Liam’s heart thrummed in his chest as he sat at the table for breakfast. Familiar guests from the night before floated in and out, grabbing their food and probably heading back to their rooms to eat in peace. He glanced at his watch for the tenth time and blew out an impatient breath. He should have told her to meet him at eight. He hadn’t been able to sleep in after last night.
Easy, you’re getting too excited. You barely know this woman, and just because you’ve spent one night spilling your life story doesn’t mean she wants anything to do with you.
His legs bounced up and down with nervous energy. Today was ice-skating and the scavenger hunt. But the most exciting part was if they won the hunt, he’d have an excuse to take her to dinner. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. He’d held back, as hard as it had been, and hadn’t given her a kiss goodnight.
The turmoil and guilt over Sarah had been a driving factor, but also, he didn’t know if Kate was interested. Maybe that could change. Maybe Tyson had a point and he needed to just get back out there—rip off the proverbial Band-Aid.
Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and his gaze swiveled to find Kate wandering into the room as if she were floating on clouds. He jolted from his seat and smiled at her.
“Good morning.” He dragged his palms down his pants, attempting to dry the clamminess.
“Morning.” She eyed him then dropped her focus to the table. “Have you been waiting long?”
“Oh. No, I just got here,” he lied. What would she think if she knew he’d been downstairs for a full hour, willing her to make an early appearance just so he could see her face again?
Okay, he was officially losing it. Time to reel it in. Liam shook out his hands then wiped them on his pants once more before gesturing toward the kitchen bar. “Shall we?”
She nodded. “I’m starving.”
They filled their plates and made it to their table, only to sit across from each other and eat in silence. What had happened? The night before, it had been so easy to talk to her. Now he was a bumbling fool.
He fiddled with his fork, shooting glances in her direction and trying to figure out anything they could talk about.
“My friend—”
“I was thinking—”
They stared at each other and laughed. “You first,” she suggested.
Liam examined his fork again. “I was contemplating how nice it was to talk to you last night. I don’t think I’ve opened up to anyone like that since Sarah passed.” He lifted his gaze to find her beaming at him, and his whole body warmed. “You have a beautiful smile.”
Kate’s eyes dipped to her plate, and she tucked some hair behind her ear. “Thanks.”
“Now you go.”
Her eyes bounced up to meet his then dropped again. “My friend said some interesting things the other night.” She didn’t want him to think it was just last night she’d spilled her guts to Ansley about him.
“Yeah?” Liam studied her, his pulse accelerating. She’d talked to her friend, potentially about him. That could be either good or really bad.
Kate blushed. “I can’t believe I’m even suggesting this. Please tell me if I’m out of line or if I read the situation wrong. I really don’t know what’s come over me…”
He reached across the table and rested his hand over hers, successfully putting an end to her rambling. “Just tell me.”
She worried her lower lip, her eyes shifting from one thing to another but never quite landing on him. “To paraphrase, she said I should just go with the flow and see where things take me.”
Liam’s eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry. I don’t follow.”
Kate let out a strangled laugh. “You’re going to think I’m some crazy person. Just forget it.”
His hand was still over hers. He wrapped his fingers around hers and gave it a little squeeze. “Hey,” he said softly, “you heard all about my crazy stuff. I don’t think what you have to say will be any worse than that.”
She finally met his eyes, and another chill swept through him. He couldn’t dare hope that she might be thinking the same thing he’d been unable to get out of his mind all night.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I feel like there’s this connection between the two of us. I can’t explain it, and I’ve tried to push it away, but it’s all I can think about. Maybe it’s just this place.” She gestured to the resort. “Or maybe it’s something more. But either way, I haven’t been this at peace in a long time.” Her eyes dropped, and her lashes brushed against her cheeks. Kate let out another funny-sounding laugh. “Like I said, I probably sound like a nutjob.”
He squeezed her hand again, this time trailing his thumb over her knuckles until she was forced to look at him once more. “I don’t think that sounds crazy at all.” He offered her a crooked grin. “It’s like I said. Last night was refreshing. It was nice to be able to open up to someone and not feel like they were going to judge me or tell me I was doing something wrong.”
And just like that, time seemed to slow down. They stared at each other for what seemed like minutes but in actuality were only a few seconds.
“Really?” she asked.
He nodded. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited about seeing you again.” He bit back the confession regarding how long he’d waited for her. Clearly, they were both experiencing something neither of them had expected. It would be best not to mess with a good thing. Heck, he was probably at risk for scaring her off as it was.
Her focus shifted to where his hand still held hers. He released her like she’d burned him and placed his hand in his lap. This whole thing was still too new. He needed to ease into that sort of intimacy. Then again, holding himself back from pulling her into his arms and kissing her until she could no longer breathe had been almost impossible. The feelings surging in his body had only continued to grow, however wrong or right they might be.
Of course, he’d take it slow. There was no rushing this sort of thing. They had all week to decide if they wanted to see more of each other when they returned home.
Her soft smile sent another ripple of pleasure though him. Kate put down her fork and picked up her juice. She took a sip, keeping her eye on him over the rim of her cup. “Good. Because I was excited to see you again too.”