“That night,” he groaned. “Our last night together, even though I really hope it’s not our last night together, was incredible. It was more amazing than I ever thought it could be. Before that night, sex was just sex, but that night with you was… an experience.”
I felt the sigh he let out in my own chest and released a matching, shuddering breath. He was right, it had been an experience. One I thought might be the beginning of something really special and great.
“The next morning was… Honestly, Olive, it was a dream come true for me. Breakfast like a real family who spent time together because they wanted to. It was so special.” Liam let out a huff of disappointment and I could almost see him shaking his head. “All of it combined, it shook me. At the time, I didn’t know what it meant, didn’t know why I had to pack a bag and head to the mountains, but that was just what I needed to do.”
“Yeah, you needed to run as fast and as far as you could. From me.” I felt silly and I knew it wasn’t fair, but neither was listening to this without being able to respond.
“But somewhere between day six and seven hiking through Guadalupe, I figured it out.” His voice was lighter and I felt my chest squeeze tight. “I realized what that tightness in my chest was. It was happiness, but it wasn’t only happiness. It was love and I’m ashamed to admit that it took me six days to realize it. Six fucking days to realize that I was in love with the most incredible, kind, and sweet woman I had ever met. A woman who is far too good for me, but a woman I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to deserve.”
“Oh, shut up,” I yelled at the digital screen as tears started to pool in my eyes.
“Realizing I was in love with you wasn’t the only thing, Olive. That realization scared the hell out of me because I didn’t know I was even capable of loving someone so fully, so completely, and then I wasn’t sure I was worthy of your love. But there you were in your cardigans and hip-hugging dresses, all bubbly and sexy, lowkey sassy and smart, and you made me love you. Hell, you made me want to be more than my considerable charm.”
I rolled my eyes but the smile that split my face could not be contained.
“I am so sorry, Olive, that I left you without a word, but that week put it all in perspective for me. I love you and I want to be with you. I want you and I want the baby, all of it.”
I shook my head, barely able to see the road through my tears, and pulled onto the shoulder. The tears streamed down my face, not just at his sweet, softly-spoken words, but the fact that he had done this. Taken the time to record the message. How was I supposed to forget a man who did something like that?
It was the grandest of grand gestures, and I was touched.
Truly touched.
The knock at my window startled a loud scream out me that turned my racing heart into a Formula 1 car. When I looked up, Liam stood there, crouched low so he could peek through the window with a small smile on his face. “Are you all right?”
I shook my head and motioned for him to step back so I could get out of the car. “You scared the crap outta me, Liam.”
“Sorry, but you pulled over so fast I thought maybe something was wrong. You’re okay?”
I nodded and wiped tears as discreetly as I could before turning to the man staring at me like everything he’d said was true, and I wasn’t strong enough to fight that. “You broke into my car.”
He laughed and it was a low, rumbling sound that gave me goosebumps. “Well, you know, Olive, I am more than just a pretty face.”
“That’s true.” I grinned. “You also have pretty muscles. Very pretty.”
His smile widened and Liam’s sun-kissed cheeks turned a bright shade of pink, but he said nothing.
“Did you mean it?” I needed to know this wasn’t just some means of getting me to speak to him.
“Every damn word,” he said, his voice deadly serious. “I want you and I want our baby. I want us to be a family,” he said before that sober expression transformed like the sun coming out after a storm. “At least, a pretty great start to a family.”
His words took a minute to sink in and when they did, my heart swelled with happiness. It was exactly the right thing to say. Exactly the words I wanted to hear from this man, and I hadn’t realized it until this moment. “That’s a pretty quick turnaround.”