3. Chapter 2
Liam
It’s been six months since I stepped foot on London soil, and I’m tempted to kiss the ground.
“What are you doing?” Serena asks.
I look down at the asphalt four inches from my face. I guess I was closer to kissing it than I realized. “I dropped a contact.” I hop up.
She raises a brow. “You don’t wear contacts.”
“I just started. Your beauty has burned my irises. Plus, you’re so obsessed with my blue eyes, I couldn’t get anything done.” I wink and pull her in to my side.
“I am slightly obsessed,” she whispers. “Now stop being weird.”
“Maybe I was kissing the ground you walk on.”
“I’m sure.”
“So, where are we headed, love?” I squeeze her waist, reveling in the fact she doesn’t try to push me away or kill me anymore.
She hasn’t tried to do that for a long time.
Well, okay, there was the time I ordered a real llama to be delivered to her apartment.
She didn’t appreciate my gift and made me send poor little Rosie back.
Only after she got me in a headlock, of course.
Now though, she loves me more than she despises me. Most of the time.
“I thought you had a plan,” Serena says. “Aren’t we following the coordinates?”
“Yes, but since it was your bullet, I figure we should follow your lead with this one,” I say, opening the door of the waiting car and helping my beautiful woman inside.
She buckles up before looking over at me in confusion. “Aren’t we just going to go to the location?”
“The location is the problem. It’s in the middle of…well, I think it would be better if I showed you.” I pull out my phone and look up the location then extend my hand to her.
Her jaw drops, but she quickly snaps it closed. “Is this a joke?”
My lips twitch. “I do find it terribly funny.”
“I’m not going back to that dress store.” She shoves the phone back at me.
I took her dress shopping once, and she’s never forgiven me for it. “Well, that’s too bad. It was a nice treasure hunt until now.” I tease her for the dramatics.
She groans and drops her head to the seat. She has no other choice if she intends to see this treasure hunt through. “Of all the rotten luck.”
“I think it’s pretty lucky. I get to see you in dresses again.” I haven’t seen her in a single dress since that night we were kidnapped, and I’m foaming at the mouth for the chance.
“Why don’t you try on dresses this time?” she asks.
“That’s a sight no one wants to see.” I kiss the side of her forehead. “So, what’s our play?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a high-end dress store. We need an appointment just to walk through the door. Luckily, I had the foresight to make one before we left Peru. But what is our occasion?”
“Why do I need an occasion to look at dresses?”
I raise a brow. “Because it’s monumental for you to look at a dress, period.”
“Fine. We’re…going to another gala.”
“Wow. Creative. Remind me to have you come up with our cover story every time.”
She shakes her head with a smile. “You’re a know-it-all.”
“And you love-it-all.”
“Ugh.” She grabs my neck like she wants to strangle me. “The cheese. Stop.” But she presses a kiss to my lips anyway.
“You’re giving off some very mixed signals right now,” I murmur against her lips.
“Let me clear it up then.” She continues to kiss me when the car stops in front of the boutique. And when the driver opens our door.
And when the driver clears his throat.
I gently push her back. “I know what you’re doing, and it won’t work.” Though I’d love to give in and kiss her for the rest of the night.
Serena scowls as I pull her from the car and escort her inside like the proper gentleman I’ve become in my retirement…
Ugh, I still hate that word. But I love the honest man I’ve become who is worthy—okay, that might be too strong.
I’ll never be worthy of Serena, but I’ll never stop trying to be the man she deserves.
I give the attendant Serena’s name, and she motions for us to head to the private rooms in the back.
“Wait, if I’m getting fitted for a dress, how are we going to find the treasure?” Serena whispers, dodging around a wedding dress as if it might gain arms and reach out and snatch her up.
I cradle the dip in her waist. “That’s why I need you to try on a few dresses while I snoop around.”
“Are you sure this is the correct place?”
“Only one way to find out.” I push her inside the private room.
Abigail smiles when we walk in. “What are we looking for today?”
“Uh,” Serena’s eyes dart to me. “I need a… dress… for a—”
“Wedding,” I say, grinning. “Ours.”
“A wedding dress?” Abigail claps her hands. “I’ll go pull some and be right back.” She strides quickly from the room.
“What was that?” Serena hisses when she’s gone. “I thought you were letting me take the lead.”
“You were dead in the water, and I find it hard to give up control.” I shrug. “Also, I just really want to see you in a wedding dress. Sue me?”
“Can I?” Her eyes twinkle with mischief. “I could use a new car.”
“You know I’ll get you a car, a house too, if you just ask.”
She shakes her head. “I will try on three dresses, that’s it.”
“That’s all I need.” I press a kiss to her cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
I slip out the door then wander toward the back of the shop. My location app is already up and running, directing me toward the coordinates.
I take a left, then a right. There’s a door and I pick the lock, opening it slowly, ensuring no one is inside. I see a set of steps so old they are crumbling in places. Closing the door quietly behind me, I hurry down the concrete stairs, flashlight out.
Another door with a lock that is incredibly easy to pick leads me to one of the city’s many secret underground tunnels. A constant drip and the sound of scurrying rodents are my only companions. I watch my phone as I continue forward. Almost…there.
I stop and shine my flashlight around, highlighting every brick and crack in the tunnel around me. Wait…
There’s a crevice the size of my finger in the upper corner of the wall.
I aim my flashlight at it and… there’s a tiny glass bottle.
I use my lock picking tools to get it out, and the second I do, excitement floods my veins.
I palm the tiny bottle. The old me would look at this right now.
The new and improved me stuffs it in my pocket and races back upstairs for my better half.
“Are you sure you don’t want to try another?” Abigail asks as I open the door to the private room they are in.
“No,” Serena starts, but whatever she says after that gets lost in the air. It was stupid of me to request to see her in a white dress. I knew my heart wouldn’t be able to handle it. And now I’m worried it’s going to give right out. This is all it took to do me in.
Serena is in an ivory dress that appears to be glowing as it cascades down each of her curves like a waterfall.
The sheer sleeves are both elegant and whimsical, but the deep V is daring.
The skirt flows out in an intricate flower design that will be the backdrop for my new painting.
I’ve never seen anything so magnificent.
That dress has "wife" written all over it, and I’m ready to make her mine. The back of my eyes sting, and I press a hand to my chest to tamp down the wild, irregular pumping. She’s killing me slowly. And I’ll die a happy man.
“She doesn’t need to try any more dresses.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “That’s the one.”
Abigail claps her hands, but I can’t tear my gaze away from Serena.
“I’ll go grab a veil.”
Abigail disappears from the room, and my feet eat up the distance between me and Serena. “How do I convince you to marry me?”
She bites her bottom lip. “I’ve heard you can be very persuasive.”
I run my fingertips down her arms until I reach her hand, then drag it up to my lips. “Then I shall try my very hardest.”
“Did you find it?” Serena whispers.
Did I find my heart? Yes. It’s in her hands. Or maybe she means my mind that’s wrapped up in her. “I found everything I need.”