Something True

by Malia Mallory

  ~ * ~ * ~

  Liam walked into Shelley’s office right as she finished her phone call.

  “Vera tells me I need to get back into the studio. Release new stuff while Dixie Dog is hot.”

  Liam nodded. “She’s probably right. Do you have any songs ready?”

  “I’ve been working on another Dixie song. Vera suggested doing children’s classics, but there are a million albums like that.” Shelley preferred original material, but songwriting was a slow process for her.

  “Yes, but that doesn’t mean yours can’t be different or have some kind of twist to it,” Liam suggested.

  “Maybe.” What kind of a twist did one add to Old MacDonald?

  “Why don’t we go to my studio? You can try a few things out.” One of the first things Liam did after buying his house was add on a recording studio and practice space.

  “That’s very generous of you, Liam, but …” Shelley knew Liam had work to do on his own album. She wasn’t comfortable with taking up his time.

  “No buts. What’s with the buts? I’d love to listen to you.”

  His statement disarmed her. “Really?”

  “Really,” Liam confirmed.

  “You love to listen to children’s music? That seems unlikely.”

  “I want to listen to you. You have a great voice.”

  “I … what? Why do you say things like that?” Shelley was stunned. She’d never learned to take compliments well and she found Liam’s particularly difficult. His talent had made him famous and wealthy. She recognized the hard work it took to hone natural ability into something more. A compliment from him regarding her music really meant something.

  “I’m serious,” Liam said.

  “Okay then. Let’s do it.” Working at Liam’s house would be much more pleasant than booking time at a busy studio.

  ~ * ~ * ~

  The last note hung in the air. “Liam, how many instruments do you play?” As she finalized her new song, Liam accompanied her on the guitar and then the piano. At one point, he even kept the beat for her on the extensive drum in the corner.

  “I dunno. Six maybe?” He shrugged as if it were no big deal.

  “Six maybe?” The more she learned about Liam, the more impressed she was.

  “I can play a few others a bit, but not that proficiently.”

  “I’m jealous. I only play piano and guitar.” Shelley always wanted to pick up another instrument, but never made the time.

  “I’d be happy to teach you something. What do you want to learn?”

  “I’ve always thought the dulcimer would be fun. I love the sound.” She was drawn to the interesting history of the instrument as well.

  “Oh, you would have to pick something I don’t know. We could learn together, though.”

  “Maybe.” Without meaning to, she was agreeing to spend more and more time with Liam. Perhaps that was his goal.

  “We should make a few recordings. Your song is in good shape. What do you think?”

  Declaring a song finished had never been a strength of Shelley’s. Usually, she refined and tweaked until she had a deadline. “All right. Maybe a demo that I can send to Vera.”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  ~ * ~ * ~

  Liam’s voice came through the intercom from the control booth. “That was great. I think you nailed it.”

  Shelley nodded. “Yeah, it felt good. I think that’s the one.” Shelley placed her guitar on the stand and exited the studio. She stared at Liam and a thread of want spread through her. What power did this man have over her? Was it the same spell he wove around every other woman or was it something more?

  Shelley pushed the thought from her mind. “Liam, I can’t thank you enough for your help.”

  He spun around on his chair. “I’m glad to do it. It’s a nice change of pace.”

  “In what way?” Shelley asked.

  “Talent without ego,” he replied.

  “Oh.” Liam’s compliments never failed to disarm her.

  “If you really wanted to show your appreciation, I wouldn’t turn down a kiss.” Liam tapped his cheek.

  Shelley pointed her finger at him. “You’re a rogue. You know that, right?”

  “I do.” Liam stood.

  His smile enticed her. Shelley’s feet brought her toward him as if an invisible line were reeling her in. Her fingertips brushed his shoulder as she pressed her lips to his jawline and pulled back.

  Shelley’s lips tingled and she couldn’t resist swaying toward him. His hands grasped her shoulders and he leaned in. Their lips met, warm against each other. Liam growled in his throat and wrapped his arms around Shelley, molding her tightly to him. His hand roamed down to her hips and his growing arousal nudged against her.

