Finding Forever (9 page)

W
hitney came dashing
down the stairs. She was running late and didn’t want to make Sam wait. And she in no way wanted him to be left alone with Liam if he showed up somehow. She wasn’t sure what he might say to Sam, especially after that kiss the night before. Well, to be honest, it was a hell of a lot more than a kiss. That was par for the course when she was with him.

She heard talking in the front foyer and scurried around the corner, slightly out of breath.
Just her luck
. Liam was standing there with Sam, and Sam didn’t look all too happy. She slowed her pace.

“I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting, Sam,” Whitney said as she walked up to the two men.

“It’s always a pleasure to wait on a beautiful woman,” Sam told her, and taking her hand, he brought it to his lips. She noticed the way Liam’s eyes narrowed.

“That was certainly the right thing to say,” she told him with a small laugh.

“I hear you’re going to the local Christmas concert,” Liam said unexpectedly. “I may see you there.” He was acting as if he were trying to make polite conversation, but his words came out more like a threat.

“I didn’t know you were thinking of attending,” Whitney remarked. “But a lot of people will be there, so the chances of our running into each other will
surely
be slim.”

“We’ll just have to see. Do have a wonderful evening,” he replied before striding off.

She let out the breath she’d been holding.

“Are you ready to leave, Whit?” Sam obviously wanted to get out of this hellhole as much as she did.

“Yes, of course,” Whitney said.

He placed his hand on her back and led her toward his waiting car. This time it wasn’t a limousine, but a silver Jaguar, and it gleamed in the setting sun. The vehicle was beautiful, one that absolutely
screamed
money, which meant that the fellow was trying to impress her once again. Anyone could rent a limo, but this was different.

He helped her inside, and she sank into the soft leather seat. Screw Liam and his intoxicating kisses. She was going to put some effort into this date. Sam surely couldn’t be boring two dates in a row — not if the fates cared at all about her.

The drive wasn’t bad, most likely because they didn’t do much talking. The flashy car had a high-end music system, and they took full advantage of it while making their way to the concert. Still, Sam was gentleman enough to open her door for her when they arrived at the hall. How many men still did that?

They made their way toward the front of the indoor concert arena. Soon, everyone was on their feet while a band played Christmas songs in a far more lively way than she’d ever heard them before. At the intermission, she and Sam had a few drinks, and she noticed he was starting to look a little green around the gills, so to speak.

“Are you okay?” she asked him.

“I’ll be fine, Whitney. Something I ate must be disagreeing with me.”

They went toward some unoccupied benches. She felt bad that she wasn’t more concerned about him, but she really wanted to enjoy the show, not babysit her date. No. She couldn’t think like that. She’d been brought up to do the right thing.

“Would you like to leave, Sam?”

“Of course not. I’ll just sit down for a few moments and I’ll be perfectly fine.”

“A few moments” stretched out. Ugh. But at least Liam wasn’t there to see her second failed date in a row with this man. That would have been too much icing on his cake.

W
ould you two
like to go to a concert with me?” Liam had asked Brayden and Ally.

They’d readily agreed, of course. Liam knew that it was ridiculous to crash Whitney’s date, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He’d have the children as buffers, however, so she might not be quite as upset as she deserved to be.

The bigger problem was why he was doing this. He didn’t chase women, especially women he planned to pretty much screw — both literally and figuratively. If she came to understand his plans to take the children, she would hate him, and justifiably so.

But for all that, he somehow couldn’t stop himself from crashing the damned date.

When they arrived at the concert, he was starting to worry about what he’d just done. The place was unusually crowded. He had on a baseball cap, jeans, and an old college sweater, an effort to disguise himself, but all it would take was one person to figure out who he was and then he’d be mobbed.

That article about him in
People
magazine had made his life a living hell. Who in the world cared about the fifty most eligible business bachelors anyway? Okay, a lot of people did when those bachelors were billionaires. Hordes of desperate women went into full salivation mode.

But he and the children managed to go in without any trouble, and Liam kept an eye out for Whitney. He finally spotted her sitting on a bench with Sam, who didn’t look as if he was doing too well. Liam made a beeline in their direction. He was hoping Ally would work her magic and Whitney would abandon Sam and join them.

