The Do Over (57 page)

"I think it worked out perfectly. See, I figured out the problem with the sunset scenario."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Tell me."

We went back to the spot where I'd dropped everything before running into his arms.

"Easy. We're all about the sunrise—beginnings, a fresh start, and a new day."

I slung my purse over my shoulder and then laced my hands in his. We walked toward our cars.

"You weren't serious about the whole skydiving thing, right?"

"Actually, I was," he responded casually.

"Liam. Seriously? Come on. You want me to jump out of an airplane? What sane person does that? I get on an airplane and buckle up to make sure I stay safely in my seat."

"You agreed. You're a woman of your word. Or is this a bait and switch?"

I stopped in my tracks. "You know I wouldn't do that, but I know that you would say something like that, playing around. But I did agree to do it." I sighed deeply. "Come on, you know I'm afraid of heights."

"You're afraid of a lot of things." He turned to me, tilting up my chin. "I want you to trust me, really trust me, with everything." His voice was soft, and his eyes were tender. He brought our laced hands between us. "We do everything together, including jumping out of an airplane."

"Do you really think that throwing me out of an airplane to my death is the most effective way of achieving your goal."

"I'll be with you, and I have every intention of keeping you alive for a very long time."

"Thank you for giving me a second chance even if you want to kill me. You do realize that if the fall doesn't do it, my heart attack will."

His hand gently stroked my collarbone. Then, his fingers grazed down my necklace, following the chain down to my pendant. The sensation alone sent a shiver through me.

"I know CPR, baby. I'm taking care of your heart, and I'm making sure you know that my heart belongs to you. Always did and always will. We're going to do things right this time. I guess you can call it a do-over."

I leaned against the doorway, watching him in the dimly lit room. Even in the dark, I could make out the features I knew so well. His blonde hair was cropped short, and his unshaven face had just the perfect five o'clock shadow. He propped his head against his arm and stretched his long legs out on the ottoman. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. I was smiling from ear to ear. The game he was watching offered the only light in the room.

Last night had been the most wonderful and memorable night of my life. We'd spent most of the day together in bed, making love and snuggling. I was madly in love with him.

He shifted on the couch and looked over at me with a boyish grin. When he stretched out his arm in invitation, I went to him and crawled into his lap.

"Baby, what were you doing standing in the dark?" he asked, wrapping his arms around me.

"Just watching you," I replied sheepishly, "And maybe I was thinking about last night."

His hands drew circles across my back. "You know you don't have to stalk me anymore. I'm a sure thing."

"Pfft, I never stalked you." I mockingly rolled my eyes. "What I've been doing is fighting for you. You tell me this after I've become an expert love warrior?"

His lips gently grazed mine. "It was fight for me, not with me." He chuckled softly.

The last six months had been wonderful but not always easy.

That night on the beach, he told me to fight for him, so I did. We fought all the time. He thought we were fighting over the stupidest things, but he was wrong. There was a method to my madness. With each fight, we learned how to reconcile, and boy, we were good at that.

Our reconciliation was both bitter and very sweet. He caged me against the door as he was unlocking it and kissing me at the same time. We were both breathless as the door slid open, and we stumbled in.

When I spun around to turn on the light, I saw a box across the room sitting on the dining room table. It had my name on it. I pulled away from Liam, but he brought me back in closer and buried his head in my neck. He released me to lock the door as I walked to the table. Suddenly, I felt overwhelmed with shame and regret.

I'd been momentarily lost in the fantasy that forgiveness meant forgetting, but that was impossible when the hurt and betrayal was staring me in the face. As I looked at it, I felt lightheaded and a bit nauseous. I ran my fingers over my name written with a black Sharpie.

After locking the front door, it took Liam mere seconds to turn around and find me frozen in a stoic pose. I refused to feel sorry for myself. I gave a damn about him and us. This was not about a pity party. I was not going to turn everything around as though I was a victim.

As his arms came around me, he whispered under his breath, "Fuck, I forgot about the box."

As the months passed by, we had faced it together, and we had found the forgiveness, peace, and love we had both needed.

"I have yet to hear you complain when we're making up." I pursed my lips, tapping his nose gently with my finger.

