CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Maggie

 

I know what you’re thinking. You’re wrong. Please call me.

I sat on the bed in 315, staring at my phone, trying to calm my nerves. It had been four days since Liam had taken off in the middle of the night. Four days of me wondering what I did wrong, or worse, what was wrong with me, that he split immediately after sleeping with me.

I went away with Tammy. We partied with the rock stars. I threw myself into work. But nothing I did could stop the questions running through my brain 24/7. Like hamsters on the goddamn wheel, they just wouldn’t stop.

And then that morning, Tammy told me she’d seen him drunk off his ass with some woman at Elena’s. And now this text. How could he possibly know what I was thinking? I didn’t even know what I was thinking. Four days and he made zero effort to contact me, and now this.

There was a gentle knock on the door and I looked up to see Tammy standing there, a sympathetic look on her face.

“How you doing?” she asked.

I held out my phone for her and she walked over, took it from my hand, and looked down.

“This is the first you’ve heard from him?” she asked.

I nodded.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Mags. I know what I saw. They were together the entire night at that bar.”

“I just don’t understand why, after taking off like that, he’d even feel the need to explain anything. Maybe I should hear him out.”

“I don’t know. I agree you’ve got a point, but he didn’t even call you. Not once. You checked that damn phone every five minutes. Maybe he’s got a guilty conscience? Maybe he just wants to fuck with you some more? I don’t know. I’d let it sit. Honestly.”

I stood up and tucked the phone into my pocket. I went out into the hall to get fresh towels and finished making up the room. Tammy just sat and watched me, that same concerned look on her face.

“You can go back to work, Tammy. I’ll be fine. I promise I won’t do anything stupid.”

She nodded and stood up.

“Okay, but come get me at the end of your shift. We’ll walk home together.”

I smiled and she walked out of the room. I had a dozen more rooms to get through before three o’clock rolled around, so I put in my headphones and got busy. By the time I was done and got downstairs, Tammy had already signed out for the day, was changed, and was waiting for me.

Leslie, who worked the evening shift at reception, smiled when she saw me.

“Maggie. Glad I caught you. I kept meaning to come find you. That hunky chef from Cagney’s? He was in here a couple of times over the weekend looking for you.”

My heart dropped. I looked at Tammy and we just stared at each other, shocked. I swallowed and put my hand on the reception desk to steady myself.

“He did what now?” I asked, just to be sure.

“He came by. A few times. He seemed really desperate to see you. I didn’t want to tell him you’d left town, but I also didn’t want him to keep coming by. He just looked so dejected. I hope you’re not mad.”

I shook my head slowly.

“No. Not mad,” I assured her.

Tammy came over and took my hand, smiling over her shoulder at Leslie as she guided me out the door, onto the street. I took a deep breath of fresh, albeit humid, air.

“You okay?” Tammy asked.

“Unsure,” I said.

“Understandable. I’m sorry if I gave you any shitty advice. This kind of changes everything, doesn’t it?” she asked.

“Yeah, I guess it kind of does.”

“I guess you’re formulating some sort of plan?”

I nodded. She leaned over and kissed the top of my head.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Good luck. Call me if you need me.”

 

*

My first stop was the restaurant.

“He’s not in,” Jen said. “He called in sick this morning. Sorry, Maggie.”

I wrangled his address out of her and left, heading straight for the deli. I picked up a bacon-and-cream-cheese bagel and a pint of chocoholic ice cream. I didn’t know what his hangover cure was, but that combo had always worked for me.

I made my way through the centre of town until I found his building. I stood there for a moment, wondering what to say when I buzzed up, but a woman came along and opened the door. She turned to me, questioning, and I smiled, grabbing the door from her before it shut.

I climbed the stairs to Liam’s apartment raised my fist to knock. I took a deep breath, licked my lips, and gave myself a quick pep talk. What was really the worst that could happen? I knocked.

I heard a bang inside, followed by swearing, as he made his way to the door. I held my ground.

“Who’s there?” he called.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I was suddenly incapable of speech.

He threw open the door, an angry expression on his face which vanished the moment he laid eyes on me. If I hadn’t seen the transformation myself, I never would’ve believed it, but in that single moment, I had no doubt how he felt about me. Whatever his actions had been. I couldn’t help but smile.

I held out the bag with the bagel and ice cream.

“I brought you my hangover cure,” I said.

Relief flooded his face. He dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around my legs. I took him in in all his hungover glory—loose sweats, no T-shirt, day-old growth on his jaw. If this was him at his worst, I was all in. I was already imagining the feel of that stubble against my inner thighs.

“Maggie. Maggie. I’m so sorry.”

“You just split.”

“I know.”

“You really fucked up.”

“God, I know.”

“What happened?”

