Page 60 of The Focal Point

At least, I hoped not.

Chapter 25

Bailey

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“YOU’RE SUCH AN ASSHOLE.”

I knew I was repeating myself, and not in a nice way. But it was the only thing I could say when all the words of anger, betrayal, love, and loneliness were one big jumble in my head.

My hands, clenched by my side, shook, and the carpet wavered with the tears in my eyes. I could barely get the words past the lump in my throat or my too-tight chest.

I hadn’t known who to expect when I opened the door, but it hadn’t been Liam. It had been three weeks since I had seen him, three horrible weeks, and for a moment, I had thought I was seeing things. Except I could smell his soap, and he was in a gray suit and looked like he had just come from a business meeting. He was also visibly tense, his hand jiggling ceaselessly with what I would learn was the key to the new house.

I wished my first reaction had been anger, so much anger I could have told him to leave before he even got a single word out. I wanted to stay mad at him, remain in that safe space that felt so familiar and justified.

Except instead of anger, my first reaction had been for my heart to skip a beat, butterflies immediately bursting into the air and fluttering wildly around so that my chest felt tingly.

To cover my reaction, I had narrowed my eyes, willing my anger to come back. It had come, but slowly and begrudgingly, a shadow of its former self. And I had still been willing and ready to turn him away, no matter what kind of dance the butterflies were doing. But Liam had pleaded with me for just five minutes, and now I couldn’t even pretend to be angry.

“You’re such an asshole,” I said for the third time, finally forcing my head up so I could glare into his face. “I was all ready to tell you to get lost, to give you hell for lying to me when you knew how I felt about it—”

“For the record,” Liam pointed out, holding a finger up, “everyone else has given me hell for it, including Tom and my sister. And me. I’ve probably been the worst.”

“—and here you go, coming to me with the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard of, and it’s not even for you,” I finished, glaring at him for the interruption. “What exactly am I supposed to do?”

Liam tried a smile, but it was half-hearted as he scratched at his cheek. “I know what I would like you to do, but—”

He shrugged. I held on to the last of my anger for a heartbeat more, then let it all out with a sigh that dropped my shoulders from my ears.

The guy had apologized. He had made a mistake and apologized, and I had to give him a second chance. He wasn’t Russ—that simple apology had shown me that much. But so had his desire for me to join him on a project even if he didn’t get anything out of it. All because he felt so bad that he had screwed up.

“I just want it on record that what you did was a monumental screwup,” I muttered, but from the smile starting to grow on his face, Liam already knew my answer.

“I will paint it on the walls if you want me to,” he said. “I will have a lawyer write it down and have Gloria or Jordan act as a notary public so we can get it officiated.”

Wrapping my arms tightly around my middle, I bit my lower lip and tried to figure out what to do next. Liam didn’t seem to know, either.

“Well, why don’t you come in?” I finally offered. My apartment was a mess, for once, but I didn’t have either the mental or physical energy to clean it up. And, for once, I wasn’t working on a Sunday. Instead, I had been watching movie marathons. At least I’d put on some mascara to run out for a bagel and coffee that morning. And brushed my teeth.

“Sure.” Liam followed me in, closing the door and locking it as I returned to the couch. But I didn’t get far before Liam’s hand wrapped around my wrist and pulled me back to him. Startled, I looked up into his face to see desperation in his eyes.

“Liam?”

“Bailey, I just need to get this out, okay? I can’t play it cool anymore. I’m so sorry for what I did. It was stupid and immature, and you didn’t deserve it. Whatever happens between us, I will spend the rest of my life showing you how much I respect and admire you and earning your trust.”

“You already apologized—” I started.

“Please, just listen,” Liam interrupted me. He looked down at the hand he still had around my wrist before his gaze found mine again. “Bailey, I love you. The only thing I’ve realized over the past few weeks, besides the fact that I need to run my ideas past someone other than my brain, is that I don’t want to live without you. You’ve become a fixture in my life, and everything feels empty without you in it.”

For a record third time, tears sprang to my eyes, and one even slipped down my cheek before I could brush them away.

Liam brushed away the tear with a thumb, his smile soft. “I’ve been searching for someone like you for so long, someone who gives me butterflies and makes my heart jump when she enters the room. And that’s you, Bailey. I think we were meant to be together, to stumble into each other’s lives. I just hope—” He took a deep breath, his brow knotting with anxiety. “I just hope I didn’t screw up my chance with you.”

Words flashed through my head, so many I couldn’t grab hold of just one. So instead, I threw my arms around Liam’s neck, burying my face in his shirt and reveling in the feeling of being in his arms again.

“I love you, too,” I replied.