Chapter 18 Ty #2
“Hey!” She crossed her arms and stuck her bottom lip out, pretending to be mad.
Fuck, I wanted to bite that lip.
I turned my head, forcing the lustful thoughts to the farthest corner of my mind. While I wouldn’t have minded spending a day in bed with Liza, I wanted to get to know more about her, too, beyond how well we fit together physically.
“Would you like to spend the day together? Mother said it’s going to rain, but there’s a lot we can do to kill some time here at the estate.” Although, right now, my mind wasn’t thinking much beyond spending the day in bed with her.
“I’d love a tour, actually.” Liza grinned. “I didn’t see much of the house except for your bedroom last night.”
“Well, then. Follow me, ma’am.”
Liza stood, completely naked. “Hmm, I might want to get dressed first.”
I gestured to the bathroom. “I’ll give you the grand tour in a few minutes.”
“Perfect.”
I watched her flawless, bare ass as she scooped her clothes off the floor and walked into the bathroom. The woman was a goddess, and I was completely defenseless against her beauty.
She glanced over her shoulder. “What about you?”
“I’ll throw some clothes on and use the bathroom down the hall.
There are a few new toothbrushes in the bottom drawer.
Feel free to use my soap and shampoo. Sorry that it’s not super girly.
” I’d stopped keeping flowery-scented things in my room.
For whatever reason, women found it offensive, like instead of being thoughtful, I was being presumptuous or trying to pick how they smelled.
It was ridiculous since I’d only been trying to be kind, but they took it wrong.
Liza laughed. “First of all, why do you have extra toothbrushes? Do you do this often with your dates?”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
“No way.” I held both hands up in defense. “I’m just a man who likes to be prepared. That’s all.”
“Okay, I’ll accept that answer.” A sly smile spread across her face.
She started to close the door, but I stretched out my leg and blocked it with my foot. “Wait. What was the second thing?”
“Oh.” She held onto the edge of the door and stared at me with doe eyes. “Don’t apologize about not having girly-smelling toiletries. I won’t mind smelling like you all day.”
With that, she closed the door and turned on the shower.
I gritted my teeth as I rushed to the hallway bathroom. I needed a cold shower.
After we’d both dressed, I led Liza through the house, showing her the conference room, the library, and the conservatory off to the side of the house.
Liza was in awe of everything she saw, often stopping to study an intricate painting or to sit on an antique sofa.
“What’s in this room?” She eyed the double doors like a kid in a candy shop.
“Oh, that’s the theater room.”
“Theater? As in a movie theater?” She pushed the doors open and clapped her hands. “We have to watch a movie. What do you say?”
I laughed and followed her in. Her enthusiasm was contagious. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d sat in here without a care and watched anything. “It’s your call. What do you want to watch?”
Liza scanned the shelves of movies and then looked up, biting her lip with a mischievous grin. “Do you like horror movies?”
I shook my head. “No way. I’m not a fan of horror.”
“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun!” She grabbed a movie off the shelf, walked to the projection set up, and popped it in.
“Well, if you insist.” I pretended to be annoyed as I followed her to the second level of movie seats and sat down.
As Liza snuggled in, I used the remote to lower the lights in the room and start the movie.
“How about brunch while we watch?” I asked.
“Perfect.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and texted our cook, asking him to bring a full spread of brunch food and drinks to the theater room.
Within thirty minutes, trays laden with fresh pastries, bacon, omelets, and orange juice sat on our laps.
“I could get used to this.” Liza crossed her ankles and took a bite of her buttered croissant. Her almost-silent moan as she took a bite wasn’t silent enough, and my cock twitched.
I smiled, ignoring the urgency in my jeans. “Considering I botched the first picnic, this is the least I could do on a rainy day.”
“Your house is like a strip mall.” She chuckled. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a bowling alley.”
“Umm.” Stifling my laugh, I grimaced. I hadn’t built the house, but I did enjoy the privacy and benefits it afforded to me. Especially right now.
“You’re shitting me, right?” Liza turned to face me and dropped her croissant on the tray. “You have your own bowling alley?”
My cheeks reddened. I had never been one for showing off my family’s wealth.
It was especially difficult and disheartening since I’d been made aware of how we’d come into the money.
Of course, Liza didn’t need to know that.
Not yet. At some point, however, I would have to tell her that my wealth was directly linked to the life she’d been forced into.
First, I had to figure out the exact right way and the exact right time. I couldn’t rush it.
“Your family does have an excessive amount of money. It’s honestly hard to comprehend someone living this extravagantly.” She shrugged. “I guess it’s okay if you like to bowl, though.”
“Do you? Like to bowl, I mean?” It didn’t matter to me one way or the other, but I was curious.
“I know how, and I do okay.” She smiled, and her eyes sparkled.
