Owen shook his head. “I don’t know what I can do for you, Clive. You turned us down, and we’ve already started filling the block we left for you.”
“We can give you an incentive to drop them.”
This man was a piece of work, for sure. And Owen was just now realizing how lucky they were that they hadn’t gotten the job. While on paper, the Roland Group was first class, he could see that they’d gotten there by underhanded means that hadn’t been whispered about anywhere Owen could find. And even though his brothers should have been here to help make this decision, Owen knew what his answer had to be. They’d trusted him before, and damn it, he’d earn that trust again.
“We can’t do that.”
“At least think about it.”
“Clive—”
“What the hell is going on?” Liz asked from the doorway.
Owen stood up. “Liz?”
“Don’t ‘Liz’ me,” she snapped. “What are you doing here, Clive?”
Owen frowned as he moved toward her. “You know him?”
Liz snorted. “Like you didn’t know.”
“I’ve asked you to call me Dad, not Clive,” the old man said shakily, and Owen froze.
She’d told him her father had a different last name, but never in his wildest dreams would Owen have thought Clive Roland was Liz’s father. However, now that he looked at them, he saw that they had the same damn eyes. He swallowed hard, trying to get his bearings, but the look of betrayal on Liz’s face rocked him to the core.
He’d made so much progress with what they had together, but he knew if he didn’t say the right thing, do the right thing, he’d lose her forever.
“I didn’t know,” he croaked.
“How can I believe you?” she asked, her eyes wide. “How?”
14
Liz’s heart thudded in her ears, and she did her best not to scream or run away right then. She couldn’t quite believe what was happening.
“Now, honey, don’t yell at this young man.” Her father’s words were sickly condescending, and she wanted to shake him. He was a hollow man who’d ignored her for most of her childhood, but if he ever did take the time to speak to her, he always used that voice.
She looked quickly over at Clive. “What did I say about getting near me? Get the fuck away.”
“You need to go, Clive.” Owen’s voice was low, determined, as if he knew that everything was balancing on a knife’s edge. She was right there with him, and yet she wasn’t sure what she was going to say next once she opened her mouth.
“We weren’t done talking business.” Clive ran a hand through his hair, his eyes darting between them. “How do you know Liz?”
“Not your problem,” Owen growled. “We’re done with the Roland Group and you. Get out.”
Her father—though she hesitated to call him that—looked between them once more before shuffling out, his head hanging. She honestly couldn’t care about him right then. In fact, after last night, she’d decided to push him from her mind altogether. She’d wanted to think about the future, try to make sure she wasn’t risking everything by falling for Owen, and yet the universe had smacked her in the face with its lies once more.
“Liz, talk to me,” Owen said after a moment, his voice too calm, too practiced, as if he were afraid to make the wrong move and spook her. Well, too late, she was already spooked.
“Did you know?” she asked, her voice hollow. She couldn’t meet his eyes, not then.
“Did I know that man was the bastard who hurt you? No. I had no idea. He had a different last name, and yeah, you mentioned that your mom changed your name to her maiden one after he left, but it never occurred to me that he could be that man. Never once.”
She turned to him her body numb. “Never once?”
“No. I even talked to you about this guy. He’s the client that dropped us.”
She frowned. “Then why was he here?”
Owen ran a hand through his hair and scowled. “He said he made a mistake and wanted to hire us again.”
The floor beneath her feet felt unsteady, and she reached out for the chair next to her to steady herself. She couldn’t deal with the idea that that man would be working with Owen and the family who had said she could join them in any way she was willing. It didn’t matter that it made no sense to the practical and logical part of her mind. It was the scared child part of her, the part that screamed and ranted and that no one had listened to. It was that part that made her eyes hurt and her brain not want to work quite right.
“You’re going to work with him?”
Owen moved forward, but she took a step back. Once again, she caught the hurt look on his face, and she hated herself for it. She hated everything right then and didn’t know what to do about it.
“You just heard me say we had no business to discuss.”
“So you’re not going to take the deal of a lifetime because of me, then?” Because she wasn’t sure how she’d feel about that. He’d resent her for it later, and that’s how the disease would spread, how the hatred within a relationship burned.
“Fuck, no. I’d already said no, but he didn’t listen. Him being the prick who deserves to be shot for what he did to you just put the nail in the coffin.” He moved closer, and this time, she didn’t back away. He cupped her face, but she didn’t lean into him. “I love you, Lizzie. I’m not going to let that man and everything he’s done hurt us.”
She blinked, tears finally falling from her eyes. All of the emotions she’d buried for so long came to the surface, and she couldn’t quite catch her breath.
“But what if he already has?”
“We can’t let him. He’s gone, Lizzie. He’s gone.” He pleaded with her, but some small part of her still rebelled, still worried that things could go wrong and everyone would be hurt worse in the process. Her father showing up here had to be a sign, and it was one she needed to pay attention to.
Only she couldn’t think with Owen touching her, and she couldn’t push through the worries and logic that came with everything they’d gone through up until now.
