AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Liam. Oh, Liam.”
For one wild, wonderful moment, they were lost in passion. Then Liam tore his mouth from Jessie’s, put his hands on her waist and leaned his forehead against hers.
No way was he going to take her like this. Not the first time. He wasn’t even sure how he’d gotten into the lavatory. He certainly hadn’t planned it. One minute he’d been sitting there, telling himself he really was interested in reading a review of a new Miami restaurant and the next, he’d looked up, asked himself why he was acting as if he was on an unimportant flight when he knew, dammit, knew, that this was the most important flight of his life. He’d shot to his feet and headed for the locked door and the woman behind it without really knowing why he was going after her or what he’d do when he got there. But when she opened the door, he knew he was there to hold her and taste her and remind them both that what had started in that garden was too powerful to deny.
She was looking at him now, a smile trembling on her mouth, and he sensed, without having to ask, that her anger had come from the same place as his fake disinterest. He sensed, too, that whatever was happening between them had never happened before, not to any man or woman on the planet.
“Jessie.”
Her smile broadened. It lit her face, even her eyes, and he felt his lips curve in response.
“Liam?”
“I know what you’re thinking.”
She laughed. She blushed, too, and he realized he’d never seen a woman blush before, not quite like that, as if she really meant it.
“I know what you’re thinking, too,” she said.
Hell, she was really something. He wanted to kiss her again but he knew it would be a mistake. It was difficult enough to just stand here without taking her in his arms and finishing what they’d started.
“I didn’t mean that.” He grinned and stepped back the inch the cramped space permitted. “I mean, yeah, that’s what I’m thinking, but—” he took a deep breath “—you’re thinking you did the wrong thing.”
Her smile faded. “Yes.”
“That you shouldn’t have run away.”
“Maybe,” she said in a little whisper.
“You’re thinking you know Bill and you don’t know a damn thing about me, and that you’ve never done anything so crazy in your life.”
He saw her try to smile again, but she couldn’t quite pull it off. “Yes and yes,” she said, her eyes lifting to his.
“Well, neither have I.” He reached out, tucked her hair behind her ears, smoothed down the collar of her lime-green jacket. Then he looped his hands loosely behind her neck and leaned his forehead against hers again. “I’ve never run away with a woman.”
“Never?”
Liam shook his head. “I’ve done a lot of things on impulse, but nothing like this.”
“I thought—I mean…” She licked her lips. “William always talks about how—how successful you are with women. And I just figured—”
“That I swoop in, snatch one, and carry her off when the mood’s on me?” This time, she really did smile and he kissed her gently, capturing her only with the kiss. “This is a first for me,” he said softly. “I wanted you to know that.”
She nodded. “Thank you for telling me.”
Her tone was solemn. Liam took the edges of her jacket and drew her close. “You’re welcome,” he said, just as solemnly. “You should know another thing, too.” He looked into her eyes. “We’re not going to Hibiscus Key.”
“We’re not?”
He shook his head. “I know a place off the Florida coast. Flamingo Island. It’s beautiful. White sand beaches, bright emerald water, soft blue sky, privacy so complete you’ll think we’ve gone back to the Garden of Eden and that we’re Adam and Eve.”
“Ah,” Jessie said with a smile she hoped didn’t show what she was feeling. “A personal recommendation from Adam himself.”
Liam had been there, all right. He thought of explaining how and why, decided this wasn’t the time, and shook his head. “Only on business, sweetheart. Never with a woman.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“You didn’t have to.” He framed her face in his hands, lifted it to him. “Everything about the next few days is going to be a first, Jess. For you, for me…for us.”