Her humor amused me. Just when I thought I did or said something to turn her off, she spun the situation to focus on the bright side. Apparently, a bowling alley was a bright side.
There were women who would hold it against me that I had so much generational wealth, much the same as there would be women out there who only wanted me because of the wealth, but Liza was her own brand of female.
She rolled with the punches, seeming unfazed by most of the curveballs that life threw her way.
With each passing moment, I liked her more and more. I didn’t want to ruin the mood, but my brain wouldn’t turn off. Not wanting to wait a moment longer, I paused the movie and turned the lights up.
“Hey!” Liza eyed me. “We were almost to the best part. He was just about to pop up out of the woman’s shower as she rinses her makeup off at the sink. It’s an iconic scene.” I knew the scene. Everyone knew the scene. It could wait.
“I’m sorry, I just need to ask you something.” I studied Liza’s face, which seemed to pale a little. “What happened to that injured rabbit in the forest last night?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but snapped it shut and pursed her lips, hesitating. Liza clearly didn’t want to talk about the rabbit, though I wasn’t sure what she was conflicted about.
Finally, Liza answered my question. “I have no idea what happened.”
I had no reason not to trust her, so I kept my mouth shut and waited for her to go on. Maybe she’d say something to ease my mind and lay to rest any thoughts I had of her being an omega.
“I was just standing there, staring at the poor little thing. My heart hurt. The whole situation was pitiful, so I decided to put it out of its misery.” She looked down at her hands, then clasped them together and directed her gaze toward me.
“It was dying one minute and then it jolted like it had been struck by lightning or some other electric charge.” She shrugged as if she had no idea how it had happened or what—or in this case, who—was responsible.
“Did you touch it at all?” I asked. Something had happened.
“No. I never laid a paw on it.” Liza paused, her nose scrunching as she thought. “I did cry a little. A tear or two might have fallen from my eye, but I don’t see how that would be significant.”
My mind spun with multiple thoughts, the main one being Bryce’s suggestion that maybe Liza was an omega.
All the legends said they had special powers.
I didn’t know the depths of those powers, but I couldn’t quite believe that Liza had the ability to bring a creature back from the brink of death to restore its life force.
“Has anything like that ever happened to you before?” I hoped my question wouldn’t be too obvious, considering that I wasn’t just dropping the subject. There was no easy way to ask these questions. No way that wouldn’t reveal my suspicions.
Liza shook her head, then stopped and stared at the screen as if in deep thought.
“Michael, my brother, scraped his arm up really badly one time when he was trying to save me from falling off my bike. I cried all over him because I felt so bad that his arm was so black and blue and swollen. The next day, it was healed.” Her mouth twisted to the side as if she’d only just now considered that she’d had a hand in her brother’s healing.
I cocked my head to one side. “Completely?”
“Yeah. My parents said it was because Michael healed so quickly.” She scoffed. “I remember them giving me a few examples of him overcoming viruses within a day and only needing a quick nap to overcome a headache.”
“Did you believe them?”
“I did.” Liza shook her head as if she was only now considering that there might have been another explanation.
“That is, until Michael scraped his knee a week later. It took three days for it to heal, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as his arm had been.
I never really questioned it, though. I just figured it was a fluke.
I didn’t give it much thought. I moved on with my life. ”
We sat in silence for a few minutes until Liza spoke up again. She cleared her throat and lifted her gaze to meet mine. “Do you think I had something to do with healing that rabbit?”
Of course I did, but how could I tell her without suggesting that I thought she might be an omega? Instead, I lied. It wasn’t a great precedent to set, but I didn’t think I had another choice. “No. I was just wondering if you saw something I didn’t since you were closer to the rabbit.”
Liza studied me for a few long seconds before finally nodding. There was nothing more to say, so I turned the movie back on and lowered the lights. We finished eating in silence, the movie only serving as background noise to our thoughts.
Liza placed her empty tray on the floor and tucked her legs under her body. “You’d tell me if you knew something I didn’t. Right?”
Her question surprised me. It made me wonder if she had an inkling she was different. If she hadn’t before, my questions might’ve stirred some realization in her. Damn it.
Somehow, I managed to keep my composure, though I completely understood the concept of being a damn deer stuck motionless in headlights.
I didn’t let my heart skip a beat before answering her.
“Of course, I would. We’re going to be mated, and the worst thing we could do is keep things from one another.
” I meant that, and I would tell her everything. Just not yet.
My answer seemed to satisfy Liza. She cuddled up next to me, resting her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her and turned my attention back to the screen.
I paid no mind to the psychotic killer loose on the screen, or to the innocent people running and screaming through the night, trying to escape the slash of his bloodied knife. The only thing that mattered to me was the fact that I’d just lied to Liza.
I was a fucking tool for not being honest with her, but I needed more proof before I said anything about her possibly being an omega.
After several more minutes of thought and contemplation, I decided it might be time for me to meet my future in-laws.