  “Liam … Liam …” Breathless, her hands reached up and stroked his hair, combing the silky strands through her fingers.

  “I want you,” he whispered in her ear. “I want you so much.”

  “Oh, Liam, I …” Shelley wanted him, too. She didn’t want to resist the attraction between them anymore.

  “Shhhh.” He pressed his fingertip to her lips. “If you can’t say yes, at least don’t say no.” He stepped back from her.

  Shelley averted her eyes and smoothed her hands over her clothing. “I just—”

  “It’s okay. You don’t owe me any explanations. Not yet, anyway. I don’t want to rush you, but there’s no getting around that you are a beautiful, desirable woman. You think on it. In the meantime, why don’t we have lunch? It’s a clear day. We can eat on the deck.”

  “Sounds good. I’d like that.” The reprieve both relieved and disappointed her. She didn’t want more time to talk herself out of being with Liam.

  Liam held Shelley’s hand loosely and led her through the house to the kitchen. “I should have planned ahead a bit better. I’m not sure what there is.”

  “Maybe I can make something?” Shelley opened the refrigerator. Condiments and a few stray beers were the only occupants. “Looks a little bare in here.”

  “Ummm. I eat out a lot?”

  Shelley laughed. “Anything in the cupboard? I see you have bread.” Shelley pointed to the package on the counter.

  “Peanut butter and jelly? Jam, really. I have strawberry jam in the pantry.”

  “Okay, peanut butter and jelly it is.” The idea of using a fancy chef’s kitchen to prepare a sandwich amused Shelley.

  “I think there are lemonade packs in the drawer that work with the coffeemaker.”

  Shelley opened a few cabinets until she found glasses. She filled two with ice and turned on the coffee maker.

  Liam fetched the jam from the cupboard. “Bread’s good. A little stale, maybe. I’ll toast it.”

  Shelley smirked. If Liam’s fans could see him now, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It was so normal. Weirdly normal. “You really know how to impress a girl.”

  Liam paused. “You’re right. Let’s go out. You deserve better than peanut butter sandwiches.”

  Shelley poked his arm. “Don’t be silly. Sandwiches are fine. Besides, I’d rather stay here.”

  “You’re sure? I guess I’m relaxed around you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think you’re special. It’s more that I think you’re normal.”

  “I think I am. At least I try to be.”

  “It’s a refreshing change. You’re easy to be with. Comfortable. In the best way. I know I’m not being clear.” Liam sighed.

  “No. I think you are,” Shelley assured him.

  Liam carried the sandwiches outside, and Shelley followed with the lemonade.

  Shelley goggled at the view. “Wow. This is gorgeous. I’d be sitting out here all day long and never get anything done.”

  “Eventually the heat would chase you back indoors.”

  “Always so practical.”

  “I think that’s the first time anyone has ever accused me of being practical. Everyone assumes I’m fanciful because of the Irish and all.�
��

  “I imagine there are a few practical people in Ireland.”

  “There are, but we still look out for the selkies.”

  “Selkies?”

  “Oh, you want to know about the selkies, do you?” Liam’s accent thickened.

  Shelley rested her head in her palm with her elbow on the table. “Yes.”

  “Well, selkies are magical creatures,” Liam explained.

  “Seals that shed their skin to become human women, right?”

  “There are male selkies, but they tend to stick to their home in the water. It’s the women who usually come ashore.”

  “Why do they come?” Shelley asked.

  “For love,” Liam said simply.

  “It seems sad that they’re trapped on the land away from their natural environment.” Sometimes going to the zoo made Shelley sad for the same reasons. She knew they did good work, helping to protect and conserve, but she always wondered if the animals wouldn’t like it better being in their proper habitat.

  “It’s not that simple,” Liam argued.

  “How is that?”

  “There was a story my ma used to tell about the selkies when I was a boy.”

