Her Unexpected Love Story

Chapter Seven

Emma’s POV

“Is anything the matter, dear?” Mrs. Henderson asked, looking concerned at my reaction.

I quickly comported myself and told her everything was fine.

“No wonder a lot of cooking was going on in the kitchen. I was beginning to think you all ate for a hundred in this household,” I said with a laugh to shift the conversation from the fact that I had to attend this dinner with Liam.

“Oh don’t be silly, Emma. We’re not animals,” she replied, laughing. “Considering the plans for this dinner are last minute, do you have something to wear or would you rather my stylist got you something?” she asked, bringing us back to the conversation I was avoiding.

It was a last-minute thing, but I did have something to wear, fortunately for me.

“I have a dress at home I could wear, thank you,” I offered her a smile.

“You’re welcome, darling. Also, feel free to invite a guest of your choice. I reached out to your parents, but they said they couldn’t make it,” she said. “Something about them not being in the state or so,” she continued.

“That’s right. They flew out to D.C. last night to visit my grandma. She’s been ill for a while now,” I said in response.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. I hope she feels better soon,” she said, pulling me in for a hug.

“Thank you. I hope so too,” I hugged her back.

“Well, I had better head home now, so I can have enough time to get ready. Thank you for having me over, Mrs. Henderson,” I said, making my way to the front door.

“Emma,” she looked at me sternly. “I have told you to stop calling me Mrs. Henderson. In one month, we’re going to be a family. Regardless of that fact, we don’t need all that formality between us, please. Call me Maria. I’m only fifty-four years young, and you're addressing me as a missus makes me feel so old," she feigns a face of disgust then laughs it off.

“Alright, Maria,” I said, laughing alongside her.

“Did you drive here?” she asked as we both made our way to the front door.

“No. My car’s at the mechanic's, so I took an Uber here. If I book my ride now, the driver should be here in about five minutes,” I told her.

“Nonsense,” she waved her arms to show her disapproval. “Liam is home, he can drop you off on his way back to the office,” she continued.

No. That’s what I wanted to say back, but I didn’t. After our encounter this morning, the last thing I need is to be stuck in a car with Liam for the next forty-five minutes it takes to get from his parent’s place to mine. If he didn’t hate me before, I’m pretty sure he does now.

“I wouldn’t want to stress him,” I said hastily, opening up the Uber app on my phone to book a ride.

“Absolutely not. Liam will drop you off and that’s final,” she says, giving me no room to argue. “Go upstairs and call him. Tell him I said he should drop you off on his way back to the office. God knows you both need to spend time together anyway,” she says, pushing me towards the spiral staircase in the center of the hallway.

“When you get upstairs, take a right and head to the end of the hall. His room is the last door on the left," she begins, walking towards the kitchen. "Alright, I’ll see you later tonight,” she waves at me and disappears behind the kitchen door.

This is a nightmare.

I walked up the stairs and made my way to the end of the hall as Mrs. Henderson had instructed. I stopped in front of Liam’s door and stared at it for over a minute, contemplating whether to knock or dash out of the house now that Mrs. Henderson had gone into the kitchen, but I stayed.

I eventually summoned the courage to knock and heard an immediate response.

“Come in,” his voice sounded muffled through the door.

I took a deep breath, pulled on the handle of the door, then let myself into the room.

“Mum, is that you? Could you help me apply this on my chest?” he asked without looking back.

He was shirtless. I walked in on him being shirtless, and I had no idea how to react. Was I supposed to leave? Was I supposed to turn my back to him? I had no idea what to do, so I just stayed, watching his back clench each time he made a move.

His back was muscular, and he had a small scar behind his left shoulder. It wasn’t so noticeable, but it was clear something was there. It was a small gash, a mark that was probably caused by a sharp blade.

“Mum?” he said in the form of a question as he turned back to see who he had just let into his room.

I took in a sharp breath as I was now faced with his front side. His body was amazing. He had the most perfect-looking abs that I just wanted to feel up and down, and his pants were low, so I could see the outline of his V area. As my eyes roamed throughout his front side, I noticed a distinct redness on his chest that stopped about halfway across his stomach. It looked like a burn.

That’s when the realization hit me. It’s from the coffee I drenched him in earlier. No wonder he was upstairs for a long time. I made him burn himself.

“You like what you see?” he snapped me out of my thoughts. “If you’re done ogling, I’d like you to come help me apply this ointment on the burn you caused,” he continued with a blank expression on his face.

I was confused for a moment because I didn’t realize if he was joking or not. He wanted me to touch him. This was coming from someone who seemed to be repulsed by my presence some minutes ago.

“You want me to help you?” I asked, pointing at myself.

“Is there anyone else in the room with us?” he asked with his brows raised. He is such a rude person.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to him, grabbing the ointment out of his hands.

“This is going to hurt,” I said, uncapping the ointment and applying some on him.