the other side of the yard to the reception area, and I was supposed
to be going with the bridal party for pictures, but I had to talk to him,
I had to tell him that I loved him. I kept looking and didn’t see him
anywhere. I went back to the where the ceremony had been, and
there he was. He was still sitting in the same seat, he hadn’t moved.
His head was lowered and he was still. I walked up behind him. “So, are you a married man now? Did Lisa get her wish?” I
tried for a joke. He turned to face me. He smiled which was a relief.
“She tried, but I managed to keep her at bay. I told her I had
my eye another bridesmaid.” He stood and walked to the end of the
aisle. “Now she wouldn’t have had to try very hard to get me to
marry her,” he folded the program and put it in his jacket pocket.
“Really?” I asked narrowing my eyes at him.
“Really.”
“So if I went and got the minister right now, you would marry
me?”
“Would you marry me?” he asked. I hated the way he did
this. He never gave me a straight answer on this subject. He asked if
wanted to marry him instead of asking me to marry him. I asked if he
would marry me, and he asks if I would marry him. “It’s a simple question, Liam.” I wasn’t budging. He lowered
his head and then looked back at me. He stepped closer and took my
hands in his.
“Yes. I would, no question. I love you, Norah. I don’t want to
be without you. I just can’t take this rejection, and uncertainty on
your part. I know I hurt you in more ways than one. But this is me,
I’m here now. This is the man I am. I didn’t ask you if you would go
through with it as a diversion for me not to answer the question
myself. I know how I feel about you. I know, right now, without any
doubt that you are it for me. I want you with me. Just seeing you
walk with another man down the aisle made me crazy.” He ran his
hands over his face and through his hair.
“He was just a groomsmen, Liam. No big deal.”
“Yes, but that was Mike, right? The guy that emailed you
several months ago, wanting to date you again?” I couldn’t believe
he remembered that. I nodded. “It made me crazy, Norah. But it isn’t my feelings I’m worried
about. It’s yours. What do you want?” I lowered my eyes and laced
my fingers together.
“I want you,” I said in a very low voice. He stepped closer to
me, and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“You do?”
“Yes.” I looked up at him. “I love you, Liam.”
“I love you too, baby.” He leaned and kissed me. “Marry me,
Norah. Please marry me,” he panted.
“I will.” He kissed me again, and then I pulled away.
“And you’re lucky, because we’re here in Vegas, so we can
get married right now, if you want!” We both laughed and kissed
passionately until Lisa came to get me for pictures.
“Come with me,” I said.
“Oh I’m not letting you out of my sight!” he said with a smile.
Chapter twenty
Norah
The pictures seemed to take forever. But when they were
finally done I drug Liam to officially meet my family.
“Liam, this is my mother, Mary Birch, and my sisters, Lorraine
and Maggie,” I gestured toward each of them.
“We have heard so much about you, Liam, it’s so nice to
meet you,” my mother said.
“Yes, it’s very nice to finally put a face with a name,” Lorraine
nodded and bobbed her head, while she held on to Liam’s hand and
looked at him like he wasn’t real.
“That’s enough, Lorraine,” I said, as I took his hand from hers.
“Maybe we can have a dance later,” she said as Maggie
pushed her out of the way. “Please excuse my sister. She’s still on hot guy over load from
this summer.” Maggie shook Liam’s hand lightly.
“Oh, right. Norah told me you girls were going on the hunt for
a college. Did you pick out one?” he asked.
“We decided on a top four. The University of Central Florida,
The University of Oklahoma, UCLA and Norah’s old school U of
Nevada. We’re still waiting to hear from them.”
“So are you going back to London after the wedding or are
you staying here for a while, Liam?”
“I don’t know. I guess it depends on this one,” he nudged my
hip. “I will do whatever she wants. I’m at her disposal.”
“Would you move here to Las Vegas for her?” Lorraine asked.
“Lorraine! Shut up!” Maggie elbowed her in the stomach.
“Why? We’re all thinking it! None of us want her to leave. If
he moves here than she won’t leave,” Lorraine countered. “I do have a home in California and New York as well. I guess
buying a house here in Las Vegas wouldn’t be a problem. Anything to
make this one happy.”
“Good Lord, you are rich,” Lorraine gushed.
“Lorraine!” Maggie yelled. “Sorry, I’m gonna take this one to
get a drink, nice to meet you Liam.” She grabbed Lorraine’s arm and
pulled her away. We stood quiet for a few minutes. My Mom fixed
my strap on my dress and then touched some of my hair.
“I know Lorraine is uncensored in her thoughts, Norah. I’m
sorry she embarrassed you.” She pushed some of the hair off my
shoulder. “She’s just worried about you. We all are. This behavior is
so unlike you.”
“Mom, enough really. I’m fine.”
