Emma’s POV“Is anything the matter, dear?” Mrs. Henderson asked, looking concerned at my reaction.I quickly comported myself and told her everything was fine.“No wonder a lot of cooking was going on in the kitchen. I was beginning to think you all ate for a hundred in this household,” I said with a laugh to shift the conversation from the fact that I had to attend this dinner with Liam.“Oh don’t be silly, Emma. We’re not animals,” she replied, laughing. “Considering the plans for this dinner are last minute, do you have something to wear or would you rather my stylist got you something?” she asked, bringing us back to the conversation I was avoiding.It was a last-minute thing, but I did have something to wear, fortunately for me.“I have a dress at home I could wear, thank you,” I offered her a smile.“You’re welcome, darling. Also, feel free to invite a guest of your choice. I reached out to your parents, but they said they couldn’t make it,” she said. “Something about them not b
Liam’s POV “Shit,” I winced, stepping back a bit. “Sorry,” she paused, looking up at me with sincerity in her eyes. “It’s fine. Continue,” I muttered back. Her hands felt so soft against my skin. The warmth of her touch was sending chills up my spine, but she didn’t need to know that. She didn’t need to know the effect she was having on me, so I kept my face as straight as possible. She was short. Not too short, but the type of short I’d like my woman to be. Her head fell directly below my chin and, for some reason, all I could think of was pulling her closer to myself, so my chin could rest on the top of her head. Considering our proximity, I could practically hear her heart thumping so fast as though it was about to fall out of her chest, and the thought of the effect I was having on her made me smirk a little. She had shiny black hair that had hints of brown in it like it had been highlighted, and it smelled of a mixture of lavender and honey. Looking down at her, I could see
Emma’s POV ‘Oh my goodness!’ I screamed internally as I raced out of Liam’s room. I made my way to the start of the staircase and ran down as fast as I could, nearly tripping over myself in the process. Truth is, there was no point in me running because he and I were still going to end up in the same car anyway. That didn’t matter to me right now, though, because all I knew was I wanted to get as far away from his room as possible at that moment. Liam and I kissed. At least that’s what I believe would’ve happened if Lilian hadn’t knocked on the door. I could feel the hotness of his breath against my face and his hands were beginning to find their way to the sides of my waist, wanting to pull me closer to him. My hands were still resting on his chest from where I had laid down the knotted tie, so we were practically in the perfect position for the kiss to happen. I mean, we were so close to each other that even a toothpick couldn’t fit in the gap between us. That’s how close we we
Emma’s POV I was shocked. Liam kissed me. I didn’t realize when I started kissing him back though, all I know is that our lips started moving in sync. It was a brief but passionate kiss. I know this was all for show, but I couldn’t help but think there was some real feeling to it. It felt like he’d been wanting to kiss me for the longest time. His lips moved softly and gently against mine, and they fit into mine like they were made specifically to be kissed by me. As we kissed, I ignored the world around us. I knew cameras were flashing everywhere, but I couldn’t care less. I was so engrossed in the kiss it made me forget where I even was, but before I knew it, it was all over. “Hope you enjoyed the show,” he said, smirking at the reporter before grabbing my hand to place a kiss on it and letting go of it. “When did this happen? Who is she? What’s her name? When’s the engagement party?” the reporters kept hurling questions at us with their cameras flashing brightly. Thankfull
Liam’s POV “Six o’clock,” I read out the time from my watch to myself. “Cindy, please forward all calls I get this weekend. I need some time to myself,” I said to my assistant as I shut my laptop and began making my way out of the office. “No problem, Mr. Henderson,” she replied. “Would you be coming over for the dinner this evening?” I asked before heading out of my office door completely. “No sir,” she said, making her way to arrange my desk. “I have a date tonight,” she continued. “Oh, okay,” I said, amused. “Have fun,” I ended the conversation and headed down to my car. Considering the time, I had to leave immediately if I was going to be able to pick Emma up on time. I told her eight o’clock and, from the way I said it, if I showed up even a minute late, I’d look very stupid. I began my drive back to my house when I saw an incoming call from Ryan. “Hey man, what’s up?” I asked as soon as I picked up and set my phone for him to see me properly. “Yo, so I needed to confir
Liam’s POVI looked at her from head to toe, taking in the details of her entire outfit. She was wearing a long black corset dress with a high slit in the front that had ruffles on the side. She had light makeup on, and her hair was done into a messy bun with two strands dropping from the center of the hair, falling on either side of her face, and she accessorized with gold jewelry, from her earrings down to her shoes that brought out the sparkle of the hazelnut color in her eyes.She looked stunning, and I’m sure the expression on my face was saying it for me because she looked down at her shoes as her cheeks started turning a darker shade of red as each second passed by.“You look amazing,” I finally said, looking her in her eyes, reaching behind her and shutting the front door.“Thank you,” she said shyly, unable to keep eye contact with me.“Are you ready to go?” I asked.“Yeah,” she said, finally looking me in my eyes.“Alright, let’s go,” I said, turning around.“Oh my God,” she
