He groaned. A low, keening sound that actually sounded painful.
“Liam?” I worried, reaching across the table, unable to just sit there. Compelled to comfort him.
He watched my hands slide close, snapped his stormy gaze up to mine, and moved. The tall, wooden backing on his booth shuddered under the pressure of his movement. In one smooth measure, he slid onto the bench beside me, his body pushing mine to the side.
“What are you doing?” I gasped.
Even when we were talking about how he crushed my heart, I still couldn’t breathe when he touched me.
His torso rotated toward me. His wide hands came up, holding my face firmly so I couldn’t look anywhere but at him. “I didn’t kiss her.”
“I saw you.” I tried to pull away.
“She threw herself at me, and I shoved her off. I didn’t want Kelsey. I didn’t want anyone but you.”
His admission slammed into me. “Don’t play games with me.” I warned, my voice shaky.
“I swear to fucking God, Bellamy. You can ask my father. I went to his office just before to tell him I couldn’t go. I told him I loved you and that I had to stay.”
My mouth opened, but no sound came out. No air got in. If his hands weren’t still pinning me in place, I’d have fallen back.
“Breathe,” he murmured, reminding me.
I sucked in some air.
His eyes turned tender. The storm clouds receded, leaving behind a sterling gray. Liam dipped his head and pressed a soft, quick kiss to the corner of my lips.
“I waited that morning. I waited so fucking long. My manager was livid. I shoved Kelsey off and went back to waiting… and you never came.”
“You kissed her.”
“No.” He shook his head. “She kissed me.”
I started to shake my head. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. To know something as absolute for eight years, something that changed me forever, and then find out that absolute wasn’t so concrete as you thought…
If I’d only said something. If only…
“I was going to assure you I’d make it work. I was going to vow it.”
I made a sound.
His eyes bounced between mine, his stare so open and sincere.
“I thought you lied to me,” I whispered. “I thought you’d said what I wanted to hear to get what you wanted.”
“No, baby. I wouldn’t.”
“I’d heard all the rumors about you. Everywhere I went, the staff was talking. Gossiping. I’d seen that girl around. I’d seen her hanging on you. I—”
“I tried to call you after you went back to California.”
“I didn’t answer.”
“I know.”
“You gave up,” I whispered, sorrowful.
“I did.”
Abruptly, he let go of my face and tugged me into his chest. I fit perfectly. His body formed around mine like a glove. I shuddered as I was battered with emotions and feelings.
“I never should have given up.” He moaned into my ear.
Clutching the front of his T-shirt, I buried my face. Liam pulled me away, and I tried to curl back into him.
“Bells.”
I lifted my chin.
“I never stopped loving you. Never. Even when I tried.”
“Me either,” I murmured, rubbing the place above my heart.
Liam palmed my chin with one hand and pushed it up, descending upon my lips in a single motion.
If I hadn’t believed his words, his kiss couldn’t lie. It was the kind of kiss that left you naked, the kind that whispered directly into your heart. His arms clutched me so close it was as if we were one body. His fresh snow scent rose and wrapped around me, making me feel claimed and protected all at once.
It was a completely inappropriate kiss for a restaurant.
For anywhere with more than just the tow of us. I kissed him back equally, not giving a damn where I was or who could see.
I’d almost died more than once in my life, and I thought for sure I’d never see him again. I thought I would never feel this way.
But here he was. In my arms. Crawling under my skin. Owning every single beat of my heart.
The sound of a throat clearing broke into the haze.
It cleared again.
Liam lifted his head, looked over his shoulder.
When his body tensed, mine did, too. My hands curled back into his shirt. He moved so he was blocking me completely from whoever was standing there.
“Your tacos are ready,” the waiter said, his voice a little disbelieving but also kind of awed.
I couldn’t help it. I giggled.
Liam’s broad shoulders shook under his silent laugh.
“Set ‘em down right here, friend. I just worked up a hella appetite.”
I gasped.
Oh my God! That was terribly embarrassing!
The waiter chuckled. “Guess it’s a good thing you have a back booth.”
Liam cleared his throat. “Yeah. Sorry about that, man. No disrespect was meant. I just, ah, got caught up in the moment.”
“Sometimes passion cannot wait,” he replied graciously. Once we had everything we needed for the tacos, he slipped away, into the back.
I fell over into Liam’s side. “Go back to your seat!” I hissed, shoving him.
He didn’t even budge. Not one inch.
“Hell no. I’m staying put.” As if to prove his point, he kicked up both his long legs up beneath the table and used his former seat as a footrest. Then, he slung out one arm across my shoulders. “Eat up, Bells. These tacos are bomb.”
He proceeded to shove half a soft-shelled taco into his mouth and groan.
My stomach was still flipping and flopping all over the place. My hands were still trembling and my mind still in shock over what he’d said.
“It’s gonna be fine, now, Bells,” Liam told me, settling a little firmer against me. “Now that I know what happened, I can fix it.”
“It’s not that easy,” I murmured, glancing at the food. It looked pretty damn good. The pico de gallo looked homemade.
He paused in chewing and glanced at me. “The hell it isn’t,” he announced. “I’m not making the same mistake twice.”
My heart fluttered, sort of the way a hummingbird’s wings did. So fast. So furiously.
“Things are different now,” I said, laying my head against his shoulder. “I’m different.”
“You still feel perfect to me.”
I sighed.
He took a sip of his drink, then spoke. “I know you’re talking about whatever made you run here. And I don’t give a damn about that either.”
“People want me dead, Liam,” I said quietly. So quiet I was hoping he might not hear.
He heard.
The taco in his hand fell onto the plate with a slap. He angled himself to look down, still keeping me tucked under his arm. “Come again?”
I nodded, not willing to say the words twice. “It’s not safe for you to be around me.”
“I lived the last eight years of my life without you. I couldn’t move on no matter what I tried. It was fucking miserable, Bells. I’m not doing it again. Never again.”
“You might not have a choice.”
He laughed. It wasn’t a friendly, warm sound. It was cold. Cold as the snow he lived in. Maybe even colder. “Nothing and no one will take you away from me again.”
I didn’t say anything. I mean, what could I say to that? I was torn between spilling everything and saying nothing to try and protect him.
The first rule of witness protection was to say nothing.
Liam already knew too much.
“Eat your taco’s, sweetheart,” he said, going back to eating. “You can tell me about every single flavor you taste.”
I didn’t think I was going to be able to eat.
But I did.
I ate almost the entire plate, and then Liam finished the rest. He wasn’t kidding. These tacos were the best I ever ate.
I knew Liam thought we could just pick right up where we left off. But we couldn’t. It was impossible.
And when he finally realized that, we would both know heartbreak all over again.