A Second Chance (23 page)

‘I
’
m sorry, I know I should have asked you first
.
’
H
e
didn’t look very sorry at all, she thought resentfully, as she got out of the car. ‘I just thought we could grab something quick to eat, since you
didn’t have
anything at the club.
But if you
would
rather not, I
’
ll just order some take
-
out that we can enjoy at home
.
’

It
wasn’t fair how such a short,
two-letter
word could change her perception of his actions. Jade was fully aware that it was the
‘
we
’
that mellowed her into a pliant weakling. But she was hungry
,
too
.
A customer
walked
out the door of the restaurant, and the delicious aroma wafting her way as they stood on the sidewalk made her decision an easy one. What harm could there be in spending an hour in his company
,
after all? Plus, she had a weird sensation that he wanted to talk about something, her senses attuned to his
every mood
,
screaming that something
was
coming her way, surprising and big. And she was ready
.

She was right, of course. They had a wond
erful, aromatic Margherit
a
pizza
, together with a bottle of red wine and a
Caesar
salad
that put to shame any other version of the dish she had ever eaten before. Sitting on the simple wooden bench against the wall, she watched the large
open
-hearth
oven bake the perfect crust into a crisp, blistered layer of heavenly flakiness topped with
slices of
ruby red tomato
es
and creamy mozzarella.
The
cook add
ed
a handful of freshly chopped basil and oregano
leaves
before transferring
the pizza
to large plain plates and prompting the waiter to bring it to them
.
The
first bite into the crispy crust told her that if she
w
ere
to
blame
Liam for anything unexpected that happened this evening, bringing her here wasn’t
going
to be one of those things. The food tasted divine and
,
washed down with the fruity, complex wine, was absolutely perfect.

They ate in almost
complete
silence, Liam’s short remarks about the restaurant and
how
he
had
discovered it
by
pure
accident years
ago
not quite able to change
the
sense of foreboding that he wanted to talk about
something else
once they were done eating. Was it something bad
,
and he felt he needed to feed her first, to mollify her anger once she
heard
what he
had to say
?
By the time they were finishing their dessert, her nerves were tight as
the
coils of a spring, ready to jump at any moment. Even the delicious tiramisu
, which
could have revived a dying man with its
infused
coffee
and
whipped cream layers of heavenly goodness, wasn’t able to distract her from the sensation that Liam was simply biding his time, waiting for the right opportunity.

‘All right, are you going to tell me what you want to talk about or not?’ she challenged finally, desperate to shake off
th
e
feeling of helpless
ness
as
she
wait
ed
for him to make the first move. Sometimes attack was the best form of defense, she thought wryly
.

‘
Well
,
’ he
began
, visibly surprised
by
her assertiveness
,
‘I did have something on my mind that I wanted to share with you, Jade.
I j
ust
wasn’t sure how to start
.
’

‘That bad, huh?’
I
t
was easy to be gracious with the red wine buzzing pleasantly in her head. Was it her vision, or
was
the room swaying gently in rhythm to the soft, Italian music
playing
the background
?
‘
Just say
it
.
I
’
m ready for the worst.’

‘I…
ha
ve
a favor to ask of you
.
’

H
e
seemed extremely uncomfortable, Jade thought pleasantly
.
S
he rested her chin in her hands and
lean
ed
forward, her voice going into a whisper.
‘
And
that
’
s so bad? What kind of a horrid thing do you want me to do? I
’
m all ears.’

‘I think you are all wine, my sweet
.
’
I
t
seemed to have finally dawn
ed
on him that she was suspiciously cheerful, his eyes going to her empty glass and back
to her heated face. ‘
How
many glasses did you have with this meal?’

‘
Well
, since you were too busy eating, I did help myself a few times
.
’
It serves him right
, she thought flamboyantly as she saw him looking at the empty bottle.

‘
O
K
, it can wait, I guess
.
’
H
e
was starting to retract, but she stopped him, her
hand
reaching out impulsively and covering
his.

‘No, no way.’ She shook her
head
.
‘
Y
ou started
,
you finish. I
’
m ready
.
H
it me with your best shot.’

‘I wanted to ask for your help with something
.
’
H
e
was visibly torn between sharing his secret and postponing it for when she was absolutely sober. His need to share won in the end, for he sighed resignedly and
said
,
‘
OK
, I wanted to ask you to be my girlfriend
.
’

‘You what?’
S
he
must have raised her voice just a notch too much, because other
diners
turned
their heads
to
stare at them with concern. But it didn’t m
atter. Liam had just said
the unimaginable, and all she could do was stare at him in disbelief.

‘
Don’t
worry, J
ade
.
’
O
bviously
he was concerned with her rather explosive reaction. ‘
Let
me explain it to you first.
’

She
listened, her eyes glued to his face.

‘I was hoping to
somehow convince
Mel
that
she and I
aren’t
meant to be
together
.
’
H
is face
was
tense and pale in the
warm glow of the lamps
.
‘
B
ut she is extremely stubborn. She knows about the gala I have to go
to
next week and won’t rest until I take her with me as my guest
—w
hich I don’t want to do. I was hoping that if she saw me with you, she would finally get the picture, so to speak. It would make perfect sense, us being old friends and all
.
A
nd
with
you working on my house, that would be brilliant.’

‘
Is
that why you wanted
m
e
to work on it,
Liam
?’
F
rom
his whole
explanation
, this small part hurt most. Did he just need her as a cover and couldn’t care less for her talent as a designer
after all
?

‘
Of
course not
,
’ he
replied
swiftly, momentarily distracted from his main thought
.
‘I think you will do a terrific job on my home
,
and I trust you completely with it, you know that.
But it
’
s also
a perfect opportunity to put a stop to Mel’s obsession
.
’

‘
Have
you ever thought that she might really love you, Liam?’
S
he
stared at him with
wide-open
eyes, her heart
pounding.
W
hy w
as she suddenly playing Cupid for Miss P
erfect and the man she had wanted ever since
s
he
was old
enough to understand what love meant?

‘I have, of course
.
’
H
is
answer was dull, as if he had
debated
this topic often enough to kill any excitement he might feel
for it.
‘
F
or what it
’
s
worth,
I don’t think she
loves
me. It
’
s just the allure of the
unattainable
, that’s all. And even if she did, it would
only
make things worse
.
’

‘Why?’
S
he
had to know why the word
‘
love
’
seemed to have some magical
power
over his senses, locking down his face into an impassive mask of indifference.

‘
Because
I don’t believe in love.’ His
lips
barely moved, his eyes burning holes in her heated face as he spoke
. ‘L
ove doesn’t exist, really. Lust, passion
,
and jealousy, maybe
,
but not love as we dreamt it
from
all those silly books, movies
,
and songs.’

‘
No
way
.
’
A
benefit to being tipsy was
that she was
able to be perfectly honest
. ‘
Love
is for real,
whether
you like it or not
.
’

‘I don’t believe it anymore
.
’
The
lines around his mouth,
deepen
ed
as he spoke, his voice
stronger
as he continued
,
‘
A
nd
even if it is, I don’t want it.
I d
on’t
need it
,
either. It
’
s better this way, believe me.’

‘Why?’ she asked again, leaning even closer until their heads nearly met. ‘
Why
is it so bad to love
someone,
Liam?’

‘
Because
nothing is meant
to
last,
’ he whispered, his onyx eyes inten
se
. ‘
People
fool themselves into believing
in
the happy ending, only to be surprised
when i
t never happen
s
. Look at my mum, for God’s sake. I don’t think there are many people willing to try as many times as she did, only to be disappointed over and over again.’