Page 115 of An Inevitable Marriage

Since David didn’t respond, I figured he’d left. With a small peek around Liam’s shoulder, I didn’t see David, and the elevator doors were closed again.

I smoothed my hands over my dress and huffed out a breath. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe that happened.”

Liam immediately turned to face me. His cheeks were as red as mine felt, and I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading on my lips.

“We need to start using the executive elevator.” He chuckled.

I laughed, too. “Probably a good idea.”

Taking my hand in his, he pressed the button for the doors to open and walked across the top floor to his office. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t notice the strange looks or people whispering behind their hands.

Oddly enough, none of it bothered me.

I was too focused on the man walking beside me. The way he’d slowed his pace for me. The feel of his fingers through mine. The crazy way my heart beat for him. Liam Maxwell had undoubtedly turned my world upside down.

And I freaking loved it.

I was so lost in thought; I hadn’t even realized we were in Liam’s office until the soft click of the door closing snapped me back to the present.

“I hate to do this,” he said. “Would you mind waiting here until my meeting is over? It shouldn’t take too long.”

With a smile, I retrieved my Kindle from my purse and waved it at him. “I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.” I turned toward the couches by the window, intending to settle in, but they were gone.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing toward the desk and file cabinet that hadn’t been there before.

Color stained Liam’s cheeks for the second time in less than ten minutes. I was intrigued.

“Liam?” I pushed gently.

“Well,” he said, tucking his hands into his pockets and going to the desk.

My curiosity stood no chance; I was right behind him.

“I’d hoped to do this when we had more time, but this is everything I could find on the Nouvelle Femme Year-end Functions.”

He dragged one stack of folders to the edge of the desk. “This is the original plan you had for this year’s event, and the other pile came from our operations department. In them you’ll find everything about the event since we started doing it how ever many years ago.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. Brows pulled together, my gaze bounced between him and the folders. “Why exactly do I need these?”

My heart thrashed violently. Excitement bubbled through my veins, those pesky little butterflies taking flight again. But I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. So I waited for Liam to confirm what I hoped to be true.

“I want to see the vision you had come to life.” He jerked his head toward the desk. “And selfishly, I want to work side by side with you every day.” His mouth curved into the most beautiful smile before he bent down and pressed a quick kiss against my lips. “We’ll talk more after my meeting.”

And then he was gone, leaving me with a stunning view and an overfull heart.

Liam’s meeting went on a bit longer than he’d wanted. About thirty minutes earlier, he’d texted me that they’d be there for another hour at least. I didn’t mind much; I was too excited to dive into the year-end function.

When I’d started my initial planning over eight months ago, I’d pitched the idea of a fairy-tale theme. My boss at the time hadn’t been on board, but after walking through the Nouvelle Femme building and knowing Liam wanted to launch his line at the event, a fairy-tale theme felt like the perfect fit.

With a fire in my veins I hadn’t felt for a really long time, I got to work. I spread everything out on Liam’s office floor—color swatches, the mini mood boards from my file—all of it scattered across the carpet.

While adding yet another sticky note to a chandelier image I loved, the office door opened and closed.

My smile was wide when I looked up, ready to greet Liam. Only it wasn’t my handsome husband staring at me from the other side of the office.

It was Shane.

He was a lot more disheveled than the last time I’d seen him. And judging by the downward pull of his mouth and the murderous glint in his eyes, he was a lot more pissed off, too.