Page 28 of The Love Chase

Liam gave me a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, his hands in his pockets and his shoulders tense.

“Can we talk?”

I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to make it clear I wasn’t about to let him inside. “About what?”

Liam’s shoulders hunched higher. “You don’t have to do this, Em.”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “Bridget sure made it sound like I do.”

“Bridget can get over it. I would never ask you to be a part of this life.”

“Because I’m not good enough to be part of it, right?” I didn’t know where the words came from, but they were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

Liam blinked at me, and his lips parted. “What? Of course that’s not—”

“Because why would you want to marry me, the girl you grew up with and did everything with when you could have one of those flawless, beautiful California girls?”

What are you doing, Emma? Stop saying this stuff. You’re going to reveal your feelings to him!

I took a deep breath, pressing my palms into my sides. I needed to calm down before I said something I couldn’t take back.

Liam’s face fell. “Em, that’s not it at all.” He took a step toward me, and I was helpless to stop him as he took one of my hands in his. “I’m trying to protect you, that’s all. I care too much about you to let you be thrown to the wolves. This life…it can be brutal and I don’t want that for you. You deserve to marry someone you love, and be here, in Meridel, happy and safe and not constantly in the public eye.”

“What about all those other women?” I retorted. “Are you sure you can live without them for a year?”

When I had first seen the tabloids about Liam Walker being a womanizer, I couldn’t believe them. There was no way that the boy I grew up with, shared my secrets with, spent nearly every moment with, could be that. He certainly wasn’t like that in Meridel. But when the tabloids kept coming, kept shoving photos in my face of Liam kissing other girls, or in scandalous places, there was only so much I could do to fight the doubt creeping through my veins.

It was like being punched in the face repeatedly. After a while, I just didn’t have the strength to fight anymore and started believing them.

And with Liam’s family always ignoring him, why wouldn’t he relish being in the spotlight for once? Why wouldn’t he enjoy himself?

He didn’t belong to me. He wasn’t mine.

I shouldn’t have even been angry about it.

But that’s the funny thing about love. It’s not always rational; it doesn’t always make sense.

Liam sighed, running his hand through his hair. “That’s not me, Em. You should know me well enough to believe that. I just…when I moved out there, I was so desperate for someone to see me, notice me, especially after being invisible at home my whole life, that I started searching for attention in the wrong places. It felt…good to have women want me. And when I started appearing in the tabloids, even though it was negative attention, it still felt like people were finally seeing me.”

His green eyes met mine. “I know it was the wrong kind of attention, and eventually it just evolved into me being in the wrong places at the wrong time. But I just wanted people to see me, Em. I never cared about those girls. Not like I care about you.”

Something about his words cracked through my anger and hurt, and for the first time, I really looked at Liam. I could see it in his face—the loneliness, the sadness. I had seen firsthand what his childhood was like, how his family ignored him, so it made complete sense that he had felt that way. I mean, hadn’t I always silently begged Liam to see me?

Yes, he was chasing his dream of making music, but at what cost? I thought he didn’t want me involved in this scheme because I wasn’t good enough to fit the bill of Liam Walker’s wife, that the public would never believe I could be his wife.

But what if he was telling the truth? What if he really was trying to protect me?

Didn’t I owe it to him, and the friendship we used to have, to do the same? Bridget made it sound like Liam really needed this marriage to continue making music. He had worked so hard to get where he was, and even though I was still upset with him, I knew deep down I’d do anything to help protect him.

As that realization settled into me, the decision was made in my mind.

I was going to marry Liam if that’s what it took to help him.

I couldn’t meet his eyes as I said quietly, “I’ll do it, Liam. I’ll be your wife.”

When I said those words, something flared in his eyes, but it was too quick to decipher what it was.

“Are…are you sure?” The expression on his face was somewhere between happy and regretful. I tried to silence the fear attempting to swallow me whole.

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