“Why?”
“I’ve always had a team of people deciding everything for me: the label, my agent, my manager, the press. I can’t even put on a pair of shoes without someone’s unwanted opinion. But this?” I place his hand over my heart. “This still belongs to me. Except it doesn’t because I gave it to you years ago and you didn’t even notice.” I scream the last sentence, letting every ounce of pain radiate through me.
A crack of thunder reverberates through me, but it’s got nothing on the intensity of Liam’s gaze. My chest heaves with each ragged inhale.
He doesn’t speak. I had hoped he would hear my words and ask me to stay, but my faith wanes with each passing moment, each lingering touch, and each stuttered breath.
He shakes his head. My hope shatters.
I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. I don’t want to be this weak girl begging to be loved. That’s not who I am—or maybe it is, and I just needed the right person to break my heart.
I let his hand drop and take one measured step back. When I look up, his expression is a mix of awe and indecision.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn't have come back.” I turn to leave, but he grabs my wrist to stop me.
I don’t dare move. He skates his thumb along my pulse point. Can he feel how hard my heart is beating?
“Goddamnit, Ruby. It’s impossible to do the right thing with you.” He’s on me like a shot, lifting me into his arms and shoving my back against the truck as he crushes his mouth to mine.
It’s not a soft kiss—it’s messy and passionate, and I want to fucking drown in it. The rain continues its assault, but I’m too caught up in Liam to care. I can’t tell if the goose bumps are from the cold or the man who is so thoroughly devouring me.
I pull back, gazing into the vibrant green depths that have held me captive from the moment I laid eyes on him.
Breathless, he brings our foreheads together. “I was too busy giving you my heart to notice I was already holding yours. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
I palm his cheek, reveling in the sense of rightness I feel when I’m with him. “That heart is the reason I fell in love with you in the first place. Your protectiveness, your willingness to put others before yourself. But there has to be a line, Liam. You can’t safeguard the world at the expense of your own happiness. And that happiness… it’s inextricably linked to mine, now. Your burdens are my burdens. I know you pushed me away out of some misplaced sense of guilt, but I won’t let it happen. This thing we’ve built, it’s worth fighting for.”
He kisses me again, but this time it’s slow and deliberate. My hands slide into his hair as I cling to him like I might die if I let go, and he holds me much the same.
When my feet finally touch solid ground again, and we regain some sense of composure, I wrap my arms behind his neck in the glow of the headlights.
“Dance with me,” I whisper.
“Here? Now? It’s pouring.”
“I’ve always wanted to dance in the rain with the man I love.”
Liam effortlessly twirls me under his arm and dips me backward. I squeal at the sudden movement, worried he might drop me, but when I look up into his eyes, I know without a shadow of a doubt he’d never let me fall.
He tugs me upright and wraps his arms around my back, swaying. “I’ve always wanted to be the man you love.”
“I do love you, Liam.”
“God, you have no idea what it’s like to finally hear those words.”
I smile. “Yes. I do.”
“I love you so fucking much.” He kisses me again. Softly. Deeply. Breathlessly.
We’re completely soaked through by the time we make it inside. Thankfully, no one's home, so we strip out of our clothes right there in the entryway.
Liam looks at me like he wants to eat me alive, and I can’t say I’m opposed to the idea, but my body is covered in goose bumps, and I’m shivering uncontrollably.
He lifts me into his arms bridal style and carries me up the stairs, depositing me in front of the sink. I glance at the tub longingly, but Liam shakes his head. “Next time. We need to warm you up.”
He starts the water and checks the temperature. Once he’s satisfied, he guides me under the hot spray and wraps me in his arms as the water washes away what little doubt remains between us.
“Say it again,” I whisper.
