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“I know you’re tired, but I want to take you out to a victory dinner. Tonight,” I told her, hoping and praying that she would just say yes.
“Liam, I literally think my feet are going to detach from my ankles.” She looked down at her feet and rolled her ankles to the side a bit.
“I’ll carry you then.” I wasn’t taking no for an answer, so I swept her off her feet and carried her to the door.
She squealed. “Put me down! I haven’t even taken my apron off!”
I put her down. After she pulled her hairnet—which was surprisingly sexy, by the way—and apron off, I picked her right back up. Juggling her with one hand, I grabbed her bag and put it on top of her, earning her giggles as I pushed us out of the back door. It locked automatically, so let it close.
“Liam, you don’t need to carry me!” She said, but I could hear her amusement in her voice. I looked down at her to see her cheeks still rosy red and a grin on her lips. Lips that I wanted to kiss but respectfully refrained from.
“I wouldn’t want your feet falling off, so it’s the only viable option right now.” I walked with her out to the front of the street, heading in the direction of my apartment, assuming hers was in the same direction. “Where do you live?”
“Why do you need to know that?” She had given up on protesting to me carrying her.
“Because, I’m guessing that you don’t want to go out wearing flour-covered clothes. So we’re going to stop at your place to give you a chance to freshen up.”
“What about you? You’re pretty covered in ingredients, too.” She gave me a teasing look, but I knew she was right.
“I’ll drop you off and run home to change. Then I’ll come back to pick you up. Literally.”
She laughed in my arms, and in the setting light of the day, she looked as beautiful as ever. No one would ever compare to her beauty. The golden light caught her flushed skin and blonde hair in a way that made her damn near sparkle. “Okay.”
Emma gave me directions to her apartment building, and as it turned out, it was only a few blocks away from mine. I noted that for later, because I planned on pursuing this woman until she told me to stop. I took her all the way up to her floor so that she wouldn’t have to walk.
“I’ll be back in a few. Wear something…nice.” I gave her a wink, which she cocked her head at.
“Where are we going?” I set her down on her feet, and saw her wince.
“That’s for you to find out later. Now go get ready. You have a hot date arriving in—” I looked at my watch for dramatic effect— “thirty minutes.”
I turned and walked away before she could comment on the fact that I saiddate.
21
Emma
Surely, I was crazy, right?
I mean, I’d just had the most exciting few days and was high on the rush of my success. That was why I said yes to Liam.
Technically, I hadn’t actually said yes. I had only told Liam that my feet hurt too much to go out for the night and he remedied that by picking me up and carrying me the entire way home. Which was an impressive feat, because the thought of holding weights and walking all the way home sounded terrible.
I’d given him anokayand told him the directions to my house. And he’d run away before I could respond to him calling this adate.
Was this a date? Was Liam trying to take me on a legitimate date or was it just a slip of the words?
Did I want to go on a date with Liam?
Years of hurt over the relationship we’d lost screamed at me to call him and tell him to stay away. But I didn’t have his phone number.
More importantly, I didn’t think I wanted to stay away. Truthfully, I was about five seconds away from jumping up and down and squealing like a schoolgirl at the little word that Liam used.
Date.
And, he’d said to wear something nice. I wasn’t sure exactly how nice he meant, so I rushed to my closet and pulled out a simple black dress that could fit in anywhere. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it accentuated my curves and made me feel amazing, and that was exactly how I wanted to feel tonight.
Because, despite my aching body, I deserved this victory dinner. And the fact that it was Liam taking me just made it all the sweeter.