“I think I got scared. Fuck, Maggie. I really like you, but I’ve always been in control, you know? And all of a sudden, I wasn’t. But in those four days apart, man, I gotta tell you. I think when it comes to you, I don’t mind losing control. So long as it means not losing you.”

He got to his feet and I dropped the bag, throwing my arms around his neck. Our lips met, and I swear it was like coming home again. It just felt right. Not to mention damn good.

He licked my lower lip and slipped his tongue into my mouth. I deepened the kiss, pressing myself up against him, feeling the muscles in his shoulders under my fingertips. God, it was amazing just to hold him in my arms, feel his body against mine. I could’ve stayed like that forever. He pulled away.

“You’re still wearing your little maid uniform,” he said, an evil twinkle in his eye.

I looked down, realizing I’d never bothered to change after my shift. Once I heard he’d been by looking for me, my goal was single-minded. I laughed and looked up at him.

“Fantasy of yours?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“It is now,” he said. “Come, come inside.”

I followed him into the living and stopped dead. The coffee table, armchair, and even the floor held piles of paperback novels. I reached down and picked one up. Small Town Love. I picked up another. His Fake Bride. I turned to him, stunned.

“You’ve been reading romance novels?”

He nodded. I surveyed the room.

“How many of these have you read?” I asked.

“All of them.”

I blinked.

“Why?”

He grinned, looking suddenly very shy.

“I wanted to be, well, I wanted to be the man you deserved.”

I was speechless.

“Don’t you get it, Maggie? You completely turned my world upside down. This started as a favour, one I didn’t particularly want to do if I’m being honest. But then you walked into my life. And you made me laugh, and you’re so fucking sexy, and you just made me feel things I hadn’t felt before. It confused me. It wasn’t who I thought I was.”

He walked over, slowly.

“But I like who I am with you. And I hated who I was when I walked out on you. When we’re together, Maggie, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. And I don’t just mean in bed. Although I do mean that, too.”

I laughed. He leaned down and kissed me softly before continuing.

“I want to be everything for you. I thought these books could teach me something.”

“You don’t need them, Liam. I like you. These men—” I waved vaguely towards the stacks of novels. “They’re not real. You know that. Real people are going to make mistakes. I make mistakes, too. I promise.”

“I guess I couldn’t quite bring myself to believe that,” he laughed.

“Believe it.”

I took his face in my hands and kissed him. He reached behind me and pulled the string on my apron, letting it fall to the floor. I twined my arms around his neck, getting on my tiptoes as he unzipped me. He gently pushed down on my shoulders, forcing my arms to my sides as he slid the uniform down until it, too, dropped to the ground. I stood there before him, in nothing but my bra and panties, my breath catching as he ran one fingertip down the front of my body, making a circle around my navel as my insides clenched.

“You’re gorgeous, Em,” he whispered.

I closed my eyes.

I felt him draw closer, until there was only an inch or two between us, that space quickly becoming charged. I let out a slow breath as he took my chin in his hand. His mouth closed on mine and I put my hands on his hips, sliding my fingers into the elastic waist of his sweatpants. He groaned against me and I pushed down, letting his pants fall around his feet. He was wearing nothing underneath. I may have whimpered.

I closed my hands around his ass, pressing my hips into his as he kissed me, feeling him grow hard against me.

“You missed me,” I observed.

“You have no idea,” he growled.

I wrapped my legs around his waist as he lifted me and walked us through the living room and into his bedroom. He lay me down on the bed, kneeling over me to peel down my panties, tossing them across the room. He inhaled deeply, staring at me with pure lust in his eyes.

“I hope you don’t have any plans for the rest of the day,” he said. “This might take a while.”

I took his head and pushed it down between my thighs. With no further ado, he got to work. As his tongue worked its magic, I couldn’t believe there’d ever been a time where I thought I wouldn’t enjoy this. That I could do perfectly fine without it.

As Liam’s tongue teased my clit, I knew I’d never been more wrong in my life. I raised my hips off the bed, already racing towards the edge. He wrapped his lips around me, sucking gently and I grabbed onto his shoulders, holding on as I thrust into his face. He squeezed my ass with one hand, bringing the other between my legs and sliding two fingers inside me.

“Oh, fuck, Liam,” I cried out.

I felt him smile against me and I opened my eyes to look down. He raised his own eyes, meeting my stare and the desire in them was overwhelming. This man, this beautiful man, wanted me. I grabbed his head and threw my own back against the pillow as he increased the pressure. I was a speeding train, racing forwards, nothing able to stop me. I cried out as I came, clutching his hair as I rode out the waves of the orgasm.

When I came down, he raised his head got on his hands and knees, crawling up until he was positioned above me. I put my hands around his waist, pulling him down closer, needing contact between our bodies. He leaned over and pulled open the night table drawer, pulling out a condom which he dropped on the bed beside us.

“You’re not going to leave this time?” I asked, only half-joking.

“It’s my apartment,” he grinned.