Jo Leigh - One-Click Buy - September Harlequin Blaze

The air was cool but not unpleasantly so. Autumn leaves gusted across the sidewalk. On the yellowing grass, a group of teenage boys played football, laughing and tussling. She could hear the city traffic passing by and in the distance, the sound of a dog barking.

She skirted the pond, watching the ducks swim gracefully across the water and remembered the day Duke had pulled her in. She remembered Liam’s apartment, and her heart swelled against the bittersweet memory. In three short weeks, she’d lost them both, Duke and Liam.

A trio of women on in-line skates scooted past her. The barking dog was getting closer. She passed a park bench where an elderly couple sat holding hands and watching the birds bedding down in the trees before nightfall.

She rounded a corner and up ahead she saw a man in a beige trench coat walking a dog.

It was a cocker spaniel who looked just like Duke.

The dog’s barking grew more frantic as he pulled on his owner’s leash.

Katie’s eyes went from the dog to the man.

Liam!

She didn’t know what to do, so she just stood there, waiting for him to get closer. But Duke wasn’t into the games people play when they’re falling in love. He jerked the leash from Liam’s hand and came barreling straight toward her, his long curly ears flapping as he ran.

She dropped to her knees and scooped the cocker spaniel into her arms. He greeted her with a wriggling tail and exuberant tongue. Liam couldn’t have given her a better gift if he’d presented her with the title to his Lamborghini. “The pet-shop lady told me some man had bought him for his girlfriend.”

“He did,” Liam said.

Katie’s eyes met his. “You bought Duke for me?”

“I did.”

“But my condo won’t let me keep pets.”

“You could always move.”

“Where to?”

“I was hoping,” his voice cracked, “you’d consider moving in with me. But if it’s too soon for that, there’s a vacant apartment in my building.”

LIAM WATCHED HER set the puppy on the ground and stand up to face him. Her soft blond hair floated loosely about her shoulders in a sexy tumble. Her lips were painted a luscious shade of raspberry. She was dressed in black tailored slacks, a starched white blouse and tweed blazer. She looked sophisticated, relaxed and utterly beautiful.

“I can’t answer that question the way you want me to answer.”

He pulled in a breath. He was hoping giving her the dog would be enough to get back into her good graces. He should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. “I screwed up, Katie. I know it. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

It hurt him to see her eyes were red-rimmed and she held a tissue clutched tight in her hand. She’d been crying, and he was terrified he was the cause of it. He reached to touch her forearm, but she shied away.

“You really pulled the rug out from under me, Liam. I was finally ready to take a chance on love and when I did, when I dared to lower my guard and make myself vulnerable, you walked out on me.”

“I had a lot of time to think on the flight home and I didn’t like what I realized about myself. I was projecting my guilt about not admitting who I really was onto you. I went to see Finn Delancy and I confronted him.”

“What happened?”

“He denied he was my father.”

“So nothing was resolved?”

“No,” he said. “I finally figured out there was nothing to resolve. I don’t need Finn Delancy to validate me. I don’t need the fortune I’ve amassed to prove I’m a worthy human being.”

“So where does this leave us?”

“Right here.” Liam couldn’t stand not touching her again. He reached out, took her hands and slowly pulled her toward him.

“All the old resentment toward Delancy is gone?”

“Every bit of it. How about you?”

She nodded. “I feel great. No, better than great. I feel free.”

“Me, too.”

“What about your work? What’s going to replace the drive in your life now that Delancy no longer matters to you?” she asked.

“I was hoping you could help me find a way to fill that void.”

A small smile appeared on her lips. “I think maybe we could work something out.”

“I want to make this work, Katie. I want it so badly. More than I’ve ever wanted anything, even getting back at my father.”

“You’ve forgiven me for using you to complete my Martini dares?”

“I was never mad at you.”

“No? Because it sure felt like it.”

He shook his head. “I was afraid. Afraid of what I was feeling. Afraid that I could never be man enough for a woman like you.”

She cupped his cheek with her palm and gazed at him with such tenderness it made his heart hurt.

“What changed your mind?”

“You did. Your strength and courage inspired me. You were brave enough to do those dares, to put yourself on the line. I had to try. I couldn’t go through the rest of my life not knowing what might have been.”

KATIE STARED into his hazel eyes at the vulnerable man behind the suave facade. What she saw reflected there moved her deeply and swept away any remaining doubts she harbored. Liam had no idea the value of his own worth, but she was determined to teach him.

“I’m ready to start fresh,” he said. “If you’ll forgive me. I’ve made a lot a mistakes and, I swear, I’ll do my best to make up for them.”

“It’s already over. Forgiven and forgotten,” she said.

“Katie.” He kissed her there on the sidewalk while Duke ran in circles around their feet, tangling them up in his leash.

“No more secrets between us,” Liam said, breaking the kiss to stare into her eyes. “Not even silly ones.”

“No more secrets,” she promised.

“I respect you, I admire you, I envy the courageous way you love so fully, so easily. You’re my hero, Katie Winfield.”

“Really?” Her heart filled with emotion.

He hitched in his breath. “And I love you, Katie, and I don’t throw those words around lightly. In fact, other than my mother, you’re the only one I’ve ever said them to.”

She could tell how much it cost him to admit his feelings. He was used to tamping them down, hiding from tender emotions. But here he was laying himself bare, putting his heart on the line for her.

“Thank you, Liam,” she said, “for that most treasured gift.”

He’d said the words she’d most needed to hear. He made her feel cherished and prized and that her opinions were valued.

“You’ve saved me from myself.” He touched his forehead against hers and stared deeply into her eyes.

“Oh, Liam.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you, too.”

THEY WENT BACK to Liam’s place. They fed and watered Duke and made him a pallet on the floor.

Without another word, Liam took off his clothes and undressed her slowly, carefully, and then led her to his bed. When his fingers touched her bare skin, her nerve endings dissolved into a pool of liquid fire.

For Liam, this was all about her pleasure. Nothing mattered more to him than this glorious woman, who’d not only turned his world upside down but twisted his heart inside out and changed everything he knew.

All these years, he’d believed he would never really find where he belonged. He’d been so very wrong. He belonged right here with Katie.

The provocative little moan that escaped her as his fingers kneaded her bare backside caught him low in the gut and inflamed his passion, the way she always did.

Why on earth had he ever placed thoughts of revenge above acts of love? In less than a month of knowing her, she’d given him so much. He vowed to spend the rest of his life giving back more than he got. And if that included dressing up like a pirate, or making love in the balcony of a theatre, then by gosh, he’d willingly do it for her.