Hit & Run Bride (Hit & Run Bride Contemporary Romance Series) Page 14

  Back up the bus. “Your fiancé?”

  “Yeah, my fiancé.” He hefted the Kettlebell a little higher. “You better get your ass out of that shower and explain what you’re doing here.”

  Liam’s erection deflated. All of him deflated. He lowered the shampoo bottle. “She’s engaged?”

  Suspicion entered the man’s gaze. “Wait, you know her?”

  Liam reached for a towel. I thought I did. “Give me a minute to throw on my clothes, will you?”

  Kettlebell guy didn’t budge. It took a minute for his brain synapses to fire, but he finally seemed to realize why a naked man was standing in Becca’s shower. “You do know her. You slept with her, didn’t you?”

  Liam didn’t have time to react before the guy dropped the Kettlebell and punched him square in the jaw.

  The guy was shorter than him but packed some muscle. Liam’s head snapped sideways, and his feet slipped in the wet tub. He threw out his arms to keep from falling, but hit the tiled shower wall and dropped his towel.

  Fiancé. Engaged. The words tumbled through his head as he rubbed his jaw. A sudden burst of red-hot anger shot through him. Jumping out of the shower, he balled a fist and slammed into the other guy’s gut. Mr. Kettlebell went down in a heap with a loud “oomph”.

  Liam left him there on the floor and went to get his clothes. Once he was dressed, he found Becca’s fiancé standing in the living room. “So, who are you?” he said to Liam.

  Liam’s jaw ached. His heart ached worse. He headed for Becca’s door. “Nobody.”

  The guy smirked again. “That’s what I figured. Well, listen up, asshole. Whatever you and Becca had going here tonight, don’t ever let me see you again. She’s confused and this little thing you had meant nothing to her. She’s marrying me.”

  “Funny, she never mentioned you.”

  Surprise flitted across the guy’s face. “She never mentioned you either, probably because she knows you’re not good enough for her. You can’t take care of her like I can. This was just a fling. One last little fling before she marries me. Like I said, she’s confused at the moment, but that’s why I’m here. To straighten her out.”

  “Straighten her out?” Another pulse of anger shot through his veins. “She doesn’t need anyone to straighten her out. She’s perfect the way she is.”

  “Did you hit your head in the shower? She’s far from perfect, but she’s still mine. She needs me.” His gaze took in Liam’s ragged jeans and faded T-shirt, the assumptions he was making obvious in his face. “Someone who’s stable and successful. I bet you don’t even have a real job, do you?”

  Liam swallowed back his response. “How long have you have known her?”

  “A year and a half. We’ve planned out our entire lives together. How long have you known her? One night?”

  A month. One lousy month. Which meant, Liam really didn’t know her at all, no matter that his heart said differently. He’d lost his father, he’d soon lose his mother. Now Becca, too? Failure, fear, loss…his guts cramped with the bevy of emotions. “She’ll never marry you.”

  But his voice came out too low, weak.

  “Get the fuck out of here,” the guy said. “You don’t deserve her, and she’ll never leave me for some loser.”

  Loser. The word sent him right back to the day he told his dad he couldn’t swim one more lap. The pain had started off small but had continued to get worse. His father had accused him of laziness and Liam had held back his complaints, fearing his dad’s wrath. By the time he finally admitted the truth—that he couldn’t stroke properly without fiery pain in his shoulder, it had been too late. The doctors had put him on a rest regime, and the sports therapist did his best, but eventually, they both gave up. He would never swim competitively again.

  And his father had blamed him. If you’d told me when the pain first started, we could have saved your shoulder. Liam remembered the exact words his father had said to him. You’re of no use to me, if you can’t get in the pool.

  Liam grabbed his keys and walked out, wishing he’d punched the guy one last time and wiped that smirk off his face.

  * * *

  An hour after picking up Van, Becca finally let herself back into her apartment. All the lights were off. Maybe Liam was asleep? If so, she didn’t want to wake him. What she had planned for him could wait. Especially, since she didn’t have anywhere to be in the morning.

