High Stakes (20 page)

He smiled as he rubbed his hands over his
face. The nagging voice in his head that he’d learned to despise told him she
could pull the rug out from under him again at any moment and that he was a
fool to get emotionally invested until they figured out how they were going to
merge their lives, but after the week he had, he couldn’t help yielding to
hope. She was giving him what he wanted, a chance, and he could grab it with both
hands or continue to doubt her. He was determined to give her, and them, the
benefit of the doubt.

When he walked back into the bedroom, she
had a huge grin on her face as her nose was buried in his pillow. “You caught
me.”

He laughed. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to memorize your scent, so when
we’re not together I’ll have no trouble remembering.” She fluffed the pillow
she’d been mauling before patting the bed beside her. “I’m just being silly.”

“No, you’re not.” He settled under the
covers before pulling her into his arms. “We need to figure this out. Where
we’re going to live, how we’re going to find time to be together.”

She hid a yawn behind her hand. “I’m sorry.
Do you think we could talk about this tomorrow night? I have to go into the store
for a while during the day. It’s the first day we’re officially open for
business and I want to be there to greet people, get a feel for what customers
think of the place, ya know?”

“Of course, I understand.” He kissed her
forehead, trying to decide how to break the news that he had to leave town
right after he left her parents’ house tomorrow night. “Um, sweetheart, listen,
I’ve got a charity golf tournament in Houston on Sunday, so I’m gonna have to
fly out tomorrow night.”

“Oh.” She was clearly trying to hide her disappointment.
“I just thought we’d have the weekend together.”

“If there’s any way I could get out of it,
I would. But Bryson’s is making a sizeable donation, and well, this charity is
pretty important to me. I hope you understand?” Nothing was more important to
him than Alisa, aside from his daughter, but he couldn’t ignore the fact that
he ran a huge corporation and people counted on him to keep his word. He
couldn’t shirk his responsibilities just because he fell in love with a woman who
lived in another state.

“Um, yeah, sure. We’ll reconnect again…
soon. Right?”

Liam closed his eyes, trying to battle his
mounting frustration. Alisa deserved better than a part-time husband, but he
didn’t know how to give it to her. He could give her anything she wanted—lavish
houses, cars, jewelry, or clothes—but he couldn’t give her the one thing she
seemed to want even more… time with him. “Baby, you have to know how much I
want to be with you. Hell, if I had my way, you’d be sharing my bed every night,
but—”

She pressed her fingertips against his
lips. “It’s okay, you don’t have to explain. I knew how hectic your life was
going into this. But, what about Abby? How do you find time for her?”

How could he tell her that he tried to
squeeze in quality time with his daughter on the weekend, given the fact that
may be the only hope they had of seeing each other? “We, uh, usually try to fit
in brunch on Saturday or Sunday, you know, just to catch up. Mrs. Foster tries
to hold dinner for me when I’m in town, but it doesn’t always work out. Between
the business dinners and charity events, I’m not home as much as I’d like to
be.”

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, rolling onto
her back. “I’m taking you away from your daughter now, aren’t I?”

“No, she’s spending the weekend with a
girlfriend at their weekend home.”

“Oh, that’s good,” she said, burrowing
under the duvet. “I’d hate to think I was robbing her of the precious little
time she has with you.” She rolled onto her side to face him. “I remember what
that was like, when I was younger, wanting more time with my dad, but he always
had somewhere else to be.”

Liam wanted to defend himself, to tell her
that he was the best father he knew how to be, but he sensed she needed to
relive her own childhood memories before she’d be ready to listen to his story.
“That must have been difficult.”

She nodded. “It was. Don’t get me wrong; my
dad was great. He was always there for me when it counted, and I know he would
have been to all the dance recitals and school concerts and all that stuff if
he could have, but he couldn’t. And neither can you, right?”