“If Lorraine had run off over the summer and fell in love, then
told me she was moving to England, I wouldn’t hesitate to believe it.
But with you,” she stopped and looked over a Liam. “I apologize, Ms. Birch. Norah’s behavior over the summer is
my fault. We were so caught up in traveling and getting to know
each other, it didn’t leave much time for her to call you, and I am
very sorry. I’m sure you were very worried about her.”
“Who was worried about her?” Jim said as he walked up
holding a beer. We all looked over to him.
“Liam, this is my…….my Mom’s boyfriend, Jim. Jim, this is
Liam.” Jim held out his hand to shake with Liam, but he didn’t budge.
He just stood there and looked Jim in the eyes. I elbowed Liam in the
side and he snapped out of it.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Yes, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot
about you.” I could tell from the look on Jim’s face Liam was hurting
his hand. When their grip broke, Jim shook his hand in front of him
and rubbed it with the other one. Then I heard Christina Perri’s “A
Thousand years” from the DJ. I tucked my arm in Liam’s side. “Well this is our song, so I’m gonna take my man on a spin
around the dance floor before they serve dinner.” I grabbed Liam’s
arm and pulled him to the dance floor. We swayed close together,
cheek to cheek. I wrapped my arms around his neck and inhaled the
glorious scent of Liam.
“I’ve missed you so much,” he breathed in my ear. “I can’t
believe it has only been five days.”
“I’ve missed you too,” I replied.
“Is this really our song? Because it’s beautiful. I love the
words,”
he breathed. I started whispering the words in his ear.
“I have died every daywaiting for you. Darling don’t be
afraid I have loved you for a thousand years, I love you for a
thousand more. All along I believed I would find you, time has
brought your heart to me. I have loved you for a thousand years, I
love you for a thousand more.”
“So beautiful,” he panted. We danced slow and just held each
other close. When the next song started we stayed dancing. “So how
long are we going to be here before we go back home?” he asked. I
tensed up and pulled my face away from his. “Don’t pull away from
me, please. It’s just a question.”
“I don’t know. I would like to stay for a while longer, but I
know you have to get back to work.” He didn’t answer.
We danced a little more without talking. “The good thing
about my job is I can work wherever I want. I have offices in several
places.” I looked at him. “Not here in Vegas, but I can stay here for a
while. If it is what you want. I just want you by my side Norah.” I
could feel the tears building in my eyes. “Don’t cry please. We don’t
have to decide this tonight.” We took our seats and enjoyed a
delicious dinner. I made a sappy and funny toast in honor of Tiffany
and Jason’s best man said something funny about him. I introduced
Liam to my friends and listened to him embellish stories about our
summer together. Everyone kept asking how long he was staying in town and if
I was leaving with him when he went back. I wanted to stay for a
little while. I missed my family so much. But I knew when Liam
returned to England, I would be with him.
“Their getting ready to cut the cake, Tiffany needs you,”
Lorraine pulled on my arm. He kissed my cheek before I walked
away.
*****
Liam watched Norah walk away and the crowd move around
the cake table. He put his hands in his pockets and walked over to
the bar. After he ordered his drink, he saw Jim sitting at the end of
the bar, and decided it was time to have a little chat with him. He
walked over to him and sat down on the bar stool next to him.
“So Norah tells me you plan to marry her mother?” He took a
sip of his drink. “Yeah, as soon as she picks a date. I was hoping to do it this
summer when Norah came home, but that didn’t happen, so…” he
trailed off taking a sip of his beer. “I guess if we want Norah here for
the wedding, I should clear it with you first huh? You seem to have a
strong hold on her.” It wasn’t really a question more of an
accusation. “Maybe we should just do it now, so you don’t have to
worry about Norah being around here family ever again.” Liam stood
up and drank down his drink. He grabbed Jim’s arm and drug him
outside the tent away from everyone.
“If you have something you want to say to me, then say it!”
he demanded.
“I don’t trust you. Oh, I’ve read about you. I know you’re a
rich playboy that likes to have pretty young girls on his arm. The
successful businessman that Daddy didn’t love enough, so now you
buy up companies all over the world to prove you have a big cock. I
get it. But what do you want with Norah?” “You come out of nowhere, keep her in Europe for almost
eight weeks after her trip was supposed to be over, make her quit
her job that she lined up for herself and con her into moving her life
over to London with you. Frankly I didn’t expect her to come home
for this wedding at all, and was shocked when you weren’t with her.
Don’t think I don’t see right through you. It didn’t surprise me at all
to see you show up here. I get it, I do! I like to control my women
too. But what happens to her when the millionaire wants a new toy?
Taking a young girl fresh out of college away her family and moving
her to another country is too much control, even for me.” He took a
sip of his beer. Liam grabbed his collar and slammed him against
pool house.