“I came here to tell you I got a job offer,” she blurted. “It’s in Cheyenne.”
He stiffened, his hands falling from her face. “Cheyenne is a hell of a commute, Lizzie.”
“I’d have to move there,” she said hoarsely. “But it would be a position higher than the one I had, with better pay and hours.”
“And you’d take it? Just like that?”
She was hurting him, and she didn’t know how to stop it. She hadn’t planned to take the damn job at all, but she didn’t say that. She just kept rambling about benefits and everything that came with the position she didn’t want. But her father had just been in that damn room, reminding her of everything she could become if she fell in love with Owen.
Only she knew it was too late.
She already loved him.
And now she had to get some space so she wouldn’t break him.
“I don’t know yet, but I need to know my options.”
“I’m your option, Lizzie. You, me, and the baby. You can’t just leave because you’re scared.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing!” she yelled and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Ever since I met you, everything I’ve built feels like it’s falling apart around me. I thought I was so strong, so independent, but instead, I keep freaking out and crying and saying the wrong things. I don’t like this person, Owen. I don’t like who I’m becoming.”
“It’s because you’re fighting it. If you’d just let yourself fall, you wouldn’t hate yourself.” His eyes pleaded with her, but all she could think of was him hating her for what she could do if she weren’t careful.
She didn’t want to leave. Didn’t want to not love him.
But she was so scared.
“I don’t know how to fall,” she whispered. “And I need to make sure I don’t hurt our baby because I’m making the wrong choices. Can’t you just give me time to process all
of this?”
Owen put his hands on his hips, his eyes dark and full of pain as he studied her face. She wanted to reach out to him, but she was afraid she would do something stupid. She’d known her whole life that if she fell for a man and let him change her, she’d become the one thing she hated. And to be with Owen, she’d have to push through that. She’d thought she’d started to, but having her father shoved back in her face only made it that much harder.
“I love you, Lizzie. With everything I have. I’ll give you time to think, but I’m not going anywhere. You know what I feel, what I want. But I can’t force you to love me. I can’t force you to stay.”
She reached out for him, but let her hand fall.
She couldn’t touch him and think; couldn’t touch him and remember why she was fighting this.
So she turned on her heel and left, knowing she was probably making the worst decision of her life. This was for Owen. And she knew that for the lie it was. But if she left now, she could think and could make sure she didn’t hurt him.
Tears slid down her cheeks as she ran to her car, ignoring the shouts from Graham and Murphy as they called out to her. She couldn’t face them. Not with what she’d just done.
Instead, she drove home, her attention on the road and nothing else. She couldn’t formulate thoughts beyond the pounding in her head that screamed at her to turn back. By the time she pulled into her driveway and stumbled through her front door, she knew she’d made a horrible mistake.
She was not her mother.
She was not her father.
So they’d fucked each other over as well as her, but she was not them. She didn’t want the damn job in Cheyenne and knew there was that business card on her dresser calling out to her. She would have to change the way she’d done her job for years to make it happen, but she could. Just as she’d begun to change the way she thought about life in general. She shouldn't have left Owen. Hell, she was going fucking crazy. Of course, he didn't know, but she had just been looking for an excuse to mess everything up as always. She'd done the one thing she'd promise not to do: hurt him.
She had to find him. Had to go back.
Liz pressed her hand over her belly and took a deep breath. She had to do what she’d sworn she would never do and admit to falling completely and madly in love with Owen Gallagher, taking the risk of a lifetime along the way.
Decision made, she let out a breath. She’d been scared and had acted rashly, something she’d never done, at least not until she was knocked off her feet the first time she met Owen. He’d been right—if she hadn’t fought as hard as she was, she wouldn’t have reacted the way she had so many times.
Maybe once she admitted to him that she loved him, that she wanted him, that she trusted him, she wouldn’t continue down the path of turning into a person she hardly recognized.
At least she hoped.
As she turned to pick up the keys that had fallen to the floor without her noticing, the doorbell rang. She froze. Before she could look through the peephole to see who it was, a deep voice on the other side of the door told her.
“Open the damn door, Lizzie. We’re not done.”
No, they weren’t. Not by a long shot.
She took a deep breath and stepped into her fate as she opened the door.
****
Liz stood in front of him as she opened the door, her face pale, her cheeks stained with tears, but she had opened the damn door. That had to count for something.
“Owen.”
“Are you going to let me in, or are we going to let the rest of the neighborhood hear what I have to say?” He was so damn mad right then, he couldn’t think straight, but he knew it wasn’t completely her fault. Things kept getting in their way, but he’d be damned if he let that stop them from getting everything they deserved.
Liz was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and she needed to know that.
And hell, he hoped he was the best damn thing that had happened to her, as well.
She quickly moved out of the way, and he stomped inside, grateful when she closed the door behind him.
“I shouldn’t have let you leave like that,” he started. “You were upset, and yet I just let you get in your car and drive off. Who knows what could have happened? I mean, fuck, they caught the guy that hit me, but there are countless others.”
