Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Butterflies swarmed in my stomach as I looked into his beautiful eyes. “I thought at first my attraction to you was because you saved me. You literally saved my life. But these last few days, my feelings for you have grown stronger, and I’ve been so worried because if I had someone looking for me, waiting for me…well…that would have sucked. Because I’ve really been wanting you to kiss me.”
Liam laced his fingers in mine with one hand and brought my other hand to his mouth, placing a soft kiss on the back. It sent a bolt of electricity through my entire body, and I shivered in delight.
“That wasn’t exactly the kiss I was talking about.”
He laughed. “We’ll take things slow,” he said, kissing my hand again. “If you want to go to Illinois, we can, or we don’t have to. I’ll do whatever you want.”
I drew in a breath and slowly exhaled. “Well, I’d really, really like for you to kiss my lips, not my hand. Please…”
His eyes turned darker, and he stood, bringing me with him. He released my hands, cupped my face, and placed the softest kiss on my lips. Then he kissed me again, silently urging me to open for him.
When our tongues met, we both moaned, and I melted against his body. For that brief moment, everything faded away and it was the two of us.
The kiss wasn’t long, yet it wasn’t quick, either. It was just enough to leave me feeling dizzy when Liam drew back and placed his forehead on mine.
“Mallory.”
It was all he said, but that one single word spoke volumes.
“Thank you,” I whispered, looking into his eyes again. We both laughed, and Liam kissed the tip of my nose.
“You never have to ask me to kiss you, and you certainly do not need to thank me. I enjoyed that very much.”
I placed my hands on his solid chest and nearly gasped at the reaction my body had to touching him. “I enjoyed it as well.”
“Are you ready to go back in?”
Swallowing the sudden lump in my throat, I nodded. “Yes.”
By the time we returned to everyone in the kitchen, they’d all finished their sandwiches and were chatting quietly at the table.
“Are you okay?” MaryAnne asked, a worried expression on her face. “We didn’t clean up your plate.”
“I am. I needed a few minutes to absorb everything.”
Randy gave me a sympathetic smile. “I know it must be a lot for you. Honestly, I was surprised to even get a hit. Then when I called, to be able to have someone tell me so much about you…”
Clearing my throat, I said, “The woman said I moved to Chicago. Does she know anything else? I had to have friends if I grew up there.”
He shook his head. “She didn’t say anything else.”
“I told Mallory we could go to Arcola, try and find where she stored her things. Maybe we can find out more information about her life, or even where she went when she moved to Chicago.”
Randy looked surprised as he stared at his cousin for a beat too long. He then focused on me. “Do you think that’s something you want to do?”
“Honestly? I’m not sure what I want to do right now. Do you know my age?”
He gave me a soft smile. “Sorry, yes. You’re twenty-seven, and you’ll be twenty-eight on July fifteenth.”
Dropping back into the chair, I slowly shook my head. “Twenty-seven years’ worth of memories, gone.”
MaryAnne said, “You might get them back, Mallory.”
“She’s right,” Randy said. “I was talking to a colleague of mine about this, without letting her know it was an actual case I was working on. She said that amnesia can be a body’s way of protecting you from remembering the actual attack, when the person first took you. Of course, it could also simply be the result of them hitting you over the head.”
“And you’re sure you guys don’t want to take this to the police? No offense, Randy,” Billy said.
Randy lifted his hands. “None taken. It was the first thing I said as well. But now that we know who Mallory is, we can shift our focus to the person who took her. If they live here—which they most likely do—chances are, we know them. Then again, they could be a hermit living out in the middle of nowhere, and maybe Mallory was here visiting a friend. I’ve already been asking around the department a bit, to see if we’ve had any run-ins with anyone like that. There doesn’t seem to be anyone I’ve found so far.”
“Mallory, the choice is always yours. If you decide you want to go to the police, we can,” Liam stated.
I shook my head. “Something in my gut tells me not to involve the police. I think Liam’s right. I need to go back to Arcola. If I was kidnapped outside of Montana, the first place we need to look is where I was last known to be.”