“Every bit of it. How about you?”
She nodded. “I feel great. No, better than great. I feel free.”
“Me, too.”
“What about your work? What’s going to replace the drive in your life now that Delancy no longer matters to you?” she asked.
“I was hoping you could help me find a way to fill that void.”
A small smile appeared on her lips. “I think maybe we could work something out.”
“I want to make this work, Katie. I want it so badly. More than I’ve ever wanted anything, even getting back at my father.”
“You’ve forgiven me for using you to complete my Martini dares?”
“I was never mad at you.”
“No? Because it sure felt like it.”
He shook his head. “I was afraid. Afraid of what I was feeling. Afraid that I could never be man enough for a woman like you.”
She cupped his cheek with her palm and gazed at him with such tenderness it made his heart hurt.
“What changed your mind?”
“You did. Your strength and courage inspired me. You were brave enough to do those dares, to put yourself on the line. I had to try. I couldn’t go through the rest of my life not knowing what might have been.”
KATIE STARED into his hazel eyes at the vulnerable man behind the suave facade. What she saw reflected there moved her deeply and swept away any remaining doubts she harbored. Liam had no idea the value of his own worth, but she was determined to teach him.
“I’m ready to start fresh,” he said. “If you’ll forgive me. I’ve made a lot a mistakes and, I swear, I’ll do my best to make up for them.”
“It’s already over. Forgiven and forgotten,” she said.
“Katie.” He kissed her there on the sidewalk while Duke ran in circles around their feet, tangling them up in his leash.
“No more secrets between us,” Liam said, breaking the kiss to stare into her eyes. “Not even silly ones.”
“No more secrets,” she promised.
“I respect you, I admire you, I envy the courageous way you love so fully, so easily. You’re my hero, Katie Winfield.”
“Really?” Her heart filled with emotion.
He hitched in his breath. “And I love you, Katie, and I don’t throw those words around lightly. In fact, other than my mother, you’re the only one I’ve ever said them to.”
She could tell how much it cost him to admit his feelings. He was used to tamping them down, hiding from tender emotions. But here he was laying himself bare, putting his heart on the line for her.
“Thank you, Liam,” she said, “for that most treasured gift.”
He’d said the words she’d most needed to hear. He made her feel cherished and prized and that her opinions were valued.
“You’ve saved me from myself.” He touched his forehead against hers and stared deeply into her eyes.
“Oh, Liam.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you, too.”
THEY WENT BACK to Liam’s place. They fed and watered Duke and made him a pallet on the floor.
Without another word, Liam took off his clothes and undressed her slowly, carefully, and then led her to his bed. When his fingers touched her bare skin, her nerve endings dissolved into a pool of liquid fire.
For Liam, this was all about her pleasure. Nothing mattered more to him than this glorious woman, who’d not only turned his world upside down but twisted his heart inside out and changed everything he knew.
All these years, he’d believed he would never really find where he belonged. He’d been so very wrong. He belonged right here with Katie.
The provocative little moan that escaped her as his fingers kneaded her bare backside caught him low in the gut and inflamed his passion, the way she always did.
Why on earth had he ever placed thoughts of revenge above acts of love? In less than a month of knowing her, she’d given him so much. He vowed to spend the rest of his life giving back more than he got. And if that included dressing up like a pirate, or making love in the balcony of a theatre, then by gosh, he’d willingly do it for her.
He leaned down to kiss the nape of her neck, but before he got there, she rolled over onto her back and looked up into his eyes with such love it took his breath away.
“Get over here,” she said, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him toward her.
“Now we’re talking.” His body hardened with anticipation as he thought of all the fun that lay ahead of them. She tugged his head down to hers and kissed him with a deep, wet passionate kiss that told him he was the luckiest man in the world.
He settled his body over hers, bracing his weight on his forearms, and looked deeply into her eyes.
“I love you, Katie Winfield, now, tomorrow, always.”
“Oh, Liam,” she said. “That’s all I ever wanted to hear.”
He enveloped her in his arms, listened to the pounding of her heart. He felt truly immortal.
Then they nibbled and licked and touched and suckled. They took their time, fully getting to know each other. No surprises, no disguises.
Just true and honest loving.
The hours streamed by in a blur of sensuous heat, the sating of sexual longings, until at the very stroke of midnight, their two souls merged as one. They knew there would never be any more secrets between them.
Love had changed the physics of their lives and redrawn the boundary of what they’d believed about the world and the magic that was truly possible.
And as they reached love’s glorious pinnacle, separated only by the thinnest rind of skin, their fate was sealed, their destinies forever intertwined.
15
WHEN HER CELL PHONE rang the next morning, Katie rolled over with a smile on her face. She glanced to see Liam asleep beside her and Duke dozing at the foot of the bed. Her grin widened. It wasn’t a dream. Quietly, she slipped out of the bed and snatched her purse up off the floor, digging out her cell phone on the fly as she hustled to the living room.
“Hello.”
“Katie, where are you? I went by your condo to see if you wanted to do breakfast but you weren’t there.”
“Brooke, how are you?” She felt so wonderful she wanted to share her joy with her sister but wasn’t sure how she would feel about the news that Katie and Liam were an item.
“I think I’m finally feeling strong enough to go through mother’s things. Joey’s up for it, too. How about you?”
Sorting through their mother’s personal effects was going to be an emotional experience and until now, she’d rigorously avoided it. Honestly, all three of them had. But it needed to be done. And being with Liam had given Katie the courage she needed to face her shortcomings and problems in the moment, and deal with them.
“When?”
“You’ll come?”
“Yes.”
“This afternoon.”
“I’ll be there.”
“You sound different,” Brooke observed.
“How so?”
“You sound like you’ve accepted Mom’s death.”
Katie realized it was true. At some point, she’d let go of her anger. She’d learned to handle her fears honestly and to stop hiding from herself. And in the process, she’d learned to accept the world as it was.
Even though she was sad her mother was gone, she had her memories. So many great memories.
“Actually,” Katie said, “I’m looking forward to doing this. It’s time to give up the grieving and celebrate Mom’s life.”
Brooke made a tiny noise of surprise. “You sound so mature and responsible.”
That acknowledgement from her sister tightened Katie’s throat with emotion. “A lot’s happened to me lately. I’ll tell you about it when I get there.”
Several hours later, after she and Liam had bonded over breakfast in bed, Katie arrived at her family’s home. Her sisters were already there, sitting cross-legged on the floor of their mother’s bedroom looking at photo albums, a box of tissues sitting between them.
“Katie,” Brooke said, getting to her feet to hug her.