Chapter 29 #2
The normally confident air she carried disappeared as a multitude of emotions floated across her face. Time seemed to move in slow motion while she grasped the material at the sides of her dress, lifted the hem slightly, and slowly padded closer to where he now stood.
Of all the times and all the damn places—so help him, if the asshole standing behind him was her ex-fiancé, he’d have to kill the son of a bitch, and that’d put a serious damper on the op.
“Emily? Is that really you?”
And . . . fuck. He hung his head for a brief moment, trying to get a handle on his sudden rage and the twitch in his trigger finger.
“Ryan,” Emily said once in front of both of them, and the prick who now had a name was standing alongside Liam now. “It’s been a long time.”
Of course, they’d run in to her ex on a day like this. Fate had a fucked-up sense of humor.
“Emily.” Liam spoke her name like he was dragging in a lungful of air. Begging for the privilege to breathe her oxygen.
He couldn’t help himself, when this Ryan guy moved in front of him to get to Emily, he grabbed his arm.
“No.” Emily sidestepped Ryan to view Liam. “It’s not who you think.”
Ryan looked back at Liam, his eyes wider than saucers. He might have also just shit himself.
“He’s a friend,” Emily explained.
Relieved, Liam let go of Ryan’s arm, but the sour pit in his stomach remained. Something was still seriously wrong.
Ryan pulled Emily in for a quick, almost cautious hug. “Does Paul know you’re in town?”
“No.” Her fingers brushed over her collarbone and to her necklace. “I’d prefer to keep it that way.”
Maybe Ryan wasn’t her ex, but Paul probably was, and now Liam was back to hating this guy.
“I’m sorry things didn’t work out, but he’s a momma’s boy and—”
“He told you why we split?”
Ryan rushed a hand through his wavy brown hair. “Just that his mom didn’t approve, which is bollocks.” His attention veered toward Liam, to Liam’s clenched fists at his sides.
“How’s he doing?” she asked, her voice soft. Still so caring, even though the guy had broken off their engagement and her heart along with it.
“He’s married. Baby on the way.” His tone was as somber as that of someone delivering bad news.
Liam watched Emily fight to keep her face from dropping, and his heart moved into his throat. Her cheeks flushed as her gaze lowered to the hardwoods.
“It was good seeing you and—” Ryan turned to Liam.
“Her husband,” Liam interjected, unable to stop himself. Unable to keep his mouth shut.
“Oh, wow. Congratulations,” he said to Emily. “I’m so happy for you.”
“We’re in a bit of a hurry, so . . .” Liam tipped his head in the direction of the exit. “And don’t forget your girlfriend.”
“Mindy’s here?” Emily asked, but her eyes were glued to Liam as if still stuck on his mention of being her husband.
“No.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. You split up?” Her focus went to Ryan, but when he didn’t answer, she stepped back.
“We’re separated.” Based on the slight twitch of Ryan’s eyes and how his lips had flattened after he’d spoken, the guy was lying.
“I ought to go, though.” He sidestepped her and rapped at the fitting room door.
“Sure you don’t want me to tell Paul you’re in town?
” he asked, looking over his shoulder at her.
“No.” She pointed to the fitting room. “I’m going to change.”
“Well, it was good to see you. Freakishly odd. But good,” Ryan said before she hurried back to her fitting room.
Liam moved past him to get to Emily. He had to know if she was okay.
He knocked on her door and caught sight of Ryan leaving with the woman he’d come with out of the corner of his eye. “He’s gone. Can I come in?”
“Just go away. Please.” The angry grit to her voice faded at her last word.
“I can’t do that.” He shook the door handle. “You know I can breach this door, but if you don’t let me in, I might just go after that guy, demand to know where I can find your ex, and proceed to do something really stupid.”
And he meant that, too. The only lie was the part that he’d leave Emily alone.
When he tried the door again it was unlocked. He slipped inside, slid the lock, and faced her, willing his heart to slow down.
“Well, do you like it?” Her voice was so damn small. Almost lifeless.
“I more than like it.” She was gorgeous, even in her sadness, but he didn’t want to talk about the dress. He needed to focus on how she was feeling. No more deflection.
“I’ll buy it then.” She wouldn’t offer her beautiful eyes to let him know if she was truly okay. “I guess seeing Ryan is better than running into Paul.” Appearing to be lost in her thoughts, she reached for the side zipper and lowered it.
The strapless dress slipped, and so he quickly stepped closer and shifted her hand away to clutch at the material.
Her breasts peeked over the top of the fabric, free and exposed, and he did his best to focus on the problem at hand and pull her zipper back up.
When he edged back a step, he found her eyes on him, but it was as if she were looking right through him.
And as busy as his mind normally was, it was going bloody blank at the moment with her standing before him smelling like roses from his parents’ estate back in Sydney.
He wanted to breathe her in, to let her wash away the sins and memories of his past. Mine. Hell, he wanted her more than even the right to breathe.
She blinked out of her stupor. “I’m out of it. Sorry.”
He turned and pressed his fists against the door.
Despite the gravity of the moment, seeing her partial nakedness had served as a reminder of their time in bed together—her moans as he’d sucked and licked her nipples, and he needed to calm his cock down.
“He’s having a baby.”
Her words worked to reverse the blood flow immediately, and he turned to face her.
“There’s not an ounce of love for him left in me. You know that, right?” But before he could answer, she murmured, “It was just bad timing seeing Ryan. But maybe the universe is testing me, huh?” Her hand fell, and her brown eyes, colored with a touch of honey, sought his face.
He wrung his hands together in front of him, his forearms tightening in the process.
This woman was owning him piece by piece regardless of how much he’d tried not to let it happen.
“I need to change out of this dress.”
And he needed to do something. To try and take away all of her pain. But he had no idea what to say or how to do it.
“Do you want to talk?”
She looked up at the ceiling. “Not in here, no.”
“Right.” What am I thinking? We’re in a women’s changing room, and she just ran into a reminder of her ex-fiancé.
“Liam?” She reached for his arm after he’d turned toward the door.
“Yeah?” He glimpsed her from over his shoulder.
“I’m glad you were here with me. I don’t think I could’ve handled that moment alone.”
“You’re so much stronger than you realize,” he said softly and opened the door. “It’s me who’s weak.”