Page 9 of Rejected Heart (The Westwoods #5)

He held on to me, moving with me, and making me feel a little less awkward.

It didn’t take long for me to go from feeling uncertainty about my ability to dance in the midst of a crowd like this to having the time of my life.

From one song to the next, we danced and sang, and I felt the spirit of the holiday moving through me.

Then the tempo of the music changed.

It went from upbeat and festive to a slower and more relaxed pace. That was when Liam leaned close and whispered in my ear, “This is what I was hoping for since I woke up this morning.”

“What?”

He slid his arm around my waist and tugged me close. He took my hand in his and smiled at me. “I’ve been looking forward to being able to dance with you like this all day.”

My belly flipped. “I’ve never done this before.”

“Well, you’re doing a great job so far. I hope you’re having fun here with me.”

I didn’t know what I did to deserve having such a great guy show such interest in me.

I was a bit out of sorts, being so close to him, too.

Granted, we’d spent time together, and there’d been the occasional handholding or even a brush of his hand against my back.

But we’d never been like this, standing so close.

I was convinced he could hear my heart pounding over the music.

“I’m having the best time tonight, Liam. Thank you for inviting me.”

“I should be thanking you for agreeing to join me. You’re easily the most beautiful girl in the room, and I think everyone is jealous of me right now.”

He knew just what to say to make me feel special. “You’re a very sweet guy, you know?”

Laughter spilled out of him. “I’m trying.”

I wanted to ask what he was trying so hard for. I wanted to ask why it was me he invited. But I was too much of a chicken.

As we danced and shared prolonged eye contact, I silently wondered about what was happening. Was Liam just being a good friend, or was there something else here? I had nothing to compare it to, no previous boyfriends or guy friends that I could make a conclusive decision.

For two months, Liam had been consuming my thoughts and daydreams. It was only out of fear that someone would catch me that I hadn’t been writing my name and his inside hearts in my notebook.

Two slow songs later, Liam asked, “Do you want to get some dessert?”

I nodded. “I’d love some.”

We crossed the room, found that there were still heaping piles of cookies, cakes, and other sweet treats. I’d never known abundance like this before. “There’s so much. I don’t know what to choose. ”

“Take a few things that look appetizing, and I’ll get different things. Then we can share,” he reasoned.

I took a plate, loaded it up, and Liam did the same. I had expected we’d return to the table we’d had dinner at, but Liam took me by the hand and led me out of the ballroom.

“Where are we going?”

“I just want us to be able to have dessert and talk without my brothers or anyone else around,” he explained, leading me down the hall toward the elevator.

We rode it up to the top floor, made a left turn, and strode down another hall before coming to the end of it where a huge glass window overlooked the courtyard behind the hotel.

There were Christmas lights and displays outside, and Liam urged me to have a seat on one of the sofas there that offered the perfect view of the night sky.

“This is beautiful,” I marveled. “And much quieter.”

“Yeah. We’ll head back to the party to have more fun before we need to leave and take you home, but I wanted some time to have you to myself, especially since I probably won’t be able to see you until our winter break is over.”

Liam was something spectacular. He was always thinking ahead and finding ways to be creative. Maybe that’s why he was so good at doing things with his hands, like carving pumpkins and fixing equipment and rides at the amusement park.

“I’ve been trying to avoid thinking about the long break. Do you have big plans? ”

Liam had taken a bite of one of his Christmas cookies and held it out to me.

“Here, try this one.” I took a bite, feeling my belly tremble as I did.

A guy was giving me a bite of his dessert.

I felt spoiled. “We’ll be home doing things together as a family through Christmas Day.

Then we’re probably going to take a ski trip to Keystone Mountain.

It didn’t used to happen every year, but it’s become a bit of a tradition in recent years. ”

“That sounds like fun.”

“It is. We have a great time. What about you? What are your plans?”

“It’s just my mom and me. We’ll spend our holiday together, but then I’ll do what I always do, which is to spend time with her at her store.”

“Her store?”

