My breath catches and my entire body starts to vibrate in relief and an overwhelming amount of bliss. Suddenly, nothing else matters, not one second of it because I know he made me dance around his heart while he was trying to protect it. He watches me unfold as his words consume me.
“I—you’re serious?”
“Exceptionally serious.”
“Liam, I can’t . . .”
“Tell me what it is that you’re having a hard time controlling.”
I chew at the corner of my lip because I didn’t think that we would ever get here, especially not over some stupid video call. The more he shares with me, though, the more the emotion seeps through my recently constructed walls. He’s cracked them, and he’s well aware of the fact. I shift on the bed before looking back up into the screen.
“I—I love you, Liam Jensen.”
“I know,” he says with the most natural smile I’ve seen him wear in years.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I say through a blush.
“Like what? What am I looking at you like?”
“Like you’re in love.”
“You better get used to it then,” he counters.
We don’t speak for what feels like a lifetime. I lie down on my side and stare at his handsome face while he does the same. When I hear his voice again, I’ve realized that I’ve dozed off with the camera slightly askew and pointed toward me.
“Doll? I need to get off of here and get some sleep.”
“Hmm?”
“Fuck, I could watch you sleep for eternity.”
“Stop,” I grumble and pull the comforter higher up and over my shoulder.
“I’ll be back in Chicago as soon as I can, and I’d appreciate it if my girl sent me a couple of messages now and then.”
“I suppose that it won’t hurt to type out something or other,” I tease.
He chuckles and turns off the light in his hotel room.
“Liam?”
“Yeah?”
“Happy belated birthday. I’m sorry—”
“You have nothing to apologize for. All yesterday did was make me realize just how much I was missing out on without you in my life. Honestly, it’s the best thing that you could have given me.”
I can just make out the outline of his face, and I’m contemplating telling him my truth. I don’t know if it will be too much for one night, or if it’s the right time. I suppose that no time would be the right time for what I have to tell him, though.
I sigh and turn off my light before pulling up my text message application while we’re still on FaceTime together. In a message to him I attach the ultrasound image that I sent Hadley last week. I’d rather not say the words out loud right now, but I know that I need to tell him. My finger hovers over the send button for a few seconds, and then I send the image into the pixelated world and anxiously wait for his response.
“Did you just send me something?”
“Uhm, yes.”
I hear him shuffle and then his face is illuminated by the brighter light from the messenger application.
“What did you send?”
One. Two. Three. Fou—
“What is . . . ? Isla, is that . . . ?”
I blow out a breath and push my head deeper into the pillow. “Happy belated birthday, Daddy.”
“What?”
I can still see his face and it’s masked in confusion, horror, and to my surprise, delight.
“This . . . it’s mine?”
“Whose else would it be?”
His face turns dark again, and I know that he’s searching for mine on the screen.
“You’re pregnant? You’re pregnant with my child?”
I nod but quickly realize that he can’t see me. “I am. We are.”
“Holy shit,” he breathes out. “When did you find out? How far along are you? Are you sure? Are you sure that this is ours?”
I can’t help the smile that forms on my face for the first time about this pregnancy. “Yes, it’s ours. I figured it out while we were on the plane to Iceland and confirmed it when I flew back home. I’m just over nine weeks along.”
“Jesus.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I should have said something sooner.”
“Don’t apologize for holding this back while I put you through shit, Isla. Fuck, I had no idea. I’m the one who’s sorry. This—this is why you deserve better than I can give you. This is why I don’t want anyone relying on me, but God. I can’t believe what’s happening.”
“You’re okay with it?”
“I don’t particularly have a choice, but yes, I am. I mean, as okay as I can be about it. Are you sure?” he asks me again.
“Positive, Liam.”
“I’ll message my pilot now, and I’ll be on the jet in an hour.” His lights turn back on, and I see the subtle smile on his face while he pulls a shirt over his head.
“No, it’s okay. You have work to do, and I’m not much company with all of this morning sickness.”
“You’ve been sick? I can’t leave you to go through this alone, Isla.”
He sets his phone down on the nightstand while he moves around his lavish hotel room.
“Liam?”
“Yeah?”
“Please stop. I’ll be okay. I swear it. I just need you to focus on helping those that you’re in the middle of helping and then you can come for me.”
“For you and my baby. Isla, I’ve never been able to put things that actually matter first in my life until this moment,” he says as he picks up his phone from the nightstand. “I’m going to do this right. Starting now.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“I’m not. You need me.”
“I . . .”
Do I? Probably not as much as those women who he just pulled out of Mexico do, but yes, I do. I’ve needed him before this baby came along, and I’ll probably need him well past it.
“Exactly. Fuck, this is liberating.”
I giggle and turn my light back on. “What is?”
“Doing something for me and not giving a shit about the consequences. I’m sorry that I let you down when you needed me.”
“You didn’t—”
“I did, doll. All of those nights when you were so distant from me make sense now. I forced you to go through the beginning of this alone, and I refuse to do that again.” He stops stuffing things in his bag and stares at the screen. “Do you forgive me?”