Emma’s POV“Anna?” Liam paused and asked the lady who had called out his name from behind us. “What are you doing here?” he probed.“Won’t I get a hug first at least?” she asked sultrily.“Uhm, right,” Liam responded, letting go of my hand and wrapping his arms around her.With the kind of tension that was in the air, it was clear that Liam and Anna had something in the past.Undeniably, she was a very pretty woman. She had long, slim legs, similar to those of a model, and her very long hair, which was a beautiful color mix of light brown and ginger, was done into a neat low ponytail that went so well with her fair silky skin. She was practically perfect.“It’s been what, three years?” she asked Liam as they released each other from their minute-long hug. “I’ve missed you, Liam,” she continued, looking into his eyes and not letting go of his hands.“Can't say the same,” he responded with a tight-lipped smile.I could tell that he was uncomfortable, but he was trying his best not to sh
Emma’s POV “Oh my God, I am so sorry, Anna. I honestly didn’t see you there,” I said, grabbing paper towels to try and dry her out. “Do not touch me,” she warned, swatting my hand away. “Are you blind, or are you just dense?” she asked. “Calm down, Anna, please,” I pleaded. “It was a mistake,” I continued. “God, I wonder what Liam sees in you,” she said with her voice raised. “What’s going on here?” Liam asked as he approached us. Luckily, there weren’t a lot of people around where we were, so not too many people were looking at us. “Why don’t you ask this fiancée of yours,” she said to Liam, glaring at me. “Look at what she did to me,” she said, gesturing towards her drenched outfit. “Do you know how much this dress cost? My goodness!” she exclaimed. “Calm down, Anna, you’re causing a scene,” Liam said, standing between us. “I’m sure it was a mistake, right Emma?” he said. “Of course, it was a mistake,” I said, rolling my eyes. “What? You think I’d just bump into her
Emma's POVAbout ten minutes after Maria and I got into our feelings with each other, Liam and his father returned to the dining room. Mr. Henderson looked fresh again in his change of clothes, but Liam, on the other hand, looked tired and stressed out. Clearly, the entire situation that had just unfolded in front of him stressed him out, but he didn’t say anything about it for the entire time the lunch went on. From one o’clock or so, till five minutes past three o’clock, the four of us ate lunch and made small conversations about anything else but the elephant in the room. While I found it a bit weird that everyone chose not to say anything about what happened, I obviously couldn’t comment on anything because, at the end of the day, I don’t have much of a say in what’s going on. It’s not like Mr. Henderson is my husband, neither is he my father, so yeah, I couldn’t exactly say much. Once we were done eating and had spent the extra hour at their place for our food to digest, Liam a
Emma’s POVTo cut the whole story short, Liam spoke. A lot. He said far much more than I could even remember, and what’s crazy is he just said these things a few minutes ago. He took his father’s go-ahead for him to say what was on his mind quite literally, and when I say literally, I mean literally. Unexpected to all of us, Liam started addressing issues from far before I came into his life. Issues he’s had with his father, and his mother, from when he was a little boy, actually. There was also him talking about how he felt closer to his grandfather than anyone else before his passing and how his passing really affected him because he knew that he wasn’t ever going to feel that type of pure love again from a father figure, let alone his father. He talked about how he always felt unloved by his parents because, while his father drowned himself in work most of the time, his mother drowned herself in work and societal events and gatherings, so it felt like she was even more absent. The
Emma’s POV“Okay,” Liam spoke up. “We’re listening. Why’d you call us over here today?” he asked. “First of all,” Mrs. Henderson cleared her throat. “Your father and I want to wish you both a happy anniversary”. Oh, so she remembered. “You remembered?” I squeaked out. “Are you kidding me, dear?” she asked with a small smile on her lips. “How could I forget? I mean after all the planning that went into that wedding and how invested I was, not just in the wedding but in your hopeful love story. With all that in mind, there was absolutely no way I could forget the day you got married to Liam; fake wedding or not. I was personally very happy that day because I liked you, so nothing was going to make me forget it”. “Oh…” I was speechless. “Thank you, Maria”.At the mention of her name, her smile instantly grew. I knew she hated me calling her Mrs. Henderson and I hated calling her that just as much because I believed we had formed a bond that went beyond me calling her that. So, while
