Page 9 of Vitamin Sea

T here’s nothing I’d rather be doing this evening,” a playful smile crossed Liam’s face. “Except for you.” He pushed himself up off the comfy nest they had created on the couch and pinned her wrists to the cushion.

“No!” Chloe giggled and made a futile attempt to wiggle out of his grasp.

Selling Sunset— the only reality show she had managed to rope Liam into watching—blasted in the background.

“Yes!” Liam’s grin widened.

Chloe laughed and gave up trying to wriggle free.

“At least push the table out!” she said with a squeak.

He momentarily released one of her wrists and grabbed for the remote, pressing the mute button before dropping it onto the coffee table and pushing it away.

Chloe hadn’t tried to move from her position underneath him while she had the chance to. She was enjoying this far too much. Besides—she didn’t want to get away from her boyfriend.

“Now,” Liam said, turning his attention back to her and putting his hand around her other wrist once again. “Where was I?”

Chloe gasped as he leaned down and planted several kisses along her neckline.

A jolt went through her as she was pulled out of her reverie and found herself alone, on the couch, with takeout for one on a Friday night. It was hard to imagine that things between her and Liam could be so different just a few months later.

Things between them had always been so easy.

It had caught even her by surprise with how quickly the two of them had fallen into step together.

There were no awkward stages; none of the back-and-forth game-playing or let’s-just-casually-date-and-see-where-it-goes type of thing that seemed to be de rigueur these days.

Neither of them had been looking for a partner when they met, but they had both also recognized a good thing when they saw it.

Of course, Chloe had had some initial reservations.

Bankers weren’t typically known for honesty or, for that matter, monogamy.

So, while she had gone into the first few months of dating Liam as hopeful, she had also not allowed herself to fall into any fantasies.

She had been down that road before and knew that nothing good could come from it.

She wasn’t pessimistic per se, just cautiously optimistic.

Due to her previous forays into dating, she had been entirely prepared for Liam to turn out to be one of those men who came in hot and heavy initially but then turned into a ghost when he finally had her hooked.

It was a happy surprise, therefore, for her to discover that Liam was not of that sort.

He was everything she had ever wanted in a man without knowing it.

He was supportive, smart, and cared about his family; he helped with the cooking, was generous and thoughtful—often sending her flowers or bringing her a new bauble—and he loved Chloe unconditionally.

Even with all her faults. Of which, she was convinced, there were many.

She could be a bit neurotic, which had caused grief in previous relationships, but Liam didn’t seem to mind—and, miraculously, it hadn’t become an issue between them after the six-month mark. She supposed that, aside from working on the issue herself, Liam’s consistency had helped in spades.

And while Liam wasn’t perfect, he was perfect for Chloe. He snored—like a freight train—but it hadn’t turned into her wanting to smother him in the middle of the night.

It was funny how things like that happened. In the first six months of dating, your partner’s quirks and quarks are endearing. After that, the little things that would previously bring a smile to your face could easily induce rage.

While Liam’s snoring, which used to make her smile, still woke her up in the middle of the night, she didn’t find it annoying like she knew had happened to some of her friends.

They were many, many years past the typical honeymoon period at this point, but they still retained some of that initial spark.

They hadn’t turned into roommates or people who lived together because of financial or familial commitments. They truly loved one another.

She accepted the long hours he spent at the office and had known when they first got together that it was part of the deal.

It had never bothered her before because she knew that it was what came with dating Liam.

Over the past few months, however, she had noticed that he had been spending less and less time at home.

Not only that, but during the time they did spend together, Liam seemed distracted.

Something about it was niggling her.

That had never happened before, and she weighed the pros and cons of saying something before discussing it with her best friends.

All of them agreed that it was something she should talk to him about, and she did so, cautiously, when he came home late one Tuesday night.

It was just after 10 p.m., and the leftovers from the dinner she had made were sitting stone-cold in the fridge.

Liam had listened and immediately reassured her. He was working on a new project, he said. A deal that they were trying to close. He apologized for the negative impact it was having on their relationship, but he promised that when it was done, they would take a vacation together.

With that, Chloe had been placated.

After all, she knew what Liam did for a living.

And he was ambitious—always vying for a promotion and higher pay.

There had also been periods in the past where he worked until around 10 p.m. practically every night for a month straight.

So, she took his reassurance at face value and kept herself from feeling sad by checking out different places they could vacation together when his deal was done.

Which was something that really did keep her occupied. As someone whose job involved staying at some of the top-rated hotels and resorts around the world, she had a lot of options to choose from.

It was November and, if Liam was right and the deal took another couple of months to get done, that would put them right into the middle of winter.

She contemplated going to a place they had previously vacationed at but nixed it in favour of a new adventure. A few evenings of Googling had given her some ideas and she casually mentioned them to him one Saturday morning.

Normally he was an early riser, but that day he had slept in until nearly noon. The late nights at the office, Chloe reflected, were clearly taking their toll.

“How are things going at work?” she inquired when he finally emerged from their bedroom. She hadn’t even seen him the previous night, having gone to bed before she heard him crawl into bed around 1 a.m.

He grunted in reply to her question and headed for the kitchen before joining her on the couch with a cup of coffee. Chloe had finished hers four hours ago. Along with breakfast.

“The deal is . . . progressing,” he had said vaguely before bringing the mug to his mouth.

Chloe had pursed her lips to one side.

“Progressing,” she said flatly.

“Babe,” he gave her a look. “You know I can’t discuss it with you.”

She knew that, but she also knew that compliance and NDAs had never stopped him from telling her about what he was working on before.

He changed the names of the people and companies so that Chloe wasn’t fully in the know, but she had enjoyed hearing about the inner machinations of the business world.

Even after living, sleeping, and dating one of those cogs for several years, she still found the industry very foreign.

She considered calling him on it but held her tongue. The last thing she wanted that morning was for things to turn into a fight.

She changed the subject.

“I’ve been looking at some options for after your deal gets done.”

“Options?” He looked confused.

Chloe furrowed her brow. Now wasn’t the time to get upset, but did he really not remember the conversation they had had a few weeks ago?

“Yes,” she said, working hard to keep the exasperation she felt out of her voice. “You said when your deal was done that we would go on a vacation.”

A flicker that Chloe couldn’t quite place went across Liam’s face, and he leaned back on the couch.

“Oh, right,” he nodded, sounding less than enthused. “What have you found?”

She mentioned three places—one in Europe, one in Asia, and one in South America—and showed him some photos from each of the hotels and cities. He had nodded along, but he didn’t look very interested.

“Whatever you want, Chlo,” he had said, picking up his phone after she showed him the third option.

She was stung by his apparent lack of interest and was sure that it showed on her face. Not that Liam would notice with his face buried in his phone. She had hoped that a vacation would help them reconnect and was disappointed that she seemed to be the only one excited for it.

Liam’s long hours at the office didn’t usually bother her, but for the past few months, it had almost felt like she lived alone.

Which was unusual. On previous projects, he would ask her to grab a quick drink before he went out for business dinners.

Or he would ask her to meet him for lunch or pop over to her office for a quick coffee.

During this deal, there hadn’t been any invites for a quick lunch, drink, dinner, or coffee. The ones that they did have were all initiated by Chloe. Even on weekends he had seemed reserved and distracted.

It made her uneasy, but she reminded herself it wasn’t like she hadn’t seen him this way before. It just hadn’t been for months-long stretches.

She didn’t know what that uncomfortable feeling tugging inside of her was, but she brushed it off determinedly. Once they had their post-deal vacation, she knew that things between them would be back to normal.