I'm Not Charlotte Lucas(82)

His dark eyebrows pulled together. “I don’t remember you calling me an ignorant fool.”

“Oh, I did. You just didn’t hear me.”

He cracked a smile, and I was hard-pressed not to mirror it. “I’ll forgive you on one condition.”

“What is it?”

“Meet me out back by the tulips.”

My gaze drifted down to Vera’s back garden. It was deserted, and the tulips were still just bulbs buried deep in the ground. I looked back at Liam and nodded.

“See you in a second,” he said before hanging up his phone.

I closed the window and headed for the stairs. The side gate to Vera’s backyard was unlatched, and I let myself in, pausing at the end of the garden when I saw Liam in front of me.

I was smitten by the man in his Henley tee and joggers. Since when did loungewear become so attractive? I needed to get a hold of myself.

“I forgive you,” he said, walking toward me. “Now it’s your turn.”

A soft breeze rolled between us, and I shivered. I’d run out the door so fast I forgot to grab a jacket. “I forgive you.”

“Now that that’s out of the way . . .” He came to a stop right in front of me. It was unfair. I wanted him to keep walking, to close the distance completely. “What can I say to convince you to give us another try?”

My body froze, and it wasn’t from the cold. “I’m scared, Liam. I just . . . I don’t want to date a guy who I feel is so out of my league.”

“But don’t you get it, Charlie? This is why we’re made for each other. You, in some deranged part of your mind, think I’m out of your league, and I know you’re out of mine.” He stepped forward, reached for my fingers, and laced them through his. It felt so warm, so right. “I’m not perfect. I give Spike too much leeway. I messed up with him and was absent for most of his life when I knew my mom wasn’t around and he needed me, and I was too dumb to step forward. I work too much and yell at the TV during football games, and I never floss until right before I have to go to the dentist. But I know you don’t think you’re perfect either.”

“Well, I floss pretty regularly.”

Liam cocked a half-smile. “Neither of us is perfect, but one thing I know for sure is that you, Charlie Lucas, are perfect for me.” He lifted my hand and kissed the back of it exactly like Mr. Darcy would. “You just have to trust me. No relationship can be built without that trust. I need you in my life, and I don’t want to go another day without you. This last week has been horrible.”

“Yeah, that’s what I heard.”

He narrowed his eyes, then tugged me closer. “What’s Vera been telling you?”

“That stays between me and Vera.” Warmth flooded my body, and it took a great deal of effort not to jump into his arms right then.

“I have a feeling it didn’t paint me in a favorable light.”

“I’ll paint you in a favorable light,” I whispered. “I missed you this week too.”

Liam paused. I could feel his whole body go still. And it hit me all at once that I’d been trying to convince myself I wasn’t Charlotte Lucas when in all reality, I totally had been—until now. I’d spent the last few years playing it safe, hiding my painting, going to my safe job, helping others to keep everyone else happy, and ensuring that I didn’t hurt for anything. Practical, just like Charlotte.

But now that I had quit my job and picked up a paintbrush again, now that I was jumping back into the arms of the hottest, most amazing man I’d ever met, I realized that I didn’t want to be Charlotte Lucas anymore. Taking risks was worth the potential for heartache. Because there was no way to feel such immense joy without opening myself up to the possibility of pain, making myself vulnerable to art connoisseurs, to gallery owners, even to Liam.

I may have been similar to Austen’s character before, but I wasn’t anymore. I was not Charlotte Lucas.

Liam gazed into my eyes and brushed a lock of hair away from my face, his fingertips lingering on my cheekbone before trailing down my jaw.

“I am most definitely falling for you, Charlie. Will you please be my girlfriend again?”

“Yes, Liam. A thousand times, yes.”

A grin spread over his lips so wide and full of satisfaction I didn’t want to wipe it from his face. But I did anyway. Reaching up, I wrapped my hands around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss, my heart exploding with affection and warmth from Liam’s lips on mine.

When he finally pulled away, I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my head on his chest. I felt secure, like I was home again. His hands pulled me closer, tighter, and he sighed, radiating with the contentedness I felt as well.

“The owner of some gallery on Main Street gave me her card last night,” he said, resting his chin on the top of my head. “She asked me to have the artist submit some original pieces.”

My pulse raced. “Which gallery?”

“Roseria something, I think. I don’t remember. But I’ll get you that card.”

“Okay,” I said, unable to dampen my smile and not sure I really wanted to. Leaning back, I held his gaze. “How did you know they were Pride and Prejudice paintings?”

He stilled. “What?”

I tilted my head to the side. “You had to know I’d painted scenes from Pride and Prejudice, or you wouldn’t have gotten that idea.”