High Stakes (27 page)

She rolled her eyes. “Why am I not
surprised?”

Sometimes he looked at her and he was
struck by the fact that she looked more like a young lady than the little girl
he used to tuck in at night. God, he missed those days when she thought he
could fix any problem and make everything right in her world again. “I’m sorry
if I scared you, kid,” he said when she sat down on the bed beside him.

“I was worried about you; we all were. Nana
was here when you were sleeping earlier. She said she’d be back tomorrow.”

“Great.” They both smiled, knowing how much
Liam’s mother loved to hover when one of them was feeling under the weather.
“She’ll drive me crazy for sure.”

“You could ask Alisa to run interference
for you.” Abby looked hesitant when she mentioned his wife’s name. “I bet she’d
be willing if you were really nice to her.”

“Oh, pumpkin,” he said, using his childhood
nickname for her as he put his arm around her shoulders. “I wish it were that
simple.”

“She loves you, Dad. I know she does.”

His stomach lurched at the memory of the
words she’d spoken earlier.
I loved you… loved… loved…
It was like a torturous
echo he couldn’t escape no matter how hard he tried. “It’s over, hon. There’s
no going back.”

“Would you, if you could?”

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head,
trying to hide the gleam in his eyes. “You know me, I don’t like to waste time
on regrets.”

She tipped her head back to look at him.
“If you let her go, I’m afraid you are gonna regret it… like, forever.” She
shifted to face him. “I don’t want to see you go through that. Whatever it
takes, you need to fix things with her before it’s too late.”

“It’s already too late,” he said, twisting
a lock of her hair around his finger. His wedding ring shone under the
artificial light and he realized he should have taken it off when she did, but
he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Abby grabbed his hand and looked at the
platinum band. “I gotta admit, I never thought I’d see the day you’d wear one
of these.” She started to take it off his finger. “I guess you won’t need it
anymore, since you guys are splitting.”

She got the ring almost past his knuckle
before he said, “Stop. I’m not ready to take it off yet.”

“Why’s that, Dad? I thought you said it was
too late for you guys to work things out?”

He smiled as he shook his head. “When did
you get so smart, kid?”

She laughed. “What’s that stupid old saying
about the apple and the tree?”

“Get outta here.”

“Just in case you were wondering, your
wife’s having a glass of wine by the pool. You know, in case you were thinking
about getting some fresh air before you call it a night.” She walked toward the
door. “I’m gonna turn in now.” She stretched her arms over her head and yawned.
“I’ll be out for the rest of the night… wouldn’t be able to hear a thing…”

He laughed as he threw a pillow at her. “I
mean it, get out of here. Now!”

Alisa assumed it was Abby coming out to
keep her company when she heard someone open the French door behind her. “It’s
such a beautiful night,” she said, tipping her head back to look up at the sky.
“Look, there are at least a thousand stars out tonight. You’re too late to make
a wish though. I already made mine.”

“What did you wish for?”

She tried not to react when she realized it
was Liam, not his daughter. “Oh, I didn’t realize it was you.” She reached for
her wine glass. “I’ll go in and give you some privacy.”

“Please, stay. It’d be nice to have someone
to talk to for a while.”

She brought the glass to her lips as she
chastised herself for giving in to hope. Just because he was willing to have a
civil conversation with her didn’t mean anything had changed between them.
“Would you like a glass of—” She covered her mouth. “I’m sorry, I forgot.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart. I have to get used
to the fact things have changed.” He stretched out on the lounger next to her.
“That’s not to say I won’t still be able to enjoy a glass of wine now and then,
but I can’t go on pretending that I can keep living my life the way I have
without suffering the consequences.” He tipped his head to look at her and his
eyes fell to the hand wrapped around her crystal glass. “I hate the way your
hand looks without my ring.”

Her heart staggered when she saw the way he
looked at her. Almost the same way he had that night in Barbados before
everything went so horribly wrong. “People who are getting a divorce can’t go
on pretending they’re married.”

He held his left hand up to show her his
wedding band. “I can’t take it off.”

“You will… in time,” she whispered before
taking a sip of wine. She closed her eyes, praying she could keep the tears in
check. Sitting here with him, talking about the end of their marriage, was
costing her so much, but she refused to relinquish her pride too.

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Liam, please.” She covered her mouth when
a sob escaped her lips.

“Ah, sweetheart,” he said, getting up and
moving over to her chair. “I’m so sorry for everything I said. I was an idiot
to think I could live without you.”

Alisa buried her face in his shirt, unable
to control the sobs wracking her body. She’d been through the emotional wringer
this week and it was finally starting to take its toll. “You said you…” She
tried to draw breaths in an inane attempt to control her sobbing. “Didn’t want
me anymore.”

“Baby, ssshhh,” he said, stroking her hair.
“I didn’t mean it. I was scared of losing you, of driving you away… Hell, I was
scared of dying.”

She sniffled and swiped at her damp cheeks
as she looked up at him. “How do you feel now?”

“I don’t know… That depends on how you
feel.” He brought her hand to his lips. “You said you
loved
me, past
tense. Does that mean you don’t anymore?”

“How can you even ask me that? I’m here,
aren’t I? Even though you said you wanted me to go, I stayed because I couldn’t
bear to think of you being here, recovering without me.”

“God, I love you so much,” he said, claiming
her mouth in a fierce kiss.

