Page 59 of The Love Chase

“Liam, come on,” Bridget chided. “Be reasonable. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with how she looks now.”

“There’s nothing right either. If I’m going to introduce her to the world as my wife, I want her to look like Emma Walker, not every other girl trying to be her.” His chest was heaving. “Emma is enough just as she is. That’s final.”

He turned to me, his eyes softening. “Take the makeup off and put on whatever you wore here.” The small smile he gave me was enough to spur me into action.

“Liam—” Bridget started, but he held up a hand.

“I don’t want to hear it. I may have agreed to this marriage, but I will not present a fake version of Emma to the public.”

Bridget was silent for a moment, her head cocked like a predator sizing up its prey. “You might be legally married, Liam, but remember this was all fake to begin with. Or have you forgotten?”

“It’s real enough,” he bit back.

The world swayed around me, and my knees threatened to buckle. It’s real enough.

What the heck did that mean?

Did Liam have feelings for me? Or was I reading too much into it? Was he just protecting me?

Finally, Bridget scoffed and crossed her arms. “I hope you understand what you’re doing.”

He mimicked her posture. “I know exactly what I’m doing. Now if you’ll excuse us, Emma needs to change.”

I tried not to laugh as he shooed Bridget from the room, closing the door with a loud click before leaning against it and taking a big breath.

When Liam met my gaze, I felt the heat in it all the way down to my toes.

“Liam—”

“I’m sorry, Em. I never wanted you dragged into this life. I didn’t want you to feel like you needed to change to be with me. I didn’t want them to change you.”

His words took the breath straight out of my lungs, and he stalked across the room, closing the distance between us.

“You’re perfect the way you are. I wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t want to.” He took my hand and kissed the back of it. “If I’m going to introduce you to the world as my wife, I want you to feel comfortable—like you.”

All the words dried up on my tongue and even if I could’ve spoken, I had no idea what I would’ve said. In fact, all thoughts escaped entirely and before I even knew what I was doing, I was leaning onto my toes and pressing my lips to Liam’s.

There were a lot of reasons why I felt the need to kiss him—and even more reasons why I shouldn’t. But instead of breaking away, Liam’s hands went to my low back and pressed me into him. He was…kissing me back.

The next thing I knew, my back was against the wall, Liam’s body pressing into mine.

I had been kissed before—a couple times in high school—but none of them were ever like this. None of them had held me with reverent hands or kissed me with such heat, and it was a good thing the wall was supporting me, or my legs might have given out. I had only ever dreamed of this—forbidden fantasies of Liam and I ending up together even though I’d always known it was foolish to hope.

This didn’t feel foolish.

This felt right.

Breathless, Liam finally broke the kiss, resting his forehead against mine. His lips were curled in a smile.

“I don’t know how I ever lasted twenty years without kissing you,” he murmured. “I don’t know how I left you for two years.” Liam sighed, his hands tightening on my back.

That sure sounds like he’s caught feelings.

“I’m sorry, Emma. I’m sorry if I hurt you. That I left.” His words were whisper-soft, so quiet that I wondered for a moment if I had imagined them in the first place. Liam pressed another slow kiss to my lips before reluctantly letting me go.

“I should let you change.” His smile was the first real one I had seen on his face in days—weeks. “I’ll be right outside.”

Then he was gone, and I was tingling from head to toe.

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