Liam: Meet me at the beach. I have something I need to say to you. Please.
He clicked send and waited. And waited.
It wasn’t until he was giving up on her and in his car ready to go home that he got a reply.
Aggie: Okay
Liam put his head on the steering wheel. Thank goodness. He didn’t know what he’d have done if she didn’t answer. Maybe go to the house and call her out? Not likely.
He waited until he saw her walking down the road toward him and got out of his car. By the time she made it to the beach, he was leaning against his vehicle, hoping he wasn’t coming across as needy.
* * *
“What did you want to say?” Gosh, she sounded bitchy this morning.
Sweat beaded on his top lip and he gripped his fingers together. “That I’m sorry. I never should’ve taken advantage of you last night.”
For goodness sake. It wasn’t him; it was her. She was the one who’d insisted on going to his place and having her way with him. “You didn’t. If anyone took advantage, it was me and you know it. This is your sweet nature trying to take the blame for something you had no control over.”
He straightened his shoulders. “No. I want to apologize for last night regardless.” He held his hand up. “Let me say it, please, Aggie. I should never have gone along with you no matter how much you insisted. I know you were only doing it to try and prove to yourself that you could. Not because you love me like I love you. I was your test subject and as much as I didn’t protest at the time, I don’t appreciate being used. I want to mean something to you, Aggie, like I used to.”
“What?”
He held his hands out to her. “I love you and you love me. Admit it.”
She stared at him with her mouth open. This was what she wanted, wasn’t it? And suddenly she could barely breathe.
“Is that it?” She really was such a bitch but Aggie couldn’t help it. He was saying all the right things and she hated that he knew her so well. Had she always been so transparent?
“No, that’s not ‘it.’ I love you; I always have and you know that. That’s why you got me to take you back to my place.” He gazed at her with pleading eyes. “You feel safe with me, I guess. I want to know what happened to make you change. I need to know so I can help you heal. Because I want the old Aggie back.”
That Aggie was gone.
“The cheeky girl who would always stand up for herself and take what she wanted. The one who didn’t let anyone stand in her way when she wanted something.
“And last night you wanted me as much as I wanted you. Even if you refuse to admit it today. I want that Aggie back. Not the woman you are now, hiding away in the bakery because that’s easier than facing the world or her problems. I want the woman you were last night if only for a moment. Not the one who couldn’t wait to rip my clothes off as if she had to prove something. I want the one who made love to me when her defenses were down and I could see the real her. The soft Aggie, the scared and vulnerable Aggie who looked into my eyes last night when we made love and showed me how she really felt. The Aggie who loves me.”
“She doesn’t exist anymore.”
He got right up so close she could see the individual hairs in his eyebrows and the flicker of brown in his gorgeous blue eyes. “Why? Tell me why.”
“No. It doesn’t matter. None of that matters anymore.” God strike her down for lying to him but the alternative was worse.
Liam grabbed her arms and pulled her against his chest. “It does. It all matters to me. I want you back, Aggie, and I’ll do anything I can to get you.”
He kissed her hair and she wanted to melt against him, let him take away all of her troubles. But nobody could fix her—not even Liam. She was too broken.
She whispered into his shoulder, hating herself for saying the words out loud. “She’s gone. That girl is long gone and this one doesn’t need anyone.”
His arms fell to his side and a chill shivered over her body. She’d lost him in that moment and it was like another piece of her had been stolen.
The ache in her chest was only surpassed by the pain in his eyes. She’d dashed his dreams, torn his heart out, and she’d never forgive herself for being so mean when all she wanted to do was beg him to make her feel better.
“I’m sorry, Liam. You’ll never know how much.” She turned and ran up the path toward the Hope family home, turning her back on his anguish.
Chapter 13
“I don’t feel well, Doc. Thought I’d better come in and see you, get a check-up.”
“Let’s take a look at you, Mr. Drummond. We’ll start with your vitals and take it from there.” Liam stood and grabbed his stethoscope as his patient undid his shirt buttons. “When did you start to feel unwell?” He listened to the man’s heartbeat. Sounded perfectly fine to Liam. All within normal boundaries.
“Last night. Had my dinner and sat down to watch the television and I got a headache. Thought it’d be gone by this morning but it’s still there, like a steel band around my head.”
“That’s not good.” Liam put down his stethoscope and picked up the otoscope to look into the old man’s eyes. After that, he took his blood pressure and waited for the figures to come up. “Everything looks normal. Have you had a fall
