“What would you have done, flown here with me?”
I knew he was teasing, but that was exactly what I was thinking. “Maybe I should have taken you seriously when you asked. It’s just—”
“Everything was moving so fast?”
The fact that he finished my thought, especially considering the topic at hand—us—made me know that we were exactly on the same page. My heart swelled with feelings that I wasn’t really expecting. Sure, Liam and I had spent a month getting to know each other and had only gotten closer in the last couple of weeks, but all this distance made me realize just how strong my feelings for him were.
“If it makes you feel any better,” he said, interrupting my thoughts, “you’d be miserable here alone. I’d be busy the entire time then knackered at the end of each day. It’s best you stayed home.”
“Well then, when you put it like that…” I trailed off as my mind started to go wild. I hated that a part of me wondered if there was another reason for him to not want me there during the madness.
“Enough about all that,” Liam said, changing the subject. “How was yesterday after I left?”
“Exhausting.” I found my smile again as a visual of my last night with Liam played out in my mind. “I worked on some edits and watched the girls until bedtime. Then I crashed. Are you heading to bed now?”
Rustling filled the line. “Just dropped my pants.”
A laugh slipped past my throat as I bit my bottom lip and rolled to my side to hug my pillow. I wished I were there to see that—to keep him awake, to help him fall asleep.
“I miss you.” I kept my voice gentle despite the nerves rattling around in my chest. “I know it’s only been a day, but I wanted you to know.”
The line crackled. At first, I thought I might have lost him, then his voice came through. “I miss you too.”
When silence stretched between us again, more doubt crept through my mind. “Are you sure everything’s okay over there?”
“It’s just—I don’t know what’s going to happen this week. These interviews could get pretty intense and—I can’t stomach the thought of you feeling less for me.”
His words hit me straight in the gut. “I would never think less of you, Liam. But what are you asking of me?”
“Your understanding, I guess.”
“Liam, I already understand you have a past and that there’s a contract at stake here. It’s only one week.”
“One week of torture,” he said.
“You can’t think of it like that, and you need to stop being so hard on yourself. You’re a good man, and you made the right decision for you. They’ll see that in your interviews. They’ll see exactly who you are in your truth. Your heart is your greatest weapon.”
Silence sat between us, and I hated that Liam wasn’t there with me, where I could look into his eyes and carry his pain with him. I didn’t want him to be alone.
“All right, wise one.” He spoke so softly, but I could hear the smile in his voice. It was contagious.
“Get some sleep, okay? Call tomorrow if they don’t take your phone.”
“Try to stop me,” he teased. “Bye, love. Talk soon.”
He hung up, and I felt wide awake. After an invigorating shower, I stepped into a light jogging outfit and headed to Spill the Tea. When I got there, it was still too early for the tearoom to be open, so I knocked on the glass and waved at my mom and dad when they looked up. My mom practically leapt to the door, causing me to laugh.
She let me in and locked the door behind me before facing me with a stern look. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
I cringed with my smile and wrapped my arms around her. “I’m sorry. After word got out about Liam, I couldn’t say much. I still can’t believe Gwen posted what she did on social media. She had no business doing that.”
“Oh, I agree. Although,” my mom started with a light laugh, “business has been tremendous. Your dad and I have been swamped with to-go orders and a packed house every day since that post went viral. I’m not saying I’m happy about Liam’s situation, but it’s been a long time since we didn’t have to watch the redline. It feels good.”
A lump filled my throat when I tried to swallow again. My parents never talked finances with me, but I always had a feeling they were barely making ends meet. They never advertised. Their prices were always too cheap, and they could never afford to hire an employee to cover for them on the odd occasion that one of them couldn’t work. It had always caused me an inkling of worry, so to hear my mom get so excited over business definitely played on my emotions.
I circled my palm on my mother’s back. “You deserve all the attention. Just think, with all these new customers, that will mean more word of mouth and more new customers. You might need to finally break down and hire someone.”
She giggled. “Oh dear.” She playfully slapped my wrist. “It’s only been a week. I’m sure it will die down once they realize Liam is back in London.”
I didn’t want my mom to think visitors were only coming into Spill the Tea to see if they could spot Liam. “You never know, Mom. Give yourself some credit. You do make the best scones and faux creme on this side of the pond.” I smiled. “Word of mouth is everything.”
She gave me a satisfied smile and tugged me to the counter. “Now that you’re here, I want to hear the story. Everything.”
I chose to be reserved in the information I gave her. Gwen was still her friend, and it wasn’t like Liam was there with me now. We were in two different countries, living our lives, and hoping for something we could one day share. I didn’t want to get my mom’s hopes up, but I told her about some of our dates and the gentleman he was. I even threw in the story about how he scared off Dean, which had her giggling all over again.
“Well,” my mom said after I told her about his request that I join him in London. “If it were me and your father in this same situation when we first started dating, I would have gone.”
“You would have? Just like that? After only knowing him for a month?” I reeled back. “It all feels too fast to fly to another country for a guy.”
My mom made a face. “Not if that guy is Liam Colborn.”
“Wait a second.” I laughed. “Two weeks ago you thought Liam was everything the media portrayed him to be. What did you call him? A coward and a prick?”
She visibly turned red then waved a hand in front of her face. “Nonsense. If I did say something of that sort, that was before I realized I knew him.”
The way my mom feigned innocence had me biting back more laughter.
“But you don’t know him.”
She put her hands on her hips in a posture that told me she was ready to scold me. “He was a regular of mine and very sweet. The media has it all wrong, but they’ll catch on. Just you wait.”
I smiled, loving how fiercely my mother already loved Liam.
My phone rang, and I excused myself to grab it. My mom went to fuss behind the register, counting cash in the drawer and tidying up before it was time to open the tearoom.
My brows bent at the strange number on my caller ID until I realized it was a number from another country. “Oh my gosh. It’s him.” My heart was racing as I rushed to answer the call. He’d mentioned that his phone would get taken away. Maybe he’d found another way to get ahold of me. My cheeks were hurting from smiling so big.