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“And you have that.” The thick line of his throat moved on a swallow, and my eyes tracked every single movement. “That hope.”
It wasn’t a question. Just a low, scraping statement that I felt in the pit of my belly.
“Sometimes,” I admitted quietly. “Not always. When I look at the time I wasted with Charles, it’s hard for me not to feel like I missed out on something ... my own fairy-tale ending, I guess.”
Liam didn’t say anything, but his eyes studied my face with an intensity that I couldn’t name.
“Fairy tale,” he repeated. Liam took his time with those two words, tasting them a bit.
It was unfortunate how delicious they sounded to me in that voice of his. But there was an edge of cynicism to it that had my stomach swirling.
Did I really want to talk to him about this? We’d hardly settled into a comfortable existence, let alone gotten to a point where I was willing to talk about my relationship insecurities.
So I did what any self-respecting woman would do if an inconveniently hot guy started asking her about what hope she had for future relationships ...
I deflected like my life depended on it.
“What about you?” I asked. “Haven’t you ever been tempted to marry?”
His eyes were steady on mine. “That two questions or one?”
“You know it’s only one.”
Liam grunted in concession. “No. Never been tempted.”
“Because you don’t like people,” I said seriously.
His lips twitched. “Part of it.”
I would get a full smile out of Liam Davies if it was the last thing I did on this earth.
My mouth opened, then closed.
“Oh bloody hell,” he muttered, “she’s lost for words. That’s never good.”
“It’s the weekend, so I get two questions,” I reminded him.
After releasing a beleaguered sigh that had me rolling my eyes, he made a go-ahead gesture with his hand.
I chose my words carefully. “I know it can’t be from a lack of opportunity. You’re a professional athlete.”
“Takes abitmore than that to end up married.”
“It does,” I conceded. “And you’re not exactly ugly,” I added lightly.
His eyes burned into mine, but he didn’t so much as blink.
“So why haven’t you?” My throat was bone-in-the-desert dry, and I swallowed against it. “I’ve never even known you to date. Men or women.”
Liam licked his bottom lip.
My stomach flipped, weightless and quick, when he did that.
For a moment, I didn’t think he’d answer. I thought he’d just sit there and stare and make me want to pry his head open with a can opener so I could physically extract his thoughts.
But when he did, his gaze was unflinching, and I felt it in my bones. “There’s people in this world like you, Goldilocks. The ones who have stars in their eyes, make decisions based on what they’ve always wanted. You want Prince Charming to sweep you off your feet, so you can ride off into the sunset together.”
My heart was hammering. Why did all of this feel so loaded?
