exactly how long I’ve been staring at the plate of chips. “Nothing,” I lie, and take a long pull of my beer.
“I thought we were going to be honest with each other.”
“You’re right.” Leaning forward, I rest my elbows on the table. “I’m sorry. This is harder than I thought it would be.”
Olivia reaches across the small table, covering her hand with mine as she teases, “I promise I won’t flirt with you anymore.”
“No, that’s not it.” I swipe my thumb over her knuckles and take a deep breath.
“Then what is it?”
“I missed years of time with you, just like this.”
“Why did you wait until I was elected before calling?”
“No matter how much I wanted to, it would’ve been selfish of me.” I sigh, interlacing our fingers. “You were married. I was engaged. Then once your husband passed away, you began your political career.”
“And you became Prime Minister,” she adds, taking her hand back.
I chuckle humorlessly. “Yeah. We’ve always had shitty timing.”
She helps herself to the nachos, waiting until she's done chewing before asking, “What happened with—what’s her name?”
“Meredith? I really wanted to make it work.” For all the times we talked on the phone over the past few months, I’ve successfully avoided discussing my ex.
My eyes fall to the container in front of us and I grab a loaded chip.
Any excuse to delay the truth for a moment longer, even if she deserves it.
“On paper, we were the perfect couple,” I finally admit, then take a bite.
“Kind of like on dating apps where you find someone who is too good to be true?”
I shake my head, covering my mouth as I chew, then take a sip of my beer. “Not exactly. She just wasn’t… you, Livy. She wasn’t you.”
“Isaac,” she breathes, but I hate the pity in her tone.
“Please let me get this out. Part of me held out hope that one day we’d find each other again.
Maybe after grad school, or maybe I’d end up with UNICEF and could move to California.
But then you got married. I really tried to move on once I heard.
Meredith knew I wasn’t over you, and it was only fair to let her find someone else who could love her the way she deserves. ”
Livy nods in understanding. “Phil was my best friend, but he wasn’t you. Even now, I’m still trying to get over you.”
Her bittersweet confession makes my heart swell. “Then maybe we should both stop trying?”
“If only it were that simple. Aubrey was right; I should’ve had someone from my staff call you back when I won.”
“I almost didn’t call, but I promised I would be the first one to congratulate you when you became Governor, and I’m a man of my word. I thought that would be it.” I grab another chip, and tease, “But then you accidentally drew international attention to yourself.”
“It really was an accident,” she insists, moving to the seat to my left. Too damn close. Her perfume still lingers, even when muted by the hotel body wash. Fucking catnip. “I never meant for any of this to happen.”
“I know. But I saw it as a sign that this could be it; we could have a second chance. Hell, I even called my sister for help.”