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Then I stood, took Layla by the hand, and led her out of the bar.

17

LAYLA

My heart was racing.

My belly trembling.

I hadn’t planned any of this, but I couldn’t say I didn’t like where things were headed. Or, I guess, where I presumed they were headed.

That kiss.

That first kiss in eight years had felt like a dream come true, even with the restraint we both showed. I might have given in to some instinctual need when I put my hands on his face and touched my lips to his, but I didn’t do all that I could have. Perhaps all that I should have.

And Liam? I could still feel the bite of his fingertips on my hips, like he was channeling every ounce of energy and desire there.

What would happen when we were alone?

Liam hadn’t said a word to me since he led me out of the bar. He remained quiet and determined as he strodetoward the elevator with such purpose, leaving me scurrying to keep up. And he had refused to release my hand from the moment he grabbed hold of it.

My emotions were all over the place. Even if things felt like they were heading in a positive direction now, I couldn’t ignore all that had been said. Liam had given me more proof than I could have ever wanted or needed to show me just how much damage I’d done, how truly devastating my rejection of his proposal had been.

Regardless of the hurt I’d clearly inflicted, it seemed Liam wasn’t holding any grudges. At least not for now. Based on the way he’d responded to me kissing him—it nearly killed me to hear him admit he couldn’t remember what it was like to kiss me—I had to believe good things were ahead.

It was mostly his silence that had me questioning if I was misreading the situation. The Liam I knew wasn’t this quiet. He certainly wasn’t ever as angry or emotional as I’d seen him, either. I couldn’t be sure what to expect.

At this point, I could only go along with whatever he had planned for the two of us. For now, that meant keeping quiet and allowing him to take the lead.

I assumed he had some master key for the hotel and was aware of a room that would be unoccupied. The elevator doors opened, and we stepped off. Still silent, Liam led me down the hall, stopped, and opened the door to one of the rooms.

Something was building inside me. Excitement and anticipation, perhaps? Lust and desire, maybe? Or was it hope? Hope that perhaps I hadn’t destroyed everything.

Whatever it was, I had assumed it was good. But after we stepped into the room, he closed and locked the door behind us before pinning his stare on me. And there was something in that look that had me wondering if I’d misread everything.

Perhaps it wasn’t hopefulness or longing that my body was reacting to at all. Keeping my eyes on him, taking in his expression, it was fear and dread I was experiencing. It wasn’t that I was worried about my physical safety, though. No matter that I hadn’t seen or spoken to him in eight years, Liam would never lay a finger on me in anger. He could never be that man.

The fear came from something else. We’d gone from emotional and heartbroken to this. Were we setting ourselves up for something that might destroy us even worse, something we might not ever be able to come back from?

There was certainly intention behind these actions, and while it was easy to assume it could only ever be positive, there was no question that things had changed between us. This was almost too easy, too perfect.

“Are you still keen to help me remember?”

And there it was.

The way he spoke was so different than what I was accustomed to. It was a neon sign flashing a warning. This new side to him, something I was wholly responsible for creating, should have given me reason for pause, but the temptation to give in, to give him what he clearly wanted, was real.

“Liam, I think we?—”

“It’s a simple question, Layla. Yes or no. Do you still crave me the way I do you?”

Did I ever.

“Of course, but?—”

“So, are you going to finish what you started downstairs?”

Liam had stepped close, leaving no more than a few measly inches separating our mouths and bodies. His stare was penetrating, and his scent was all around me.