  Despite the shittier than hell first part of the day, she felt pretty good. This wasn’t the end of the world. She was good at what she did, and she’d find something else. Los Angeles was a great market, and it was just a couple hours away. She smiled to herself. And after tonight, she had Liam in her corner. He wanted her. Just the way she was.

  She slipped her shoes off and tossed them into her closet before tiptoeing back into her bedroom. She turned on the bedside lamp, then screamed. Instead of Liam, Holden sat on her bed. “What the hell? Holden?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Expecting someone else?”

  Her body temperature rose to dangerous levels, and her head spun. Where was Liam? “What are you doing here?”

  He shrugged. “I came to talk to you.”

  This. Was. Not. Good. She licked her lips nervously. “How did you get in?”

  He shook his head. “I have a key, remember?”

  Fuck. Had she really forgotten to take that when she broke up with him? “Holden, I can’t really do this with you right now. I need to get some rest.” And she would. Just as soon as she found Liam. He’d probably changed his mind and gone back to his place when she’d taken so long to get back.

  “Rest, huh? Good ’cause I was concerned you wanted to get back to screwing your boy toy.”

  Becca’s skin flushed. Hooooly fuck. “I—uhm, what?”

  “The tall, in shape, asswipe I found in your shower? Remember him?”

  Oh God. Ohgodohgodohgod. Her stomach bottomed out. What had Holden said to him? Pain twisted her insides. She needed to find Liam. “Where’s Liam?”

  “Is that his name? I kicked him out.”

  Anger chased the panic. “What? You had no right to do that.”

  “Imagine his surprise to find out that you had a fiancé.”

  “You are not my fiancé, Holden. Or don’t you remember me dumping you?”

  “I remember what you said. Every. Damn. Word. And I hope you remember what I said. I’m not giving up on you. On us. Whatever happened with that guy—” he ran his hands through his hair “—that’s my fault. I acted like a total asshole, and I deserved you dumping me. You’re right, I didn’t listen. I didn’t pay attention to you or what you wanted. I treated you like an acquisition, and that wasn’t what I intended. So you found someone else.”

  Her stomach rolled. Now he wanted to be the guy she needed. She couldn’t do this. “I need you to leave. I can’t. It’s late, and I need to—”

  He sighed. “You want to go find him?”

  Tears pricked her lids, and she blinked them back. “I have to talk to him. I don’t know what he thinks. How he’s feeling. I—” The words caught behind the lump in her throat.

  “Do you love him?”

  The question caught her off guard. A tiny voice inside her tried to scream yes, but her rational brain snuffed it out. She barely knew Liam. She cared about him, but it was too soon for love. “I—I care about him.”

  Holden stood and walked to her. “You care about me too, don’t you?”

  “Of course I care about you. I just can’t do this. I can’t marry you. I can’t do what I’ve been doing for the past year—going through the motions. I want to feel alive. Like I’m with someone who wants to be with me. The real me. Not the me that tries to fit in. You love that version of me.”

  He slid his hands out of his pockets. “Listen to me. You and me, we belong together. I know you’re confused, but all I’m asking for is a chance to win you back. I will work harder than anyone you’ve ever met to show you how much I need you by my side, Becca. I
will listen to what you have to say. Seeing that guy in here terrified me. I thought I’d lost you for good. But I don’t give up on anything. Especially not when it’s this important. I want you to choose me.”

  He’d never been this expressive before. Not once. Her brain tried to reconcile this version of Holden with the one she’d broken up with. Completely different versions. She shook her head. “Holden, I can’t.”

  He squeezed her hands. “Okay, look. It’s late, and I know you had a rough day. I went to see you at work, and I found out what happened. I want to fix it for you.”

  “No.”

  “Let me finish, okay? My first instinct was to fix it, force them to hire you back, but I am practicing listening. I knew you’d want to do it on your own so I haven’t interfered. Just give me a chance, Becca. I’m begging you.”

  She sighed, completely deflated. “I need sleep, Holden.”

