Accidental Proposal (A Year Agreement Book 1) (12 page)

Muttering under my breath at how much of an idiot Liam was, I didn’t notice or hear him walking after me. All I wanted to do was slap him until he got some common sense and started acting like a real person, not some cold, mean, distant guy. Sure, he was hot, super hot, but his personality was the thing that made him unattractive. Grumbling, I reached for my door, but instead of opening it, I was turned around and pushed against it. With a gasp, I looked up into Liam’s eyes. He towered over me, pressing my body against my bedroom door. A voice in the back of my head kept telling me to push him away, but my arms wouldn’t work, nor my mouth either, it seemed.

“Why do you think it is your ‘right’ to know everything about me, Jenna? Why are you so curious about me?” he asked lowly, staring down at me. One of his hands moved to my arm and ran up it, sending shivers all over my body. “You don’t seem to take no for an answer, and you seem to love to flap your mouth. Didn’t your parents teach you it’s wrong to intrude on other peoples’ lives?” he hissed. I tried not to let my heart fall at his words, but it did anyways. He knew I didn’t have parents, yet he still had to rub it in my face. Seeing my fallen face, his eyes widened. “Jenna—”

“Liam, don’t,” I whispered.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to come out. I…You.” He shook his head. I watched him as he seemed to have an internal debate. He groaned and lowered his head, resting his forehead on my shoulder, his warm breath blowing along my neck. I stiffened at the connection, surprised Liam was even touching me. “What are you doing to me?” I heard him whisper against my neck. If he wasn’t so close to my ear, I wouldn’t have heard him. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly before pulling away and walking toward his room, disappearing from view.

I stood there, leaning against my door in shock. Two times now, Liam had said sorry to me. I stared at the spot he’d just occupied, my mind racing. What did he mean, what have I done to him? I leaned there, different emotions running through my mind. I knew I should be angry at him for pressing me against a door and yelling at me, but I felt the opposite. My arm tingled from his touch, and my heart was still racing.
No, Liam, what are
you
doing to me?

Chapter Twelve

The next morning, Monday, I forced myself to get up early so I could get a head start. It took me a while to get up because I’d spent most of the night tossing and turning. I couldn’t get Liam out of my head, and it was starting to drive me nuts. The look on his face when he pulled away from me and left still kept repeating in my mind. He looked confused and lost. With all different kinds of emotions swirling inside of me, I pushed them to the side as I got up.

As I walked into the kitchen, I decided I was going to spend the day redecorating. I had no idea what I wanted to do yet, but at the very least I could go around and try to get an idea. Getting a cup of coffee, I headed to the living room first. The place was very nice, but it didn’t scream
home.
Nothing about the house did. It just seemed cold and lonely. All I wanted to do was either paint it a new color or add some furniture and pictures.

The clock read 7:45 as I walked around the living room, taking in everything. The room was a color I loved, a deep blue. The only thing I think the room needed was a few bright pictures and/or decorations scattered around. With a nod, I turned and headed back down the hall. I knew I wasn’t a designer, but I had some fashion sense.

After looking in my room, the kitchen, and the library, I realized none of them needed much done. Putting my coffee cup away, I remembered there was a room next to mine I hadn’t been in. When I opened the door, I was met with what looked like another bedroom. It was painted a pastel purple color, which was weird. I could tell nobody had been in this room for a long time, if ever. A cute desk sat off to the side, with a rolling chair. There wasn’t much in the room besides the desk, other than another small bedside table. A doorway led to a pretty big bathroom and a walk-in closet.

I instantly knew this was the room I wanted to makeover. Knowing that this room wasn’t used at all made me feel better, because I was a little hesitant on changing a room of Liam’s. Redoing this one wouldn’t piss him off as much as me redoing the living room. Grinning, I looked around, putting my hands on my hips. I nodded. I could make this room something cool like my own study, or a good guest room. With my mind made up, I left the room, already thinking of a color for the walls and what needed to be done. I walked into my own room and picked up my phone, dialing Garrett to see if he could take me out shopping.

“Hey, Jenna,” he immediately answered.

“Hey, Garrett. I have a favor I kind of need from you,” I said, sitting on the edge of my bed, holding my phone.

“Sure, what do you need?”

“Well, I need a ride and someone to take me shopping.”

“Didn’t you go shopping with Lennon a few days ago?” he asked, sounding confused.

