8. Ellie
Chapter 8
Ellie
“Do you realize you’ve been here every night for over a week now?” I growl at Liam.
“You’ve noticed,” he says with a smirk.
“Cut the hogwash, Liam. What are you up to?”
“I think the word is probably bullshit, Ice.”
“What are you up to? Why are you hanging around here all at once?”
“I want to talk to you. Shit, Ellie. I just want to spend a little time with you. Is it so bad that I’d like to be your friend? You’re important to me. We meant a lot to each other at one time. Hell, you still mean a lot to me.”
“You get how that’s kind of hard to believe from where I’m standing, Liam?”
I sigh as I look down at the man who has practically been staying at the bar this past week. He’s also haunted my thoughts. I can’t seem to get away from him. Trina said he even comes in on my nights off. When he finds out I’m not there, he leaves. It’s confusing as hell. If he had given me all this attention when I first left, we might be together now.
Damn it! I’m a bitch for even thinking that. I left Liam. I made a choice. It’s not one I wanted to make and during the time we’ve been apart, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t regret it most of the time. I was scared. No woman wants the man she is in love with to be able to kill someone in cold blood. No woman wants to visit her man in jail for the rest of her life.
Unless the alternative means she won’t see him at all.
How many times have I thought about that since I left? There were times that I ached for Liam. God, what is wrong with me? I was just starting to finally put him behind me and then…he showed up.
“You knew where I was all this time, Ice. You could have called or come back home. You had to know I would have welcomed you with open arms.”
“Maybe at first. I’m not stupid, Liam and I had lived the club life for a while. I knew what would be available to warm your bed the minute I left.”
“None of them were you.”
“They were still pretty, warm, and willing,” I tell him, the words hurting.
“When do you get off tonight?” he asks. His face is stern, his gray eyes almost piercing. I lick my lips nervously, raking my teeth against my bottom lip. I feel like I’m preparing myself to jump off a cliff. I know it’s not a smart move, but it’s something I want so much that I can’t stop myself either.
“I’m off now. I’m getting a migraine, called the other manager in so I could go home. Plus, Harvey is here tonight. I’m not needed.”
“Let me take you home.”
“I’ve got my car,” I tell him, this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that I’m making a mistake that I might not recover from.
“Then, let me follow you home. You used to say that I was the only one that knew how to help your headaches, remember?”
“We’re not having sex, Liam.” His full lips spread into a smile and his eyes seem to virtually heat. I ignore the way that makes me feel, or the fact I can feel my panties get wet. Liam’s smile was always lethal to my well-being.
“I meant my massages, but Ice, I’d like nothing better than to sink my dick into you,” he says, his voice dropping down into a throaty growl that sends goosebumps over my flesh.
Damn him.
“And that right there is why this is a bad idea,” I tell him, shaking my head no. I start backing away from him, my fight or flight instincts finally kicking in. I’m running away and I’m not a bit ashamed to admit it.
“Let me follow you home and take care of you, Ice. I promise I’ll be on my best behavior.”
“Liam—”
“I mean it, Ellie. I’ll be a freaking Boy Scout,” he says, already getting up and letting me know that he’s not prepared to take no for an answer. It’s just my luck that I don’t really want to say no…
“You do one thing I don’t want, you’re out of there and you don’t argue,” I mutter, knowing I’m doing the wrong thing, but unable to stop myself.
“You got it,” he says, putting his hand at my back and leading me out of the bar. I glance up at his face, because even at five-seven, he towers over me. He looks entirely too satisfied with himself.
“You can wipe that smile off of your face. Even if I wanted sex from you—which I don’t?—”
“Liar.”
“I’d never have sex with anyone who let Hayley near his dick. You’ll be lucky if Fury, Jr. doesn’t fall off.”
“Christ, Ellie,” he mutters, the look gone from his face. For a second, I resist laughing when his hand goes down to his crotch without thought. Maybe he’s checking to make sure his dick is still attached. That thought makes it impossible to keep the laughter at bay. “You’re such a bitch,” he laughs. “Besides, you stopped her before she got to the good stuff, so Fury, Jr. is safe.”
“You should thank me for that,” I mutter, thankful we make it to my car so this conversation can stop. Suddenly, I don’t want to think of Hayley under Liam’s table. I don’t want to think of Liam with any other woman because it hurts. I need to remember that it shouldn’t. That we’re not together and there’s a reason for that.
I need to stop him from following me to the house.
But I don’t…