One of Those Days Read online

  When I got upstairs, I had just walked into my office when my cell started ringing. Looking down I smiled at the sight of Liam’s handsome face lighting up my display.

  Chapter Five

  “What on Earth,” I said as I answered. “Possessed you to send me that text message?”

  “I was just thinking about you,” he said, his voice low and sexy.

  “Mmm,” I agreed. “Well, the Prime Minister of New Zealand certainly appreciated it.”

  “Oh. Shit.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “Maybe let’s not sext each other when I’m at work?”

  “Sorry,” he said, his tone letting me know he was not at all apologetic. “How is Ian?”

  “He’s good.” I sat down behind my desk and reached for a stain stick, rubbing it on the tea splashes on my pants as we talked. “He wants to bring his wife up and have dinner with us soon.”

  “That would be nice,” Liam said. “So, is anything else going on tonight?”

  “No,” I said slowly. Damn it, it still felt like I was forgetting something. “It’s going to rain later.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “There’s a hell of a storm blowing in.”

  “Did you get my car fixed?” I asked, changing the subject.

  “Not yet,” he said. “I’m going to look at it when the kids go down for a nap in a little bit.”

  “Thank you,” I told him. “I have to go. I spilled tea on my pants, and I need to get it dry before my next meeting.”

  “Okay,” he said. “I love you.”

  “Love you more.” I hung up and tossed my phone on the desk with a sigh. It was a very sigh-worthy day today.

  “Jasana is here to see you,” my assistance Ritchie said through the intercom.

  “Send her in, please,” I told him, rolling closer to my desk so my boss wouldn’t see my wet pants.

  “What the hell was that?” Jasana asked as she walked in.

  “I’m so sorry,” I told her emphatically. “I cannot imagine what possessed him to send me something like that.”

  “You’re lucky it was Ian.”

  “I know,” I agreed. “And I’ve already told Liam never to text me at work again.”

  “Honestly I’m just jealous,” Jasana admitted. “My husband never thinks about my ass.”

  We laughed together and I was happy to feel the tension ease out of the room.

  “So,” she said, leaning back in her chair. “Are you guys doing anything special tonight? I mean…other than the obvious.”

  “Not that I know of?” I felt my brows knit together in confusion. “Why?”

  “It’s your anniversary,” she said pointedly.

  My eyes widened in shock and I grabbed my planner, flipping it open and seeing that yes, it was June ninth.

  Holy shit.

  I had forgotten our anniversary.

  “I think maybe you need a vacation,” Jasana said seriously. “You forgot?”

  “I forgot,” I admitted. I dropped my face into my hands and groaned. “I am the worst wife ever.”

  “Maybe he forgot, too?” she suggested.

  “Nope.” I thought back to the hints he’d dropped that I’d stepped over without noticing. Asking if I wanted anything special for dinner. Asking me if I’d forgotten something when I went back in to get his keys. Sending me a sexy text message out of nowhere. “He definitely didn’t forget.”

  “Do you want to go home?” she asked.

  “I can’t,” I insisted. “I’m booked all afternoon.”

  “Well, I know you have an admin block at four,” she said. “Skip that. I’ll reassign it. At least get out of here a little early. You could stop and grab him a gift. Make it look like you didn’t forget?”

  “Oh, he one hundred percent knows I forgot,” I assured her. “But yeah, if you can offload the admin stuff that would be awesome.”

  When she left, I shot Liam a text to let him know I would be home early then jumped onto the phone to get through some of the meetings on the schedule.

  I hoped no one noticed how distracted I was, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that I’d forgotten my anniversary.

  What a moron. Yeah, I’d been busy, but so had Liam and he remembered. Hell, my boss had remembered, and she was a freakin’ US Ambassador. Talk about being busy. I had no excuse. And I desperately needed to come up with some way to make this up to Liam.

  Chapter Six

  I was just about to pack up and leave for the day when Ritchie came into my office carrying a large white box wrapped with a red bow. He set it on my desk then stood there looking at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Aren’t you going to open it?”

  “Not in front of you,” I said pointedly. “And by the way, a good assistant would have reminded me at some point that my anniversary was coming up.”

  “Well, a good wife wouldn’t need to be reminded,” he shot back.

  “Ouch.” I glared at him. “Just because you’re right doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.”

  He shrugged and walked back out, leaving me alone with the present.

  Damn it. I was a terrible wife.

  I opened the small card attached to the ribbon. It just read, wear me.

  After pulling the bow apart I lifted the lid and ran my fingers over the smooth fabric of the little black dress nestled in tissue paper.

  Damn it. He’d gotten me a present and made plans. Liam was way too good to me. And the worst part was, I knew without a doubt he wouldn’t even be angry that I’d forgotten. In fact, he probably thought it was funny. Because he gets me on a level that no one else in the world ever could.

  When you very first fall in love with someone, you think that it could never get any better than that moment. But when you marry your soul mate, everything really does get better every single day. Sure, there are days I want to kick his shins for something stupid that he said or did, like…oh, I don’t know…sending a message about my ass when I’m in a meeting. But those moments are nothing compared the innumerable times he is the single greatest man on the planet.