Her accusation hit him hard, because he
knew it was true. His mother and brother were always there to be Abby’s
familiar faces in the crowd, but sometimes he had to be halfway around the
world and miss out on the big moments in his daughter’s life, and he hated
that. “No, I can’t always be there. I wish I could, but I can’t.”

“Do you always bring her some pretty little
exotic trinket to try and smooth things over?” She smiled. “My dad used to do
that a lot. I had quite a collection by the time I was too old to care.”

“Jesus, Alisa,” he said, sitting up to rake
his hands through his hair. “Like I didn’t feel guilty enough already.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, sitting up beside
him to stroke his back. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I just want you to
realize that there aren’t enough hours in the day for the first love of your
life. How are you going to fit me into that equation?”

“Don’t say that,” he said, trying to ignore
the tightening in his chest. “Damn it, I’ll find a way. When I want something
as much as I want you, I’ve never let anything stand in my way.”

She shook her head as she propped her
elbows on her knees. “You’re only one man, Liam. You can’t create more hours in
a day just so you can spread yourself a little bit thinner.”

He suddenly felt nauseous. “We’ll find a
way to make this work, baby. You’ve just got to give me some time to sort it
all out.”

“Bryson’s can only have one CEO, and you’re
it. It’s not like you can clone yourself. No one knows that business the way
you do, and no one loves it as much as you do. Your daughter understands that
and so do I. That’s why we’d never ask you to choose, because you do love it,
and you’ve spent your life building it.”

He couldn’t argue with her logic. Of course
she was right. Bryson’s was his other baby. Thousands of families counted on him
for their livelihoods and he wouldn’t let them down, no matter how much the
sacrifice cost him. “Come to Barbados with me next weekend.” He needed her to
know they could find a way to make it work. Mentally, he started rescheduling
meetings and dinners to accommodate the trip. It was the only way to make her
understand that she, too, was a priority in his life.

“What about Abby?”

“We’ll bring her along. It’ll give you two
a chance to get to know each other.” He knew they would hit it off once they
spent some time together. His daughter just wanted him to be happy, and Alisa
already knew that his little girl was his everything.

“Won’t it be awkward for her, being there
with just the two of us?” She held her hand up to ward him off when he started
to speak. “I mean, I’d love to have her join us, but I don’t want her to be
uncomfortable.”

“You know what? We’ll invite my brother,
Matt, and his wife, Tracey, too. They have a son a little older than Abby and a
daughter the same age. They can hang out together. What do you say?”

She grinned. “Okay, that sounds like fun.”

He breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled
her into his arms. “I know this isn’t the answer to our problems.”

“No,” she whispered, “it isn’t.”

“But it’s a start. Right?”

She burrowed into his arms and pulled the
covers up to her chin. “I’ll take it.”

Liam waited until she fell asleep before he
slipped out of bed to get his Blackberry. He opened his calendar and winced
when he saw his schedule for next weekend. He had two hours for Abby carved out
on Sunday morning, but beyond that, every minute was accounted for. He was used
to working seven days a week. What he wasn’t used to was having a wife who had
the right to expect her fair share of his limited time.

He tipped his head back to look at the
ceiling. “How the hell am I gonna make this work?”

Alisa wasn’t surprised when they walked
into her childhood home and discovered a large crowd of family and friends
awaiting their arrival. Her parents didn’t believe in half-measures, and the
caterers’ lavish buffet tables, uniformed wait staff, and impressive floral bouquets
were evidence of that.

When Liam claimed he and her father had hit
it off, he clearly wasn’t overstating. Alisa knew her father wouldn’t go to so
much trouble to officially welcome Liam to their family if he had any
reservations about his new son-in-law.

“There they are,” Alisa’s nana said,
drawing her granddaughter into a warm embrace. “It’s been too long since
Grandad and I have seen you, young lady,” she said, pointing a finger at her.

Even when her grandparents were scolding
her, Alisa always felt the depth of their love and affection. “I’m so sorry,”
she said, pressing a kiss to her grandmother’s faintly lined cheek. “There’s no
excuse for my bad behavior. Forgive me?”

