Chapter 4 #2
However, it wasn’t his jeans, his shirt, or even that sexy cowboy hat that did it for me.
Nope, Liam had something about him that drew me in.
A silent danger mixed with the hero I remembered from the playground.
While always brooding, he never hesitated to don a smile for me.
Only me. It was one of the reasons I knew from the start that Liam would be mine.
“Hey,” I grinned, letting my eyes roam over him a second time. “You look handsome.”
“Thank you. You’re as beautiful as ever.”
Glancing down at my outfit, I shrugged. “Thank you.”
I was going for nonchalant, but inside, my stomach swarmed with butterflies. It might only be dinner with his family, but I’d been waiting for this moment for so long.
And it was finally happening.
“You didn’t invite me upstairs.”
Cocking my head to the side, I smiled at him. “Did you need to come upstairs?”
“I wanted to pick you up at the door.”
“Well, this door will have to do. Unless you want me to go upstairs and do it all again.”
“We’d better not. Ma will wonder where we are.”
“We can’t disappoint your mother. She’s probably been plotting this with my mother for the past five years. There’s a lot riding on how things turn out tonight.”
“I’m a little surprised they didn’t invite both our families.”
“I wouldn’t put it past them.”
He held out his arm for me, and I slipped my hand inside, immediately relishing in the warmth of his body.
“I really hope you’re up for this. You know your mother won’t go easy on you tonight.”
“Not just my mother. Jeff will be there as well. Along with Krista and Lizzy.”
“The whole family, huh?”
“Intimidated?”
“Not at all,” I scoffed. “I love your sisters.”
“And Jeff?”
“I’m pretty sure Jeff will cause more trouble for you than me.”
We reached his truck and he opened the door, holding his hand out to help me up.
“Thank you.”
As he closed the door, I took a moment to calm the butterflies in my stomach. But the moment he opened his door and climbed in, they returned with a vengeance.
His eyes met mine in a heated stare for a good thirty seconds, pinning me to my seat.
Swallowing hard, I shook my head. “What?”
“You look beautiful.”
“You already said that.”
“Just thought you should hear it again.”
When he started the truck and took off, I decided I wasn’t going to wait around for more. I slid closer to him and took his hand in mine, slightly surprised when he gave a small squeeze.
“So, what did you have in mind for tonight?”
“You mean, other than dinner?” he asked, glancing my way.
“Well, this is technically our first date. You did ask me to dinner.”
“With our parents,” he pointed out. “I’m not sure that really counts as a first date.”
“You picked me up.”
“Not at the door.”
“And you held my hand.”
“You put your hand in mine.”
Frustrated, I huffed in annoyance. “Are you going to fight me every step of the way?”
“Are you going to do my job the whole time?”
Yes, I was well aware that I tended to say things as they were, but it wasn’t because I was filled with confidence. In fact, it was just the opposite. Inside, I was a wreck, constantly worrying about everything. It just came out through my mouth instead of me shoving it deep down.
“You know, you never did tell me what finally inspired you to dance with me.”
When he didn’t say anything, I decided to switch tactics.
“Have you dated many women from around town?”
“What?” His head snapped to mine, and I finally got a reaction.
“Well, you hear rumors, but that’s about it. I guess I was just wondering how many women came before me.”
“No one came before you,” he answered, not that I believed him.
“There was Susy…She came into the bar about a year ago, bragging about how you took her out and showed her a good time. And then Dakota had quite the tales to tell after you were snowed-in together.”
If I thought about it hard enough, the churning nausea I felt when she told me every last detail would return in full force. The whole thing was a nightmare. “I have to say, I could have done without hearing about how you bathed her and laid in bed with her.”
“And you believe rumors?”
“Not particularly, but since you won’t answer my question—”
“I already did.”
I huffed out a laugh at that. “Yeah, I believe that. There’s no one but me.”
He slammed on the brakes at the entrance to his property, just at the gate. Slowly, he turned to face me, his gaze thunderous. “When I said there was no one, I meant there was no one. Is that clear enough for you?”
“I—” I closed my gaping mouth, unsure of what to say.
The intensity in his eyes made it perfectly clear I wasn’t meant to respond in any way other than agreeing with him. I found myself slowly nodding, believing every word out of his mouth. If he said there was no one else, then there was no one else.
But that raised a whole host of other questions.
Not that I had time to think about any of them. We were pulling up to the house before I realized we were even moving. I was too dumbstruck by the fact that he actually hadn’t been with anyone else from around town.
Because of me.
At least, that’s what I was taking from his bold statement. I suppose other women might read more into it than I did. But I was holding back until I heard the words from his lips.
“Stay there,” he muttered as he shut off the truck.
I nodded, still stuck on those words. There was no one before you. No one before me. As in…no one ever? What about—
The door was flung open, and Liam stood in front of me, holding out his hand, patiently waiting for me to take it. Sliding out, I allowed him to catch me by the hips and lower me to the ground.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you quite so quiet before,” he teased.
Taking in every button on his shirt, I raised my eyes up to the collar of his shirt, where his Adam’s apple bobbed as he chuckled. I raked my eyes over his strong jaw peppered in a day’s growth of hair, over his thick lips, and his curved nose with a slight bump at the bridge.
Finally…finally, I met his dark brown eyes, staring into them for the first time since we danced together. I was in his arms again, but time stood still as we gazed at each other.
“Are you two coming inside, or should we feed dinner to the chickens?”
I flushed bright red, dropping my gaze. I was never shy around Liam, but for some reason, being caught by his family made things worse.
“We should go inside,” his low voice rumbled.
I nodded, finally looking back up at his handsome face. “Maybe we’ll get a surprise and my parents will be in there as well.”
He smirked at that, taking my hand in his as we walked to the front porch where his sister Krista waited for us with a satisfied grin on her face.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I interrupt a moment?” she asked Liam, but then she turned to me and squealed, grabbing my hands in a tight squeeze. “I knew this would happen. I told him before to ask you out, but he never would. So, I tried setting him up with all these other horrid women around town—”
“Krista,” Liam cut her off. “If you say it all now, what will we talk about at dinner?”
“Oh, so true.” She turned with a flurry, heading inside.
Her voice rang out, letting everyone know of our arrival, not that she needed to announce it. Her mother’s face was smooshed up against the glass when we walked up to the house.
Speaking of…Clara Parker rushed over to me, her hair pulling from the pins in her hair in a frizzy mess.
Wrapping her arms around me, she squeezed me tight before stepping back, holding me at arm’s length.
“Well, I just knew this day would come. I didn’t expect it to take so long,” she huffed, “but never mind. Here we are.”
“It’s nice to see you again, Mrs. Parker.”
“Clara, please. I think we’ve known each other long enough for you to call me by my given name.”
Then she turned to her son. “I don’t know what took you so long to bring this dear girl around, and we won’t talk about it now, but I hope we can all move forward now.”
I bit my lip, holding back my laughter at her scolding. Then I was dragged off toward the kitchen where the most delicious pot roast was cooking. As she rambled about giving me the recipe, I tried to listen, but my eyes drifted to him.
And he was staring at me.