  “Will you tell me?” Shelley held her breath. She desperately wanted to know more about Liam—the parts he didn’t often share.

  “There was a fisherman who was a widower. He had a young daughter to provide for and so he spent long hours at sea. One day, he was walking along the beach, on his way home after a poor catch. Through the mist, he saw a dark-haired woman and, as he got close, he realized she was naked.”

  “That doesn’t seem appropriate for children,” Shelley teased.

  Liam scowled. “It’s not a big part of the story. Shall I continue?”

  “Yes, please.” Shelley smiled and put her finger to her lips.

  “The fisherman thought perhaps the woman had been in a shipwreck, and he asked her, but she was in shock and didn’t respond. He picked her up and took her to his home, where she stayed until her ill health passed. She was beautiful and bewitching, and the fisherman fell deeply in love. She seemed to return his affections and his daughter loved her as well. Since she’d come to stay, every day the fisherman’s net was full and, therefore, so were their bellies.”

  “The fisherman suspected that his love was a selkie, but he couldn’t resist her and they married. But he was afraid, for he knew that if she found her seal skin, she would put it on and swim away from him forever. So each day, before and after his fishing, he searched the beach for her skin and one day, he came upon it, hidden among the rocks. He took it home and locked it in a chest under their bed.”

  “Years went by and the fisherman became prosperous. His daughter grew tall and strong, and life was good with his love by his side. His daughter though, was a curious girl. Always a curious girl. Too much so for her own good. One day she came upon the key for the chest in her father’s pocket and unlocked it. She removed the pelt, mesmerized by its glossy black shine. She put it over her shoulders and went into the kitchen. There she bid her stepmother to try it on for herself and so she did. Soon after, the selkie slipped back into the sea, her human family forgotten forever. The fisherman was heartbroken at the loss of his wife and blamed his daughter, and so their bond was broken as well. The daughter left the house, never to return, and the fisherman aged alone, bitter to the end of his days.”

  “Wow, that’s so sad.” Liam’s story of love and loss touched her.

  “When my mother would tell me the story, I’d imagine that she was the selkie, and she was sharing her own story in the only way she knew. I looked all over the house for her seal skin, so I could give it back to her and free her from my father.”

  “Liam …” Shelley reached for his hand, her heart aching for the little boy he’d been.

  Liam shook his head. “I don’t want to dwell on it.”

  “It’s not dwelling on it. It’s letting someone know a part of you. It’s letting me know a part of you.” Shelley pictured Liam, searching his home for a wayward pelt, longing to make life better for his mother.

  Liam looked away, out over the breaking waves of the ocean. “Yeah, not something I share on the talk show circuit.” He paused. “Looking back, I’m not sure why she told me the story. To warn against too much curiosity?”

  “Or maybe to show the importance of love and family?” Shelley offered.

  “Love and family? Maybe. Perhaps it was a story and nothing more.”

  “It’s important because it’s something you two shared.” Shelly was afraid special moments had been few and far between in Liam’s childhood.

  “Yes. My ma told a lot of stories. Selkies, faeries.”

  “Perhaps you’ll share another one with me sometime.”

  “Perhaps I will. We Irish are full of fanciful stories.” Liam drank a long swallow of lemonade and fixed her with a steady gaze. “So, what’s holding you back?”

  Disarmed by his quick change of subject, she gave him a puzzled glance.

  “With us,” he clarified.

  “I don’t know. Nothing. Everything.” Shelley wasn’t sure of all the reasons for her reticence herself.

  “That’s helpful.” Liam’s dry tone indicated that it was not the least bit helpful.

  “We’re very different,” Shelley said.

  “Are we? We’re both musicians.”

  “You’re world famous. A superstar.”

  “I’m still a man, Shelley. Don’t make me into anything else.”

  “Fair enough.” She paused. “My heart’s a little cracked,” Shelley explained.

  “I’d be surprised if it weren’t. I’m sure others have tried to snatch you up, though they apparently failed.”