“For what? Being who you are?”
“No. There’s being who I am and being a fucking ass who was too goddamn afraid to admit what he had.”
“Well, seeing as those are your words and not mine, yes, I forgive you.”
“Thank you.”
I watch as he runs a hand through his hair and down the back of his neck. God, what I wouldn’t give to touch him right this second.
“Liam?”
“Yeah, doll?”
“I need you.”
His eyes shoot up to the screen as pure elation crosses over his face.
“I won’t let you down again, Isla.”
I give him a shy smile as he picks up his duffel bag and swings it over his shoulder before I watch his hotel room disappear behind him.
“Give me ten minutes, and I’ll call you right back. I need to make sure that I’m all set to leave, and I need to arrange for someone else to fly up and sit with this family tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to do all of this for me.”
I move a strand of hair behind my ear and let a yawn escape my lips once the sentence leaves them.
“Yes, I do. Go back to sleep if you need to. I’ll see you soon.”
“I don’t think that I could go back to sleep now even if I tried.”
I watch him get into a car and tell the driver where to go before he responds. “All right, I’ll call you right back. Love you, babe.”
I can’t begin to explain the wave of hope that runs through me at his last three words.
“Y
ou too,” I say and then he’s gone.
I look around my quiet room and pinch the skin on my forearm to make sure that I didn’t just dream that all up. I open our text message conversation and see the solitary image that holds both my and Liam’s future staring back at me.
I swallow the lump that’s forming in my throat and get out of bed. I start cleaning up my bedroom, changing the sheets out and by the time I’m done, thirty minutes has passed without a word from him. I decide on a relaxing bath and then to get ready instead of just staring at the phone while the seconds tick by. Once I step into the warm water and am seated in a mountain of bubbles, my phone starts to go off. I giggle and cover my chest up with bubbles before I answer him.
His image blinks onto my screen, and I sag a little farther into the water now that I see he’s already on his jet.
“That took longer than I thought . . .” he trails off and raises his eyebrows. “I should be in that water with you.”
“Hi.”
I swear it feels like I’ve just met him because I’m suddenly a nervous wreck. My stomach flutters and I notice that I have one of my arms wrapped around my midsection in a way to reassure myself. I’m gnawing at the inside of my cheek while he watches me.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing. I don’t know. I’m just nervous about everything.”
Little does he know that he’s my nothing.
“About what exactly? Us?”
I nod and lean my head back against the lip of the tub. “Yes, us, and the fact that I’m pregnant. I can’t believe that both things are actually happening.”
“Get used to it, doll.”
My pulse is pounding against my temples as I take in a shallow breath. “You’re sure about all of this?”
“I’m not sure about a single fucking thing, but you have my word that I won’t let you or that baby down.”
My eyes flicker down to my stomach, and I run my fingers over it. “I know that you won’t. You’re not someone who goes against his word.”
“Good. I’m glad that I haven’t lost all of your trust. I’m about to take off, and you should get some sleep.”
“Wait.”
I feel absurd for asking him this, but I don’t particularly want to be alone right now.
“Do you have Wi-Fi onboard?”
“Yeah, I’m using it right now.”
“Would you mind staying on the call with me?” I ask and start chewing on the corner of my lip again in a sensitive manner until his answering grin causes me to smile back at him. I have a feeling that this smile might be permanent on my lips for a while, and hopefully, mend any fragments of my heart that broke off when he left.
“I’ll stay, but I’m warning you that I might pass out. I haven’t gotten a lot of sleep these last few days.” I think that he reclines his seat because the angle I have of him seems to be from above rather than right in front of his handsome-as-fuck face.
“What do you think people will say? Specifically Wade?”
“Does he know?”
“That I’m pregnant? No, not that I know of. Hadley knows, though.”
“That would explain why she’s been so fucking peeved with me. She’s been constantly up my ass about you.”
I giggle and readjust myself in the tub. “Probably.”
I let this sense of happiness soak right into my bones and savor it in the moment.
“To be honest here, I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks. Yeah, we’ve got a shitload to figure out, but I’m glad that we’re going to be able to do this together.”
“Me too.”
“When were you planning on telling me?”
“I wanted to tell you the second I found out. I wanted you with me at the doctor’s appointment, but I was frightened, and I tried to cover up my pain rather than let you see it. I guess these pregnancy hormones have a mind of their own.”
“I’ll be with you for all of the ones you have in the future. I’m sorry that I missed the initial one.”
“Thank you,” I say shyly. “Hold on one second for me.” I set the phone down on the edge of the tub and start to wash up.
“You know, I’d prefer to watch you do that than stare at your ceiling.”
“And how do you expect me to do that when I need both of my hands?”
“You’ll figure it out.”
“Liam,” I scold and reach over to grab my phone, but the second I grab onto it, I know that I’ve made a mistake. It slips from my soapy hand and into the tub along with me.
