Page 82 of The Reno
Liam’s other hand grazed where my shorts met my thighs. “Driving me mad in these shorts. When I saw you in them the first time at your house.” His hand moved further up, and I shivered. “I didn’t know where to look. I thought it was a good thing you kicked me out. It was a good thing you didn’t want to hire me. Because at least I didn’t have to see you in these shorts.”
I inhaled sharply, lust-addling my thoughts for a moment. Then, I remembered where I was and who said those words to me.
“Liam. What are we doing?”
It was like a pint of water had been thrown on Liam’s head. He stepped back, and I watched him subtly rearrange his boxers.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—” Liam ran his hands throughhis hair. “I swore to myself I wouldn’t go there, even when I wanted to. Then, I couldn’t deny it anymore. Not when you felt so good in my arms when we danced.” His eyes followed my curves, lighting little fires across my hips and my legs. “So I told myself I would ask you out properly once I spoke to Yasmin.”
I gasped. “What—you. You want to ask me out?”
“Yas and I agreed to give each other a heads-up when we started seeing someone seriously so we didn’t confuse Abigail. It’s not the kind of conversation I wanted to have over the phone. They were due back tomorrow. But then they came over this morning—”
“Wait—Liam. What are you saying?”
Liam took the final step and closed the space between us. My hands couldn’t help but wrap themselves into his hoodie. It was softer than I expected, and my squirrel brain idly wondered if he had a thing for cashmere. I could see the flecks of gold in his brown eyes and ridiculously long, dark eyelashes. His eyes searched mine, then got caught on my lips.
“I like you, Kat.”
“You like me.”
“I like you. I think I’ve liked you since you ran at me with a lamp.” His lips twitched. “Or maybe since you called me a prick in the church car park. I liked you even more when you were determined to renovate a house all by yourself, with absolutely no experience.” He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. “And I couldn’t resist helping you because when your beautiful face drops in disappointment, it’s like a punch to my stomach. I can’t stand it.” Liam shook his head, like he still couldn’t quitebelieve it himself. “So yeah. I like you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I annoy you.”
“You don’t annoy me.”
“Liar! I’ve seen it on your face!”
Liam gave me a small smile. “I think you’re entertaining. Chaotic. Captivating. But you don’t annoy me. Usually.”
“‘Usually’ implies I annoy you sometimes.”
“You’re annoying me now.”
“Prove it.”
“Okay.” He stepped back. “Well, I agreed to renovate your house, and I saved you from a collapsing tent.”
“That was just to gloat.” I crossed my arms.
Liam smiled. “That was just a bonus. I fixed the lock on your house because I couldn’t stand the thought of you not being safe. I make you dinner every night because I refuse to let you starve. And ’cos a bag of crisps doesn’t count as dinner.” He took a step forward, standing in front of me. “And there is the fact I can’t stop thinking about you all the fucking time. I can’t get you out of my head.”
Breath left my lungs at his words, but a bit of me couldn’t believe what he was saying.
“But when I kissed you, you looked like you wanted the ground to swallow you up.”
Liam looked at me through dark eyelashes. “I didn’t want the ground to swallow me up. You were tipsy. And you’d had a rough day. You were grieving, and I didn’t want to… take advantage.Knowing you might not be in control of all your decisions. That you might regret it.” Liam’s face tightened. “I’ve woken up and regretted things I’ve done before. It’s not a pleasant feeling.”
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.
“It’s fine,” he said, twirling a lock of my hair around his finger.
My eyes were laser-focused on his earnest face as he shared this with me. This was so new, so delicate. We were both walking on a tightrope, both scared to look down. His eyes met mine, then flickered to my mouth. I felt a swoop in my stomach.