“Aunt Whitney!” Ally cried out. She jumped into her aunt’s lap and gave her a hug.

Whitney looked up in surprise and spotted Liam, who gave her a knowing grin. They both knew exactly what he was doing. So he didn’t even try to pretend.

Sam spoke up. “Whitney, I’m so sorry, but I don’t think I can stay any longer. My stomach is really hurting,” he said. He swallowed several times and she moved back, obviously praying that he wasn’t about to hurl all over her.

Whitney looked up at Liam with suspicion. He could tell she desperately wanted to ask him if he’d slipped something to her date while he’d been at the house. But there was no way she was posing that question. He’d just let her wonder.

“I’ll go with you,” she told Sam, and Liam panicked.

“You can’t leave, Auntie. I just got here,” Ally said with her big, innocent eyes.

Whitney looked again at Liam, and he gave her a look full of challenge.

“I don’t want you to miss out on the concert,” Sam said. “Please stay. You can catch a ride back with the children and Liam.”

Sam was a much nicer man than he was, Liam had to admit. But he enjoyed the frustration in her eyes. She clearly wanted to stay for the rest of the show, but she had her pride, too, and it was pulling her in the opposite direction. He saw the moment she gave in to what her niece wanted, and he felt like jumping in the air in victory. And yet he wasn’t thrilled when she decided to walk Sam to his car.

Liam waited impatiently for her return, and he didn’t hear a single Christmas carol until she finally reappeared. It was only when she stood with him and the kids that he found himself relaxing for the first time since the kiss the night before.

As the song ended, one of the performers spoke to the crowd. “Are you all having a good time tonight?” the man said into his microphone.

And the audience exploded with shouts of joy and approval.

“I’m always glad to hear that,” the man said. “We have a special guest in the audience tonight. I know for a fact that he can play one mean fiddle. Would you like him to come up here and play for you?”

Liam was filled with panic as both the performer and the band leader looked down at him and smiled. That was when Whitney figured out what was going on. Liam was now the one turning a little green.

Whitney’s lips turned up in an evil smile as she took hold of his arm and dragged him toward the stage. The two children were jumping up and down in their excitement.

“I wanted to just blend in,” Liam said desperately.

“Now, don’t be shy, Liam. All the eligible women in the audience want to hear you play,” the performer said, and the crowd went crazy again.

Liam was locked in now, and he couldn’t back out without inciting a riot. Yes, considering the venue, a tame holiday riot, but a riot nonetheless.

“I’ll return the favor, Whitney,” he muttered before jumping up on the stage. “I don’t know why you want to hear me play,” he said into the microphone. “These guys have been doing an amazing job tonight.” When the crowd cried out for him to perform, he smiled broadly. “Okay, okay, I’ll do it.”

He was handed a fiddle, and the band started playing.

As the music soared, and even as he drew the bow over the strings, Liam looked down, his eyes connecting with Whitney’s, and his heart leapt. He was in trouble because of this woman. Serious trouble.

H
e wasn’t the
guy she’d thought he was.

Liam grinned at the audience and played his fiddle like a pro. Heck, Whitney had seen Charlie Daniels at the State fair when she was young, but he had nothing on Liam.

She found herself clapping along with the crowd and what truly amazed her was that she was having far too much fun. Why did it have to be because of Liam? She had no business having any fun with this man … this stranger.

After a few more songs, the crowd allowed him to leave the stage. But he couldn’t stay there at the concert any longer — there was no way the people would give him any peace. So he, she, and the children headed away. Why had she been so reluctant to leave for Sam, who’d been so sick she should have made sure he was okay, but then not utterly bummed to leave early with Liam? Maybe it was time to get her head examined.

“Let’s get some ice cream before we head home,” Liam said when they made it outside.

“Yeah!” Ally squealed. “I want ice cream!” At least her niece was the one accepting the invitation and not her. And Whitney couldn’t possibly tell her niece no.

Somehow Whitney ended up sitting right next to Liam on the bench in the parlor. Now she knew for sure that it was a conspiracy. Liam was acting far too smug and sitting way too close.