He curled his lips into an impish grin. "Silence. Exactly. I know what I'm doing." He turned me over on the couch, pinning me under him. "I feel a fight brewing," he said.

He lowered his face and brushed his lips over mine. My mouth reached up, trying to deepen the kiss, but he pulled back, teasing me.

"Are you going to give me a hard time?" he asked, his blue eyes twinkling.

I rubbed my leg slowly against his growing hard-on. "Me?" I asked innocently. "Not at all. I can't say the same for you though." My face burst into a goofy wide smile.

He had a way of bringing out that smile, and frankly, it felt amazing.

At the forefront of my thoughts though was last night.

I was getting ready in the bathroom. We had plans to take the boat to the no-name island where we were going to have dinner.

It had been a stressful week. We welcomed the chance to escape to a little slice of paradise. I was looking forward to relaxing under the stars while listening to the lapping waves and chirping crickets.

As I was pulling the brush through my hair in one hand with the other holding the hair dryer, out of the corner of my eye, I caught Liam holding on to the doorjamb. Setting the hair dryer down on the sink, I turned to him and smiled.

"You look beautiful," he said. His eyes sparkled like sapphires, warming my heart. "Now, come on, baby. Can you hurry it up a little?"

I shook my head and sighed softly. "Patience. I'm almost done."

He didn't budge.

"Go away and let me finish." Playfully, I waved him away. "If you just stand there, we'll never leave." I blew a kiss and then picked up the hair dryer to continue taming my wild locks.

He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. Our eyes met in the reflection from the mirror.

"Go away? Never." He swept my hair back and kissed my neck.

My heart fluttered, and goose bumps prickled my skin.

"But I'll wait for you as long as it takes." He stepped back and smacked my ass. "Don't make me wait too long though. I want to get on the water before it gets dark."

He knew it irritated me when he rushed me, not that he had done it often since I would generally be early or on time. But he had offset his offense with the sweetest gesture of affection, so I couldn't stay annoyed for long. It was true. Liam's punctuality was rivaled by no one, not even Macy with her internal clock. He detested being late more than I disliked to be hurried. But tonight was about chilling out after a rough week, so I didn't understand what the big deal was.

When I finished with my hair, I changed out of his T-shirt.

He called out, "Dani, how much longer?"

"Five more minutes," I huffed.

I was convinced that he wanted to fight.
Why else would he be pressuring me?
I quickly changed into shorts and a cute top and slipped on my sandals. I made my way to the living room, ready to rumble, when I saw him sitting on the couch. He was mumbling something as he stared at a CD. My heart melted, surrendering before the first shot was fired.

"What are you looking at, Lieutenant?" I asked in a sultry voice.

He leaned his head back, smiling, and waved the disk. "I'm so proud of you for doing this. For a while, I thought you were going to use a loophole to get out of skydiving."

I traipsed over to him and sat on his lap. I brought my arms around his neck. "And which loophole would that be? Not that it matters because I'm a woman of my word." I grazed my lips over his.

"The one where you know I wouldn't make you do anything that you felt uncomfortable with."

"You didn't make me do it. This was important for both of us. You were right about me needing to trust you completely. I want you to gently push me out of my comfort zone." My fingers played with the fringes of his hair. "I was with you, so what was there to be afraid of?"

We both knew that I was sort of full of shit. I had been scared out of my mind, but I'd given him my word. When all had been said and done, I'd known that he would never put me at risk, and that had been the deciding factor. I'd trusted him. That didn't mean that my hand hadn't been shaking as I'd signed my life away. My imagination had gotten the best of me, and I'd worried about all the possible scenarios that could happen. I hadn't wanted to become roadkill. Splattered wasn't my best look. I'd dismissed those thoughts and focused on my man standing next to me. And I had done it. I'd faced my fears that afternoon, and damn, it had been the most thrilling experience of my life.

"That's right, baby. You were with me and felt safe." He gave me a soft peck on the lips. "You're one sexy badass." He squeezed me tight. "Now, let's go."

He pulled back and directed me to the door with his hand. My purse was magically waiting for me—no doubt a result of one Mr. In-a-rush. Taking my hand, he led me to the car, and we drove down to the marina.