AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I suppose that’s how it is for everyone.”
“I suppose. Let’s eat before the food gets cold.”
They reached for their takeout containers. Amelia took the wooden chopsticks out of their sleeve, broke them in two, and went for a big bite of the drunken noodles she’d ordered.
“Oh, my gosh. This is amazing.”
Liam grinned, his grim expression from before mostly disappearing. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Oh, I do.” Amelia took another big bite. “I love Thai food usually, but this is really good.”
“Try mine.” Liam held his container out to Amelia, and she took a piece of broccoli from his red curry.
“Wow.” She nodded appreciatively. “So good.”
“When I was in Thailand, I must have gained five pounds in a week,” Liam said with another grin. “The food was just so delicious.”
“You were in Thailand?”
“Uh-huh.” Liam nodded. “It was part of an initiative to bring Lilypad products to underprivileged children. Thailand was one of our pilot countries, so I went around five years ago. Since then, we’ve expanded to several other countries as well.”
“That’s wonderful.” Amelia smiled. Another part of her mental image of Liam clicked into place. He might be distant and businesslike, but it seemed he also cared about helping people.
“I can’t take much credit. Our corporate social responsibility team really ran with the idea. They grew the initiative a lot, beyond what I’d hoped.”
“Impressive.” Amelia took another bite of her food. “Have you traveled anywhere else interesting?”
“I travel fairly regularly for work, mostly to our partner organization in the UK, but sometimes other places. It’s all business, though, so I rarely get much time to sightsee. Do you travel?”
“Not really.” Amelia shook her head. “At Shondyn, I was too busy all the time, and since I left, well…” She waved a hand. The truth was that she wasn’t able to afford expensive travel, but she didn’t want to get into it with this billionaire. There was no way he’d understand.
“Where would you travel, if you could go anywhere?”
“I don’t even know.” Amelia smiled distantly. “Everywhere. But first, maybe Hawaii.”
“You don’t get enough beaches living in Northern California?” Liam asked teasingly.
“There’s no such thing as enough beaches. Plus, Hawaii has lots of other great stuff. Or so I’ve heard.”
The conversation transitioned into more of a comfortable chat, mostly about travel, and by the time they’d finished dinner and said their goodnights, Amelia was feeling very strange. She’d enjoyed her evening with Liam, a lot. And best of all, he’d even put his phone on silent and left it face-down on the desk after their food had arrived.
Throughout dinner, Liam had been interested in her, thoughtful, and even a little funny. Sure, he’d also pushed back against a few of her questions, but overall he’d seemed happy to talk. Perhaps Amelia had read Liam wrong — maybe he wasn’t just a cold, rich man who didn’t care about anything other than his reputation.
On the other hand, there was still the fact that he hadn’t been a part of Grace’s life until now — and now he provided only a financial contribution. Amelia sighed. As fun as he was to talk to, Liam was still an absentee father, which made it hard for her to respect him.
When Amelia fell asleep, though, she dreamed of her and Liam at the park, her pushing Grace on the swings, Liam standing beside her. Then, Liam spun her towards him, one hand going around her waist, the other resting on the side of her face.
“Amelia,” he said, and leaned forward.
Amelia woke with a start, her heart beating a little too fast, and raised a hand to her lips. In the dream, Liam had been about to kiss her.
CHAPTER 12
LIAM
The next day, Liam sent a message to Amelia around lunchtime, asking if she would be available for another dinner and preparation session. She replied about half an hour later, saying that she would be ready — and Liam found it difficult to concentrate for the rest of the day.
Their evening together last night had been… interesting, to say the least. Amelia was a fascinating woman. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, but she also let things go when Liam clearly didn’t want to discuss them. She’d even been funny — Liam smiled as he remembered them joking around over last night’s takeout. At the end of the night, he’d been tempted to walk her back to her bedroom, like they’d really been on a date. He’d held back, though, instead staying in his study for another half an hour to work.
