Page 46 of Adoration: Isn't What It Seems (Love Isn't What It Seems 2)

“I don’t have a babysitter nor a date.” Her answer was calm, but there was an undertone of sadness and anger in it. I wondered if her friend on the other end could sense it too.

“Thank you, but no,” Her voice displayed annoyance. She was so expressive in every single way, so opposite of me.

“I don’t want a blind double date.” Seemed her friend could not sense her emotions since Liberty pretty much shouted into her phone, agitated. “It won’t be good for me. And I don’t have a babysitter. Seriously, Layla!”

Ah, it was Layla. Those three were an odd team. I couldn’t believe that her, Lena, and Layla got along and were best friends. All three of them were such opposites. Layla was pretty much a gold digger, Lena was the gentle one, and Livy was just everything right. I winced slightly, there were only two of them now.

“Ah, shit.” She sounded sad. “I’m sorry too, Layla. It’s been rough two weeks. I shouldn’t have flipped out like that.” Livy was passionate, explosive, independent, and protective about people she loved. We had more in common than she thought.

She kept apologizing when really she was the one that was going through a rough time. Getting a kid overnight must have been hard. She looked exhausted lately, but was doing good all things considered.

Her court date would be established soon. I wanted to give her some time to work through her grief with her nephew but I didn’t want to risk her losing her godchild. I could see how much she cared about him, how much she loved him.

I wanted to fix all the mess in her life, make it all better for her. For the first time in my life, I wanted to provide for a woman, give her everything and anything she needed. I wanted to see her happy and cherished. I wanted to hold her at night, feel her desire and passion instead of her sadness.

I watched her, feeling like a complete voyeur, wanting to take that phone away and bend her over that desk. I thought each day this pull she had over me would lessen but it only got stronger. I wanted her underneath me, naked and focused on me. I wanted that lush mouth of hers full of my cock. I wanted those eyes worshiping me, full of adoration for me, everyone before us forgotten. I needed to hear her voice, see her smile and craved those small things when she wasn’t around me. I even missed her moments when she berated me. I needed all of Liberty Rain Smith… her heart, her body, and her soul. It was a dangerous road to go down.

Her fingers tighten around her hair again. I clenched my fists to stop myself from reaching for her. I wanted my hands in her hair, to feel her softness and grab her by her hair into my kiss. I needed to get my shit together.

“Liberty,” I called out to her. Her head whipped up and those amazing hazel eyes met me.

“How long have you been standing there?” Her voice was a soft whisper and I wondered if she realized it.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Liberty

He stood in front of me, completely put together in an expensive black suit, and my mind went back to the first day I met him. From the moment I saw him in the elevator, he looked in complete control, as if everything in his life was perfect. He was the opposite of me.

“Are you ok?” he asked and I blinked my eyes at him.

“Sure, why?” Maybe he could see that my life was a mess, or that I wasn’t keeping anything together.

“Looks like you are pulling your hair out,” he commented and I immediately pulled my hands out of my hair.

“I wasn’t,” I told him quickly. “Do you need anything?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but before any word came out, a woman’s voice reached us. “Alexander, darling.”

I turned towards it and saw a beautiful blonde woman strolling towards us, a big smile on her face and her eyes focused on Alexander only. It was the same woman from the nightclub. She wore a beautiful red Chanel dress, accenting her blonde hair and fair skin even more.

I glanced back to Alexander and was surprised to see his eyes were still on me. I raised my eyebrow in question.

“Alexander,” the woman spoke up again. “Are you blowing me off for work?”

I had to bite my tongue not to say something smart to that. She really opened the door wide with that question.

“Hello, Elizabeth,” he greeted her, his eyes leaving me, and I felt a little sting of jealousy and sadness. Such an odd combination.

Today has not been a good day for me at all. I felt tired, and I wasn’t sure how to make things better for Brandon and me. I was grateful I had a permanent job now, but I hated doing this. Every night after Brandon fell asleep, I tried to spend an hour on ghostwriting and research starting up a publishing company in the UK. Lena’s words telling me to do it kept coming back. Memories were haunting me and scaring me. I worried that I’d mess it up badly with Brandon, like I seemed to mess up everything else in my life.

Pushing the past and future out of my mind, I focused on the present. I couldn’t help but look between the two curiously. I had to admit, they looked like a picture perfect couple. Her blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair completion were in perfect contrast of his tall, dark frame. She was taller than my five foot five, but not nearly as tall as him.

Why in the hell am I still sitting here, staring at those two?

I stood up abruptly, and this time, she finally acknowledged me with her cold gaze. Oh, if looks could kill, I’d be a dead woman.

“Not drunk today?” she asked.

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