The mighty Quinns: Liam - By Kate Hoffmann Page 0,69

outside the conference room in New York. But in the days that had followed, he’d imagined this moment over and over again, dreamed about it at night, carefully considered what he might say.

He slowly approached her, his gaze fixed on hers. God, she looked pretty. She wore a cotton dress with a little sweater. Her dark hair fell in waves over her shoulders. “You’re here,” he said.

Ellie nodded. “I wasn’t sure if I should come.”

“No,” Liam said. “I’m glad you came. It…it’s good to see you, Ellie.”

She stared down at her fingertips, painted a pretty shade of pink. “I’m just in town for the day and I had a few things to say. I thought I’d get a chance to see you at the trial.”

“Yeah, the trial. I guess I’m kind of glad we didn’t have to go through that.”

“That’s what I came to tell you.” She risked a glance up at him. “I want you to know that there are no hard feelings. I understand now that you were just doing a job and that your only concern was putting Ronald Pettibone in jail—where he belonged.”

“That wasn’t my only concern, Ellie.” He reached out to touch her arm. “And it wasn’t just a job. I was with you because I wanted to be with you, not because I had to be.”

A blush stained her cheeks. “You don’t have to say that. I’m really all right with everything that happened.”

“Well, I’m not,” Liam countered. “Ellie, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

She stared at him for a long moment and Liam was sure she was about to turn and run. But then she swallowed hard and attempted to smile. “And I haven’t stopped thinking about you, either,” Ellie said. “I made a mistake and—”

“No, I’m the one who made the mistake.” Liam couldn’t contain his excitement. She still cared! “I never should have let you go.”

“I never should have gone.”

Liam glanced around the pub, then grabbed Ellie’s hand and pulled her toward the door. They stepped outside into the late-afternoon sun. A warm breeze blew from the south and summer was in the air. He pulled Ellie along the sidewalk until he was sure they were completely alone. “What does this mean?”

“I don’t know,” she said, her voice trembling. “I just feel like we left things unfinished.”

“Me, too,” Liam said. “Like there’s more to us than what we had. That if we just had a little more time, we would realize how great it really was.”

“So what does this mean?” Ellie asked.

Liam’s gaze skimmed over her pretty face. “It means that I want to be with you, Ellie. I want to see where this could go.” He reached up and cupped her face in his palms, then kissed her, lingering over her lips for a long time. “I love you. I don’t think I really knew that for sure until this very moment. But I can’t even think of a future without you in it.”

“That’s a good thing,” Ellie said, her mouth curving into a warm smile. “Because I just accepted a new job at the Boston branch of Intertel. I thought I might come here and get a new start.” She reached up and brushed his hair back from his eyes. “And just so you know, I love you, too.”

Liam tipped his head back and laughed. Then he grabbed her again and pulled her into his embrace, this time kissing her like a man in love. He’d spent so long avoiding a real relationship and now he understood why—he’d been waiting for Ellie Thorpe to come into his life.

“You know, I’m going to ask you to marry me,” Liam said. “And we’re going to have a family and we’re going to live happily ever after. Are you all right with that?”

“You’re not proposing to me now, are you?” Ellie asked, looking slightly alarmed.

“No. I’m just warning you that I will. And it will be great. And you won’t be able to say no.”

“You’re pretty confident, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I am. I’ve been doing a little reading. Ten Steps to True Love. Have you read it?”

Ellie blushed, then wriggled in his arms. “I think I have. But you know, I’ve decided to give up the self-help books. Instead I’m just going to listen to my heart.”

“And what does your heart say?”

“That I’m glad you came to my rescue that night. And that I’m glad I decided to come to Boston today.”

Liam chuckled, thinking back to all the tales of