Fiancée for Rent by Elizabeth Grey

Chapter 26

Kylie

I watched as his stormy eyes warmed. Liam took me in standing before him when he'd answered the door. He sucked in his bottom lip a moment, then let it out with a weighted sigh.

"Kylie! Damn, you look amazing."

"I look sea-swept, but I came right from the pier. I had to see you after watching you on TV. Did you mean what you said about me, or was it just another publicity stunt? Either way, I wanted to say thanks in person," I said. The words fell from my lips in a tumble of anxiety that left me shivering in my sweater, though I fought the urge to wrap my arms around my body, to look stand-offish in any way.

"I do nothing for publicity's sake anymore. Something I learned from you. And, congrats on your movie deal."

"You heard about that already?"

"I keep tabs on you," he admitted.

"You keep tabs on me, huh?"

"And you were watching me on TV."

"Touché."

"Would you like to come in?" he asked with a wave of his arm, the same outfit as I saw him in earlier.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," I said as I followed him inside.

He led me to the living room, gestured me to the couch, and then sat inches from me. The heat from his body hit me in waves as the smell of his cologne, his pure musk, mingled, teased, taunted.

"You really do look amazing, Kylie. I've missed having you in my life. I am so sorry I let things get out of hand. I have so much to apologize for. So much to say. But first, it's just so good to see you. I'd been trying to come up with an excuse to talk. But I told myself that if I didn't come up with one soon, I was just going to have to show up to your door without one."

"Really? That would have been a welcome surprise. Like I hope this one's for you." He only nodded his head as I watched his chest rise and fall with a large intake of air. "It's good to see you, too. I meant to call or text, to tell you about my movie, but I was afraid. Until the interview, I didn't know if you ever wanted to see me again. And your songs, well, I didn't know if I was the good or bad guy in some of them. Or worse, they weren't about me at all."

"That would have been worse than being the bad guy?" he said with a laugh that sparkled in his eyes, making my limbs go weak.

"Yes, that would have been worse. It would have meant you didn't think of me at all. I've thought so much about all that happened between us."

"I have a lot to apologize for. I wasn't ready for you to come into my life. I had a lot I needed to work through. Our breakup gave me that time."

"So you are glad we broke up then?"

"That didn't come outright. Let me just lay it out there for you, Kylie," he said as he turned his body to mine fully, grabbing both of my hands.

When they shook, he must have thought them cold because he bathed my shin in his hot breath, rubbing them between his palms, which only made them tremble more.

He grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and tossed it around my shoulders, pulling tight before he rubbed his hands up and down my arms. As all of this happened, we looked into each other's eyes, smiled, looked away, looked back again.

"You were going to lay it all out for me," I begged, unable to stop myself from wanting him, needing him, hoping that he'd tell me what I desperately wanted to hear. 

"Yes. I've rehearsed it enough times now."

"Rehearsed?" I questioned, my eyes wide.

"Let me talk, Kylie," he said with a short, light laugh. Shaking out his hands, they found mine again as I simply nodded my consent. "So, let me start with the fact that I'm glad I met you. I'm glad I did the work I needed to do because I met you. You are an amazing woman Kylie. And the rush of real feelings I had for you in our first weeks of fake engagement was more than I was ready to handle. But now, I'm ready. If you give me a chance, I am ready to be a man worthy of you."

"Really? Because I feel the same. I needed to heal some old wounds, but you taught me how to let go and open myself up to another man. I just threw David's necklace off the pier, said my last good-byes."

"Then you came to say hello to me?"

"Yes. I hope that's okay."

"It's more than okay. In fact, I think there is a song in it somewhere," he said as he reached for a small notepad on the side table and jotted down a few words. "Sorry, it's becoming a habit these days. Once I did that work, opened myself up, the words just started to flow again."

"No apologies. Your album is amazing. Truly. I've listened to it over and over again."

"I'm happy to hear it. So, Kylie Davis, about to be a famous film writer and director, would you be willing to take another chance on a rock star? Will you let me redeem myself, show you the man I can be because I would love to date you for real, to show you all of who I am, who I am trying to be."

"I can't think of anything. I want more right now," I said as he pulled me into his arms, wrapping me in a tight embrace.

"God, how I've longed to have you back here, in my arms."

"There is no place I'd rather be," I got out before his lips pressed to mine.

I wished I had words to explain the way time stopped as my heart opened, soared while tiny bolts of lightning shot through my entire body. If I had the words, I'd have written my greatest movie ever. But life, love, the best moments of our lives can't be captured in words. They must be experienced. From that moment forward, I swore to be present, to experience everything Liam had to offer me, to let myself fall deeper and deeper in love with him without any hesitation.