Page 12 of Liam

She keeps looking out the window trying to hide her smile, but I see that shit. I held out for years because we wanted to wait until I was out of the SEALs before working on a relationship. But now I am out of the SEALs, and all bets are off. And waiting is becoming more and more painful.

Being a SEAL is something you have to be determined to do, because it will forever change you. The shit I saw over there is tough. I had friends die, and some were captured. Tortured. That kind of shit will never leave you.

Over the years I learned that I will never deserve someone like Paisley, but now I don’t give a fuck. I am going to be selfish and I am going to have her anyway.

“What has you thinking so hard?”

Paisley

Liam is staring out the windshield intensely. “What has you thinking so hard?” I ask.

He tilts his head toward me, a smile tugging at his lips. “You.”

I arch an eyebrow, my stomach knotting. “Me?”

He lifts my hand to his mouth, where he presses a gentle kiss. I shiver. “Yes, you.” He smirks.

“You’re sweet.” My stomach is in knots.

I love this side of him. He is smiling sweetly at me, which is something I rarely see from him. He looks at me fully. “Only to you.”

My heart. I am not sure I can take sweet Liam right now. I hide my face, trying to hold back the smile and not look like a loon.

We pull up in front of the nicest restaurant in town. Liam opens my door and lifts me from the truck.

Liam doesn’t have a beard like most of the other guys. He is clean-shaven, but he has a rugged look that is just all man.

“I am starving,” I tell him, and my stomach growls for the tenth time since we left. I am surprised he hasn’t heard it.

He laughs. “I know.” He looks pointedly at my stomach.

My mouth opens in shock, and I smack his chest lightly, pretending to be mad. He laughs harder, tugging me into his side for a small hug, which has me smiling like a loon once again. He doesn’t let me go. His arm is still wrapped around me, pressing me against his side, as we walk inside the restaurant. He gives his name and we are soon seated.

I fully expect him to sit in front of me, but he picks up his chair and sits beside me once again. I like it. It’s different from what a lot of guys do. Honestly, it makes me feel protected. I also feel like he wants me to be close to him—but most of all I feel protected.

Just being in his presence gives me a sense of security I haven’t had since I was sixteen. He just has this presence about him.

“You know this feels strange,” I confess to him.

His brow furrows in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“This is our first date,” I whisper, looking at the restaurant around us.

He kisses my temple. “Fucking adorable.” He opens his menu.

I pinch the side of his leg. “I am not adorable.”

He laughs and gives me a look telling me I am being ridiculous. “Baby, you’re beautiful and you fucking know it.”

I smile, ducking my head to look at the menu. I am someone who is pretty confident in who she is because it was ingrained in me. Dad told me to accept who I was and be comfortable with who I was.

So I am.

Liam’s hand rubs my back gently. Even though he is not saying anything, it’s his way of letting me know he is present. It’s the little things like this I notice the most. Even from across the room, he will look at me, make eye contact, and go back to his conversation. In high school he would lock eyes with me, making sure I was okay, and then he would go back to his class.

High school was, honestly, a rough time for me because everyone knew what went down with the school janitor. Many of the girls went around saying I attacked him.

A lot of the guys were even worse because they thought it was my fault. They had the idea in their heads that I was easy. These guys included Tony and his friends.

---