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He glances at the Ferris wheel. “You and I live in two very different worlds, Aria. You see brightness in the darkness. You see good where there isn’t good. And that’s one thing about you that is undeniably beautiful.”
My heart squeezes at the way he speaks about me. It’s sincere and honest, and it feels like it comes from such an honest place. “You seem to see brightness in people as well,” I point out.
He turns and gives a small smile. “In you, I see brightness.” My breath catches at the emotion in his eyes when he adds, “Only in you.”
Unexpected tears rise in my eyes that shock me as much as they overwhelm me when I reach for his hand, holding it in my lap. Liam is power, sex, and control. Yet there’s a sweetness about him. A sweetness that he has toward me that I am only seeing now. Maybe because I’m finally letting myself see it.
With heavy emotions clawing at my throat, I look out at the water, hoping he doesn’t notice he’s affecting me. If he does, he doesn’t say anything. He’s silent beside me, taking in Santa Monica moving by us in a blur. I’m lost in the way I feel in this exact moment.
Here, there’s no feud. There’s no confusion. There is only us. And us feels pretty damn great.
* * *
ARIA
By the time we return to the house, my belly is full from the seafood dinner we had on the pier. Darkness has settled over the skies, and I leave Liam in the living room, quickly scurrying off to the bathroom, pretending I have to pee. My emotions feel put through the wringer. I’m questioning everything I think I know when I enter the sleek bathroom and shut the door, locking it behind me. I move to the closed toilet lid and take a seat, my cellphone a heavy weight in my hand.
First things first, the information that I learned from Liam over breakfast about the Bakker deal is circling in my mind. What Liam doesn’t know, and what Jackson didn’t want Liam to know to gain leverage over him, is that Jackson is secretly representing one of the clients fighting for the merger, the Pioneer Group. Our clients recently fired their lawyers, hiring Keller LLC instead. It’s something the public doesn’t know yet, and clearly Liam doesn’t know it either because he’s told me something he shouldn’t have. I don’t know if it’s because his guards are down, or if he simply trusts me more now, but I feel like I’m being torn in two directions.
Jackson could use this information to seal his deal. I know what Liam is planning to offer Bakker now. Jackson could easily win this by offering something better. Because there’s something I know that Bakker’s employees also don’t have. And that’s a pension. But can I sell Liam out like that?
Before today, yes, in a second. I’m loyal to Jackson.
After today?
I don’t know anymore. My heart feels different than it did yesterday. “You’ve gone and made this fucking complicated,” I chastise myself, knowing I can only do one thing now. I click the button on the side of my cell, awakening the screen, and call Mallory.
She answers on the third ring. “Shouldn’t you be having the best sex of your life right now instead of calling me?”
“Iamhaving the best sex of my life,” I reply.
“If that’s true, then why are we talking?”
I pause, trying to put into words how I’m feeling. My heart is tied up in knots. I didn’t know it would be like this with Liam. I thought he’d flaunt his money all over me. Isn’t that what rich, powerful men do? But he’s not about money at all. His beach house belonged to his father. That was meaningful. He likely paid a lot for our breakfast, not to wow me, but for privacy. Just the two of us. The ornament was so damn thoughtful, I still can’t wrap my head around any guy doing stuff like that for me. Mallory does, of course. But men usually don’t get me that way.
“Aria?” Mallory asks gently.
“I like him,” I blurt out.
“You. Like. Him?”
I drop my head into my free hand. “Yes, he’s practically perfect in every goddamn way.”
“Okay,” Mallory says slowly. “You’re going to have to catch me up on this because I’m confused as shit over here. Is liking him a good or a bad thing?”
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly, staring down at my pink painted toenails. “I mean, he’s everything I knew he would be. Hot. Intense. Incredible lover. But then he’s so much more.”
“I’m still not catching the bad part in all this.”
I curl my toes underneath themselves, wanting to curl into myself. “Okay, so today, we had this amazing, and sexy, I might add, breakfast. Then we spent the rest of the day at the Santa Monica Pier, shopping, having the most romantic sunset dinner, and honestly just having fun. It was a perfect day, Mallory. Totally and mind-bogglingly perfect.”
“Wow.” Mallory snorts a laugh. “You’re right, that all sounds terrible.”
I snort. “I’m not supposed to like him, remember? I didn’t come here to fall for Liam. I came here to get him out of my system.”
Mallory pauses then gently says, “I don’t think this should really come as any big surprise. You guys have had this crazy thing going on for a long time.”
“My point exactly,” I retort. “Wecan’thave this crazy thing on. I told myself that I couldn’t. I swore to myself that I wouldn’t. I can’t do that to Jackson.”
