He pops the trunk and puts his bag in along with the empty one I’ve borrowed from him. We’re stopping by the hotel, so I can get my stuff before we head to Oxford. All I have with me is my handbag that I’ve been using for overnights at his place, and sure, it’s big, but a weekend away requires more stuff. The only other thing I have with me is my big-ass suitcase, and I’d prefer not to drag that to Oxford with me, so Liam lent me one of his weekend bags.
And remember when I said that Liam doesn’t spend money to the excess? I take that back.
I might not be a car expert, but I know a Bugatti Veyron when I see one. And that’s what I’m looking at right now.
A sexy-as-hell Bugatti.
“This car is a total babe magnet.” I run my fingertips over the smooth, shiny black paintwork.
“Like its owner,” he says, shutting the trunk with a soft clunk.
“Ha!” I laugh. “Seriously though, you could look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame and still score a supermodel if you had this car.”
Liam gives a mock-offended look. “I hope to fuck you’re not implying that chicks only dig me because of my car.”
I laugh again. “As if. This is the first time I’ve seen your car, and I totally dug you long before this.”
He comes around the car, toward me. Standing before me, he takes my face in his hands, tipping it back so that I’m looking up into his eyes.
Leaning in, he softly kisses me on the lips. “I kinda dig you, too, Boston.”
I don’t know why, but the sentiment really touches me. More than it should. More than I should allow it to.
I blink my eyes open. His are on mine.
My heart bumps around my chest.
He kisses me again and then whispers over my lips, “Now, get your hot arse in my hot car, so I can get her out on the open road.”
He releases me with a chuckle. Then, he walks over and opens the passenger door for me.
“Boys and their toys.” I smile as I climb inside, setting my heart back in place.
Wow. The car is just as nice on the inside as the outside. It’s rich leather and glossy everything. I’m afraid to touch anything in case I leave a mark.
For a two-seater, it’s surprisingly roomy. It even fits Liam’s big body as he climbs in.
I put my seat belt on. “I’m so going to enjoy this ride,” I tell him.
He stops with his seat belt in his hand and looks at me. “I promise that this ride will be as good as the ones I give you every night in my bed.” A grin spreads over his gorgeous face, making me laugh again.
I really like how much I laugh around Liam.
Another thing I like too much.
“Is the car new?” I ask. It looks brand-new.
“I bought her a few years ago. A present to myself when I turned thirty. I don’t get to drive her as much as I’d like though.”
“Ah, she’s your midlife-crisis car,” I deadpan.
His lips press together, battling a smile. “Laugh it up. You’ll be thirty one day, and when that day comes, I’ll remind you of this conversation.”
Everything inside me pauses.
No, Liam, I won’t.
But, of course, that isn’t what I say.
I really shouldn’t say anything. I should just laugh it off and change the direction of the conversation. But the concern that he’s talking like he’ll know me beyond these two weeks has me saying, “You think you’ll know me when I’m thirty?”
He lets out that smile on his lips. It reaches all the way to his eyes. “If you’re lucky.”
If I’m lucky.
I really wish I were.
Recently, I’ve found myself wishing for a lot of things. Things I have no right to wish for.
But the heart can be a selfish and foolish thing.
And mine is certainly both.
I can feel the conflict inside me between this man in front of me and what I know is right, what I deserve…and it isn’t him. I know that.
So, I paste on a smile, and I force a laugh, giving a shake of my head, to show that everything is just right when it couldn’t be further from it.
Liam puts the key in the ignition and then presses a button on the console beside him. The car purrs to life.
He looks at me. “Hotel first and then my grandpa’s place,” he confirms.
“Perfect,” I say even though things aren’t.
Except for him. He’s perfect.
Liam stops by the hotel, and I run inside with the weekend bag.
As I’m wearing last night’s clothes since they were all I had with me at Liam’s, I do a quick change and opt to wear a pale pink knee-length summer dress, the color matching my hair. I want to make an effort to look nice since I’ll be meeting his grandpa. My makeup and hair are already done because I showered at Liam’s before we left.
I slip on my silver ballet pumps and put the ankle boots I wore last night in the overnight bag to take with me. Then, I fill the bag up with essentials—clothes, underwear, and toiletries. Before leaving, I grab the photo of my family off the nightstand and put it in the bag.
Then, I head back out to Liam.
“Sorted?” he asks as I climb into the car, the bag safely in the trunk.
“Yep.”
He pulls out into traffic, and soon, we’re on the highway, heading toward Oxford, with music playing on the radio and a companionable silence between us.
“Boston…can I ask you something?”
The tone in his voice has me feeling like it might not be a question that I’ll want to answer.
My head against the headrest, I turn my face to look at him.