Chapter 14
14
Liam
L iam had been on several dates before. But none were as important as the one scheduled for this evening. He still couldn’t believe it was happening. He’d thought something had shifted between them, but without knowing, there was no way he was going to lay it all out on the line.
Thankfully, he didn’t have to.
His hands shook as he did up his tie. Where was his confidence? The man who stared back at him from the mirror was unrecognizable. It was as if finally getting everything he wanted had stolen the person he used to be. This new Liam was going to have to do some soul-searching in order to find himself.
“You’re wearing that?” Caleb’s voice came from the doorway, where he leaned against the jamb with his arms folded. There was a veiled look of disappointment on his face as he watched Liam get ready.
“Yeah,” Liam said, turning back to the mirror. “What’s wrong with it?”
Caleb shrugged. “Nothing if you want to be a stuffed shirt nobody.”
Liam rolled his eyes. “Forgive me if I don’t take what you say to heart.”
“Suit yourself, but everything I know about Margot tells me that she’s going to get one look at you and be sorry she said yes.”
“Actually, she asked me.”
Caleb laughed. “You’re joking, right?” He shook his head and laughed again. “That’s rich. I never thought I’d see the day when Margot Bennet would go asking a guy to go on a date with her. She could have her pick of guys, and she?—”
“Exactly. She could have her pick of guys, and she chose to ask me out. What are you getting at?”
Caleb shrugged again, this time pulling away from the door as he did. “What’s her endgame? Have you asked yourself that? Margot isn’t the kind of person to go chasing after anyone. So, either you hooked her good, or she’s desperate.”
Liam didn’t want to think about what that could mean for his relationship with her. If Caleb was right, then Margot’s desperation might actually exist. She could be running to him out of security. He shook his head sharply. “No. I don’t think she’d ask me out if she wasn’t interested. And I don’t want to hear another word about it. I care about her, and if you cared at all about me, then you’d support what I want.”
Caleb closed his mouth, his jaw twitching. He was quiet for a moment, then nodded sharply and spun on his heel before he charged out of the room.
Liam easily brushed off Caleb’s words. He’d never really liked Margot, for whatever reason. He wasn’t going to change his mind because Liam was interested in her. That was fine. Caleb didn’t have to like Margot. He just needed to mind his own business.
Turning back to the mirror, he forced a smile, but it still looked foreign on his face. Oh well. Tonight was going to go great. He could feel it in his gut. Margot would see they were a match after only one date, and then everything would fall into place.
“This place is really nice,” Margot said as she leaned over the table to speak to him. Her eyes were wide, and she fidgeted in her seat like she was uncomfortable being there.
Liam leaned forward as well, lowering his voice. “It’s the best restaurant in town. Some really good chefs work here. I bet you a week’s wages that you never ate food as good as the stuff here.”
She lifted a brow, but she didn’t smile like he would have hoped. “You realize I lived in New York, right? That town is full of five-star chefs. I doubt this place will have anything that can compare.” She shifted once more. “I guess I thought when you said you were going to take me out to dinner, you would have picked someplace else.” She glanced away, then returned her gaze, her cheeks filling with color. “Because of the… you know… date I had here.”
His grin wavered. How could he have forgotten? First the New York debacle. But even worse were the memories of how she’d been treated when she was here on that date with the guy who didn’t respect her boundaries. A lump formed in his throat. He should have thought about this better. Shoot. Margot had finally given him a chance, and now he was squandering it.
Liam leaned against the back of the booth where he sat and fiddled with his hands in his lap. There had to be a better date idea. Why was his mind coming up blank?
Something touched his arm, and he glanced down to find her hand touching him. His eyes cut to meet hers expectantly. She offered a small smile. “Hey,” she said. “It’s fine. I promise.”
It didn’t feel fine. He had to do something to salvage this date. The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. Dinner and a movie was a go-to date around here. But that’s what he did with the girls he wasn’t interested in dating long-term. Margot was special. She wasn’t going to be interested in fancy restaurants. She could take herself to one if she really wanted to. He needed to give her an experience.
At that moment, a glowing ball of cotton candy on a platter floated by in the hands of a server. A lightbulb came on, and Liam directed a bright smile at Margot. “How about we get our food to go? I have an idea.”
The smile that filled her face was exactly what he was hoping for. She nodded without even asking him to give her a hint. Time to show her what he was really made of.
Liam spread out the blanket he’d had in the back of his truck, then motioned to it with a flourish. Margot laughed as she settled down into a seated position.
