Her Hometown Redemption. Rachel Brimble

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СКАЧАТЬ he didn’t pull away, and he didn’t refrain from putting his tongue to hers and kissing her deeply, passionately. Her hands slid up his arms to score through the hair at the back of his neck, and like a man starved, he fed deeper, longer and harder.

      A whimper escaped her lips, and he slowly opened his eyes.

       What the hell am I doing?

      He abruptly released her and stepped back. Their harried breaths joined before Liam whirled away and pushed his hands into his hair. “I can’t do this.”

      “Liam...”

      He raised his hand, his back still turned to her. “No, Tanya. I can’t. It’s bad enough you’re here, but starting something with you would be too hard.”

      The silence stretched before she released a shaky breath. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you to kiss me.”

      She’d gotten off the cabinet and stood before him, wringing her hands and darting her gaze from his to around the room. Her uncertainty wrenched at him and his need to distance himself from her suddenly vanished as though she’d reached in and yanked it straight out.

      He fisted his hands on his hips and exhaled. “What did Marian say to you?”

      “Well, she called me a pussycat, for a start.” She huffed out a laugh and wiped her fingers under her eyes. “That was a first from anyone.”

      He couldn’t meet her smile. He wanted answers. “I saw her come in here this afternoon. You looked scared just now. Something I never thought I’d see. What did she say to you?”

      Her gaze lingered a moment at his lips before she abruptly turned and walked to her desk. “That I need to show the people my ugly before I can expect to move forward.”

      “She’s right.”

      “I know.” Standing behind her desk, she crossed her arms in a feeble act of defiance, considering the panic so clearly etched in her gaze. “I shouldn’t have left as I did, but I was scared.”

      He frowned. “Scared?”

      “Of you.”

      Liam dropped his arms and stepped closer. “Me?”

      “Yes. Of what we had. Of what I felt for you. You were becoming more important to me than anything, and Mum had drummed into Sasha and me that love doesn’t last, money does. I was scared of losing everything I’d worked so hard for. Now I know just how stupid I was because ultimately, I lost you and everything else.”

      Liam tried to fight the urge to walk out. How could he when there was so much unfinished business between them? Hating his need to have everything tied up in nice little boxes, Liam shook his head. “Okay, let’s get out of here.” He moved across the room and plucked her purse from an old-fashioned coat stand by the door. “We’re going back to my place. I’m going to cook you dinner and we’re going to talk. Properly.”

      “What else is there to say? I’ve said I’m sorry.”

      He spun around and glared, his anger and frustration returning. Her cheeks blazed red and panic shone in her gaze, but there was no way she wouldn’t be telling him more. Tonight.

      “No more lying to me, Tanya. Something’s wrong. I’m not questioning if this is where you need to be. I’m questioning why you look so damn sad and nervous. Since when have you been afraid of anything or anyone? You’re in trouble. This isn’t all about you and me and what we had before. If you want my friendship back, you’ll level with me. If you can’t do that, I walk out the door and you don’t speak, look at or touch me again. Now, what’s it to be?”

      Her study ran over his face, lower to his chest before she met his gaze. Liam clenched his jaw and pretended not to notice the way her eyes had darkened with unmistakable hunger.

      “Fine.” She snatched a bunch of keys from her desk. “Your place it is.” She shot him a loaded stare before coming around the desk and brushing past him through the door.

      She stood on the sidewalk, her brown eyes glinting with determination. She looked phenomenal. So like the woman he remembered and loved. Ignoring the hum of angry arousal simmering in his gut, Liam picked up his briefcase and joined her on the sidewalk.

      She locked the door and faced him. “So, where are you living now?”

      He glanced at her breasts. If only he didn’t know how she was in bed...if only he didn’t know her, period. He snapped his gaze to hers. “I’ve got one of the cottages over on Melonworth Drive. Come on. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can feed you.”

      She gave a curt nod and stepped ahead of him across the street. Liam watched her go before sending up a silent prayer for the strength to get through the next couple of hours and whatever it was Tanya would soon tell him.

       CHAPTER SIX

      TANYA’S NECK AND shoulders ached with tension as Liam pulled his car to a stop outside one of a row of picture-perfect cottages on Melonworth Drive. A twenty-minute drive from Templeton’s town center, the pretty cul-de-sac was the epitome of Englishness. The house was beautiful, his car sleek and expensive, his suit professionally tailored. Intimidation inched into Tanya’s stomach and sat there like a lump of lead. Look at his life now and look at mine...

      He cut the engine and silence fell.

      Looking at him from the corner of her eye, Tanya waited. He stared straight ahead, his forehead creased with a frown and his jaw tight. Neither of them had mentioned their kiss since it happened, nor how they felt about it now. For her, the warm, soothing sensation of his lips still lingered on her mouth like the soft, sweet taste of cotton candy. No matter how sentimental and ridiculous the notion, she was all too aware of how much she would relive the kiss for days, maybe even weeks to come.

      It had been a moment of weakness on her part; she had no idea what it had been for him.

      She met his steady, unreadable gaze. “Changed your mind? Because if you have, I can walk back—”

      “I haven’t.”

      She swallowed, hating how her relief lightened the weight in her stomach.

      His gaze dropped to her mouth before he turned and stared through his side window at the cottage. “It feels surreal you are about to enter a house that once upon a time I thought would be ours rather than just mine.” He faced her. “You do know by inviting you into my home, I’m opening more than one door, right?”

      Unease rippled through her. “What do you mean?”

      “I mean, despite how I might have acted since you’ve been back, I still care about you. I want to help with whatever it is going on with you, if I can.”

      She smiled, tentative joy speeding her heartbeat. “Thank you.”

      He nodded. “Just don’t let me down. I need to know everything or nothing.”

      Her mouth dried. Was this some sort of ruse that she’d blindly СКАЧАТЬ