Emma’s POVAs we pulled into the driveway of the Henderson house, I could see Liam visibly tense up already. From the way his fingers tightened on the steering wheel, to the way his jaw began to clench, it was clear he wanted to be anywhere but here right now. “Are you good?” I asked him, placing my hand on his that was still gripping the steering wheel even after he had parked the car. At the feel of my hand on his, the hold he had on the steering wheel instantly loosened, and I could thankfully feel the tension ease from his body under my touch. “I’m better now,” he said, mustering up a weak smile, as he held my hand and brought it up to his lips to place a kiss on it. “Thank you”. “Hey,” I rubbed the back of his neck. “Everything’s going to be alright. Besides, I have a feeling that we’re here to receive some good news. Nothing that’s going to spoil either of our moods. Okay?”“Okay,” he nodded, then turned off the car. As he started to open his door, I held him back again for
Emma’s POV“Happy anniversary, baby,” Liam said, cheesing from ear to ear, as he walked into my room with a tray filled with waffles, bacon, eggs, an assortment of fruits, and two glasses of orange juice.“For me?” I smiled as I looked up from my phone. “Yes, ma’am,” he nodded, placing the tray on the nightstand next to me. “Happy anniversary, my love,” he said again, as he bent down to hug me. “I love you,” he pecked my cheek. “Happy anniversary, Liam,” I cooed in response, hugging him tightly, making sure to sniff him in the process. “How early did you wake up for you to have taken a shower and made me breakfast?” I asked, genuinely wondering. “Early enough,” he shrugged his shoulders, hopping into the bed and squeezing closely next to me. “I see that,” I turned my head to face him. “Did you sleep in here with me though? Because I don’t even remember sleeping off. I had planned to come over to yours after taking a bath, but I guess I must have fallen asleep after doing that”. “
Emma’s POV“So, talk to me. What’s going on in that big head of yours?” I joked. “Rude,” he scoffed, feigning a hurt look. “Whatever,” I chuckled, unwrapping my hands from his waist. “This seems like serious talk, so let’s go over to the living room please”. “Alright,” he nodded, pushing himself off the counter that he was resting on and following behind me until we got to the living room and sat comfortably on the couch. “Now,” I moved a bit closer to him. “Talk to me”. “Okay,” he cleared his throat, evidently nervous. “I don’t know if you know… but tomorrow is our first anniversary,” he stated, then averted his gaze from me. “Is that it?” I chuckled. “What do you mean?” he asked with furrowed brows. “I mean, is that all that’s bothering you?”“Yes, it is. Now can you please stop laughing,” he grumbled. “Sorry,” I stifled a laugh. “Listen,” I grabbed hold of his hands. Can I be honest with you?”“Sure,” he nodded, fiddling with my hands. “I know”. “Seriously?” he looked of
Emma’s POVIt had been a long day at the office, but thankfully, it was finally over. As I packed up my sketches that I planned to work on over the weekend, my phone buzzed on the table, but I didn’t pick it up immediately because if it was something important, I’d have assumed the person would call me. After about ten minutes of putting my stuff together, I was done packing up for the day and finally picked up my phone to check the time. The time wasn’t what caught my eye though. It was my notification; specifically, the one that came ten minutes ago which I ignored. It was a notification from my Reminders app, reminding me of what tomorrow is – Liam and I’s first anniversary. Shit. How the hell could I have forgotten? And especially now that Liam and I are actually in true love with each other, and we’ve been so good with each other these past couple of weeks too, fuck!As I walked out of the office, I began brainstorming the excuse I was going to give Liam for forgetting about t
Liam’s POVWhen Ryan and I were done eating, we immediately began our journey back home. “So, have you decided what you’re going to do yet?”“About what?” I asked, optimistic that the meaning behind that question wasn’t the same as when he asked me this same question ten minutes ago. “About you and Emma, silly,” he scoffed, looking at me like I was dumb. “No, Ryan. I have not decided what to do, just like I hadn’t decided ten minutes ago when you asked me the same damn question,” I said, tightening my fingers on the steering wheel momentarily, before letting out a deep breath in annoyance and releasing my grip on the wheel. “My bad,” he rolled his eyes. “I’m just trying to be helpful,” he murmured. “Then be helpful by suggesting what I should do!” I raised my tone slightly and kissed my teeth. “You being helpful isn’t you asking me the same question repetitively at ten-minute intervals hoping that my response would be different? Helping would be you trying to help me brainstorm o
Liam’s POVIt had been a week since Emma had made her choice to be with me and for this last week, I’ve probably been the happiest man on this earth. Now, our first anniversary was in three days, and I had no idea what to do. Before we got married, I remember while I was having one of the pre-wedding discussions with my mother, she said she would love for Emma and me to throw a party or a ball or something in that regard to commemorate the milestone, while also making sure we appear as a happily married couple in the public light. However, with how things are going in the family right now, with my dad’s sickness and the rift between Emma and my parents, that party that my mother would have wanted us to have just doesn’t seem probable. And to be honest, I haven’t even had a talk with Emma about this anniversary of ours, so God knows if she actually remembers that it’s even coming up or not. “Liam! Where are you!?” Ryan yelled, pulling me out of my thoughts as he stepped into the apa