Chapter 98
“You know, you really should stop lying, Emilia. Or at least do it in small doses. If you think I look like a Disney Prince, you should just say so.”
That gets a surprised laugh out of me. “Do you even know any Disney Princes?”
He raises a brow. “I think you underestimate the influence my sisters had on me.” His smile softens into something quieter. He leans back in his chair, towel draped loosely over his
shoulders, and lets his gaze drift to the horizon. “It’s nice here. The cruise gets so loud with so many people on board, I thought I’d never find some peace and quiet. Or a moment where Lacey is completely sober.”
“Is she? I saw her drinking something out of a plastic cup.”
“Shit.”
I nod, the tension slowly bleeding out of me. “I thought I was going to be miserable on the cruise. Actually, it’s so stupid of me, coming to my ex’s wedding,” my lips quirk into a smile, “you don’t even find that kind of stupid in Bollywood dramas. But thank you, for not making me feel as miserable as I should. And being there every time shit hit the fan.”
The air between is more serious now, so much so I’m scared to hear whatever he has to say next. “It’s kind of my job, I’d feel shitty if you had to thank me for something like that.” His eyes are always kind when they’re locked with mine. Even when their
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glare is pointed at me. What a horrible realisation. “Besides, if you ever want to get out of this place, I’ll be right beside you. But now?”
I shrug, pulling the towel tighter. “Now I’ve fallen into a lake and might be getting trench foot, so it’s still a lot. But also… not bad.”
He looks at me again. Really looks at me.
“Not bad,” he echoes. “High praise.”
I laugh under my breath, but the warmth in my chest isn’t from the heater anymore.
Then he says, quieter this time, “You really hope Zane gets better?”
1 glance at him, unsure how to answer. “I don’t know. I guess I just think… if you’re going to promise forever, you should at least show up for the short term. He never did that with me, but then again he was never really in it for forever,” I frown a little. “I just hoped things would be different with Becca. She’s not my favourite person in the world, but every girl deserves someone who’ll show up. Always.”
Liam’s jaw tightens, barely. “Yeah. You’re right.”
There’s something behind his voice – something sharp and intense – and I want to ask. But I also don’t want to break the fragile kind of peace/sitting between us right now.
So instead, I nudge his knee with mine. “Hey. Thanks for not letting me drown.”
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He turns to me, lips tugging into a grin. “You’re welcome. I had to preserve my reputation. Letting a girl drown on a fake date would be bad PR.”
“Fake or not, you were very gallant.”
“Yeah?” he says, voice low and teasing. “You swooning yet?”
“Absolutely. I may faint any moment now.”
His knee nudges mine back. The silence that follows feels… different. He doesn’t look away.
“I wasn’t just joking about the kiss, you know,” he says, so quietly I almost don’t hear it.
My breath catches.
He leans in slightly, testing, not rushing. “I mean… I know we’re playing pretend. I know that. But when you kissed me-”
“I know,” I whisper, because I did. I do.
His hand slides across the space between us and rests over mine, slow and careful, like he’s waiting for me to pull away. I don’t.
“I didn’t expect it to feel like that,” he says. “I didn’t expect you to feel like that.”
It would be easier to joke. To toss my head and tease him. But there’s a rawness in his voice that asks for honesty. So I give it.
“Me either.”
Our fingers tangle quietly, and this time, it’s not because of the
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cameras. Not because we’re trying to look the part.
“Or maybe I think I did,” his smile is soft. “It was everything I imagined, actually.”
I suck in a breath.
It’s just him. And me. And a little patch of sun–dappled warmth in the middle of Mackinac Island.
And maybe it’s stupid and too soon and a very bad idea — but it feels real. All of it.
He shifts closer. I feel his breath on my cheek. My heart stumbles somewhere in my chest.
“If I kissed you again,” he murmurs, “it wouldn’t be fake.”
My mouth is suddenly very dry. “I know.”
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