Erased vows

CHAPTER TWELVE

I had just gotten home when the rain began again.

It felt like a reminder of the kiss.

It was past midnight when the knock came.

I jolted up from the couch, my heartbeat pounding in the silence of my small apartment. I have been living with my mind on edge ever since the break-in.

I hadn’t been expecting anyone, especially not this late.

The rain had stopped an hour ago, leaving the streets wet and shiny. The faint light from Chicago City cracked through my window.

Another knock.

Firmer. Slower. Intentionally hesitant.

I strolled toward the door in my socks, my robe loosely tied over my nightshirt. When I peeked through the peephole, my breath caught in my throat.

Liam.

He stood there, slightly swaying, one hand in the pocket of his slacks, the other brushing back damp strands of his hair. His suit jacket was missing, his shirt unbuttoned at the top, and his tie crooked and loosened. He looked like an unstable man but still beautiful in the most dangerous way.

He looked drunk.

I hesitated, every logical instinct screaming not to open the door. But I did.

I couldn’t leave my husband out in the rain.

“Liam?” My voice was barely above a whisper, but loud enough for him to hear me.

“God…” I sighed, stepping aside. “Come in before someone sees you.”

I wasn’t just surprised seeing him at this time of the night but my heart also skipped in excitement knowing he chose me in his most vulnerable moment.

He lifted his head at the sound of my voice. Eyes bloodshot, but not with anger. Exhaustion. Emotion. And something deeper.

The strong smell of alcohol mixed with cologne hits my nose.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” he muttered, stepping past me as if the decision had already been made for both of them.

I closed the door behind him quietly. “It is past midnight, Are you drunk?”

He nods slowly. “Only enough to say what I mean.”

I stared at him, unsure what to do, whether I should listen to what he had to say, what if he regrets the kiss?

“Liam we could talk about whatever this is tomorrow but right now I should call your driver,” I said walking into the living room.

I followed him to the living room where he collapsed onto the edge of her couch.

“You have a beautiful space,” he complimented.

“Basic you mean?” I muttered.

“It feels like home.”

I felt the wall I had spent the last three years building fall. Home for me was in his arms, a place where I accepted that only fate could permit me to be mine again.

“I know I shouldn’t be here,” he murmured, staring at his hands. “But I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about..... Yesterday”

The kiss.

My cheeks flushed at the reminder like a schoolgirl in front of her crush, and I hugged my robe tighter. “Liam, we don't have…..”

“I know.” He looked up at her. “I know this might be a lot but it definitely wasn't a mistake. I have always wanted this right from the night I saw you in that green dress.

“I know it shouldn’t happen again because I am engaged but I crave the strawberry lipstick on your lips. I want my hands under those tight skirts of yours, working wonders like it is the only thing that matters.”

I felt my legs tremble at his words.

Taking off his tie, he closed his eyes briefly.

“My father cornered me last week. He said the board is asking questions about the engagement. It’s time to set a date. Clarisse wants a winter wedding. December. With snow and a Christmas dinner. Like we are some happy couples or something.”

My stomach twisted. “And what did you say?”

He laughed dryly, bitterly. “I said nothing. I nodded like the good son. I don’t want to marry her. I don’t even recognize the life I’m living anymore, I can't remember asking her out, Dad asked me to propose to her and I agreed.”

“Should I get you water?” I asked needing every excuse to leave there.

He didn't answer me, running his hands down his face he went on.

“I was ready to marry her until you came, I was ready to do everything that says” a mock chuckle escaping his lips.

His voice cracked on the last word, and I felt the walls I fought so hard to build falling inside me.

I sat down beside him carefully, tugging my legs under each other. “Then don’t. You don’t owe them your happiness, Liam.”

He turned slowly towards me, his expression raw. “But what if I don’t know what makes me happy anymore?”

“A man once told me the heart always knows where it belongs, check within your heart” That was something my Liam always told me on bad days.

Liam went still at my words.

For a second, I couldn’t tell if he even heard me, it took about a minute before he slowly turned his head like the sound of my voice had resurrected something deep inside. Our eyes met. His breath caught. And so did mine.

The air between us shifted. Thickened.

He leaned forward slightly. “Say that again,” he whispered.

I swallowed. “Check within your heart,” I repeated, softer this time.

Liam didn’t speak. He just stared at me, like everyone in the world no longer existed and it was just us.

Then he reached out hesitant at first his fingers brushing my cheek softly, tracing a line down to my jaw, before resting lightly against my neck. My skin tingled under his touch. My heart pounded, and butterflies jumped.

“I’ve heard you say that before,” he murmured, his voice rough and uncertain, “but I don’t know when. Or why it feels like it matters.”

He didn’t remember, not really. But something inside him did.

“I should go,” he said, but he didn’t move. His hand stayed. His eyes stayed. “But I don't know if I will ever get an opportunity to do this.”

He kissed me.

It wasn’t soft.

It wasn’t tentative.

I was hungry. Desperate.

I kissed him back.