  As if I’d conjured him by thinking of him, my phone flashed with a text message.

  “Stop feeling bad for forgetting what day it is. There’s a car waiting downstairs. Get dressed and get a move on.”

  Single greatest man on the planet.

  ****

  When the limo pulled up outside of the IHop restaurant, I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. The driver helped me out and I walked inside, completely unsure what to expect.

  Liam and the kids were seated in a booth across the room and he smiled and stood up when he saw me approach them.

  He was in a very nice grey suit and we looked very out of place in the almost empty diner.

  “Sorry,” he whispered as he kissed my cheek. “My mom will be here to take the kids home soon. She’s going to watch them for us tonight, but they were hungry, so I figured we’d all just meet here.”

  “And where are we going?” I asked as I slid into the seat next to Ollie.

  Ollie grinned up at me and offered me a grape from his fruit bowl. I thanked him and popped it in my mouth before turning back to Liam.

  “We have reservations at a very exclusive little place I found.”

  “You didn’t have to do all of this,” I told him. “I’d have been happy with pancakes.”

  “I know,” he said. He reached across the table and took my hand in his. “But I wanted to do this for you. You’ve been working so hard and we haven’t had any time lately to just be us. I thought it would be nice.”

  “It’s incredible,” I assured him. “And, if I forget to tell you later, I had a really nice time tonight.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  “You’re really not mad at me?” I asked, unable to bite back the question.

  “No. I promise. In fact, it’s kind of nice that I get to surprise you and you can’t reciprocate. It’s just a day, babe. You spend all of them with
me, including this one, so it’s always something to celebrate.”

  “You’re kind of awesome,” I said, blinking back tears.

  “Only kind of?” He raised an eyebrow. “I might have to step up my game.”

  “No,” I said. “Don’t change a thing.”

  “Well, look at how pretty mommy and daddy look!”

  We turned to see Donna, Liam’s mom, walking toward us. Liam and I both stood up and each took turns hugging her.

  “Thank you so much,” Liam said. “I really appreciate you staying with them tonight.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Donna assured him. “I’ll take any excuse to spend time with my babies. Now, you too run off. You don’t want to be late.”

  Liam and I kissed the kids goodbye and he led me out to the limo that was still waiting in the parking lot.

  The minute we stepped off the sidewalk, a huge boom of thunder sounded, and the sky opened up on us, pouring rain so hard that we were drenched by the time we climbed into the back of the car.

  “You were right,” Liam said as he wiped water from his face. “It is going to rain today.”

  I laughed as I ran my fingers through my wet hair, trying to shake off some of the moisture.

  “Well, at least I got something right today.” I blew out a sigh. “So, where are we going?”

  “I told you,” he said, sliding closer and pulling me against him. “A very exclusive place.”

  “Yeah.” I leaned my head on his shoulder. “That’s not an answer.”

  “You’ll see,” he whispered. He tilted my face up to his and kissed me softly. When he pulled back, he ran his thumb over my lower lip. “How did I get so lucky?”

  “Pretty sure I’m the lucky one in this marriage,” I assured him. “I really am sorry I forgot our anniversary.”

  “It’s okay,” he promised. “You’ll have another fifty or so to make up for it.”

  “I love you,” I told him, leaning up to kiss him again.

  “I love you, more.”

  Chapter Seven

  I’d been so busy staring at him that I hadn’t noticed where the car had been headed. When the driver stopped, I looked out the window and realized we were in a neighborhood.

  “Come on,” Liam said, grinning at me. He snagged an umbrella from the floor and got out, offering me his hand to help me exit as well.

  I stood under the umbrella with him and followed his gaze across the street. He was looking at my favorite house in the world. We’d been here for dinner parties and Sunday brunches dozens of times…but I couldn’t imagine why we were there for our anniversary dinner.

  “We’re going to the Danvers house?” I asked, confused.

  “No,” he said. “We’re going to the Crown’s house.”

  “What?” I stared up at him, not comprehending what he was saying.

  “Remember when you told Judge Danver that if he ever wanted to sell, he should call us?” Liam asked.

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, I got a call from him last month. He and Debbie decided to move to Florida…and I bought it.”

  “Bought what?”

  “For a smart girl, you’re kind of dense sometimes,” he teased. “The house, Izzy. I bought the house.”

  I turned from him to look at the two-story, pale yellow home of my dreams, then back to Liam. Tears welled in my eyes and I shook my head in disbelief. The rain was still pouring down and the sound of it hitting the umbrella over our heads was loud, but I was pretty sure my heart was beating even louder.

  “Liam.”

  I threw myself into his arms, kissing him hard and fast as tears streamed down my cheeks.

  He caught me around the waist and kissed me back. Rain poured down on us as he dropped the umbrella so he could hold me tighter.

  Just when I think I couldn’t love this man any more, he does something so insane and sweet and wonderful, that I fall harder and faster.

  He pulled away, picking up the umbrella and closing it, then scooping me up into his arms and carrying me across the street. He set me down long enough to pull the keys from his pocked and unlock the door, then he picked me up again and carried me inside.

