The Memory Keeper: A Heartwarming, Feel-Good Romance(22)

“I’m so sorry,” he said, breathless.

“It’s okay,” she assured him. “It was… nice.”

“Let’s get some sleep,” he said, rolling over. His tone let her know, kindly, that the kiss had been an obvious blunder, but now she couldn’t get the feeling of it out of her mind.

Staring at the gray of the ceiling in the dark, she tried to conjure up something else she could think about, but it had been the best and most surprising thing that had happened all day.

There was something reassuring about Liam being there—she couldn’t deny it. It felt oddly right to have him next to her.





Eight





Liam stirred ever so slightly, and Hannah was quickly aware of the light coming in through the window, and the proximity of his body. His arm was around her again, warming her like a cocoon, his face snuggled up next to hers. She hadn’t noticed when he’d done it this time, but his snuggliness made her happy.

He slowly opened his eyes, and they both took in the situation through their bleary, sleep-deprived consciousness. She wanted to wait to see how Liam reacted in the light of morning. He kept his sleepy eyes on her for a moment with a vulnerability that took her breath away. Slowly, he unwound himself from her, every muscle in her body screaming for him to stay put, and sat up.

Running his fingers through his disheveled hair, he turned back to her. “Good morning,” he said softly, his gaze sweeping over her as if he wanted to drink in the sight but was forcing himself not to.

“Morning.” She struggled to take her eyes off this more authentic version of him. She definitely liked it.

Until now he’d been so measured and serious, so businesslike. There was an underlying weight behind his eyes, and she had a feeling that if he ever decided to write down what he was thinking, he’d have volumes before he’d finished. But this morning, he seemed different. All of that was stripped away, and it was just him, the guy who’d laughed at her ridiculous fear of spiders, the guy who’d pulled back the covers for her, the one who’d held her and kissed her last night…

Hannah threw the covers off her legs and fluffed her pillow before getting out of bed. She felt she needed to focus on anything but Liam to avoid divulging the flutter she got whenever she looked at him.

“Coffee?” he asked, grabbing a hotel mug in two fingers, and loading the compact in-room coffee maker.

She padded over to him and, as she did, she caught the tiny bit of interest from the corner of his eye before he turned his attention back to the coffee.

“Yes, thank you,” she replied, browsing the selection of miniature creams and sugars.

“Sorry I didn’t give you much room to sleep,” he said, his words careful as he prepared her coffee. “But on the other hand, the spider probably slept like a king.” He handed her a steaming mug.

She laughed at his joke, a comfortable ease settling over her now. “I didn’t mind.” She looked up at him through her lashes as she sipped her coffee.

“You’re definitely not a fan of spiders. I’ll have to remember that…”

As he said it, it was as if he’d caught himself. Both of them seemed to consider the implications of his statement. Would he want to see her after today? She certainly would like him to. She was enjoying their time together.



“Happy birthday!” Georgia said in the open doorway, as Hannah stood in the hallway outside their hotel room. She scanned Liam’s oversized outfit that Hannah was still wearing, lingering on the wad of Hannah’s clothes piled in her hands, before continuing all the way down to her bare feet. “Somebody’s having a very good birthday, it looks like.” Georgia sucked her lips in, her eyes round as saucers, as she stepped aside to let Hannah into their room. She scooped up Jerry and followed Hannah over to her bed, which was still freshly made.

“It’s not what it seems,” Hannah said, dumping her pile of clothes on the bed, turning away from Georgia, heat rising under her skin. “I got locked out after dinner, and it was so late…” She yawned, still lacking enough rest to feel energized even with the caffeine from her morning coffee. Her eyes burned with the need to close them, but every time she did, the feel of Liam’s kiss rushed through her. “Liam offered for me to sleep in his room.”

“Did he, now?” Georgia said, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

Hannah didn’t make eye contact for fear her bright cheeks would now completely give her away. She pushed her lump of clothes over and set her suitcase down on the bed, unzipping it. “Nothing happened…” Then she stopped, changing course. “Oh no,” she said, wondering, as she stared at all the sundresses and tank tops she’d packed for sunny Barbados, what in the world she could wear that would be warm enough in this February snowstorm.

“Well, that’s not good,” Georgia said, standing in the hotel bathrobe, looking over her shoulder.

“I know…” Hannah chewed on her lip while she assessed her choices. “I was packed for Barbados.”

“Not the clothes, the sleepover.” Georgia poked her head into Hannah’s line of vision. “The way he’s been looking at you the whole trip, I’d have thought he would’ve at least tried to make a move.” Then she pulled back as if to get a better view of her. “Unless he did try, and you didn’t take the bait.”