Page 92 of All Signs Point to Malibu

I press my hands against his chest. “I was manipulating you.”

He holds tight. “I don’t think that’s all it was.”

“Believe me, it was.” I take a deep breath. Time to fess up. As much as I possibly can. I open my mouth...

But suddenly, Liam’s is pressed against it, preventing me from voicing any argument. I gape in surprise and he takes it as an opening—literally—to shove his tongue into mine.

I expect the “kiss” to have impact, despite the ill-timed nature and the fact that I’ve gotten over these feelings for him. But it doesn’t. No lingering sentiments of first love coming back to tug at heartstrings. No memories of fiery passionate kisses from our youth to cloud the mind. No sense of longing or fulfillment...

Just guilt and a slight repulsion.

Liam’s actually a really bad kisser.

Not the point. Pull it together, Hailey!

I try to push him away, but his grip on me tightens and my panic only increases when I hear the first gasp from a guest below, which ultimately leads to chaos and me running for my life.

SEVENTEEN

HAILEY’S DAILY RULE FOR SUCCESS:

When all else fails, try the truth.

The empty football field is illuminated by floodlights, and a summer breeze rustling the palm trees is the only sound in the quiet, empty neighborhood. Warren, still in his tuxedo shirt and pants, sits in the bleachers, lost in thought as I approach.

“Hi,” I say nervously when he doesn’t look at me. I’ve been walking and thinking all evening—unsure what to do or where to go...until my heart led me here.

He continues to stare off across the field, body leaning forward, hands folded, elbows resting on his knees. He looks deep in thought.

“I know what it looked like...”

He turns toward me. I’d expected anger but not the hurt reflecting in his eyes. It’s painful to see, but also a slight relief to know that his feelings are genuine enough to be this upset.

“I just can’t believe I actually thought you were being honest when you said you weren’t trying to stop the wedding.” He shakes his head as though the disappointment is more at himself than me.

“Warren, I swear to you, I wasn’t.” I want to assure him of that, but more importantly, I want to assure him that his feelings and trust in me are still valid. That I have changed in these last few weeks and what we had was real. I know I need to deal with the Liam and Sonia fiasco and I will—with them—but right now, I want to fix what’s going on with Warren, with us.

Or what could be us.

“Yet you kissed the groom. Moments after you kissed me, by the way.”

“He kissed me!”

Warren scoffs.

“Oh come on, do you really think I would have kissedyouif I was going to make a last second play for Liam?” That would be ridiculous. He has to realize that.

“Honestly, Hailey, I’ve given up trying to figure you out.”

Hurtful, but fair.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve felt the same way about myself numerous times. I take a deep breath. “I’m sorry about everything.” Seems like a good place to start. “I’m just as devastated about what happened as everyone else.” I wasn’t there to see the aftermath as I was running for my life, but my heart aches when I think about what Sonia is going through right now, how conflicted Liam must be, and how their family and friends are dealing with it...not to mention Liam’s career prospects with the Bankses moving forward and how this all impacts the new resort chain.

Warren scoffs again. “I doubt that. Sonia’s a mess and her family are really upset.”

“You’ve spoken to Sonia?” I’d expected him to be atLiam’s side throughout the chaos.

“Someone had to clean up the mess after you and Liam both bailed.”

---