  “Okay. I hear you. I’m just going to leave this here so you’ll think about it, okay? I know it doesn’t mean you’ll accept it again, but think about what I’m saying. I will do anything you need. No Ironman honeymoon. Hell, I’ll even teach you to swim. Please, think about it.” He placed a tiny black ring box on her nightstand then strode out of her bedroom.

  The tears welled in her eyes when she heard the front door close. Instead of fighting them back, she let them spill over.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Loser.

  The word echoed in Liam’s head as he put all his momentum into his strokes. His body propelled its way down to the deep end, flipped, and drove itself back on autopilot. With every stroke, the label rang in his ears.

  How could Becca keep a secret like that from him? He’d trusted her, felt he could bare his soul to her, but apparently she’d just been using him. One last fling before she married Mr. Perfect.

  Stroke, stroke, breathe...his chest felt like it would burst, and not because he was pushing himself in the pool. He’d been totally wrong about Becca. Totally wrong.

  “Liam!” Alex’s voice bounced off the walls.

  Liam ignored him, continuing to push his body to the extreme. Anything to forget the smirk on Becca’s fiancé’s face.

  Next thing he knew, Alex was keeping pace with him, walking the side of the pool. “You missed our squash game this morning. What gives?”

  Liam hit the end, flipped over, began backstroking. “Not up for it.”

  “You could have texted me.”

  Stroke, stroke. Ignore.

  Alex stared down at him as he walked. “Why are you punishing yourself in the pool? Did you have another argument with your old man?”

  If only. “No reason.”

  “Bullshit.” Another step, then two. “It’s not your mom, is it? She’s not sick again, is she?”

  “No, it’s not my mother. I just need to swim.”

  “It’s not your dad or your mom, so who?” He stopped walking. “It’s that girl, isn’t it?”

  That girl. Shit. “Go away, Alex.”

  “That bad, huh? She ditched your ass.”

  Liam flipped back over to his stomach, stopped at the deep end and bobbed in the water, his muscles screaming for relief. “She didn’t ditch me. I met her fiancé.”

  “Her what?”

  “Fiancé.”

  “You’re shitting me.”

  Liam hauled himself out of the water and went to the bench, where he grabbed his towel and started wiping down. “She’s engaged. To a bonafide asshole. He makes my dad look like a saint.”

  “Oh, man. I’m sorry, Li.”

  “I’m heading up the coast today. I’ve been meaning to talk to Addison about a project.” That project was off the board, but visiting his old friend was as good as any reason to get out of town. “You up for a road trip?”

  “I would, but I have this thing called a job.”

  “Blow it off.”

  “I’m not Liam Caldwell. I don’t have a trust fund. I need my job.” The door to the pool squeaked, and Alex said, “Speaking of trust funds…”

  Liam glanced over and his day went from awful to outright hellish. “Dad. What are you doing here?”

  A smug smile lifted the corners of his father’s face. “I came to tell you that your deal with Manny is off. Henry’s coming to my corner. I’ll be training him.”

  What? “What did you do?”

  “I talked sense into the boy’s mother. There’s no reason for an ace swimmer like Henry to go all the way to L.A. for top quality coaching. He can get better coaching right here with me.”

  Alex stepped back. “I’ll just be over…here,” he said, pretending to casually stroll out of earshot.

  Liam gripped his towel tight so he wouldn’t hit his father. “You’re not the right coach for him.”

  “Says who? You? Because you would know, right?”

  A calm suddenly came over Liam. “Yeah, I would. But go ahead, let’s see what happens in a few months when Henry hates you and his mother comes back to me begging to get him up to L.A. and in with Manny again.”

  His father’s face fell. “That won’t happen.”

  Liam picked up his bag, threw his towel into it. “We’ll see, Dad. We’ll see.”

  * * *

  An hour later, Liam was on his bike and cruising to Huntington Beach. His cell showed three missed calls from Becca, all accompanied by messages. He didn’t listen to them and turned off his phone. He needed time to think. About everything.