“Now, this is what I was hoping for.” She glanced around the remote field he’d chosen for their excursion. There was a lookout several yards away that gave them a perfect view of the valley. The drive had been a little longer than he would have liked, but it would be worth it when the sun sank behind the mountains.
Besides the view, there was another surprise waiting for her. He wasn’t positive that it would all work out how he hoped, but if it did, tonight would be unforgettable.
Out of all the women he’d gone on dates with, Margot was by far the most special. That was why he’d never been able to bring another woman to this particular location. It had never felt quite right.
Margot deserved the best, and he was going to be the one to give it to her. She continued to look at their surroundings, her smile and energy returning. “I don’t know what it is about being out here, but there’s just something so magical about being in nature, you know?”
“You don’t know the half of it,” he said gleefully.
She stilled, her eyes landing on him with suspicion. “Liam…” she drawled. “You’re not planning anything, are you?”
“Like what?” He leaned closer to her, and his brows lifted a couple times. “Do you think I brought you up here to have my way with you?”
Her eyes widened, her cheeks flushed, then she laughed. “Of course not.” She reached over and placed her hand over his. “You’re the sweetest guy I know.”
Those words used to hold value to him. He could live and breathe off that description, especially coming from Margot. But recently, they left a bad taste in his mouth. He was starting to associate them with being in the friend zone. “I’m not so sweet,” he said.
She lifted a brow and then laughed. “Really? How’s that now?”
He shifted, straightening up and attempting to give her his most roguish grin. “I could be capable of breaking hearts if I wanted to.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it.”
“And I could lead a girl on.”
This time, she frowned. It wasn’t something he’d prepared himself for. He’d been teasing—flirting with her, and he’d somehow let his weaknesses take control. He coughed into his fist, then looked away. “You’re probably right. I’m just too nice to do something like that.”
“You are,” she said softly. “And it’s why I like you.”
He swung his head around to look at her again. Did she like him as a friend or as something more? Why couldn’t women be more specific when they said stuff like that? It would make the world so much less complicated.
Liam fought the itch to tell her just that—to point out that he needed more of an explanation. But that wasn’t who he was. He was the likable guy who could befriend anyone and give any girl a wonderful evening without breaking a sweat.
But he didn’t.
Maybe he was a coward.
Okay, when it came to Margot, he was definitely a coward.
Liam prayed his forced smile wouldn’t give him away. She needed to enjoy herself, so when he got the courage to ask her out next time, she’d say yes. He swallowed down the lump in his throat. He wasn’t going to get anywhere with Margot if he kept tiptoeing around the subject. He got it in his head that he was finally ready to say how he felt when she gasped. Her eyes were locked on something up the hill near the lookout.
Margot scrambled to her feet and pointed. “Did you see that?”
He turned his head, noting a glow that would flicker and then disappear. It was getting darker. The lightning bugs were starting to make their appearances. This was what he’d been waiting for—the moment he knew he’d be able to win her over.
Margot was a lot of things, but she was a romantic, and a gesture such as this one was sure to stir something between them. She was still standing, staring toward the top of the hill with wide eyes. A sharp, soft laugh escaped her throat as she lowered her gaze to meet his. “I haven’t seen lightning bugs since I was a little girl. We don’t see them in town. Until today, I figured they’d all but gone from this area.”
“I don’t think you can evict a bunch of bugs that have been around since the beginning of time.” Liam chuckled.
“Can we get a closer look?” she asked in a whisper, taking a step toward the flickering lights.”
“Why do you think I brought you up here?” Liam got to his feet and dusted off his pants. They stood only a foot apart. She had to tilt her head a little so she could meet his eyes. Her breathing seemed to grow shallower by the second.
“Then why did we go to that restaurant first?”
Because he’d wanted to save this place for something special. Unfortunately, he couldn’t exactly tell her that—not yet. Instead, he shrugged. “The Margot I remember might be different from the Margot who is standing in front of me,” he whispered.
She didn’t react immediately. Slowly, she moistened her lips and tilted her chin upward a little more. “The Margot you knew wasn’t the brightest bulb in the drawer. She wouldn’t have appreciated what’s about to happen as much as me.”
“Then I guess I’m glad I have the new and improved Margot.” His eyes dipped to her lips, and he fought the instinct to kiss her right then and there. They were too close, and the tension of the mood was too high. He couldn’t risk it. It was too soon.
His assumptions were wrong.
Margot inched closer, placed his face between her hands and kissed him like neither one of them would live to see tomorrow.