The mighty Quinns: Liam - By Kate Hoffmann Page 0,66

didn’t really care for normal anymore. Normal was boring.

She glanced at the signs hanging from the ceiling of the store, directing customers to the different types of books. When she saw Self-Improvement, she fought the urge to check the shelves for something new. Since returning from Boston, Ellie had sworn off self-improvement. She was now learning to enjoy fiction. And she’d started collecting cookbooks.

It was high time to be happy with herself exactly the way she was. She didn’t need to go looking for love. If it was meant to find her, it would. And all the relationships that had come before were part of her life’s experience. “The right man is out there…somewhere,” she murmured. “He just has to find me.”

It sounded like a good plan but, in her heart, Ellie had a hard time convincing herself. Every time she pictured her future with one man, that man looked exactly like Liam Quinn, with his dark hair and his gold-green eyes. At first she’d tried a rational explanation—he’d simply been the last man in her life and his image still lingered in her mind. And then she’d decided that Liam Quinn had been the closest she’d come to her perfect man. But, finally, Ellie had been forced to admit that she was still in love with him.

She shook her head, unable to focus on the shelves of fiction in front of her. Her appointment was scheduled for eleven-thirty. There wasn’t any reason she couldn’t arrive early. Maybe Liam would be waiting, as well.

Ellie stepped out onto the street and wove through the mass of pedestrians, heading in the direction of Foley square. She wasn’t even sure he was coming to New York today. Only a casual comment from the prosecuting attorney had given her a tiny bit of hope. Leslie Abbott had mentioned that she was going to try to interview all of them on the same day.

“I love him,” she murmured, the thought repeating itself in her mind with every step she took. It hadn’t been difficult to face the truth. Her feelings toward him seemed so natural and so right—even though he had deceived her and hurt her. But Ellie had gone through enough breakups to know that her feelings could be completely one-sided. For all she knew, Liam had moved on.

Ellie pulled open the lobby door and walked inside, ignoring the ache in her heart. Just the thought of Liam with someone else brought a flood of emotion. How could she have walked away? She’d allowed her anger to overwhelm her true feelings for Liam. She’d ruined something that could have been wonderful.

A security guard sat at a desk near the elevator. “Please sign in, miss.”

Ellie grabbed the pen he offered and put it to paper. But before she signed her name, she scanned the list of people who had signed the book before her. Her heart skipped when she saw a name she recognized—Liam Quinn.

“Who are you here to see?” the guard asked.

“Liam Quinn,” Ellie murmured, running her finger over his name. She glanced up, then realized her mistake. “I’m sorry. I’m here for Leslie Abbott.”

“Seventh floor,” the guard said.

The elevator took forever, grinding upward, floor by floor. Ellie imagined that Liam was on his way down while she was on her way up and they’d miss each other completely. Her mind whirled as she tried to come up with something to say when she saw him. “‘Hello’ would be a good start,” she muttered. But after that?

The elevator doors opened and Ellie stepped into a tiny reception area. A receptionist greeted her and took her name, then invited her to take a seat.

“Ellie?”

She turned, then smiled, surprised to see Keely Quinn sitting near a potted plant. “Hi. What are you doing here?”

“I rode down on the train this morning with Sean and Liam. I have a cake decorating business here that I’ve been gradually moving up to Boston. But I still have a lot of corporate clients in Manhattan. I guess you’re here for your interview.”

Ellie nodded. “Is Sean in there now?”

“No, he finished earlier and headed back to the train station. Liam is in there now.” She glanced at her watch. “They said he’d be done by noon. We were going to have lunch. Maybe you could join us?”

“I—I don’t know. They might want to talk to me right away.” Ellie took in a ragged breath. “So how is everything in Boston? How is…Rafe?”

“He’s fine. But aren’t you more interested in knowing how