Enticing Liam (Big Sky Royal 2)

“Get dressed,” he demands.

“We need to talk about this.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

He storms into the bathroom and emerges a few seconds later with his pants on.

“Liam.”

He ignores me and, without a pause, heads for the stairs. Seconds later, the door slams shut.

He left me.

Standing here, naked, begging him to talk to me.

Well, he can just bugger right off.

I storm into the bedroom and throw on some clothes, then pace the flat in anger.

How dare he? I bared myself to him, and he just stormed right off? All because I want to know him better?

Preposterous.

I flop down onto the bed and bury my face in the pillow, but it still smells like Liam.

He’s all around me.

And I’ve fallen right in love with the stubborn arse. That’s what hurts the most. I’m in love with him, and he won’t talk to me about something that has obviously hurt him deeply.

I sigh and sit up.

I just behaved like an idiot.

Mary, my childhood lady-in-waiting, used to tell me that I was impatient and could be unkind when I didn’t get my way.

I’ve worked hard to change that about myself.

Until today, when I found out that Liam has secrets and wanted to know about them immediately.

Of course, he deserves the right to tell me when he feels the time is right.

But we need to talk this out. Because I can’t help that I feel slighted. I have already given him so much of myself.

Liam isn’t unkind or rude. He’s been lovely.

And I pushed him too bloody hard.

I sigh, rub my hands over my face, and get ready to find Liam and eat a healthy dose of crow.

I push my feet into slides and walk calmly down the stairs. It wouldn’t do to have any of Liam’s staff see me running across the property screaming out Liam’s name. They would definitely think something was going on if that were the case.

No, I need to be calm and collected. Clearheaded.

Patient.

But my steps quicken as I reach the bottom of the stairs and fling open the door, ready to search for the man I’ve fallen in love with.

But there he is. Right on the dock, standing not even six feet away from my door.

“You left me.”

His shoulders slump, and he turns to look at me.

“I can’t go far. You’re my job.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” My voice is soft now, and I’m full of insecurities as Liam walks toward me. He cups my cheek in his hand, not seeming to care that anyone could see us right here.

“Obviously, I couldn’t leave you.”

Chapter 11

~Ellie~

“Come inside.” I hold out my hand for his. To my relief, he takes it and walks with me inside and up the stairs to my flat. “I’m glad you couldn’t go far.”

“I feel like an ass. But, Ellie, you’re pushing me on something that I’m not ready to talk about.”

“I know.” I swallow hard and kiss the back of his hand. “I owe you an apology for acting like a spoiled child who wasn’t getting her way. I shouldn’t have behaved like that. But I’m frustrated, Liam. Do you think there will ever be a time when you are ready to talk about it?”

He seems to think about that, and then with my hand still in his, he brushes past me, walking fast toward the bedroom. I have to take three steps for every one of his to keep up with him. I watch with wide eyes when he takes a deep breath, reaches over his shoulder, and fists his shirt, pulling it over his head. He drops it to the floor, sits on the edge of my bed, and looks down at the hardwood.

His back is to me. In the light of day, I can see all the horrible scars across his skin, from just below his neck all the way into his pants. He can’t look at me. His head stays bowed, and for a long time, he doesn’t say anything at all.

He looks so broken, so defeated. I want nothing more than to help him, to reassure him. To help put him back together again.

“I was a First Sergeant in the Army,” he says slowly. His words are measured, quiet. “That’s when I retired just over a year ago. I worked my ass off for that rank, Ellie. I took my job seriously. It consumed me. It was an honor to be in the United States Army, to be a part of the Rangers. When I graduated from Ranger school, I was on top of the world, despite the cuts along my back. I got those from barbed wire that we had to crawl under.”

He pauses and swallows. His head is in his hands now, and I finally move my feet from where they’re stuck to the floor near the doorway and crawl onto the bed behind him. I brace my hands on his unscarred shoulders.