“I love you, too.” She pulled back, but
continued to pepper his lips with gentle kisses.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out
the diamond rings she’d abandoned in Barbados. “Don’t ever do that to me
again,” he whispered, sliding the rings back in place. “When I saw you take
these off, God, I felt like I was gonna die.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, kissing his
neck. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, but—”

He stole her words with a kiss. “I’m the
one who should be apologizing to you. Everything you said was true. I do need
to take a step back, to figure out how to restructure my business so that it
doesn’t run my life anymore.” He eased them back on the double lounger and
rested her head on his chest. “I’ve been giving it some thought.”

Alisa closed her eyes and listened to the
steady beat of his heart, a heart that almost betrayed him and robbed them of
the life they could have together. “Tell me what you’ve been thinking.”

“I want to move to Tennessee.”

Certain he must be joking, she started to
laugh. “Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious.” He started massaging her
scalp. “I’ll never be able to get out from under this company if I don’t put
some physical distance between myself and my head office. I’ve got an
incredible executive team, including my brother. Most of them have been with me
since the beginning, but I haven’t relinquished control and allowed them to
challenge themselves. That’s gonna change, starting now.”

Alisa couldn’t wipe the smile off her face
if she tried. “I’m glad to hear you say that, but I know it won’t be possible
for you to retire. You’d go crazy.”

“You’re right about that.”

“So, what are you gonna do?”

“For the past few years, we’ve been looking
at getting into resorts. There’s a property in Costa Rica we’ve had our eye
on.”

“Go on.”

“I’m going to make a serious bid on the
property. If we get it, I’d like to shift my focus to the resort side of the
business and let my team handle the hotels. I’d have to spend some time in
Costa Rica, short term, putting my team together, but beyond that, I could work
from anywhere.”

“Including Nashville?”

“Including Nashville.” He kissed her
forehead. “That is, if you think you could handle having me around all the
time?”

“I’d love it, but what about Abby? All of
her friends are here, her grandmother, uncle…”

Liam sighed. “My baby girl’s growing up and
I have to figure out how to deal with that. She’s been after me about this art
school for over a year now. She got accepted last fall, but I wasn’t ready to
let her go.”

Alisa could only imagine how difficult coming
to terms with the fact that his little girl was growing up was for Liam. It
gave her a hint as to what her own father must have been going through,
watching her make so many mistakes. “Are you now… ready to let go?”

He chuckled. “I’ll never be
ready
to
let go, but I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that if I don’t let her do
this, she may resent me years from now, and I know I couldn’t live with that.
So, as hard as it might be for me, I’m gonna let her go to this school.”

“I think you’re making the right choice,”
she said, stroking his chest, knowing he needed reassurance from someone he
trusted. “I saw the piece she’s working on earlier. She’s very talented.”

“Ah, yes, surfer dude.” He laughed as he tipped
his head back to admire the night sky. “That one’s probably my least favorite.
It shows me how much better her technique is getting, but it also reminds me
that it won’t be long before I’m not the guy she turns to anymore. There will be
someone else she calls when she needs advice or wants to share good news or
just needs a shoulder to cry on.”

She reached up to kiss his stubbly cheek.
“You’ll always be my first phone call, if that makes you feel better?”

He ran his fingers through her hair before pressing
a soft kiss to her lips. “I never thought I’d find someone like you, Alisa. On
paper, there’s no way we should work, but being with you feels so right. I
mean, lying out here with you, this is the first time this house has ever felt
like my home.”

“I love you,” she whispered.

He grinned. “Say it again.”

“I love you.”

“I’m never gonna get tired of hearing you
say that.”

“Good, ‘cause I plan on telling you every
day for the next forty or fifty years.”

Liam flinched. “Baby, I wish I could promise
you we have that many years together, but the reality is I’m a lot older than
you, and in light of my recent health problems—”

She pressed her finger against his lip. “I
don’t want to hear it. I’m going to make it my mission to make sure you take care
of yourself, so we’ll have as much time as possible together. That means a
healthy diet, exercise, limiting stress…”

He cupped her bottom and raised an eyebrow.
“What kind of exercise did you have in mind, sweetheart?”

She slapped his chest. “Behave yourself. We
can’t even think about that until the doctor gives you the green light.”

“He already did.”

Her mouth fell open. “Seriously? So soon?
Isn’t that dangerous?”

“I can’t promise I’ll be able to rock your
world tonight, but I’d give anything to show you how much I’ve missed you.” He
traced the length of her neck with his tongue. “What do you say? You game?”

She was already breathless and writhing against
him, but she’d never do anything to put him at risk. “Are you sure it’s okay
with the doctor?”

“I asked him specifically about sex.”

“Why? We weren’t even together when you had
your heart attack. Were you thinking about…” She didn’t even want to think it,
much less say it. “Being with someone else?”

He threaded his hands through her hair and
tipped her head back. “You can’t be serious. Trust me, you’re the only one I
want.”

“I feel the same way.” Things were going so
well, she was reluctant to even mention the issue that had led to their
problems, but they couldn’t pretend it had never happened. “You believe that,
don’t you?”

“You’re thinking about Nick?”

“No!” Her eyes fell to his chest when she
could tell he was questioning her sincerity. “I was just thinking about what
led to this… I don’t want you to question how I feel about you or us, ever. I
can’t promise Nick won’t be an issue for us when we get back to Nashville, but
I can promise you I’ll never let him come between us again.”

“Neither will I.” He grazed her cheek with
his lips. “I was a fool to let him mess with my head like that. No more. You’re
my
wife, and that’s the only thing that matters. Let him do his worst. I
know it’s not going to change the way we feel about each other.”