As their sundaes arrived, his leg brushed against hers and she had to force herself not to react. Refusing to look at him, she focused on both Ally and Brayden, who were scarfing down their sundaes like something they’d never seen before and would never see again. And it was winter!

“Slow down before you get brain freeze,” their doting aunt told them with a chuckle.

The kids didn’t even acknowledge her statement. But Liam was paying attention. “You have a bit of chocolate on the corner of your mouth, Whitney,” he said.

Her cheeks went up in flames. “Oh, where?” she asked.

“I’ll get it.”

Before she was able to tell him “No flipping way,” he was caressing the side of her mouth with his thumb and then running it across her bottom lip. Whitney should have turned away, but the heat in his eyes was enough to melt her ice cream.

When he lifted his thumb to his own mouth and sucked the chocolate off, she squeezed her thighs tightly together, trying to subdue the pressure she suddenly felt in her core.

“Mmm, missed a little,” he told her.

Liam bent down and he swiped his mouth across her lip, once, twice, and a third time, before he raised his head and sent a flood of desire ripping through her.

“Gross,” Brayden said.

It took a moment, but her nephew’s aghast expression broke her from the spell Liam had put her under, and she turned away in horror.

But Brayden wasn’t looking at her. He was looking down at the floor, where a giant spider was crawling by. Thank goodness! What had she been thinking? How could she have allowed Liam to act so intimately with her in front of the kids?

“That is gross, Brayden,” she told her nephew, drawing his eyes back to her. “If you two are finished up, we should get back to the manor. It’s pretty late.”

And she couldn’t take much more of being pressed between the wall and Liam’s hard body, especially when the man continued to look at her as if she were next on the menu. A
hot
menu.

Liam paid for their treats and they rode back to the manor. Though the kids were tired, Ally chatted all through the drive home about the excitement of the evening. Whitney could have kissed her niece for keeping Liam’s attention on her and Brayden.

After they parked and made their way inside, they all went wearily up the winding staircase and made their way down the long hallway. To Whitney’s surprise, Brayden threw them a smile before he entered his room. It was a beautiful sight for sure.

Liam and Whitney walked Ally to her room — the little girl had been so animated before, but it had worn off — and together they tucked her into bed. And the man stayed there while Whitney read their niece a story. Ally had insisted that her uncle stay during the bedtime ritual; she was growing attached to him, even after such a short time.

A little later, as Liam accompanied Whitney to her bedroom door, the two adults were silent. Would he kiss her again? She was focused on stopping it. She doubted that she’d have the willpower to resist him two nights in a row, especially after his little performance at the ice-cream parlor.

“Thank you for a wonderful evening,” Liam told her outside her door. “It was hardly a typical date for me.”

“This wasn’t a date, Liam. I was actually on a date with another man, if you recall.”

“I’ll consider it a date,” he insisted. “I laughed tonight, and it’s not something I do too often. I enjoyed your company — both yours and the children’s. So I’ll say it again. Thank you.”

She was afraid to make eye contact with him. Her body was humming with desire, and she wanted nothing more than to fall into his arms, especially when he was being so … so … almost … sweet.

“It was very kind of you to bring the children to the concert,” she said without looking up. “And to ask me to join you when Sam became ill.” She was counting the specks on her sparkly shoes.

He grasped her chin gently, and she struggled with herself not to panic.

Looking determinedly into her eyes, he bent his head forward and paused, making her breath catch as she waited for what was to come next. After an eternity, or so it seemed, he brushed his lips lightly against hers, and her heart thundered. Then, before she knew it, he let her go and backed away. With a seductive smile, he turned and left her leaning against the solid oak door.

She stood there staring at the empty hallway for a long while, but she couldn’t seem to move. Her knees had turned to rubber and she felt as if her spine had up and dissolved. And all that from a simple touch of Liam’s lips.

When her legs finally convinced her that they might be able to keep her upright, she staggered inside her room. But she had a restless night, tossing and turning and dreaming all sorts of erotic dreams for the entire time. In her fevered imagination, she and Liam were doing a hell of a lot more than kissing. Or a heaven of a lot more.

And when she awoke in the morning, she knew something had to happen. She just wasn’t sure what that something was.