“Fuck,” I say under my breath and fish it out of the water. I manage to hop out of the tub without slipping on the tile with wet feet and tiptoe downstairs to the kitchen while I frantically push the buttons on it, waiting for any sign of life from the damn thing, but nothing happens.
It takes me a couple of minutes to find the rice and drop my now-dead phone into a bag of it before I make my way back upstairs to finish my bath.
“Sorry, dickweed,” I say underneath my breath. Of course, this would happen on the day that I loaned Eden my tablet, and Wade’s technical people have my laptop to install some bullshit state-of-the-art system that they insist will make my life easier when it comes to all things at Blended.
Shit on a stick. I need to figure out what to do. I’d take a short nap, but I would never wake up on time to meet him at the airport without my phone to wake me up. Let’s be honest, no one has a freaking alarm clock anymore, and I’m afraid that I’ll miss him.
I return to my bath and allow my body to soak in the fragrant water before making sure that I’m clean-shaven and ready for him in any which way possible.
I shuffle around the bathroom, getting ready, while occasionally glancing at myself in the full-length mirror, wondering how long it will take until I get to see any changes in my body.
Once I’m dressed, I make my way downstairs and start walking up and down the length of my loft.
I know that I’m being outlandish, but when something turns around in your life, you go for it. Liam’s the biggest asshole that I know, but he’s also one of the most giving and selfless men. I wipe at the tears leaking from my eyes and half-laugh at myself. I’m a mess.
I glance down at my outfit and shake my head before running back up the stairs and tearing my closet apart until I walk out with something better than what I had on.
Instead of my yoga pants and a baggy sweatshirt, I’ve changed into a deep blue skinny jean and a flowy, sheer black tank that I tuck into the front of my jeans and a pair of black strappy sandals.
I give myself another once-over in the mirror before heading downstairs and sitting down in the spot that Liam usually does when he’s about to take a nap on my couch. I told you that I’m being ridiculous.
Three hours and forty-five minutes of foot tapping and endlessly checking the little hands on my watch have finally come to an end as I wait outside of the private airport’s entrance for Liam’s jet to land.
Regardless of how much I flirt with this woman at the gate who is obviously into me, she won’t let me past the wall of steel to get closer to him.
I park off to the side of the gate, so hopefully he’ll see me when he’s leaving with a driver. I get out and move to the front of my Porsche to lean against the hood while I search the sky for any incoming flights.
Call me old-fashioned, but the second I see his jet land, I picture an old-time movie being played over a projector screen with Kiss Me playing softly in the background. It takes another fifteen minutes before the gate opens and a black vehicle starts to pull through, but it suddenly jerks to a stop and one of the rear doors flings open.
Liam steps out, stealing my breath and all of the heat from my skin at first sight. I stand up straighter as he takes long strides that turn into a jog across the distance between us until he reaches me and folds me into his arms. Before I draw in another breath of air, his lips move down to mine, making my entire body come alive with one desperate kiss.
He has all of my defenses down as his tongue asks for entrance, and I give it to him, allowing his calloused fingers to move underneath my tank to the bare skin at the small of my back.
His kiss is beyond gentle, and I can taste my briny tears as our lips move against each other. His free hand moves up into the waves of my hair until he’s holding onto the back of my neck, securing me in place.
I think the two of us morph into a single being as I dissolve into the warmth of his body. Each time he moves his hands along my skin, more tears fall, and neither of us pulls apart. After what feels like months of fighting off these out-of-control and wild feelings I’ve held for him, I can finally let them go. I give myself the opportunity to fully experience what it’s like to be with him without having to hold my breath or say something that neither of us wants to hear. I won’t lose him again, I promise myself.
His large hand moves from the back of my neck and to my cheek as he releases my lips from his warm ones. His eyes catch mine in the dim light as he wipes away a tear that’s rolling down my cheek.
“I’m sorry, Isla. So sorry.”
“Shh,” is all I can manage before I lean up on my tiptoes and lock our lips together once more in the deepest, most respectful silent language. He pulls me as close as he can possibly get me to his hard torso before lifting me off of my feet and taking a couple of steps toward my Porsche where he sits me down on the hood.
I ring my legs around his waist as our kiss becomes more than an unhurried tender tease. His hands are moving up the sides of my body as I shove my fingers through his hair, tugging him forward. He chuckles against my lips and reaches down to unbutton my jeans.
“Liam,” I moan softly, “we can’t. Not here.”
“Just let me feel you,” he says as he pushes his hand past the zipper and slides his fingers underneath the slight elastic of my panties to my lips. He lazily runs his fingers over me, causing my entire body to tighten up while it seizes with pleasure.
“Excuse me, sir?” A masculine voice breaks through the silence around us, and I want to yell at him for ruining what Liam was about to do to me.
“What?” Liam says while staring into my eyes as if he’s searching for something more than he sees.
“Would you like me to unload your belongings?”
Intertwined (Redemption #2) Page 15