High Stakes (18 page)

“I’d love that.” Liam didn’t know if Alisa
would want him to stay in town beyond tonight, and he rarely took a weekend
off, but getting to know his new in-laws was important to him, especially since
he sensed his gorgeous wife may not be as anxious to be rid of him as she’d led
him to believe last weekend. “Maybe tomorrow?”

“Sounds like a plan. Tomorrow night, let’s
do it.”

“I’m looking forward to it, thanks.”

Alisa was exhausted by the time she’d bid good
night to her final guest, but the heated look her sexy husband shot her from
across the room roused her faster than a double espresso.

“I’d say you’re a hit, baby,” Liam said,
pulling her into his arms. “I was so proud of you tonight.”

His words warmed her from the top of her
head to the tip of her toes. She hadn’t done something she was proud of in too
long. “Thanks.” She tipped her head back to look at him, hoping he could read
the affection in her eyes. She was falling for this man, deeper and deeper with
every passing second. Any doubts she may have had the morning after their
wedding vanished the minute he walked in the door. Just knowing that he
disrupted his hectic schedule to hold her hand tonight meant everything. He was
proving to be someone she could count on, and that was more than she’d ever
been able to say about Nick.

She knew the time for them to have that
conversation was past due. “So, I noticed you talking to Nick tonight. What was
that about?”

He looked unsettled when he said, “Nothing
for you to worry about.”

“Come on, if this is gonna work, we have to
be honest with each other.”

He stared at her a long time before he
asked, “Is that what you want… for this to work?”

Putting herself out there and being vulnerable
was a terrifying proposition, but not nearly as terrifying as the prospect of
losing him and having to live with the knowledge that she could have made a different
choice. “Do you?”

“You can’t answer a question with a
question.” He trailed a fingertip down the length of her nose, making her
giggle. “That’s not fair.”

“I think it may be possible.” She chewed on
her bottom lip, forcing him to rescue it before she broke the skin. “But we
have a long way to go before we figure out how to merge our lives. I mean, we
live two thousand miles apart. You have a business and a daughter there, and I
have a business and family here. It’s not like either one of us could pick up
and move tomorrow.”

He chuckled. “Sweetheart, money buys you
the freedom to do anything you want.”

It thrilled and terrified her that he would
even consider uprooting his entire life just so they could be together. Nick
wouldn’t even reschedule a radio interview so he could attend her birthday
party. Damn it, she had to stop comparing these two men. Liam already proved to
her in the short time she’d known him that he was nothing like Nick. Thank God.
“What about your daughter? It’s not like you could ask her to leave behind her
friends and family just to accommodate your new wife.”

He heaved a sigh. “That’s a conversation
for another day.”

She sensed there was a story there, but
they were getting ahead of themselves, talking about forever before they had
even determined if they were compatible. “Do you have to head home tonight?”

“No, in fact your father invited me to a dinner
party at their house tomorrow night. Apparently, he’d like to introduce me to
everyone, since we didn’t have a proper wedding.”

Alisa couldn’t hide her shock as her mouth
fell open. “Seriously? Oh my God. What the hell happened to my opinionated,
overbearing, overprotective father?”

“He realized you have me to take care of
you now.” He grinned as she brushed a kiss across his cheek. “Honestly, we just
kind of hit it off. Well, once he got over the urge to push me out of my fortieth-floor
window.”

She smiled as she laid her head on his
chest. How could anyone, even her father, deny this man’s appeal? Liam had
worked the crowd tonight as though they’d been a couple forever, boasting about
his beautiful and talented wife to anyone who would listen, deflecting comments
about his own success so he didn’t overshadow her moment in the spotlight.
“Having you here made this night…”
Unforgettable.
“Even better. Thanks
again for coming.”

“My pleasure.” He led her toward the door.
“So, I guess I’ll head over to the hotel now. Can you meet me for breakfast in
the morning?”

She tried to suppress her frustration by
telling herself he didn’t want to overstep the boundaries she’d created. “Um, I
was kind of hoping for breakfast in bed.” Liam was the first man she ever propositioned,
perhaps because he was the only man she couldn’t seem to get enough of.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket when
it buzzed. “That was a text from my driver. He wants to know if I’m ready.”

She reached for his tie, fisting it in her
hand. Apparently, he was determined to make her work for this. Not that she
could blame him after the way she’d left him last time. “I drove here. Why
don’t you tell your driver you already have a…
ride
?” She licked her
lips as she let the innuendo hang in the air between them.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked,
skimming his hands over her ribs. “I came here tonight to support you, not
because I was trying to rush you into making a decision about us. You can take
all the time you need, Alisa.”

She wanted him to rush her, the way he had
in Vegas, when she didn’t have time to think about the consequences of her
actions. When she was so caught up in him… the heady flavor of his mouth, the
sensation of his body fused with hers until she lost sight of where he ended
and she began. “I want you tonight.”

He closed his eyes as he rested his
forehead against hers. “Maybe we should hold off on this until you’re sure you
want me every night, not just tonight.”

She knew he was trying to shield his heart,
she was too, but trying to pretend they weren’t dying to reconnect on a
physical level was pointless. She’d been hungry to tear his clothes off since
she felt the brand of his hand on her backside tonight, and he’d mercilessly
stoked that fire with gentle caresses and intimate kisses for hours.

“Please,” she whispered, flicking her
tongue across the seal of his full, sensuous lips, “can we worry about
tomorrow… tomorrow? I need you tonight.”

He grinned. “It’s been a hell of a long
time since someone made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.” He pulled his phone out
of his pocket and she watched as his fingers flew over the keypad. “I gave the
driver the rest of the night off. I’m all yours.”