“Oh no, I meant shopping to get paint and stuff. I am going to redecorate a room and need to get supplies and stuff. Could you possible drive me and come help?”

“Does Mr. Stanford know about this?”

“Uh…” I trailed off. “No.”

I heard him chuckle through the phone. “I’ll come help, but I won’t be there for at least twenty minutes or so.”

“That’s okay. I still need to shower and get dressed. Thank you, Garrett.” Saying bye for now, I hung up and headed to go shower. If I were like most girls, twenty minutes to get showered and dressed wouldn’t be long enough, but I could get ready in ten. I didn’t wear much makeup anyways, so that was one less step. Plus, I usually just brushed my hair and let it air dry.

Quickly washing my hair and body, I turned off the water and stepped out about five minutes later. I dried off and looked in the mirror. I noticed I appeared slightly different than I did before moving here. My cheeks had a healthy glow and a slight tan. My body looked fuller instead of the unhealthy weight I had been before. Being able to eat three heavy meals daily had done me some good, and I looked healthy but not overweight. My green eyes had more life in them, not like the dull color they’d been before. Everything about me looked different, but not at the same time.

The longer I stared at myself, I couldn’t help but wonder what Liam saw in me to make this deal. I wasn’t close to being as pretty as the other girls I bet he had been with. With a face and body like his, there was no way he didn’t have supermodels as girlfriends. I was so average with plain blonde hair, green eyes, and an okay body. That must be why he can’t look at me without hate, without glaring. Maybe it’s because he knew I was too ugly to be by his side, that no one would believe this. I knew I wasn’t his first choice, and the thought didn’t really hurt. If I were in his shoes I wouldn’t choose me, to be honest. No exceptional good looks, smarts, and too much baggage. I would have definitely looked for someone else.

Starting to depress myself, I pushed all thoughts of Liam to the back of my mind and went to get dressed. With only less than ten minutes until Garrett arrived, I need to get going. Grabbing a pair of blue jeans with a rip in one of the knees and an old black tank top, I also slid on a my old pair of black converse before going to brush my hair again. After brushing my hair and my teeth, I put on a little mascara and called it good. My blonde hair hung down my back in loose waves, and my green eyes stood out a little more with the mascara. Smiling at my reflection, I collected my bag and cell phone before heading out the room to see if Garrett had arrived.

As I walked into the living room and past a window, I saw the black sedan pull into the driveway. I opened the front door and headed to the car, making sure the door was behind me. I still hadn’t gotten a key to the house and was glad it locked two minutes after it was shut. Without waiting for Garrett to get out of the car, I opened the passenger’s side door and slid into the seat.

“Hey.” I grinned over at him. Knowing that I was getting out and actually doing something made me happier than I had been earlier. Just sitting around locked inside was making me weird.

“What’s up with you today? You’re happy,” Garrett said, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I noticed today he was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a red and black plaid shirt with the sleeves to his elbows. His brown hair was styled into a small front mohawk. He looked really good today. If this were any other situation, I probably would be blushing and peeking at him from the corner of my eyes. He was cute, in a boy-next-door type of way.

“What, I can’t be happy?” I questioned, looking at him.

“You, happy? No.”

“Hey!” I punched his shoulder. “I can be happy whenever I want,” I said, folding my arms across my chest. Garrett grinned at me before turning to the front and starting driving down the driveway to the street.

“So where are we going?” he asked a few minutes later.

“Some kind of hardware store that would have paint, paintbrushes, a tarp for the ground, stuff like that,” I said, shrugging.

“Okay. So why all the paint equipment? Painting something?”

“Yeah, I found an empty room/office that I am going to remodel. I need something to do,” I stated.

“Does Liam know about this?”

“Nope, and I couldn’t care less if he did.” I had already made up my mind that I was going to do this, whether Liam wanted me to or not. It was going to be kind of hard, but I wanted a challenge.

“I hope you know that if he asks me, I will tell him. He is my boss, after all.” I rolled my eyes at him. Liam asking about me? Now that was hilarious.

“Trust me, he won’t ask.” During the rest of the ride to Home Depot, we gabbed. Garrett told me about his college classes and how he had so much homework. Hearing about that didn’t make me feel bad about not going anymore. I hated homework in school. He knew about me meeting Liam’s family and asked how that went. When I told him about Liam’s behavior, he just shrugged. He didn’t really know him other than what was put on the internet, magazines, and the news.

We pulled up to the store a little bit later, and I motioned for Garrett to follow me.

