Chapter 20 Liam
LIAM
Of all the places I wanted to be, standing next to Katie at a stuffy gala where the guests took themselves way too seriously was not at the top of the list. Or the middle.
All I wanted to do was disappear into the crowd with Sabrina and Samuel and get the hell away from here.
Instead, I was stuck with a woman I didn’t want to be with, talking to people I didn’t care about.
Katie seemed to sense my desire to flee and had wrapped her arm around mine. For the onlooker, it would appear that we were just a normal couple, doing normal couple things. But, in reality, this was her attempt to keep me in the room.
“Ooo, you need to meet Dirk Jones,” Katie said as she tightened her grip on me and started guiding me through the crowd toward yet another man dressed in a suit. “I hear his cologne brand is looking for a spokesperson.”
I was rapidly getting my fill of corporate lackeys. I knew what Katie was trying to do. She wanted to pair me up with deep pockets so the well she kept coming back to would stay nice and full. In the past, I hadn’t really cared. Taking care of Katie meant taking care of Ana.
But I was sick of her greed. I was sick of her being here.
And I was sick of her coming between Sabrina and me.
It wasn’t lost on me that after she spoke to Sabrina at the mall, Sabrina’s feelings toward me had changed.
And not in a good way. I could feel her pulling away, which was the last thing I wanted after spending so much time trying to earn her trust.
Thoughts of Sabrina had me scanning the crowd in search of her. For most of the night, she’d stayed toward the edges of the crowd. With Samuel strapped to her front, I could tell that she wanted to avoid getting into people’s way. As much as I’d wanted to have her join me, I knew she would say no.
She was hyperaware of the fact that she had a baby with her, and I knew she didn’t want to draw attention to him. I didn’t care. I loved that he was here. But I knew Sabrina wanted me to take her position seriously, so I needed to remain hands off.
Confusion brewed inside of me as my search came up empty. I checked all the places that she’d been earlier, only to find that she wasn’t there. I frowned as I glanced over the heads of the people around me, hoping to spot her familiar dark hair, but there was nothing.
She’d disappeared.
Worried that something had happened, I stepped away from Katie, who was currently engaged in a conversation with Dirk, and started to weave through the different groups around me. A few conversations stopped to acknowledge my presence, but I just nodded and kept going.
“Liam?” Katie called out from behind me.
I lifted my hand and waved it in her direction. “I’ll be right back,” I said as I kept scanning the faces around me for Sabrina.
Thankfully, Katie seemed more concerned about not losing whatever deal she was making with Dirk than following me. The last thing I needed was her complicating things more than she already had.
I started to panic as I searched in vain. Where had that woman gone?
“Are you looking for the lady with the baby? The one you came in with?”
I turned to see a waitress with a tray full of champagne flutes. She looked at me with earnest concern.
“Yeah,” I said as I scanned the room once more. “Have you seen her?”
“She was looking for a bathroom.” The waitress nodded her head toward the back of the room. “She seemed panicked.” Her smile was sympathetic.
“Oh,” I said as I glanced in the direction she’d motioned and started walking. “Thanks,” I said over my shoulder.
“Sure.”
If she said anything further, it was lost on me. I was a man on a mission. When I got to the row of bathroom doors, I gently knocked on each one. Thankfully, most were empty, but a male voice sounded behind one, saying that it was occupied, and I offered a quick apology before I moved on.
When I got to the final door, I knocked. I prayed that she was still in there and hadn’t hightailed it out of the gala without talking to me. Chicago was a big city. There were a lot of places she could hide.
“Occupied.” A soft, feminine voice came from inside.
I frowned. It sounded like it could be Sabrina, but it was too muffled for me to be sure. I wanted to let her know that I was out here. That if she needed my help—no matter what had happened—I was here to help her. I knocked again.
“Occupied.” The voice was louder and more forceful this time.
I was feeling more confident that it was, in fact, Sabrina.
“Sabrina?” I asked as I moved closer to the door.
When there was no immediate response, I began to fear that I was harassing some random woman just trying to pee.
“Liam?”
Thank goodness. My body relaxed as I leaned on the door. I was grateful that I’d found her, and equally grateful she hadn’t left.