Liam followed Alisa into her modern,
two-story townhouse. It was nicely decorated, with subtle feminine touches that
reflected her personal taste without being too frilly. So different from his ostentatious
estate house that often felt more like a museum than a home.

She led him into the galley kitchen. “Can I
get you a glass of wine?”

“No, thanks, I’ve already had a few. That’s
my limit.”

Alisa fixed her elbows on the granite
countertop behind her as she regarded him carefully. “Don’t you ever act on
impulse… lose control?”

He laughed as he removed his suit jacket
and set it on a stool. “You of all people have to ask me that? You’re probably
one of the few people who’s seen me give in to an impulse.” He undid the knot
in his tie and slid it off. “What I did last weekend was so out of character
for me, I sometimes have trouble believing I actually went through with it.”

“Are you sorry you did?” When he didn’t
respond right away, she asked, “Do you regret marrying me?”

Liam promised himself that he would always
be honest with her, even when the truth upset or offended her. He was hesitant
only because he felt like they were finally making progress and he didn’t want
to do anything to derail that. Seeing her again tonight only reaffirmed what he
already knew… He wanted this woman to share his bed and his life.

“I regret giving you the power to hurt me
sometimes. I’ve never done that before, laid all of my cards on the table and
forced myself to take a step back and let the other person decide on the course
the relationship would take. It goes against my core beliefs about making
things happen instead of waiting for them to happen.” He leaned back on the
stool behind him and crossed his arms. “But I realize I can’t force this.
Either you’re going to fall in love with me and decide you want to be my wife,
or you’re not. It has to be your decision.”

She mirrored his actions, crossing her arms
over her body, and he wondered if it was an unconscious effort to protect
herself. “You get a say in this too, Liam. What if you get to know me better
and decide I’m not the woman for you?”

He already knew the chances of that
happening were slim to none, but he wasn’t accustomed to groveling, and she had
to put her heart on the line if they had a prayer of making this work. “I
suppose anything can happen, sweetheart. There are no guarantees in life or
love. We just have to take calculated risks and hope for the best.”

“That’s what scares me,” she said quietly.
“I look at you and…” She glanced at him before turning her attention back to
the marble tiles under her feet. “I see a man any woman in her right mind would
want as her husband. And I have to ask myself, why did you choose me?”

“Aww, baby,” he said, taking a step
forward. She’d kicked her high heels off when she walked in, so he had to crouch
to look her in the eye. “I feel the same way when I look at you. You’re young
and gorgeous, with your whole life ahead of you. I think, am I crazy, expecting
this incredible woman to fall for a guy passing his prime, with a daughter to
raise and a business that takes him all over the world?”

A smile tugged at her lips. “We’re quite a
pair, aren’t we?”

He took her hands, encouraging her to step
into his arms. He needed to touch her, to reassure her and himself that what
they felt, the intense emotions they were starting to build on, was real.
“Don’t you think everybody feels the same way when they’re starting a new
relationship, sweetheart? There’s always gonna be that period of angst where
you question whether putting yourself out there is a mistake, but eventually
you have to decide whether the gamble is worth it. The alternative is to play
it safe and wind up alone.” He started to pull the pins out of her hair,
letting it fall in soft waves around her shoulders. “I don’t want to be alone
anymore. Do you?”

“No,” she whispered. “I don’t.” She tilted
her head back to look at him. “But there’s still so much about this that seems
impossible.”

“We’ll figure it out. That is, if you want
to?”

“I think I do.”

Those few words gave Liam a sense of peace
he hadn’t felt since he sat down beside her on that airplane and the sight of
her smile tipped his orderly world on its axis. He slid the thin strap of her
dress over her shoulder as his mouth danced over the silky smooth skin teasing
his lips. Her intoxicating scent mingled with the gentle pressure of her hands
on his back, making him forget his promise to maintain his equilibrium tonight.

“I need you,” she whispered, unbuttoning
his shirt and pushing the fabric aside so she could press gentle kisses to his
chest. “I kept thinking about you, wondering if I’d ever get the chance to do
this again.”

He seized her hand just as she reached for
his belt. “I love the way this looks,” he said, pressing a kiss to the backside
of the platinum bands adorning her finger before letting his tongue wander to
the pulse point at her wrist. “It lets the world know you’re mine.”

She moaned, forcing the hard length of his
arousal into the soft curve of her stomach. “I think everyone already knows
that, don’t you?” Her eyes were alight with mischief when she rolled her hips.
“I took one of the most eligible bachelors in the world off the market. I think
I heard a collective cry of mourning echo in my head when you said ‘I do.’”

He slid the hidden zipper down the back of
her dress and let the soft sheath of fabric fall to the floor at her feet. “I’d
say those words again in a heartbeat.” He set a finger under her chin, tilting
her head up to look him in the eye. “I don’t have a single regret about that.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, sounding
breathless.

“Positive. If we hadn’t taken those vows, I
wouldn’t be standing here right now. We would’ve gone back to our busy lives
with no incentive to ever see each other again. You would’ve relegated me to
the back of your mind, just a hot one night stand with some stranger.” He
stabbed his fingers into her hair, holding her head between his hands. “I don’t
want to let you forget me. Ever.”

“Impossible.”

He groaned when he felt her working the
front of his pants, cupping him, teasing and taunting him to within an inch of
sanity before he even had his clothes off. In the past, sex was about the
physical release for him, but suddenly, with this woman, it took on a whole new
meaning. He wanted to show her how good it could be between them if she was
willing to risk her heart on a sure thing.