When Night Falls (22 page)
“God, you feel good,” he whispered. The husky words caressed the side of her neck. “It’s okay to feel me, too, Jessica. It’s okay to hold me back.”
She winced. She hadn’t known words could weave through her, tighten around her heart. But she couldn’t do as he wanted. She just might never let go.
Liam pulled back and looked into her eyes, framing her face with his big hands. His thumbs gently brushed along her cheekbones. “Always the tough one, aren’t you?”
She blinked furiously. Being tough had always made her proud, but somehow, when Liam uttered the word, when he looked at her like that, she felt like she was failing some critical test. “Why are you doing this? This isn’t a good idea—we’ve already said all there is to say.”
“For such a good detective, you couldn’t be more wrong.”
“You have your family back now, Liam. Emily and Heather. The three of you need some time—”
“No.” He was happy his daughter would have a chance to get to know her mother, but the woman’s return had no impact on Liam’s life, other than the sweet taste of vindication. “Emmie and Heather are going to start counseling to repair their relationship, but there’s nothing between me and Heather to repair. Never really was. That’s a big part of why she left. She’ll always be a part of my daughter’s life, but she doesn’t own my heart. Not like you do.”
He saw her eyes widen and heard the sharp intake of breath but had his fingers on her mouth before she could speak. “Shh.” He drank in the way she was watching him, the courage in her wide amber eyes, the fire. She was fighting him, he knew. Protecting herself. He’d let her down badly. She was brave and strong, and Liam wanted nothing more than to show her she didn’t have to be so tough. That he could be there for her. That he could help carry the load.
The past three days, without her, had been hell. He’d thought seeing her might help, but when she’d answered the front door, the need had turned sharper than before. Cut deeper. He didn’t think it would ever be sated.
“I was wrong,” he said, opting for the tactic that had never failed him in business. Brutal honesty.
She blinked. “About what?”
He wanted to hold her but knew he needed to give her the words, the truth, before he gave her his body. “I thought I knew how badly I needed to see you, but I was wrong.”
She tried to push out of his arms, but he wouldn’t let her go. “Liam—”
“Have you ever wanted something so badly you hurt? That you know without it, your life will never be the same?”
“Liam, don’t do this.”
Outside, his daughter the matchmaker glanced toward the window and grinned at him, gave him a thumbs-up, then vanished around the corner.
Liam couldn’t help but smile. When had she gotten so darn smart? “When Emmie was gone, I didn’t think anyone could strike out at me anymore. Lash any harder. Cut me any deeper. I didn’t think there was anything else of value to take. But when I realized you could be in danger—”
She lifted her hands to his and pulled them from her face. “I was just doing my job.”
“Your job. I tried that line, too,” he told her. “I told myself that’s all it was, that the draw I felt to you was only because of that. The investigation. Because you were as dedicated to finding her as I was. That once she was home, everything would go back to the way it was before. But I was wrong.”
Finally, he had her attention. She looked like he’d suddenly begun to speak Swahili. “Wrong?”
He slid his hands around her waist to the small of her back, where he pressed her against him. “My daughter is home now, and I can see her smile, touch her, hold her, but it’s still not right. I’ve still driven by your house every morning, every evening.”
He heard the small gasp, saw the thaw deep in her eyes. It was like sunshine glimmering on a frozen river, tiny cracks giving way to a tide of water. “You were right, Jessica. About everything.”
Her lips twitched. “About you being a pigheaded, insensitive—”
On a growl, Liam blocked the words by putting his mouth to hers until he felt her lips quit moving. Then he pulled back and narrowed his eyes. “You never said I was pigheaded.”
“Oh?” She looked at him speculatively. “Then what was I right about?”
Liam couldn’t believe it. Here he was pouring out his heart and soul to her, and she was teasing him. God, he loved this woman. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Her smile widened. “You better believe it. Detectives live for the moment when evidence overwhelms even the best defense.”
“And just what is it you think I was defending?”
“Your heart, Liam. That part of you that’s been hurt too many times before.” A soft light glowed in her eyes. “But I’m not going to hurt you. I love you too much.”
A growl broke from his throat, and he pulled her against his body. “You are one amazing woman.”
“I’m Wallace Clark’s daughter.”
The fact no longer scraped. “Your father was doing his job,” Liam said, and realized it was true. “He was doing what he believed in. But in trying to take my freedom, he gave me my future. I can’t fault him for that.”
“That sounds an awful lot like forgiveness,” she said, and lifted her arms to curl around his neck.
“Full circle,” he told her, loving the smell of apples and baby powder that was all Jessica. “From that very first night when you didn’t let me break into Braxton’s house, I knew you were special. I knew you were different.” He paused, drinking in the sight of her, knowing it would never be enough. “I don’t want to be an island. Not if that means living without you.”
Her eyes filled. “Are you suggesting a bridge?” she asked. “Geological realignment?”
“Whatever it takes.” He pressed his lips to hers again, then pulled back and smiled. God, she was amazing. “You said you would find my daughter, then walk away. Case closed. But I can’t let you do that.”
