I can’t make myself respond. I only continue to look at him, hoping that if I stay still, then maybe I can keep it together. I’m searching his eyes when his hand reaches out to cup the back of my neck. I don’t move as he slowly, gently lowers his head and brings his lips to mine.

I close my eyes and let him kiss me, thinking maybe all of this happened for a reason. Maybe I was supposed to come here and meet Liam. Maybe he and I can fix each other.

I pull my face back, taking a breath as I desperately try to picture the future I could have with him. We wouldn’t have to be alone anymore. We could make each other happy. I look and I look but it’s not there.

No matter how much I try to push them away, buried feelings start to flare up and churn inside me at a debilitating rate. I don’t stop Liam when he lowers his head and kisses me again. I lean in. I reach up. I do everything I can to give myself over to the moment, but I just can’t do it. All I’m thinking about is whether Liam is seeing someone else when he closes his eyes and kisses me. I wonder if he sees her in his mind right now, just as I keep my eyes clenched shut and see nothing but Ryan’s smiling face.

Liam’s hand moves to the small of my back and pulls me more tightly against his chest. For some reason, the movement triggers all the parts of me that are broken and touch-starved, breaking me down and exposing me in a way that I’ve been fighting to avoid. I instantly pull away and bury my face in the front of his shirt, feeling like an absolute failure as I start to sob.

Since the day Ryan walked out of that bridal suite, I’ve done everything I can to force him out of my mind—pushing my detachment skills to the breaking point and beyond. And now, after going on one of the best dates ever with an actual modern-day Mr. Darcy, I’m holding on to this poor guy for dear life like the emotional train wreck that I am.

Liam seems unsure of what to do but soon starts stroking my hair. The tears won’t stop. Maybe they never will. I’m not sure how much time passes when I feel him bend down towards my ear.

“I know I’m rubbish at this romance business but it’s nothing worth crying over.”

I laugh, knowing he can’t truly believe that I am wailing in his arms because of him.