I know what you must think of me now that my secret is out, and I can’t say I’m not disappointed. I bloody loved that you saw me as someone other than the bloke my entire country has deemed unworthy of love. Maybe I am, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting you as desperately as I do.
Before you toss this letter in the rubbish bin, just hear me out.
Soon, I’ll need to return home to face the critics—the harsh reminder of the man they all believe me to be, the Forever Bachelor—and you’ll continue to live out your dreams here while nannying the twins. Simon and Bridget are so very lucky to have you.
All I ask is for one night with you, one night to remove the facade we’ve exhibited for the past two weeks to mask our true feelings.
Because I want you, Chelsea Banks, more than I’ve wanted any woman in my entire life, and I dare to imagine that you might just want me too.
Even if just for one night.
Liam
I opened the door and
stepped out onto the patio to find Liam swimming laps across the water. He
reached the opposite end, flipped around, kicked off the wall, and swam toward
me. I stepped around the patio table and chairs to walk toward the edge of the
pool. I waited for him to come up for air—to introduce myself and to kindly ask
that he turn down the volume. Simon had mentioned this Liam guy was someone’s little
brother—but when my eyes registered the body that swam past the underwater pool
lights, I realized I wasn’t dealing with anyone little at all. Simon’s
friend’s little brother, Liam, was very much a man.
Liam hadn’t seen me,
but I saw enough to know he was tall, lean, and sculpted. He cut through the
water like an experienced swimmer, only popping his head up to sip the air
before twisting back below the surface.
A knot twisted in my
chest when my eyes skimmed the man’s taut muscles as he pushed against the
water with one fluid stroke then another. Every ridge and line of his back,
arms, shoulders, and calves perfectly defined his strength. He swam another two
laps, keeping his pace and taking sips of air so effortlessly I questioned if
he had gills for lungs.
The man was an athlete,
a beast underwater, and for the second time that day, I found myself transfixed
by a stranger.
I stepped back slowly,
suddenly anxious about interrupting his intense workout, but on my next step
backward, I failed to remember the round table and chairs I’d skirted around to
get to the pool. The back of my leg hit a chair, making it scrape across the
travertine. When I reached back to catch my fall, I could find nothing to grip.
I landed hard on my
ass, my palms slamming into the surface behind me. I howled at the pain that
shot up my wrist. Of course, that caught Liam’s attention. His head popped out
from the water, and he swam toward the edge. He shot out of the pool so fast, I
didn’t even have time to react.
“Who’s there?” he
boomed like I was the one who’d just intruded on his peaceful night.
My defenses were on
alert. I pushed my shoulders back as the pain in my wrist faded, and my chin
tilted up as I prepared to let him have it. But then my eyes caught on the
man’s face, now illuminated in the dim orange patio lighting. It only took a
second to realize we’d met before.
He was shirtless,
dripping wet, with tattoos fully covering both arms, and his eyes were free of
the dark shades that had hid them earlier—but I knew he was the same arrogant
man who had passed me at Spill the Tea.
“Well, hello again,
love.” Liam flashed me a beaming smile, a wicked gleam in his beautiful green
eyes. “Heading out for that proper shag I hope.”
Shit.
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