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“MaybeIdon’t want to earn the fury of two millionaire families,” he said.
“And if that ends up being the case, then I won’t begrudge you for it. I promise to respect your decision, no matter what it ends up being. I know I’m asking a lot of you, but I think very highly of you, and I want to give Anna a chance to have a relationship with someone who isn’t strictly interested in her for selfish reasons. Your hesitance makes memorecertain that you’re the right person to ask this of, not less.”
As much as he wished he could have resisted it, a blush squirmed to life on his face. Rejoicing as he did when she told him she thought so much of him, the discomfort that came with this situation muddied the joy he might have otherwise relished. Especially because, while she could spot his hesitance, she seemed unaware of the exactwhybehind it: his desire forher, not Annabelle Royce.
“I… don’t know, Tess,” he said, swallowing the tumultuousness rumbling caused by this conversation as best he could. “I’m not sure how this is supposed to even work. Is Anna even aware of me? Does shewantyou to hook her up with some random guy?”
“She is nominally aware of you, and she is okay with me introducing her to someone,” Tess explained. “This isn’t a shotgun wedding, Liam. I only want to make introductions between you and see if you two might hit it off, giving Anna a chance to explore a relationship without her father’s shadow hanging over her. She might realize that it’s worthwhile and ultimately defy Arnold before she relents to marrying Trent as he wants.”
So, no pressure then,Liam thought wryly. How could he say no, with Tess heaping all this hope onto his shoulders? But how could he say yes, knowing as he did that he only wanted Tess?
He sighed, stymieing an urge to bury his head in his hands. “I’ll… think about it,” he told her. “While we finish putting up the lights, I’ll think about it.”
Tess favored him with a soft smile, and her depthless blue eyes seemed to radiate with a hopeful light. He’d told her he’d think about it, but he already knew he’d capitulate before her hope. He knew he couldn’t be the one to douse that light now that it was lit.
Chapter Seven
Annabelle Royce
They finished right before the last strands of feeble sunlight clawing to keep the sky a pale wintry blue surrendered to the darkness. Shivering like crazy, nose raw and red because of how many times he’d rubbed it due to the cold’s insistence that it flow like a river, Liam looked upon his home’s brightly lit exterior. Santa stood jovially on the roof, unaffected by how much of a pain it had been to haul him onto the roof and then tether him in place so that he could stand there stably for the next two weeks. Because of the cold, the toils, and the thoughts demanding his attention the entire time, Liam was anything but jovial.
However, as Tess beamed at their work beside him, the two of them standing on the sidewalk in front of his home as they gazed at the finished result—a myriad of glowing light, brightly painted plastic, and holiday revelry—he exhaled a hearty portion of his inner frustration. He also knew it was time for him to give Tess an answer to her earlier request.
“Hey, Tess,” he said, wincing as a frosty inhale scraped his throat’s insides as if he’d swallowed several shards of glass, interrupting his following sentence.
The gorgeous woman’s attention shifted from his newly decorated home to him. Her smile remained, pearly white teeth flashing due to the excess of light glittering off his home—and Gary’s. After getting home from work, he’d popped out of his car and observed them as they put the finishing touches onto Liam’s home. They’d both spotted the satisfied smirk he’d worn, undoubtedly because he figured his house still reigned supreme, as he’d headed indoors and flipped on his extravagant swathe of lights soon after.
Liam cleared his throat, then tried again. “I’ve got an answer for you about… what we discussed earlier.”
She maintained her smile, though Liam glimpsed a sheen of anxiousness behind the poignant blueness of her eyes. “I’m ready to hear it if you’re ready to share it.”
Hugging his arms and rubbing them in the hopes of finding some warmth, Liam buried the mountain of hesitance rumbling in his gut under a false smile. “I don’t know how this might turn out, but I’m willing to at least meet her and see how things go. If you think this is a good idea, I’ll trust you and go along with it.”
Vivid relief flowed into Tess’s eyes, which soon gave way to a burbling excitement. “Thank you, Liam. This means a lot to me.”
What else could he do but smile and pretend he was okay with this outcome? He’d seen how much this request meant to her, and maybe thiswasfor the best. Regardless of his taboo desires, she was much older than him, and by all accounts, she didn’t view him even slightly in the same light as he saw her. Was it anything but childish hope to pine for her like he did, especially when it was impossible that his fantasies would ever become reality? He supposed not.
“So, uh, what’s next?” he asked. “Do I give you my number to give to her? Do you give me hers?”
At the same time as he asked this question, a black SUV passed through Liam’s peripherals. It rumbled by, collecting colors over its right side as it passed by his and Gary’s houses, and then began a curious turnintoTess’s driveway. Since she hadn’t turned on her lights yet, not even her entry lights, her house remained blanketed in darkness outside of the headlights shining on Tess’s garage door.
“I’m not sure if that timing is fortuitous or cursed,” Tess murmured to herself. After she pulled her phone out and saw the time read exactly five-thirty, she wryly shook her head. “Ah. That makes sense.” She smiled, aware of something he wasn’t.
“Who is that?” Liam asked as the SUV smoothly slotted itself beside Tess’s vehicle. It wasn’t Victoria’s, which he’d seen last night when he’d hurried home through the cold.
“Well,” Tess said, facing him as he heard the SUV’s door open then close, though the figure who’d emerged remained hidden by the vehicle’s tall body, “that would be Anna.”
Liam glanced at the SUV. A pit of anxiety began to expand within his stomach. “What were you planning if Iwasn’tokay with meeting her?”
Quickly, Tess held up her hands. “It was never my intention to ambush you. I invited Anna overin caseyou wanted to meet her today, but she’s only here because I invited her for dinner. If you had declined my request, or if you would prefer not to meet her tonight, it would just be dinner between us.”
Liam’s response curtailed itself as a dark figure wrapped around the front of her SUV. Still swathed in thick darkness, Liam couldn’t make out more than that.
“Hi, Anna!” Tess called, offering the woman a smile and a wave. “I’ll be right there!”
I guess it’d be better not to delay things,Liam thought. “Okay,” he said quietly. “It’s probably better if I come meet her now than later.”
“Only if you’re sure,” Tess responded just as quietly.
