Liam places his hand on my knee, giving it a slight squeeze. When he starts chuckling, I know my face must show mixed emotions.

I’m trying to make my body as small as possible, so I can be as far away as possible from the open door. I can’t stop the thoughts racing through my head. Will this seatbelt hold me? Will I feel like I’m going to fly out around curves? What if it flips? I have plans. I don’t want to die. Who takes doors off their car, anyway? Doors are important, Liam!

“Ready to go, babe?” Liam’s deep, rich voice pulls me from my panic. His hand runs over my hair before he places it on the back of my head, pulling me toward him. He rests his forehead against mine and inhales deeply, as if he is breathing me in. My panic starts to ebb away. His warm, chocolate eyes bring me to a peaceful state. Liam’s lips land on mine in a soft, gentle kiss.

“Savannah, I’d never let anything happen to you. It doesn’t matter if it’s keeping you safe while driving this Jeep, catching you if you trip, or protecting you from the boogie man. I will keep you safe.”

As much as his words calm me because there is no immediate threat right now—besides the lack of roof and doors—I know if this lasts between us, I’ll have to tell him the boogie man is no joke in my life. I have my own personal monster. He’s not here right now, but he will come for me.

I smash my lips against his in a hard kiss. “Let’s go, crazy pants. The things I will do for a sexy guy,” I say, muttering the last part under my breath.

“I better be the only sexy guy you do anything for, gorgeous.” He winks as he backs out and takes off down the street for what will hopefully not be imminent death.

“I think I can do this. This isn’t so bad,” I shout over the music to Liam.

He looks at me, not smiling, aviators in place. I can feel his eyes behind those lenses. He’s staring me down. “Baby, we’ve gone four houses to the stop sign. That ain’t nothing. You haven’t experienced anything yet.”

“Can we go at that pace the whole time? I’m sure we can just stick to surface streets, maybe keep the hazards on?”

“Why are you so freaked out?”

“I like my cars to have doors!”

He shakes his head like I’m joking. I’m not. He takes off through the stop sign at a faster speed. My hands clench the seat on either side of me. Wind starts to rush around us, the sun kissing our skin from above. My hair is flying around my face.

Wonderful. Another thing to love about this. I look like I have a bird’s nest on top of my head. At the next stop light, Liam says, “You look sexy.”

I laugh. “I didn’t think you were into bird’s nests.”

“You look like you’ve had a good tumble in the sheets. It’s got me imagining all kinds of things.” He gives me a crooked grin I can’t resist.

I pull a hair tie from my dress pocket and throw my hair on top of my head.

“That’s even better, baby. I love your neck. You have this tiny freckle right here,” he says, brushing his knuckle along the spot where my neck meets my shoulder. “I’ve been dying to suck on it.”

Heat creeps up my neck and blasts over my cheeks as Liam takes off down the road again. With my hair out of the way, I’m starting to enjoy the wind surrounding us. I tilt my face up to the sky to feel the sun touch my skin. With the combination of sun, wind, and Liam’s steady hand on my thigh, I feel stable. I feel peaceful. I feel content. I feel happy.

There haven’t been many times in the past few years where I’ve allowed myself to completely let go and enjoy smaller moments. With my eyes closed, enjoying every sensation around me, I’m letting myself be vulnerable. I can feel Liam’s gaze on me every few seconds.

I open my eyes and turn to him. The next time he glances over at me, a slow smile spreads across his face. It’s sexy and full of promises. My body heats, thinking of last night and what could come. I want to be with him, rub my hands over his abs, lick each crevice, but I’m not ready for him to see me that way.

I turn my face back to the road, sticking my arm out, and feel the wind bouncing, moving my hand like a wave. Country music croons through the speakers about sunny days, summer nights, and losing yourself in a kiss. We pull into a park that takes us to a beach of the local lake.

Liam smoothly drives over the hills and around the curves leading to the lake at the edge of the park. I drive by the lake daily, but I’ve never been down to the beach area where couples and families picnic and go fishing. We pull into a parking spot. As I unbuckle my seatbelt, I ask Liam, “Should I wait for you to come get the door for me?”

He chuckles. “Smartass.”

He does come around the front of his monstrous Jeep and helps me down. “I could have done that by myself, you know.”

“I know. I know you can do anything yourself. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to help you and doesn’t mean I won’t find any excuse to touch you.” He shoots me a wink before grabbing a cooler from the back of the Jeep. He grabs my hand and ushers me over to a table right on the water. The water laps at the table underneath. I take off my sandals, wanting to feel the sand between my toes and the cool water kissing my skin.

“I got some sandwiches from the deli near your house. Also brought beer, wine, and water.” He pulls out the bottle of wine.

“That’s one my favorites.” I smile, picking up the bottle. First my favorite flowers, now my favorite wine. I could get used to this.

He nods with confidence. “I know.”

“How do you know that?”

“A wise man never reveals his sources.”

I smile and shake my head—his grin widens and my heart races. I sit on the bench facing the water, watching boats and Jet Skis race in the distance. Just down the beach, two young girls play with their mom in the sand. Another couple is sitting farther off. It isn’t too crowded yet, but with this beautiful day, I know more people will arrive soon.

Liam starts to pull sandwiches from the cooler. It looks like he is ready to feed an army with how many he is setting on the table.

“Are we meeting people here?” I ask.

“Nope, just us for the day. I don’t want to share you.”

I look at him, confused. “Why is there so much food?” I ask.

He continues to pull out side dishes from the deli. Salads, chips, potato salad, coleslaw. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I just bought a little bit of everything.” He spreads his hands out, as if presenting me with the feast in front of my eyes. “Go ahead and choose what you want.”

“I would’ve eaten anything you brought, but thank you for this.” My heart melts at his thoughtfulness. I know he wants to make me happy, and he puts so much effort into making our time special. My heart warms at the thought of Liam standing in the deli getting one of each sandwich on the menu.

I find my favorite turkey sandwich among the mountain of food. I grab it, placing it in front of me while he chooses two beef sandwiches. We eat in a comfortable silence for a minute, listening to the small waves over the lake, engines of the boats, and laughter filling the air.

The hair on the back of my neck stands on end. I rub my hand along my neck and look around. More people have joined us under the sun, but I don’t see anyone looking our way. I can’t get rid of the sensation that we are being watched. I keep scanning the area and jump when Liam lays his hand on my back.

“Are you okay?” His features are laced with concern. He’s now looking around, too.

I mask my features as much as I can. My smile feels off. I nod my head once. “Yeah, I’m okay.” I still feel a stare penetrating my back, but I don’t want to admit to Liam that I feel the weight of a stare most places I go. I don’t want to admit that I expect things to be lurking around a corner. Liam keeps looking at me. He doesn’t believe me.

I drop my hand to his thigh and give it a squeeze, then I lean into him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I really am fine,” I lie. I know he doesn’t believe me as he scans my face, looking for the lie, but he reluctantly lets it drop. I grit my teeth and tell myself to focus on the now and what is right in front of me. I take a silent, deep breath and remind myself of one of my daily mantras, He’s in prison.