Page 67 of The Love Chase

My mind swirled in incessant thoughts about Emma and my feelings and her feelings for hours before I finally followed her into dreamland.

Emma

Okay, I might have been sick and delusional last night, enough to accidentally tell him how I felt, but I wasn’t so out of it that I didn’t hear Liam say that he thought he loved me too.

Or had I dreamed that?

The way he’d kissed me last night in the dressing room, and how protective he was of me, maybe hinted that it was real, but still…

Thankfully when I woke up, the nausea had disappeared, and it felt like the fever had broken since I was no longer sweating. My shirt was still damp, and it made me squirm. That’s when I realized Liam was still there, in the bed with me. His arm hung loosely over my hip, his breathing slow and even.

Suddenly hyper aware of how gross I was and the absolutely horrendous taste in my mouth, I carefully slid from the bed, trying not to rouse him, and went into the bathroom. Thankfully it didn’t smell like my sickness anymore, and I quickly turned the shower on, ready to get out of my sweaty pajamas.

Hoping to get back to bed before Liam woke—because, duh, I’d always dreamed of waking up to Liam—I took the world’s fastest shower, brushed my teeth, and threw on a clean pair of pajamas before I snuck back into the room. I wished I could have changed the sheets too, but that would have to wait. Ever so carefully, I slid into bed, trying to lift his arm back over me.

I might have been sick, and confused over all the feelings I was having, but who wouldn’t want Liam Walker to hold them?

I thought I had gotten away with it all until I pulled the blanket back over me and Liam’s hand moved to my stomach and fisted into my shirt.

“How are you feeling?” he asked. His voice was deep and husky and did weird things to my insides.

I rolled over, adjusting my wet hair so it was sprawled over the pillow. I would have dried it, but I hadn’t wanted to wake him up with the noise. Without missing a beat, Liam hooked his leg through mine, put his hand on my waist, and pulled me closer, so we were tangled together. Our faces were inches apart, and my breath shuddered out of me. I was immensely glad I’d gotten up to brush my teeth.

“Better than last night,” I said. “I will never be eating fish tacos again.”

Liam’s husky chuckle set my insides ablaze. “I’m sorry about the fish tacos.”

“Thank you for taking care of me,” I whispered. Our lips were so close all it would have taken was a shifting of my weight to kiss him.

Would he welcome a kiss? I still didn’t know if he’d meant what he said last night. Did he only say it because he thought I wouldn’t remember such a confession? Or had it slipped out? Had he meant to say it at all?

The questions were like a battering ram in my brain, and I just wanted to turn them off.

“I’m glad I could be here to take care of you,” Liam admitted. His fingers tightened in my shirt. “I don’t like seeing you miserable like that.”

His words brought the ghost of a smile to my dry lips. I automatically licked them, and even in the dim light, Liam’s eyes tracked the movement.

“I’m glad you’re here.” They were the only words I could say when those three words were on the tip of my tongue waiting to be uttered again. I really hadn’t meant to say them last night, but now that I had, I just wanted to say them again and again.

I wanted Liam to know that it wasn’t just a fever-induced confession. It was how I’d felt for years. But something kept my lips sealed and I couldn’t bring myself to say them again.

But…was it my imagination, or was Liam’s face getting even closer? His eyes flicked between my eyes and lips. I didn’t know what was going on between us. I didn’t know if he was finally reciprocating my hidden feelings after so many years, or if he was just getting caught up in the moment.

Part of me was sad at the thought. At the one-year mark of our marriage, would he take the first chance he could get to leave? Was he just making the best of the situation now? I mean, we were married. Technically, if he wanted to take advantage of that fact, he could, and I didn’t feel like stopping him. Was it wrong to live out my dream of being with Liam while I had the chance? Would it end in utter heartbreak at the end? Or would living in the moment, enjoying him, make him realize how good we would be together? Would he love me for real?

I could feel his breath as his lips hovered just above mine.

“Emma,” he said in a sigh, though it didn’t sound sad. It sounded like the moment before someone gives into their greatest desire after fighting it for so long.

The sound was enough for me to lace my fingers into his hair, and then his lips crashed into mine. He pressed his hands to my back and drew me against him, our bodies fitting together perfectly. Liam deepened the kiss, and I was immensely thankful I had brushed the sickness from my mouth.

We lost ourselves in each other’s arms, his lips trail ing kisses from my mouth to my jaw to my neck. When he finally slowed down, we were breathless, and I was tingling.

“Emma, you said something last night,” he said after a moment, and a lump rose in my throat.

The beast of fear that lived inside of me all these years reared its ugly head.

It was enough to prompt me to say, “I don’t remember anything.”

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