Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
“It’s fine. I don’t really care. But I would rather not have you think I was married to an animal in the Cincinnati Zoo.”
A tiny snort might have escaped me. “No. Of course not. But you met in college? That where you started dating?”
Liam nodded. “Yeah. We dated for about five years, all while I was in college. We married after I got my PhD, but we were together for less than four years. I’ve been single for about four years now.”
My lips parted to ask why they separated, but I caught those prying words before they could trip off my tongue. I was a nosy motherfucker, just like my friends, and I was dying for the dirt. However, I knew it was probably a sore subject even now. If Liam wanted to volunteer that information, fine. But he didn’t need me probing sore spots.
“But I’m okay with single,” Liam announced, his voice strengthening. “I completely missed out on single life in my twenties. Going out with you—I-I mean, hanging out with you has forced me to see more of the city. I’m looking forward to exploring more on my own. And doing more things. Stuff I never got to do while married.”
Again, the wrong words were waiting to leap from my tongue. This time, I wanted to offer to hang out with him. Show him all the cool places around the city. But that was stupid. We were only hanging out now because he wanted that donation for the museum. He was going to be so glad when this was over and he never had to see me. I had no doubt that the first thing he would do after this arrangement would be to block my number on his phone.
A fierce wind whipped through the park during the brief lull in our conversation, forcing us to pull our heads down and our shoulders up to shield against the biting cold.
“Maybe we should head to the car,” I suggested.
“Good idea.”
I turned toward the stairs and descended first, with Liam behind me. “So, is your ex also a scientist like you?”
“No.” Liam said that single syllable so firmly that I thought that might be the end of it. “She went to college and got a degree in art. Later, she became an interior designer.”
As I moved off the stairs, I turned to face him because I couldn’t imagine him with an interior designer. The fit wasn’t there in my brain. “How—” But I didn’t get any further. The heel of Liam’s shoe caught on the edge of the stair, and he suddenly tumbled forward.
I didn’t think. I jumped forward and caught him. Or rather, I tried to. Liam attempted to stop his fall by grabbing the railing, but I think maybe his hand slipped, so he was falling sideways when he crashed into my chest. My arms wrapped around him, and I staggered a few steps to stop myself from dropping under his sudden weight.
The second we stopped moving, nearly all of Liam’s weight was on me, and his arms were draped loosely across my shoulders while I held him about the waist. I blinked, and somehow, his lips were mere inches from mine. Most of his face was lost in the shadows, but I could see his wide eyes in the nearby lamplight. He exhaled, and a puff of white danced over my face as if he were trying to wrap me in a spell.
All the jitters and anxious energy I’d experienced in Music Hall came roaring back times a thousand. Then I’d felt the simple urge to take his hand, to thread our fingers together while we watched the performance. But now, wrapped up in all his intoxicating heat, smelling the soft, woodsy scent of his cologne, I wanted to kiss him.
I ached to kiss him. To taste him. To hear the catch in his breathing as my lips touched his. To feel him soften and return the kiss.
I needed to kiss him and drown in this stolen moment.
Fuck, I was losing my mind. Pierce was right. I should have stayed far away from him. There was nothing worse in this world than falling for a straight man who could never return your feelings.
Clearing my throat, I snapped from my horrible thoughts and roughly shoved Liam to his feet.
“Shit. Um…sorry about that,” Liam said awkwardly. Every word he uttered sounded so damned pained.
“No-no problem. We’ve been standing out here too long. Muscles got stiff. Let’s get to the car and warm up.”
Not that I wanted to be in a closed space with Liam. However, it was a short drive to his town house and another relatively quick drive to my penthouse. Then I could drink in the privacy of my home until I forgot about whatever the fuck had just happened.