Her eyes widened, and she took a step toward him. “They found him?”
Hell, he’d almost forgotten all about it. It seemed like ages ago that he’d gotten the news, not merely an hour. “Yeah. It was one of the guys from the bar that had too much to drink. He didn’t even realize he hit me he was so far gone.”
She let out a breath. “I’m glad they caught him, but I still want to kick him in the nuts for hurting you.”
He let out a rough chuckle. “Yeah, I kind of do, too.” He blew out a breath, running his hands through his hair. He’d never used to do that as often as he did now, but Liz kept stressing him out, setting off nervous ticks.
“I was careful driving,” she said softly. “I kept my attention on the road and would have pulled over if it was too much. I was an idiot, but not reckless with my life or our child’s life. I promise.”
He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. “You’re not an idiot, Liz.”
“Yeah, I kind of am. I keep running away when I get scared, and that only ends up hurting both of us.”
His eyes shot open as her words penetrated. “What are you saying?”
She moved forward, pressing her hands to his chest. “I shouldn’t have left when I did. How I did.”
“Damn right.” He cupped her face. “You’re everything to me. You and the baby. Which, can I add how fucking nervous I am that we’re having a baby? Because, hell, I still can’t believe this is happening, but I know we can do this because we’ll do it together.”
She pressed her lips together and blinked. “It doesn’t feel real. We keep saying the word and yet…”
“I know, Lizzie. I know. It’s all been go, go, go since we started out, and we’re still getting used to the idea of us. But, Liz? I’m not letting you run away again. I’ll just keep following because you only run when you’re scared, not because you don’t want to be near me.” He winced. “Okay, that sounds like I’m a stalker, but I’m trying to be romantic. There’s a thin line.”
She raised a brow. “Not as thin as you think, but I know what you mean.” She met his gaze and rolled her shoulders back as if preparing to say something she wasn’t sure she was ready for. “I love you, Owen.”
His heart pounded at the words, and it took everything within him not to react and pull her close. He wanted to taste her lips, know how she felt against him now that they had both finally told each other the truth of what they felt.
“I have for a while now, but I just couldn’t see it. Or maybe I could and that’s why I kept holding myself back. Every time I felt like I was almost there or at least close enough that I could trust myself, something else happened. Between the pregnancy, my job, and then my father of all people, it was all so much.”
He brushed his thumb along her jaw. “But you handled it.”
She snorted. “Not well.”
He couldn’t correct her there. “We all handle things differently, and yeah, you were overwhelmed, but I wasn’t much better. I started making lists and trying to take care of things on my own without asking for help. It roped me off from everyone, including you, and I shouldn’t have done that.”
“I’m not going to Cheyenne,” she blurted. “I never was, but apparently, I needed an out, so when things got to be too much, I used it.”
“Damn right, you weren’t going to Cheyenne.” He paused, thoughtful. “Of course, Gallagher Brothers Restoration could always use a satellite office up there just in case.” He rubbed his chin. “Not a bad idea, actually.”
She rolled her eyes and punched at him. “Stop it. I’m not going.”
“But if you did, I’d go with you. I love
you, Liz. You’re my future, don’t you get that? Where you go, I go.”
Tears filled her eyes, and he was afraid he’d said the wrong thing until she kissed the center of his chest. “I’m going to make mistakes, Owen. I’m going to do something rash and stupid when I’m upset, even if I’m trying to do the right thing. I’m probably going to be overwhelmed with finding a new job and being pregnant, not to mention the whole part that happens after raising a baby. And I want to be with you, I do, but I can’t just leave Tessa on her own in this house we bought, so I’m probably going to stress out about that too and cause you to stress, as well. I’m just laying it out there. I love you, but I come with a lot of baggage.”
Owen tucked her close, not quite ready to believe that everything he’d ever wanted could be in his arms right then. Holy hell, he never truly thought this could happen, and yet he knew it was.
Liz was his.
Finally.
“We all have baggage, Lizzie.” She snorted. “Some more than others, sure, but we all have it. Hell, you’re going to have to deal with my organizational tendencies and the fact that I tend to over plan things. Daily.”
“Still not as much baggage as me,” she muttered into his chest.
“Well, it’s not a competition, and I’m sure you’ll find things that annoy you about me over time. But that’s the thing, Lizzie, it’s time. I want you by my side and in my life until the day we move on to the next. I want to raise our child together and make mistakes, knowing we can fix them if we try. And if you get scared, promise not to run. Because if you do, I’ll just hold you captive with paperclips and binder clips if I have to. I have a desk full of them.”
She blinked at him for a moment before throwing her head back and laughing. “You’re such a dork, Owen Gallagher.”
He sobered before gently pressing a kiss to her sweet, sweet lips. “I’m your dork, Lizzie. All you have to do is stay.”
She looked into his eyes, and they both let out a soft breath. “I’ll stay. As long as you’re here, I’ll stay.”
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