Always Then and Now

Chapter 48

HANNAH

He looked nervous.

I couldn't help but smile as I looked at him now—I didn't think I'd ever seen him like this before. Liam Beckett didn't do nervous; he had no need to be. He was cool and confident in everything he did—until now.

It was so cute.

And refreshing, really. I felt like I was nothing but nervous all the time. We were practically polar opposites that way. To see a little vulnerability in his eyes now somehow made me feel confident. Suddenly, I was the one who had to reassure him. It was an interesting turn of events to see the usually unflappable Liam Beckett suddenly filled with nerves.

But I didn't want him to feel nervous. I smiled up at him tenderly and stroked my fingers through the hair at the back of his neck. "Whatever it is, Liam, I know I'm going to love it." I went up on my tiptoes and pressed a soft, sweet kiss to his lips. When I pulled back, he looked hopeful.

"I hope so," he said and took a deep breath, shoring up his nerves. He stepped away from me and then held out his hand to me. "Ms. Monroe, please allow me to show you to your surprise." He bowed formally to me, and I let out a little giggle.

"You're so cute, Mr. Beckett," I told him as I slipped my hand into his. He grinned brightly at me and led me inside.

The door to the rec room was closed. I'd only been in there a couple times in the past—I'd never played pool, so I hadn't had any need to spend time in there. I looked at him curiously now as he shifted Emily to his other hip, that nervous look settling in his eyes again.

"Okay, so I was kind of flying by the seat of my pants with this. I did a bunch of research, and I got some help from Kate, and I even joined a few online groups to get ideas and advice. I just hope you like it."

I melted at the knowledge that he'd put in so much effort for me, whatever it was. It was incredibly sweet. I squeezed his hand, and when he tilted his head toward the door, I grinned and reached for the knob, opening it up and stepping inside. He followed me in and closed the door behind him, then set Emily down so that she could wander.

I stopped in my tracks just inside the doorway as I took it all in. A large, gleaming, rectangular table made of rosewood sat in the center of one side of the room where the pool table used to be, the middle of it sunken in and covered with a soft wine-coloured felt. It was surrounded by six chairs that looked seriously comfortable. I recognized it immediately. This was the pinnacle of luxury gaming tables, the table the Jai and I had been drooling over for years, but never even dreamed of owning, due to its five-figure price tag.

Surrounding this set up on three sides were huge sets of shelves a good six feet high. The shelves on one side were filled with various board and card games, and the second shelf was about half full. The rest were empty but were clearly installed with the intention of eventually filling them up with more games. A lot of the games on the shelves were ones that Jai and I owned, some of my favourite games of all time, and then there were some that I'd only dreamed about owning and playing. With Liam's limited knowledge of board games, how had he had he figured out exactly what to get? Upon a quick scan of the shelves, I couldn't find a single game that I didn't like.

I turned to him now, completely dumbfounded by this incredibly thoughtful gesture. He still looked quite nervous, but hopeful too, and my heart melted at the sight of this incredible man standing in front of me, looking so unsure of himself. The fact that he felt the need to impress me, of all people, was an odd feeling. Didn't he realize how impressive he was, just by being himself? Didn't he realize that if anyone didn't measure up, that would be me? But he was looking at me as if I hung the stars. I wanted to cry, I was so moved by the expression on his face, the love in his eyes. It was so overwhelming in the best way possible.