“I don’t know, Liam,” she said doubtfully. “I don’t think that’d be a very good idea.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“I mean…what would the point of that be? Me sleeping here?” she asked impulsively.
He shrugged. “Beyond my selfishness in wanting you near me, you mean? No point, I guess. It just…seems right,” he said slowly. “It seems like you should be here.” When he saw her indecision, he stood, her hand in his. “Come on. I’ll show you the guest room. It’s not as nice as I want it to be, but it’s getting there. You can decide after you see it.”
Natalie chuckled, but she let him lead her out of the room. She was so bowled over by the events of the evening that laughing seemed like her only viable reaction.
Either laugh or cry…
“My decision has nothing to do with how nice the guest room is, Liam,” she chastised as they walked down the hall, hand in hand.
“And here’s the guest bath,” Liam said thirty seconds later as he leaned into a doorway and flipped on a light. “There’s a couple new toothbrushes and other stuff you can use here in the drawer.”
“I can’t believe how much you’ve done to it,” Natalie said in amazement as she inspected the fully decorated guest room, complete with fresh pale blue paint on the walls, white wainscoting and trim and what looked to be brand-new fluffy bedding ensembles on the twin beds. Two matted and framed watercolors of sailboats hung on the wall. All was fresh and as pristine as Lake Michigan itself on a sunny morning. “Why did you do the guest room before your own bedroom?”
He shrugged. “I don’t care about how quickly stuff gets done for myself, as long as I have a bed to sleep in. But my niece and nephew—Brendan and Jenny, Colleen’s kids—are all excited to come and stay, so I had to get things ready for them.”
Natalie smiled as she sat down in the cushioned wicker chair next to the window. It filled her with warmth to think of him setting that priority, to consider Liam working so hard to complete a space where his family could come and visit.
Surely her instincts were good when it came to him. Their situation may be strange and emotionally volatile…
But Liam, she trusted.
She realized she should have been put off by the fact that he’d stopped making love to her, confused by his actions. Instead, she understood his ambivalence about plunging into a love affair, because she shared in it. Somehow, it felt all right to move cautiously.
At least to sleep on things.
Besides, it’d be living out a childhood fantasy to spend the night in the Myerson cottage.
“Okay. I’ll stay,” she said.
His head swung around.
“You will? Just like that?” he asked.
Natalie nodded, thinking of how they’d both just acknowledged how complicated things were between them. And yet, what was life without the occasional risk?
“Yeah,” she replied, a smile shaping her lips as she registered Liam’s pleased expression. “Just like that.”
Chapter Ten
He couldn’t sleep for hours, thinking about the investigation and what he’d learned that day about his father.
But mostly, he couldn’t find rest because he kept replaying in his mind what had happened in his bed with Natalie earlier—what she’d told him about being made into an outcast by her peers after the accident, the fury he’d experienced at the full comprehension of her suffering…
What it felt like to hold her in his arms while she shook in pleasure.
That was definitely the memory that made him lose the most sleep.
He wanted her in a way he’d never wanted another woman. The knowledge that she slept just feet away from him both tortured him and calmed him at once. The paradox only made sense in light of his self-doubt. What he’d said to her earlier was true. He really did get an odd sort of satisfaction about Natalie being there in the house with him. His desire to make love to her was equally as strong, as natural and essential as the need to draw breath.
The truth she’d revealed hurt, though. It made him realize how selfish he was being for saying their pasts didn’t matter. His father had already caused Natalie a lifetime of pain. How fair was it for him to risk hurting her more, all because he couldn’t stop wanting her?
Might as well face it—Natalie Reyes was a beautiful, desirable woman. She was also unlike any other woman he’d ever been with. She was different…on so many levels. Liam had a feeling how he handled this situation was a test of his character, and he was suddenly afraid he was going to fail.
His doubt and fear had him tossing and turning until three in the morning. He lectured himself on the necessity for restraint, schooled himself to strike the right note with Natalie between caution and warmth. By the time he fell asleep to the sound of a summer storm, he was sure he’d taken command of his unruly desires.