Awareness dawned in her gaze like a vivid sunrise after a long, dark night. “What are you saying?”
“I love you. That if you’ll give me another chance, I want to share my life with you.”
Her answering smile nearly blinded him. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
“If it’s at least a fraction of how much I love you, we’ve got one hell of a future ahead of us.”
She pushed up and kissed him. “Now this is what I call a much more satisfying way to close a case.”
“Actually,” he said, slipping a hand into his pocket and fingering his mother’s wedding band, “it’s just beginning.”
Epilogue
D
arkness blanketed the house. Silence. No light greeted Jess in the kitchen, none in the foyer. The dogs didn’t come bounding down the hall to greet her. Puzzled, she set her keys and purse on the table and made her way up the curved staircase.
From all appearances, no one was home.
The sudden racing of her heart made no sense but didn’t surprise her. Not anymore. Strong emotion inspired strong reaction. She started to call out, but instinct held her back. Eighteen months had passed since Liam had come home to a similar scene, and after all this time, emotion still choked her throat. She hated to imagine what it must have been like for him to stand on the threshold of losing what he loved most. His child.
Find my daughter, Jessica. Don’t make me sorry I trusted you.
Liam’s words from the very first night escorted her across the quirky loft area to the closed door. Soft light slipped from the gap above the carpet. She remembered putting her hand on the glass knob so long ago, remembered the husky voice taunting about what awaited on the other side.
Just my big, unmade bed.
And like that cold night when her life had changed, her heart strummed harder, deeper.
I don’t think you want to go in there,
he’d said.
But she did. So very much her heart ached with it.
Bracing herself, she turned the knob and eased the door open, stepped inside. Felt the breath back up in her throat.
No matter how long she lived, how many times she discovered similar scenes, the sight awaiting her would never cease to steal her breath.
Liam lay atop the thick comforter of their big bed. Dark gray sweatpants covered his long legs. Their three-month-old daughter napped on his bare chest. He had one hand resting on her tiny back; with the other, he gently stroked her soft cheek. Her little head rested over his heart. Jess may have carried Caitlin for nine months, but other than her mouth, she was the spitting image of her father, dark hair and all.
Together, they looked more than just content. They looked perfect.
Jess felt her heart swell, her throat clog.
“I told you she’d be here any minute,” Liam told his daughter, then looked at his wife and smiled. “Our girl’s hungry.”
And if Jess knew her husband, he was, too. The word
satiated
didn’t exist in his vocabulary.
Her breasts responded instinctively, growing heavier in anticipation.
“Why the grin?” he asked.
She crossed to him but stopped a few feet from the bed. With his dark good looks and enigmatic eyes, that tall, powerful body of his, she’d thought Liam drop-dead sexy from day one. Never in her wildest imaginings would she have guessed that creating a child with him would amplify the effect.
“Do you have any idea what it does to a woman to see her husband and child like this?”
A tender light gleamed in his eyes. “I hope it makes you want to join us,” he said, extending a hand toward her.
Emotion swamped her. She closed the distance between them and sat on the side of the mattress, one hand instantly finding her daughter, the other her husband. She couldn’t touch them enough. Before they’d come into her life, she hadn’t known it was possible to feel so much at one time. Love and hope and joy. Amazement. Contentment. Desire.
“You’re leaking.”
Instinctively, Jess glanced at her blouse, but Liam lifted a hand to her cheek, where he wiped a tear from beneath her eyes.
“Hormones.”
Their daughter cooed and squirmed, prompting Liam to lower his hand from Jessica’s face to her chest, where he slipped a button through its hole. “Best not to keep Caitlin waiting.”
Her breasts tightened. Tingled. She longed to draw her daughter to her chest, feel her tiny mouth latch on. “Impatient, isn’t she?”
Liam laughed. “We Armstrongs know a good deal when we find one.” He eased her down on the bed beside him and unfastened her bra, released one heavy breast. “Speaking of which, while you were gone, Miss Caitlin informed me she’s a bit lonely now that Emily’s gone down to UT. She’d like us to get to work on a brother or sister as soon as possible.”
“Is that a fact?” Jess asked, loving the prospect of expanding their family. She reached for her daughter, who instantly latched on and began to suckle. Amazing how quickly life could change. Time moved on. Emily had entered the
For too long, he’d held himself apart from the world, unable, unwilling to share. To let himself care for anyone other than Emily. To make himself vulnerable. To need. But the seeds had been there all along, waiting for the right time to grow. Now free, he loved with the same single-minded intensity he did everything else. She couldn’t imagine any man being a better father or husband. She couldn’t imagine feeling happier. More loved.
She found fascinating the circumstances that had brought them together. Life had a strange sense of humor, but she wasn’t complaining. The night really was darkest just before dawn erupted in a tapestry of hope and promise.
Glancing at him, Jess found him watching her. Just watching her, those amazingly blue eyes of his heavy-lidded and hypnotic. “I could spend forever just like this,” he rasped. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
That was easy. “You show me every day.”
He leaned over and pressed his mouth to hers, kissed her while their daughter continued to suckle at her breast. “Rest assured. The best is yet to come.”
* * * * *
