Chapter Eight
1213 Words
Liam’s POV
“s**t,” I winced, stepping back a bit.
“Sorry,” she paused, looking up at me with sincerity in her eyes.
“It’s fine. Continue,” I muttered back.
Her hands felt so soft against my skin. The warmth of her touch was sending chills up my spine, but she didn’t need to know that. She didn’t need to know the effect she was having on me, so I kept my face as straight as possible.
She was short. Not too short, but the type of short I’d like my woman to be. Her head fell directly below my chin and, for some reason, all I could think of was pulling her closer to myself, so my chin could rest on the top of her head. Considering our proximity, I could practically hear her heart thumping so fast as though it was about to fall out of her chest, and the thought of the effect I was having on her made me smirk a little.
She had shiny black hair that had hints of brown in it like it had been highlighted, and it smelled of a mixture of lavender and honey. Looking down at her, I could see she was pouting her lips a bit, causing her nose to scrunch up, making her look like a cute little doll.
“I think I’m done,” she said, screwing the cap back on the ointment.
“Thank you,” I responded, picking up my shirt and putting it back on.
“You’re welcome,” she placed the ointment on the desk in front of us and stood quietly, staring at her feet.
“So what did you come up here for?,” I asked. “I know it was definitely not to apologize again”.
“No,” she looked up at me. “I didn’t come here to apologize again. Your mum just told me about the party you guys are hosting tonight, and she asked me to come as your plus one”.
“Why?” I asked, doing the last button of my shirt. “I thought they wanted us to be announced at the engagement party?”
“That’s what I thought too, but your mum thought it wouldn’t be right for your family to be hosting a dinner like this and your future wife wasn't present,” she said, folding her hands across her chest and averting her gaze from mine.
It's something I've noticed about her. She doesn't maintain eye contact for a long time. It's either she doesn't know how to or she's just shy. Either way, she always manages to look away quickly.
“I see,” I said, averting my gaze from hers as well.
“Anyway, I was about to head home, but your mum said to catch a ride with you since my place is on the way back to your office”, she responded.
“You don’t drive?” I said in a tone that seeped with judgment. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been shocked if she didn’t know how to drive. After all, many girls shy away from learning to drive early.
“Yes I do,” she said with a risen tone.
She was angry at my question and I couldn’t help but show my amusement. Her anger always seems to amuse me, probably because she looks like a Smurf when she gets angry.
“My car is at the mechanic’s, so I obviously can’t drive it right now,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Trust me, you weren’t my first option on how to get home. It’s not like I came here with you this morning, so I really don't need you,” she continued.
“However,” she started walking towards the door of the room. “Your mum insisted I ride with you. Talking about how we ought to spend more time together,” she said, emphasizing her sarcasm on the last part of her statement by air quoting it.
“Of course she did,” I scoffed. “Typical her,” I said under my breath as I tucked in my shirt and put my cuff links back on.
“Do you need help with that?” she asked, standing by the door with her hands placed on each side of her waist.
I was struggling with my tie. I know I don’t know how to knot a tie, yet I went ahead to undo it in the process of trying to take off my shirt.
“I’m fine,” I said dismissively.
“You sure? Because it doesn’t look that way from where I’m standing,” she said snarkily, smiling and letting out a little laugh.
“What’s so funny?” I snapped back.
Her smile faded away instantly.
“If you don’t want to help me, you might as well just leave and wait downstairs till I’m ready” I continued.
“You don’t have to be rude about everything, Liam,” she said while walking towards me. “If you wanted my help, a simple yes to my question would have sufficed,” she finished, pulling the tie away from around my neck.
“Just help me, so we can get out of here. The sooner we leave, the sooner I get to do more important things with my life,” I said.
“Unbelievable,” she muttered under her breath.
She put the tie around my neck and began knotting it, looking up at me simultaneously till she was done.
“Done,” she said, laying the knotted tie on my chest.
She looked up at me again and this time we caught each other’s gaze. This was as close up as I’d seen her eyes, and they were gorgeous. They were a mixture of black and hazelnut which seemed as though they were illuminating due to the sunlight beaming through my windows that was reflecting in her eyes.
There was a weird tension between us that caused our breathing patterns to align, but it was drawn to a quick end when someone knocked on my door.
The sound of the knock made her jerk back and move away from me as though we had just been caught doing something we weren’t supposed to.
“Who is it?” I yelled.
“It’s me, Mr. Liam,” Lilian’s voice rang through the door.
“Come in," I responded.
“Hello again, Miss Emma,” she said, glancing in Emma’s direction.
“Hi, Lilian,” Emma replied quietly.
“Mr. Liam,” she looked at me. “Your mother wanted to confirm if Mr. Ryan will be coming over tonight,” she said.
That’s why she ruined the moment Emma and I were having. For God’s sake.
“Yes, Lilian. Ryan always comes for these things,” I responded, heaving a deep sigh, running my left hand through my hair.
“Alright, thank you, and sorry for the interruption,” she turned her back to leave the room.
“Emma-,” I begin, but she cuts me off.
“I think it’s best if I wait for you downstairs,” she cut me off and rushed out of the room.
What the hell just happened?
- Writer
