It wasn’t possible.
Right?
I was tired of lying in bed night after night, watching TV late just so I could fall asleep. I ate soup right out of the can and snacked on crackers because I was too depressed to cook or order a pizza.
So I went out to a bar.
Admirers bought me drinks, and I had a few conversations until they went dry. It was nice to feel attractive, for men to notice me when Damien couldn’t care less about it. Eventually, I sat with one guy, who thought talking about himself was the best way to impress me. He was self-absorbed and egotistical, but he was polite and interesting.
And I had nothing else to do anyway.
“I’m surprised a woman like you is single.” He stopped talking about his job in finance long enough to notice something about me.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I wasn’t single by choice. I just kept falling for the wrong guys.
“Beautiful women like you are never single for more than, like, five minutes.”
“Well, you caught me in my five-minute window.”
“Lucky me.” He smiled and tapped his glass against mine.
I tried to enjoy myself, but all I could think about was the man I really wanted…the one who didn’t want me. Damien didn’t say much, but he was always interesting. Just looking into his confident gaze was enough entertainment. It’d been weeks since he’d dumped me, so he’d probably already been with someone else by now…
“You okay?”
I snapped out of my thoughts and realized what he’d asked. “Yeah…just got out of a relationship, so I’m just not in a good place.”
He nodded slowly. “Been there.”
When I raised my gaze to look across the bar, my eyes locked on a gaze I instantly recognized. He wasn’t blinking, his blue eyes filled with ferocity. I was frozen in place because the look was so frightening.
“You look upset again.” He couldn’t see the crazy man standing behind him.
I ignored him because my eyes followed Liam as he approached our table. His powerful frame was intimidating to anyone who wasn’t blind, and he’d scare off this guy quickly. He stopped at our table and stared at me, like he’d caught me betraying him.
The guy glanced at him, unsure what to do.
Liam didn’t look at him. “Take your piss of a drink and leave.”
The guy chickened out like I assumed he would, and he vacated the chair so Liam could replace him.
This was going to be fun…
Liam fell into the chair, his large size taking up the whole thing and blocking my view of everything behind him. With annoyance etched into the features of his face, he said, “Please tell me that pussy isn’t the guy you’ve been seeing.”
“No.”
“Good.” He got the attention of the waitress and ordered an old fashioned because he didn’t have a drink in hand. “He dropped you, then?”
“What makes you think I didn’t drop him?” I held my glass of red wine with my lipstick smeared across the glass.
“Because you wouldn’t be wasting your time on a loser like that.”
I drank and let the booze warm my throat. Liam had me cornered, and I couldn’t lie or pretend he was wrong.
“What happened?”
I told the truth. “He ended it.”
He didn’t pretend to be apologetic or sympathetic.
I kept drinking my wine.
“He’ll regret it.” He grabbed his glass and took a drink. “I promise you that.”
It’d been a couple weeks, and that hadn’t happened. Doubted it ever would. He’d treated my apartment like a pit stop before he went to the next event. I’d had enough wine tonight, and I needed to stop drinking. Otherwise, I’d have to crawl home. “Thanks for stopping by…” Liam could go back to whatever woman he was trying to impress.
He didn’t move. “You really want to keep doing this?”
My gaze turned back to his, unsure what that meant.
“There’s no guy in this bar who deserves you. That asshole didn’t deserve you.”
“And you do?” I asked coldly.
His eyes narrowed in offense. “I’m in love with you, aren’t I? A real man isn’t afraid to feel shit. Your guy is a pussy. He’d rather waste his time on women who will never mean anything than actually have the real thing.” His intense gaze burrowed into mine. “I want to take care of you. I want to provide for you. I want you to live in that big-ass house with me. I want you to take my money and buy pretty things. Why waste your time out here when I can give you everything you want?”
“I never wanted you for your money, Liam. I wanted loyalty, fidelity, honesty—”
“And I was honest.” He placed his hand over his chest. “You never would have known what I did if I hadn’t told you. I couldn’t live with the guilt or the shame, so I came clean. I couldn’t lie to your face every day. You act like that doesn’t mean anything, but it does.” He slowly lowered his hand. “I know what it’s like to live without you, and I promise I will never do that shit again. I’m tired of chasing the loneliness with women in my sheets when the only person I want is my wife.” He spoke loudly before the music and conversation drowned him out. “I won’t break your heart. I won’t hurt you. You don’t have to put yourself out there again. I’m the one earning your trust. You have all the power, Anna.”