  “I’m sure you could say the same.” Shelley knew the tabloids exaggerated, but Liam’s high profile relationships were news.

  Liam’s lips thinned. “Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that my fame and money were more attractive than I was.”

  Shelley touched his hand. “You know that’s not true.”

  “I’d like to think it isn’t. I suppose I let a few of the wrong people into my life.”

  “I have as well. I think everyone does at some point.”

  “You’re a very forgiving type.”

  “Maybe. But Liam, all that aside, I’m not sure I’m cut out for a fling like this. To be honest, I’m afraid of getting hurt.” Shelley didn’t see how an involvement with Liam would end any other way.

  “I’ll never hurt you, Shelley.”

  “I know you wouldn’t mean to. I live a more quiet life.”

  “Have you seen me out partying every night since we met? I’m not saying I didn’t, because I did. But I’ve put that behind me. The hard partying, anyway. I don’t want it and I don’t want to go where it was leading me.”

  “I’m not judging your choices, Liam. Our lives don’t mesh and it’s never going anywhere, so why should I set myself up like that when I know what’s going to happen?” Couldn’t he see it wasn’t worth starting something when you knew how it would end? Maybe not the specifics, but it would end and it would be painful.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “I’m not really your type, Liam. It’s a novelty for you, a one off.”

  “What the hell? How do you know what my type is? Are you saying I’m not good enough for you?”

  “No, of course not. The opposite.”

  “You’re not good enough for me? Where are you getting all these crazy ideas?”

  “Liam, you could be with almost anyone you want. Models. Actresses.”

  “Yeah, I did the models and actresses, thank you very much. Literally. Therefore, I should know better than anyone what works for me. I don’t get this. You’re a beautiful, talented woman. Why wouldn’t I want to be with you?”

  “When you get to know me better, you’ll see that I’m not that special.” Shelley knew herself to be average and average wouldn’t satisfy a man like Liam Smi
th.

  “Is this some kind of self-esteem bullshit? Who told you that you aren’t special?”

  “I’ve had several boyfriends. They’ve made me aware of my shortcomings.”

  “They must have been blind and dumb to let you slip away. Come. Let me show you how I see you.” He held out his hand.

  Shelley took it.

  Chapter 5

  Shelley watched with wide eyes as Liam pulled off his shirt. Her fingers itched to touch his muscled chest, but she was frozen in place, mesmerized as Liam unfastened his jeans and pushed them to the floor. His erection tented the fabric of his boxer briefs and Shelley swallowed, her desire tempered with a touch of apprehension.

  Liam’s eyes fixed on hers and Shelley read the desire in his gaze. Before she over thought it, Shelley grabbed the hem of her shirt and removed it.

  Liam stepped closer and his eyes fastened on the creamy expanse of skin spilling out the top of her bra. “So beautiful. May I touch?”

  Shelley nodded. Liam reached out and slipped his fingertip under the lacy edge. Shelley flushed as heat spread through her breasts and down her belly.

  “Do you want to touch me, too?” There was no mistaking his ardor.

  Shelley blushed and placed her palm against his chest. She felt the thump of his heart and the warmth of his skin. She skimmed her fingertips down his belly and over the fabric of his underwear.

  Liam sucked in a breath as she touched him, encircled him with her fingers, nothing but cloth between. Liam pushed his underwear off and Shelley grasped him again, stroking his pulsing flesh as he stood naked before her.

  “Oh, Shelley, that feels so good. I want to see you, too. Let me see all of you.”

  Shelley reached behind her back and unhooked her bra. The cups loosened and the bra slid down her arms. Shelley tossed it on the floor and reached for the waistband of her panties. After a moment’s hesitation, she removed them.

  Liam reached out and traced his fingertip from her waist, down her hip, and over to the coarse curls at the apex of her thighs. He parted her soft folds and stroked her, spreading her wetness. “Please tell me you want me as much as I want you.”