“Hey, everything okay?” I reached out and traced my finger along the wood grain of the door.
“Yeah…” There was a hesitation to her response that told me things really weren’t okay.
“Listen, it’s totally normal if something happened. I’m here for you. Can I get you anything?”
I didn’t want her to be embarrassed. Bathroom issues were a human thing. I knew she wanted to be strong, independent. That she didn’t want me to help her out because she was my assistant. But sometimes, accidents happened.
“I…um…”
I hesitated, waiting to see if she was going to finish her sentence. “I can have a driver go get you a change of clothes. That’s no problem.” I tapped my fingers on the door, wanting her to open it. But I understood this probably wasn’t a part of herself that she wanted me to see.
“It’s my shirt.”
I paused. Her shirt? That was not what I had been expecting. “Throw up?” Was she sick? The desire to take care of her surged through me. Then, fearing that I embarrassed her, I moved to add, “Whatever it is, I can help you.”
I waited, hoping she could hear my sincerity. I wasn’t going to leave her. I would be here until she let me in. Until she let me help.
I rejoiced inside when I heard the door’s deadbolt disengage.
Then, slowly, the door opened, revealing Sabrina.
Her lips were pursed as she stared at me.
She didn’t look sick. I ran my gaze over her to see that the front of her white blouse was covered in a giant brown stain.
When I met her gaze once more, I offered her an apologetic smile.
She stepped to the side and waved me in.
“How’re you feeling?” I asked. I was standing in the bathroom, and she had moved out of the way so the door could close behind me.
“Fine,” she said as she made her way over to Samuel, who was strapped down on the changing table. “Little man was covered in it, but, thankfully, I had a change of clothes for him.” She glanced at me from over her shoulder.
I raised my eyebrows. “He was covered in it?” That was…impressive.
Sabrina knitted her eyebrows together. “Yeah,” she said slowly.
“Wow.” I glanced around and then realization dawned on me. “Oh!” I said before I started to smile. “Samuel had a poop explosion.” I felt like an idiot.
“Yes, of course.” Sabrina paused. “Who did you…” Her voice trailed off as her cheeks reddened and her eyes went wide. “You thought I had an accident?”
I shrugged. “From the way the waitress talked, it was the only conclusion I could make.”
Sabrina’s eyes remained as wide as saucers as she stared at me. Her skin was flushed and her lips were fluttering like she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words.
She looked beautiful.
“What’s the big deal? Adults have accidents, too,” I said as I folded my arms and stared her down. I knew I should probably drop the topic, but I enjoyed watching her squirm. She spent so much time trying to prove to me that she didn’t need help, and yet she was human, just like anyone else.
I liked her needing me.
“I didn’t—” She pinched her lips together as she glared at me. “I know adults can have accidents, but I didn’t.” She waved her hand toward herself.
I let my gaze settle on the stain on the front of her shirt before I brought it up to meet hers. I raised my eyebrows and gave my best “you sure about that?” expression.
“This is from Sam—” She pursed her lips again, like she was just realizing that I was teasing her and that she’d fallen right into the trap. “You know what, I don’t think I need your help anymore.” She started walking toward me like that was all it was going to take for me to leave.
She was going to have to physically throw me out.
“You sure about that?” I asked. She was standing right next to me now. I didn’t budge as I stared down at her. “I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to fit into Samuel’s clothes.”
She stared straight ahead. I could see the internal battle taking place before she slowly lifted her gaze to meet mine.
“And you have something I can use?” She raised her eyebrows as if to punctuate her words.
“Maybe.” I gave her a wink.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m all ears.”
I started to shrug off my jacket. Sabrina took a step back, her gaze falling to my chest. I handed my suit coat to her. “Here.”
Once it was out of my hands, I grabbed the collar of my t-shirt and pulled it off in one swift movement.
I reveled in the way her cheeks reddened and her eyes widened slightly as her gaze dropped to my bare chest. Then, as if she’d suddenly realized that she had been staring, she flicked her gaze up to meet mine.
I wasn’t shy in letting her know that I’d seen her stare. And I wasn’t shy about letting her know that I’d enjoyed it.
“You can wear this,” I said, handing my t-shirt over to her.
She took a step back. “I can’t. What are you going to wear?”