Nodding as I picked up a mini red velvet cupcake, I shared, “My mom owns a consignment shop near the downtown Landing area.”

“Oh, that’s cool. I didn’t know that.”

I shrugged. “It’s nothing like Westwood’s, so I don’t exactly go around bragging about it or anything.”

“I’d love to stop by sometime to check it out.”

My cheeks heated. If Liam coming to my house hadn’t been enough for him to see how different we were, then him coming to the store would do it.

But even if that was the case, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him he couldn’t show up. He’d been so kind to me.

“Sure.” I sunk my teeth into the cupcake, my eyes widening with delight as the flavors hit my tongue, and I instinctively held it out for Liam to try. “You have to try this one. It’s so good.”

He took a bite, never taking his eyes off me. There was something unfamiliar in the air around us, something passing between our intense, silent stares.

We chewed and swallowed, refusing to look away. My heart was hammering already, but then Liam lifted his hand to the side of my face to wipe frosting off my lip, and I was sure it was going to beat right out of my chest.

“I like you, Layla.” His voice had changed. It was rougher, quieter. And his thumb was still lingering near my lip. “I’ve had a lot of fun getting to know you these last two months.”

My insides were trembling. “Me, too.”

“I don’t think I’ve made it clear to you before now, but I want you to be my girlfriend,” he said.

I swallowed roughly. “Okay.”

“And I think I’d like to kiss you.”

My fingers had a death grip on the dessert plate. “I… I don’t know how.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Yes. But I know there’s nobody else I’d rather have as my first kiss than you.”

I could feel the flush creeping over my skin, and I was grateful there was only dim light in the hall beyond us. For someone who hadn’t done this before, Liam seemed far more confident than I felt.

“That makes me feel a bit better.”

“If you don’t want me to, I won’t.”

“I want you to,” I blurted, the words spilling out of me as fast as my hand went to his arm. “Sorry. I’m just… I’m nervous.”

“Me, too.”

“Promise not to laugh at me if I’m bad at this?” I whispered.

He leaned closer, his palm drifting back toward my hair. “How could it be bad when you’re all I think about?”

My breath caught in my throat.

I didn’t have a chance to respond before Liam brushed his lips lightly against mine. His lips were soft, and the touch sent shivers running down my spine.

My body was a mess of nerves, hyperaware of every movement of Liam’s lips against mine and his hand in my hair. Liam’s breathing had changed, too. Hearing it, feeling it, I realized I wasn’t the only one who was terrified about how this was going to go.

Liam must have set his dessert plate down because I felt his other hand cup the opposite side of my face as his kiss grew a touch firmer.

He was right.

Even if we didn’t know what we were doing, there was no way this could have been bad. It felt right. It felt perfect.

It was everything I thought a first kiss should have been.

When we finally separated our mouths, we held each other’s stare before small smiles crept onto our faces. Then we both let out nervous laughs. “Was it… was it okay?” I asked.

Liam’s eyes dropped to my lips, lingered there, and returned to my eyes. “It was the best thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I think we should do it again.”

I nodded slowly. “Okay. Yeah, I think so, too.”

This time, Liam didn’t hesitate. He went in for it, taking charge and kissing me like he’d been practicing all his life for it.

And it had been magical—far more beautiful than the decorations in the ballroom or even the gown I was wearing.

It was a moment I’d never forget as long as I lived.

Liam eventually separated his mouth from mine again. He held my gaze and grinned. “I wonder if it’s supposed to get better every time, because that was even better than the first.”

“We might be experts by the time I have to go home, if you keep doing that.”

“Maybe. But I think I need to take a break to catch my breath and let my heart calm down. It’s racing.”

“Mine, too.”

Liam released his hold on me, wrapped one arm around my shoulders, and settled back on the couch. I was giddy with happiness as we sat there, allowing the emotions to move through us.

And when he lifted another dessert to my mouth, I couldn’t miss the way his eyes watched as my mouth moved .

It might have been his plan to take a break, but his inability to keep his eyes off me didn’t seem to be helping him accomplish that.

And my heart was absolutely soaring the entire time.