Page 53 of Had To Be You

Everything feels like it should. Like it’s right.

My heart is in his hands.

My eyes are on forever.

I never want this to end.

Chapter Twenty-One

Liam

I’m wearing one of my suits because I know they drive her wild.

Sitting in a lounge chair on the terrace of our suite, I drink from my tumbler of whiskey and work on my laptop, waiting for Ellie to finish getting ready. It’s just after six and I have a car downstairs waiting to take us to dinner. I worked most of the flight this morning, but there’s a case that is requiring a lot of my attention. Taking two days off is a luxury I would have never allowed myself in the past, so the fact that this getaway was my idea scares the living fuck out of me.

I’m in way over my head with Ellie. She’s consuming me in every way. My thoughts. My dreams. She’s everywhere. And it’s been that way from the start. Minutes into meeting this woman, I knew she was different from all the rest. I not only needed to have her, I wanted to get to know her. Really know her. She has me thinking things I’ve never considered before, things like a future, a family. Someone to call after I’ve won a big case. Someone to come home to at the end of a long day.

Unlike the other woman in my past, Ellie means something to me.

She challenges me.

Excites me.

Energizes me.

It’s terrifying as hell.

Seconds later, I hear the sounds of her heels clicking down the staircase. I shift, moving my laptop to the side to give her my full attention, and turn in my seat to see her. My breath hitches the instant I set eyes on her. Ellie strides onto the terrace, her big blue eyes meeting mine. She’s got to know how fucking beautiful she looks.

“Come here,” I command, widening my legs and holding my arms out to her. She steps between my parted knees and my hands reach around the backs of her thighs, gently squeezing her.

My eyes shamelessly travel up the length of her body, pausing at her cleavage. The dress is jade green, the neckline is sweetheart, and it ends mid-thigh, showing off all of her best assets. She has her long hair down straighter than usual with a jeweled clip behind one ear. She really is breathtakingly gorgeous. She’s a study in contradictions. Her features are soft, but she’s feisty, stubborn. She’s gorgeous but grounded and unbelievably witty, uninhibited but so introspective. She looks so good it physically hurts. She always does. She looks good on the seat of my car, wearing my shirt in the morning, wearing nothing at all. And tonight, in a dress I picked up after I caught her admiring it in a window on our way to lunch. She looks breathtakingly stunning. There really isn’t a better view in the world.

She steps away from my grasp and does a twirl, a grin on her lips and a twinkle in her ocean-blue irises.

“You look incredible, Ellie. That dress was made for you,” I say, watching her smile widen at the compliment. I stand and take two steps towards her, closing the distance between us. Running the tips of my fingers down her bare shoulder, I watch her skin pebble under my touch. I have the sudden urge to kiss her and take her face in my hands. Seeing her in that dress makes me want to take her right back to bed. Or the bathroom counter. Right now, I’d settle for a wall.

“Thank you for the dress. You didn’t need to do that, Liam, but I love it.”

She goes up on her toes and kisses me, angling her mouth to deepen it. Her hands are on either side of my neck, my hands grip her waist. She pulls away with a coy smile and I tug on my collar because the temperature on this patio just skyrocketed to scorching. Unable to help myself, my hand travels down her thigh towards the hem of her skirt before she bats it away.

“When you kiss me like that, what do you expect?” I ask with a groan. There’s something about her lips on mine, the sensation of the kiss, her tongue, that makes me feel things I’ve never felt before. I lose all self-control, lose all track of time. It’s just us. And I want her.

“You don’t play fair, Ells,” I growl, running my knuckles along the edge of her jaw.

“You don’t make it easy. But I didn’t get all dressed up for nothing.”

“If you don’t stop teasing me,” I say, kissing her again, “you can forget about dinner, and I’m going to take you back upstairs to bed.”

She smiles against my lips and scratches her nails through the scruff on my face. “I change my mind. You in a suit… who needs food?”

“Jesus, Ells. You. Kill. Me,” I say, breaking the kiss and taking a step back. “As much as I’d like that, I’ve made reservations at the best restaurant in the city and I need to show you off in this dress. Shall we? The driver is waiting.”

“We shall, Mr. Fancy Pants. We shall.”

Ellie

Later that night, we are seated in a private room at Boulevard, a New York City hotspot. We’ve eaten a five-course meal chosen by the Michelin-rated chef and sipped wine that I’m sure costs more than my monthly rent.

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