  When the Danvers had lived there, the home was full of comfortable, slightly dated furnishings. Photos of their family had adorned the walls and warm, homey rugs covered the hard wood floors.

  Now, of course, their possessions were gone, and the house seemed impossibly large when it was completely empty.

  Liam set me down again and as we walked through the lower floor, my heels clicked against the hardwood and the sound echoed around us.

  “This is really ours?” I asked him, needing just one more confirmation from him.

  “It really is,” he assured me with a smile.

  “Holy shit, Liam!” I threw myself into his arms again and he picked me up and spun me around. “Do the kids know?”

  “No,” he said, setting me down and taking my hand to lead me to the kitchen. “I tried to keep it as secret as possible. I haven’t set a move date yet or listed our house or anything. I just signed the papers last week and they gave me grace period on the mortgage payments so I could surprise you.”

  “Well, color me shocked,” I told him. “I can’t believe you did this.”

  “I would do anything for you.”

  “I know.” We stood in the kitchen and I looked around, fighting more tears. This was our home now. Our kids would grow up here. We’d eat breakfast in the nook in the corner. We’d pop popcorn and watch movies in the living room.

  “Well Mrs. Crown, do you want to see the bedroom?” he asked, walking up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist before placing a soft kiss against my neck.

  “Is there a bed?” I asked, leaning back against him.

  “It’s the only room I’ve had furnished.”

  “And your mom is staying with the kids tonight?” I confirmed.

  “She’ll stay as many nights as we want her to,” he agreed.

  “Well then, Mr. Crown, I think I would very much like to see what you’ve done with the place.”

  Chapter Eight

  The bedroom was amazing. I’d never actually seen the bedrooms when the Danvers owned the home, so this was my first time.

  There were two walk-in closets, an ensuite and massive windows looking out into the backyard.

  Liam had gotten the room decorated in tones of white, grey and red, with end tables, a vanity, plush looking chairs and a king size bed dominating the room.

  “What do you think?” he asked, taking my hand and pulling me toward the bed. He sat down and I stepped between his legs, wrapping my arms around his neck and looking down at him.

  “I think you’re perfect,” I said.

  “I meant what do you think of the room?”

  “I know.” I leaned down and kissed him. “It’s perfect, too.”

  “Oh! I forgot to show you the best part,” he said excitedly. He moved me backward and jumped up, running over to shut the door.

  Then he locked it.

  “Let’s make a baby,” he said as he turned around.

  “What?” I laughed and shook my head.

  He strode over and pulled me hard against his body, crashing his mouth over mine.

  I moaned into his mouth as I snaked my arms around his neck and pressed myself harder into his chest.

  His fingers tugged at the zipper on my dress, lowering it all the way then running his hands down my arms, dragging the fabric with them until it pooled at my feet.

  He stepped back, pulling off his jacket and tossing it on the floor as I stepped out of the dress and stood there watching him strip.

  His shirt was discarded next, then his shoes socks and pants until he was standing in front of me in his boxer-briefs, the sharp outline of his erection clearly straining against the black fabric.

  “You are so sexy,” I told him as my gaze raked over his body.

  “Not as sexy as you are,” he argued. “I’m serio
us, let’s make a baby.”

  “Last time you said that we made two babies at once,” I reminded him.

  “Okay, let’s make two babies. Let’s make twenty babies.”

  “Let’s start with one and see what happens,” I said.

  “Really?” His eyes shone brightly.

  “Really,” I agreed, smiling at him. “Having babies with you is like my second favorite thing in the world.”

  “What’s your first favorite?” he asked, his brows knitting together.

  “Making babies with you,” I answered with a shrug.

  Liam grabbed me in his arms and tossed me onto the bed, climbing over me and settling his hips between my thighs as he claimed my mouth.

  My hands roamed up his back, nails digging into his shoulders as he ground himself against my core, his tongue sliding against mine as his fingers tangled into my hair.

  I canted my hips up into him, trying to increase the friction against my already wet and aching pussy.

  “How do you make me want you so much,” he growled, nipping my ear gently.

  “Just lucky I guess.” I opened my eyes and looked up at him. “I always want you.”

  “I’m the lucky one, for sure,” he whispered.

  The rest of our clothes were gone in a flurry of hands and when he settled naked on top of me again, his tip pressing against my entrance.

  “I love you,” he whispered as he slid forward inside of me.

  “I love you, more,” I said, the last word coming out as a sigh as my back bowed off the bed while he stretched me open with his shaft.

  My nails dug into his shoulders again as he pounded inside of me, the pent-up sexual frustration from the weeks of not being intimate together coming out in both of us.

  His hands slid under my ass, lifting me up so he could dive deeper inside my body, his cock bumping my cervix and making me cry out in pleasure and surprise from the almost pain of impact.

  Over and over again he slammed inside of me, every crash of his body against mine bringing me closer to release until finally, one of his hands moved so he could rub a finger over my clit and stars flooded my vision as I fell into orgasm, screaming his name as my body shuddered under him.