Her Unexpected Love Story

Chapter Nine

Emma’s POV

‘Oh my goodness!’ I screamed internally as I raced out of Liam’s room.

I made my way to the start of the staircase and ran down as fast as I could, nearly tripping over myself in the process.

Truth is, there was no point in me running because he and I were still going to end up in the same car anyway. That didn’t matter to me right now, though, because all I knew was I wanted to get as far away from his room as possible at that moment.

Liam and I kissed. At least that’s what I believe would’ve happened if Lilian hadn’t knocked on the door.

I could feel the hotness of his breath against my face and his hands were beginning to find their way to the sides of my waist, wanting to pull me closer to him. My hands were still resting on his chest from where I had laid down the knotted tie, so we were practically in the perfect position for the kiss to happen. I mean, we were so close to each other that even a toothpick couldn’t fit in the gap between us. That’s how close we were.

As I got to the end of the staircase, I headed straight out the front door and waited for him there. Thoughts of what could’ve been kept flashing through my mind rapidly. I imagine his lips to be soft considering how pink and round they were. It would probably have felt like kissing a pillow. From the moment I had put my hands on his bare chest to help him apply the ointment on his burn, I’ve been feeling turned on.

His abs were rock solid, and it made me want to feel up the rest of him. I wanted to rub my hands up and down his body so badly and just have him wrap those arms around me. Even though I knew that was never going to happen, the s****l tension I felt between us at that moment was enough for me to allow him to do whatever he wanted to me.

Fuck.

What the hell is going on with me? Why am I feeling this way all of a sudden? Why am I having these kinds of thoughts about someone who acts like he’s repulsed by me one minute, and then attracted to me the next?

“Emma,” Liam calls out my name as he opens up the front door, snapping me out of my line of self-questioning.

“I’m over here,” I said, getting up from the bench I was sitting on by the side of the house.

“Let’s go,” he replied, walking towards his car without looking at me.

This was it. This usual character of his was what I needed to help snap me back into reality. He was back to being his usual nonchalant and uncaring self. The expression on his face was so blank, it looked like he hadn’t had a reason to smile or laugh all day.

“Is everything alright?” I decided to ask as I opened up the car door and got into the car.

“Yes,” he says, starting the engine and still not looking at me.

“Thanks for taking me home,” I thank him, to which he mutters a ‘sure’ before starting the car and reversing out of the driveway.

At that point, I decided not to say anything else because his one-word responses were beginning to get on my nerves. Just fifteen minutes ago, he and I were in the most intimate position we had ever been in, which almost ended in us kissing, and now? Now, he’s acting so nonchalant like what happened, didn’t.

We’re about thirty minutes into the drive, complete silence throughout the car, except for the sound of both of us breathing in and out simultaneously, when all of a sudden I hear someone scream, “That’s Liam Henderson!”

It was a bunch of reporters who had gathered around a theater where a movie premier was supposed to take place later in the evening. I remember overhearing his mum earlier saying that Liam was supposed to make an appearance there in the evening but couldn’t because of their dinner, so that's probably why the reporters were shocked to see him drive by.

There was a bit of traffic due to construction up the street, so it gave the reporters all the more opportunity to bombard him with different questions, ranging from “Where are you off to, Mr. Henderson?” to “Who’s this beautiful lady with you today, Mr. Henderson?”

I had no idea how to react to what was going on, so I just remained silent and put my head down to avoid looking any of them in the eyes.

“I knew I shouldn’t have come out with this car today,” Liam says out loud, tightening his fists around the steering wheel, his face evident with irritation.

The car was a beautiful black Range Rover, so I didn’t understand what he meant by that statement until I realized the windows weren’t tinted.

“These paparazzi and their stupid questions. f**k,” he grips the steering harder.

“Are you good?” I looked up at him.

“I’m fine,” he said, relaxing his grip on the steering wheel. “Sorry, I just don’t like them,” he continued softly, looking in my direction for the first time since we got into the car.

“Okay then,” I said back. “So what’s the plan here?” I continued. Seeing as we were going to be stuck on the road for a while, we were faced with two options on how to deal with the reporters. It was either we continued trying to ignore them or we indulged them and answered a few questions.

“I’m going to do something you may or may not like, but it has to happen,” he said, glancing between me and the cars in front of us.

Yeah. That’s not troubling at all.

“What do you mean I may or may not like it?” I asked, turning my body towards him.

“Just got with the flow,” he ignores my question and winds down the window on my side of the car.

“Good afternoon. Mr. Henderson. Who is this beautiful lady you have with you here today? Is there something going on that you’re not telling us?” a reporter, who had been standing by my side of the car for a while, asks Liam once the window goes down.

“Good afternoon,” he said back to the reporter. “This beautiful lady right here is my soon-to-be wife,” he continued, looking me in the eyes, and before I knew it, he grabbed my chin and slammed his lips into mine.