  The wind blew strong against him as he pushed the bike ten miles over the speed limit. It soothed him...the wind, the sound of the engine, the ocean on his left as he cruised up the coast. Like in the water, he could think better. Only now, he couldn’t be in the water without thinking about Becca.

  First Becca, and then Dad. A one-two punch if ever there was one.

  He’d only known Becca a month but was crazy about her. Crazy about her smile, the way she looked at the world, her soft body, her awesome spirit, and her way of making him laugh. Outside of Alex and his mother, there was no one he’d trusted more.

  Mom. How would he break it to her that Becca had just been using him?

  Becca had taken his trust and thrown it away. If she’d only been interested in a fling before she married that dickweed, why had she led him on? She’d blended seamlessly into Liam’s life, first with Henry and the kids at the inner city pool, then with his mother.

  He slowed the bike. Something didn’t add up. He drove a few more miles, mulling it over. Becca just wasn’t the kind of person to screw someone over. Was she? She’d told him she’d just broken up with someone. What if that asshole had been lying?

  Oh hell. His heart squeezed.

  At the first place he could pull over, he did. Shutting off the bike, he pulled out his cell. The second he turned it on, it rang.

  But it wasn’t Becca.

  “Son? It’s your dad.” Like Liam wouldn’t recognize the voice. “Your mother’s had a relapse. She’s in the hospital.”

  “Shit. How bad is she?”

  “She fell in the tub this morning; nearly gave herself a concussion. The doctors ran tests and found her electrolytes are all screwed up, and...”

  “And what?”

  “She...they...they say the cancer has spread.”

  Liam’s knees went weak. He had to sit down on the side of the road. “Jesus.”

  “She needs you, Liam.” His father’s voice wavered. “We need you. Please...can you forget this morning?”

  Was he asking for Liam to forgive him or just put it aside for the time being? Didn’t matter. This wasn’t about him and his father. This was about his mom. “I’m on my way.”

  He stuffed the phone back into his pocket and took off for home.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Becca placed a shaky hand on her belly as she walked up to the gym. Liam would listen to her, had to listen to her. If she could just talk to him and explain, he’d see that she wouldn’t hurt him like that. That she couldn’t do that to him. Maybe sh
e should have mentioned Holden, but the moment she’d thought there could be anything with Liam, she’d done the right thing. She just had to make him see that. If only she had the chance to explain.

  Her brain reel kept jerking her back to her conversation with Holden. He’d seemed so different. More willing to talk. Like he was paying attention to her. But it was too late for that. In the month she’d been with Liam, she was more open, more herself, and much happier. She’d spent so much of her time with Holden hiding parts of herself for fear he would judge and laugh at her. But was that her fault or his? If he didn’t know the real her, no wonder he’d dismissed her all the time. And she’d been the one to put up with it.

  She shook her head. One headache at a time. All she had to do was talk to Liam. And everything would be fine. Right.

  She changed into her suit in record time and didn’t bother shoving her hair into a swim cap. The damn thing was tight, and she didn’t want to take a verbal ass handing with a throbbing head. Besides, he liked her hair down. He was always playing with her curls.

  She carried her bag out to the pool, her bare feet making barely a sound on the concrete. Liam swam laps in the pool, and her skin heated. Just the idea of his powerful body was enough to make her body go on red alert.

  Except as he flipped at the end of the pool, she realized the movements were all wrong. Sure, they were expert, but it wasn’t how Liam moved. She’d spent the past month memorizing everything about him. She knew his body.

  Finally, the swimmer stopped at the other end of the pool and pulled himself out. Slowly, she walked toward him. Where was Liam? Was he running late? Her brain refused to register what was staring her in the face. He wasn’t coming. He hated her. She slowed her pace.

  The guy at the end of the pool smiled at her, his grin wide. “You must be Becca. I’m Bryan. Liam had an emergency, so I’ll be taking over your class today.”

  Emergency? Like the same kind of emergency that kept him from answering any of her calls or texts? Like the same kind of emergency that happened when a guy was blowing you off? That kind of emergency?