“Forgiven,” she said, laughing, as she pat
her back. “Well, well,” she said, extending both hands to Liam. “And this must
be your handsome new husband.” She winked at Alisa. “He’s even more striking in
person than he was in those pictures we saw of him online.”

“For God’s sake, Elaine, you didn’t have to
tell the boy we were readin’ up on him,” Jared Turner said, rolling his eyes at
his granddaughter.

“What kind of grandparents would we be if
we didn’t check out the boy who swept our princess off her feet?” She pressed a
kiss to Liam’s cheek before she turned the wagging finger on him. “But a
quickie wedding in Vegas? Our girl deserved better than that.”

“I couldn’t agree more, ma’am,” Liam said,
giving her an indulgent smile. “And I promise to make up for it. Maybe I’ll fly
everyone out to my…” He cleared his throat before smiling at his bride. “Excuse
me,
our
home in Barbados and we’ll renew our vows on the beach, in front
of our family and friends.”

Jared chuckled as he reached for Liam’s
outstretched hand. “I love Bridgetown. You can count me in. Jared Turner.” He
crooked a thumb toward his wife. “And this here’s Elaine.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Turner, it’s a real pleasure.
I was looking so forward to meeting you after all the wonderful things Alisa
told me about both of you.”

Alisa watched the exchange between her
grandparents and husband with pride. Liam had an incredible ability to put
people at ease and gain their trust. Which explained how he had convinced her
to marry him. Not that she needed much encouragement, and every moment she
spent with him reaffirmed what she already knew: marrying him would go down as
one of the best decisions she ever made.

Jared released Liam’s hand and gave Alisa a
one-armed hug. “It sure is good to see that pretty smile back on your face,
darlin’. It’s been too long.”

Alisa leaned her head on her grandfather’s
strong shoulder. Both of her grandparents had supported her during the break-up
and they never hesitated to run interference with her father when he didn’t
agree with some of the decisions she made. They routinely reminded him that he
was Alisa’s age once, and they hadn’t tried to prevent him from making mistakes
or growing up. She knew no matter what happened, she would always have strong
allies in them.

“I am happy, Grandad. Happier than I’ve
been in a long, long time.”

He squeezed her shoulder as he kissed the
top of her head. “Now that’s what I like to hear.” He smiled at Liam. “Anyone
who can make my girl this happy is all right in my books.”

Liam gave Alisa that intimate smile that
she’d learned he reserved for her alone. “It works both ways, sir. In the short
time I’ve known her, your granddaughter has changed my life, made me
re-evaluate what’s important.”

Elaine slipped an arm around Liam’s waist.
“That’s what love’ll do for you, my dear. Help you realize that there’s more to
life than makin’ money.”

Liam laughed. “Who would have thought?”

“Tell us about your beautiful daughter,”
Elaine said. “Abby, isn’t it?”

Alisa realized her grandparents must have
been doing their homework if they knew about her new stepdaughter.

“Yes, ma’am.” Liam reached into his pocket to
retrieve his phone. He handed it to Elaine. “She’s the
other
love of my
life.”

Alisa’s heart expanded with the
satisfaction of knowing that he wasn’t trying to safeguard his heart anymore.
He felt as she did, they were both all in, and no matter how difficult it may
be to synchronize their busy lives, they were determined to find a way because
being apart was no longer an option.

“Oh my, isn’t she a pretty little thing?”
Elaine pressed a hand to her cheek. “You know, she reminds me a lot of Alisa at
that age, except for the coloring, of course. It’s obvious the camera loves
her.” She passed Liam’s phone to her husband. “Look at that, Jared. Isn’t she a
beautiful girl?”

He lowered his silver-framed glasses to get
a better look at the image. “She certainly is.” He smiled at Liam as he handed
the phone back to him. “You must be very proud of her.”