Page 36 of Stronger Than Love

Liam grabbed my hand and led me to the door, my head reeling from the past twenty-four hours. I needed to get control of this situation before it engulfed me and dragged me under the ocean of emotions that were threatening to drown me.

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Chapter Fourteen

Liam

Fucking hell! The woman who sauntered out of my bedroom belonged in a fantasy, not in an operating theatre. Some women exercised constantly and refused to eat carbs to stay slim. Oonagh happily ate noodles last night and pancakes this morning. She had curves that had me biting my hand to avoid me falling to my knees to spank that ass that drove me crazy last night.

Her fuck-me boots accentuated the suit that clung to her in all the right places. Her high ponytail was positioned where a lot of subs wore it so it could be used as an accessory during sex. Normally, she wore little or light makeup, but her eyes and lips made Oonagh into a sex siren, beckoning me to my doom. I didn’t even want to think about the red silk that clung to her breasts.

“Text me when you’re finished,” I called as she climbed out of my car.

Her forehead creased. “I don’t have your number.”

“I programmed it in while you were getting ready.” Who the hell didn’t have a lock on their phone nowadays? In fairness, there was virtually nothing on her phone except a few impersonal texts and some photos of her with co-workers. The only people who texted her regularly whereMartin and Angie from her medical unit. Martin seemed to send her funny memes with sexual undertones that she didn’t seem to understand or just ignored.

Yes, I looked. No, I wasn’t proud of myself.

She chewed the inside of her mouth.

“If you’re going to argue, I could just stay here or sit in the lobby?” I knew I was being an asshole, but when it came to Oonagh I couldn’t help myself.

“Okay.” She nodded slowly. “As long as I’m not putting you out.”

The grin that spread over my face was completely sexual because I knew what was coming later and there was no way she was escaping her fate. Oonagh blinked, her tentative smile faltering. There were times I swore she was as nervous as a virgin, which was ridiculous since I spent an entire summer debauching her perfect body every way my hormonal younger self could think of.

I didn’t want to think of the men she’d encountered on her travels.

Her ass swayed with the movement created from the heels of her boots. It was the very reason women tortured themselves in those heels.

My meeting was later this morning, so I decided to park nearby and lose myself in my thoughts for a while. I’d been angry at Oonagh for leaving me after listening to one side of a story. Honestly, now that I knew the details, I would have thought the same thing in her sexy shoes. I could fucking strangle those bitches who’d lived next door to us as children.

She’d always been fragile, a delicate flower you were afraid to touch. Listening to her this morning, Oonagh had lived through hell. I wanted to protect her, hold her tightly and tell her no one would ever hurt her again.

My hands tightened on my steering wheel at the thought of her scared.

She’d walked back into my life and filled a hole I never even knew existed. I could barely breathe earlier, watching her fix my cufflink on the wrist that always gave me trouble.

After agreeing to one summer, how could I tell her that I wanted so much more?

Confused and at a loss, I texted Callum, telling him about one of the girls next door wearing my hoodie. He knew the rest of the story, and his advice was always wise. It was Callum who’d started to put my life together when all my letters to Oonagh were returned unopened. He was the one person in my life I would trust no matter what.

At the darkest part of my life, he carried me through and supported me. He would probably stop me from tracking Niamh and Clodagh down and strangling them. They were the bane of so many of my teenage years.

My meeting wasn’t until eleven, so I didn’t have to drive Oonagh up this morning, and at the moment, I refused to analyse the protective urges I was trying to suppress. Throw in the fact that she remembered my favourite breakfast and she was tearing my defences down.

My phone pinged and I read Callum’s message, rolling my eyes at his advice. He told me long ago that the only possible ending when it came to the Oonagh situation was a ring and me saying ‘I do’. His text had consisted of emojisof a ring and a bride and groom. My brother had recently devolved into hieroglyphics instead of writing.

I read through a few emails and replied to them, not wanted to leave and have Oonagh standing here waiting for me. No one else evoked this feeling in me—the caveman who wanted to drag her off and tie her to my bed far from the prying eyes of any other man.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I closed my eyes and threw my phone onto the seat beside me. Could you really find the love of your life when you were five? Or did you just turn your best friend into your love interest because you didn’t want to lose them? No, I’d been with enough women to know that what I had with Oonagh felt different. Our connection was stronger, deeper, all-consuming.

My phone pinged again. I was tempted to ignore another message that needed deciphered from Callum. My back straightened as I stared at the screen.

Interview over. Do you want me to walk into town and meet you there?

My finger moved over the screen.No. I’ll be there in two minutes.

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