“But trying to rape a young girl who happens to be your
girlfriends daughter, isn’t too much for you is it?” Jim didn’t say
anything. Liam slammed him up against the wall again. “Don’t even
pretend for one second that you get me. We are nothing alike! You
got me, now!” “If Norah wants to stay here, then we will talk about it. I’m
not making her do anything she doesn’t want to do.” He slammed
him up against the wall again. “She isn’t a toy to me, you got that,
big guy! Get this to, if you ever touch what belongs to me again, or
her sisters, I will kill you……don’t think for one second you read all
there is to know about me on Google. I am not to be messed with,
you got that!” He pushed him on the ground. He wanted to punch
him but because of where they were, Liam tried to have a bit of
decorum. “And I’m a billionaire, you asshole!” He straightened his
suit, ran his hands through his hair and went back to find Norah.
He saw her dancing with a groomsmen. She was laughing and
talking with her sisters and Tiffany who were also dancing. He just
watched her for a minute and ordered another drink. Her eyes finally
found him, and she whispered something to her dance partner who
quickly grabbed Lisa and started dancing with her. Norah walked to
Liam. “Hey, where have you been? After the cake, we all started
dancing. I looked for you, but I couldn’t find you.” Liam took her
hand in his and finished his drink with the other. Norah lowered her
eyes, thinking he was upset with her for dancing with someone else.
“I had to talk to someone, come on, let’s go dance.” He
pulled her to him and kissed her mouth, hard.
“Are you drunk?” she asked.
“No.” He said quickly. “Come one let’s dance.” He pulled her
behind him as they walked to the dance floor. He pulled her close,
just as the music slowed again. ‘Give me Love’ by Ed Sheeran was
playing and they moved together.
“This is a good song for us too,” he whispered in her ear.
Then he whispered the words to her.
“Give me love like never before, 'Cause lately I've been
craving more. And it's been a while but I still feel the same. Maybe I
should let you go, You know I'll fight my corner, And that tonight I'll call ya, After my blood, is drowning in alcohol, No I just wanna hold
ya.Give a little time to me, we'll burn this out. We’ll play hide and
seek, to turn this around. All I want is the taste that your lips allow,
My my, my my-y, oh give me love Give a little time to me, we'll burn
this out We'll play hide and seek, to turn this around All I want is the
taste that your lips allow my my, my myy, oh give me love.”
“So beautiful,” she whispered to him. After a few minutes
and another song, Norah finally spoke again. “Who were you talking
to?” he knew she was going to ask, and he didn’t want to lie to her.
“Jim,” he said bluntly. Norah leaned away from him.
“Oh no. What happened? Did you hurt him?” she asked. He
tightened his hold on her.
&n
bsp; “Not as much as I wanted to……not as much as he hurt me,
I’m afraid.” Norah stepped back to look him over.
She took his face in hers and moved it from side to side to see
if Jim had hit him. She made him look at her. “How? Where did he hurt you? Did he hit you?” she
demanded. He shook his head. “Then what? How could he hurt
you?”
“He just made me see myself in a different light is all.” He
pulled Norah closer and they danced in silence for the rest of the
song. They stayed together the rest of the evening, but Liam never
elaborated on what he meant by Jim hurting him. Norah posed for
pictures with her sisters, with Jim and Mary, and with Liam as well.
Liam encouraged Norah to stand with the single women for the
bouquet toss, but assured her it didn’t matter if she caught it or not.
“When we get home, I will take you window shopping for a
ring, and then you can plan the wedding of your dreams,” he spoke
softly in her ear before she walked away. Norah tried to catch the
flowers, but Lisa beat everyone to the punch. She jumped in front of
Norah, grabbed the flowers, and then slid across the dance floor. Some other girls behind Norah tripped and fell over, and two
girls to her side, fell on top of each other, trying to reach over Norah
to get it. Norah just stood and laughed. She looked over at Liam and
he smiled. She slowly walked back over to him.
“I can’t believe women are that desperate to get married that
they believe in some bridal fairy tale,” she took Liam’s drink from
him and drink it down. “Well I don’t know about you, sir, but I am
tired and ready to go to bed!”
“Don’t call me, sir, please Norah.” He took the drink from her
and took a sip.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” she asked making him look in
her eyes.
“Can’t you two even get your own drinks?” Shelly said as she
approached. “Really, you’re making everyone sick with all the
displays of love.” She ordered a drink and then turned to face us. “Well it is a wedding, Shelly. I think displays of love are a
good thing, right?” Norah chuckled.
“Come on, girlie, Tiffany and Jason are getting ready to leave
so we have to go pose for some good bye pictures,” she finished her
drink and winked at Liam. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring her back.” She
grabbed Norah’s arm and pulled her away.
Sold (Keeping her in the Dark) Page 29