“You want me to come with you?” he asked, getting out of the car.

“Duh. Why else would I bring you? You’re going to help me decide on a color.” I grinned and headed to the entrance. Garrett reluctantly followed me.

“Jenna, you know you are so weird, right? “Garrett asked, walking alongside me as we headed toward the paint section.

“What gave you the impression that I was normal?” I fired right back, turning and raising an eyebrow at him.

“Touchè.” We grinned at each other and came to a stop in front of a huge wall of different colors of paint. “It’s going to take a while to choose a color,” Garrett commented.

“Maybe I’m actually thinking of a certain one.” I walked over to a row of reds. “I was thinking a red. What do you think?”

“It’s not even my room. Why do I have to help?” he said, basically whining at me.

“Because you’re my friend and that’s what friends do,” I stated with my hands on my hips.

“Fine, a red would look good.” Rolling my eyes, I turned back to the colors, grabbing a few that ranged from bright red to an almost brown.

“Whoa, look at that hot girl over there!” Garrett suddenly whispered in my ear. I looked up at him and followed his eyes toward a girl standing there with another guy, talking about something. Suppressing an eye roll, I turned back to Garrett.

“Sorry, dude, but she’s taken.” I patted his arm.

“You don’t know that.”

“Garrett, they are holding hands,” I pointed out, gesturing to their hands intertwined.

“Technicalities.” He waved me off. Chuckling, I looked down at my hands.

“Okay, I like these two. Which one?” I held out a deep rusty red color and a little brighter one toward him. “I don’t want something too bright or to dark.” He sent me a look but glanced down at them.

“The darker one.” Grinning, I nodded.

“Okay, now what?” I looked around.

“Have you never done this before, Jenna? You have to get a worker to mix the paint.” Okay, I should have thought about this a tad more instead of diving in headfirst. But that was why I brought Garrett along.

“Okay, onward, my noble steed!” I pointed my finger forward.

“You are so fucking weird,” Garrett muttered under his breath. Grinning, I followed after him. After we tracked down several employees, someone finally was able to help us. The guy asked me how much I needed, if I wanted a glossy finish, etc. I stared at him, confused, not knowing what he was talking about. Thankfully Garrett cut in, answering them for me. I smiled thankfully up at him, and we headed to get paintbrushes while the paint mixed.

“You really should have thought this through,” he commented.

“I know, and thank you for helping me. It probably wasn’t the smartest idea,” I admitted, looking at all the different brushes.

“You’re welcome, and yes it wasn’t the smartest idea. But, if you want, I can help you.” He leaned down and grabbed some brushes.

“Yes, thank you!”

Fifteen minutes later, we finally got all the things we needed. Armed with paintbrushes, tarps, tape, and paint, we went and checked out. Thankful that Liam put money in my account, I swiped my card before leaving with Garrett.

“Are you going to paint right away when you get home, or tomorrow?”

“Maybe later this afternoon. I mean, it’s only ten.” I shrugged. “It’s probably going to take a while to tape the room off, though.”

“If you do it this afternoon, I won’t be able to help. I have class at noon,” Garrett said, shooting me an apologetic look.

“That’s okay. If I decide to wait until tomorrow, I’ll text you so you can come and help. Class comes first.” I shot him a smile. I was really glad I had someone like Garrett as my driver. He was nice, smart, cute, and made a great friend. After helping me bring everything inside, Garrett had to leave to go to class. I grabbed something quick for an early lunch and ate while thinking over everything I had to do for the room.

Deciding to start taping the room like Garrett said to, I washed my dishes and left the kitchen. I wasn’t too worried about Liam coming home and seeing the room. I bet I would have it finished by the time he even thought about coming home. I started taping off what I could before standing in the middle of the room. Okay, this was going to be a lot harder than I originally thought. I had only the lower half of the walls taped off because I couldn’t reach any higher, and the desk was in the way and was too heavy for me to move.

Yeah, this was not as easy as I thought it would be.

***

Liam

“Sir, Mr. Mathews is here,” my receptionist, Mary, said over the intercom.

“Send him in,” I replied. Leaning back in my chair, I turned and looked outside my window. I had the second best office in the building, my father having the first. My window overlooked the busy streets of New York, but in the distance you could see the river running its course through certain parts of town. Nowadays, this place was more of my home than my actual home. I’d spent many nights here working late when I didn’t feel up to driving home.