He starts to walk in the door, and I put my hand to his chest to stop him. “Wait. You think you can ignore me, act like nothing happened and then what, you show up like I’m some dark secret you need to keep hidden from your buddies?”

His face is intense, and he looks furious. “No, I don’t want to hide you. Every one of the guys knows how I feel about you.”

I barely hold in my laugh. “Oh well, good, that’s great. I’m glad they know how you feel, because I don’t have a fuckin’ clue.”

His eyes go round, surprised by the curse word, I’m sure. I may work with a bunch of men, but I usually don’t cuss. He grips the door. “Let me in, and I’ll show you how I feel about you.”

“No.” I jut my chin at him. “Tell me.”

“I love you, Sam. I have since the day you walked into the warehouse with Walker and I thought you were with him. He may have saved my life before, but I swear I was ready to kick his ass in that moment.”

“There’s nothing going on with Walker and me,” I mutter to him in frustration. What is it with everyone thinking Walker and I had something going... And then it hits me. “Wait... did you just say you love me?”

He shrugs. “Yeah. I do too.”

I almost reach for him, but I stop myself. “So what does that mean? We have to hide this or I’m out of a job? Is that why you ignored me? I saw you talking to Nash.”

“Can we talk about this inside?”

I move to the side and wave him in. He walks in and looks around my small living room. “Have a seat.”

He sits on the closest chair and pulls me down onto his lap.

I struggle to get up, but he keeps me in place. “I’ll tell you everything, but I haven’t had you in my arms in awhile, and I need this, Sam. Please give it to me.”

When I agree, it seems his whole body relaxes underneath me, and his voice is soft and smooth as he starts to talk. “I talked to Nash and told him that I wasn’t giving you up. Surprisingly, he’s okay with it. We don’t have to hide it, and he said that he needs us both, so you don’t have to worry about your job or anything. But he did say that for a while, we will do separate missions.”

I put my hand on his neck and force him to look at me. “That sounds reasonable. What’s the problem?”

“I’ll worry about you. How can I stay here and let you go into danger? I don’t know if I can be that man or not.”

I lean into him and bury my head in his neck. “I know, Bear. But I’ll feel the same way when you have to leave.”

He takes a deep breath. “And the reason I was so quiet afterwards—well, it’s always hard afterwards for me. I wish I could say I never think about my past, but I do. Sometimes, I just need time by myself to work it out. I’m sorry if you thought I was trying to hide what I felt for you.”

“I understand. But I want you to know I’m always here for you. I hate seeing you alone... you don’t have to be. Even if you just want to sit next to me and hold my hand, I can do that and let you process it all. I just want to be there for you.”

His eyes darken. “I’d like that.”

I know he’s really struggling with this. “Liam.”

Surprised that I called him by name, he looks at me wide-eyed. I kiss his chin, his cheeks, and finally his lips. His arms tighten around me, and I could about get lost in the kiss, but before I do, I know I need to tell him. I pull away, gasping. “I love you, Liam James. I love you so much. I know this will be hard, but we’ll figure it out. We’ll make it work.”

He rests his head against mine. “We’ll have to, Sam. Because you’re mine now.”

“And you’re mine,” I tell him before leaning in and pressing my lips to his.

EPILOGUE

BEAR

“Another successful mission. I’m proud of all the hard work, everyone,” Nash says in the front of the room.

It’s the day after we got back, and thankfully it seems today is not going to be a long day. Nash confirms that when Colt asks, “What’s next?”

Nash crosses his arms on his chest. “We have a few days. I have Dylan looking into a few things, but we’ll be home for a few days at least.”

“Yes!” Colt, Aiden, and John all say at the same time. It seems that everyone is tired and ready to rest up.

Tags: Hope Ford Whiskey Run Heroes Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net