Free Chasing Charlie by Aria Cole

have me, I'm yours, and we'll stay right here. I’ll work this bar with you every night for the rest of our lives and be the happiest man alive.” Liam’s hands dropped from my face, one shoving deep into his pocket while the other cradled my palm. When he pulled his hand out of his pocket, a small, intricate ring with a vibrant emerald gleamed in his palm. “You ready for us, baby?” His eyes twinkled as he eased the ring onto my finger, the little crown facing inward. 
    “That’s beautiful.”
    “It was my grandmother’s Claddagh ring.” Liam stroked the metal band once it was seated on my finger. “It’s an Irish tradition. When it’s placed inward on your finger, it means your heart is closed. It means your heart is mine. I’ve carried it with me like a good luck charm, saving it for the right girl. You’re my girl, Charlie.”
    A fresh wave of hot tears sprang to my eyes. How had I gotten so lucky? How had I done everything to push away this beautiful man and still he’d come back, still he’d proven that he loved me?
     Could I forgive him? Wholeheartedly. There wasn’t even a question in my mind anymore. 
    “This is so beautiful. Thank you for coming back, thank you for telling me.” I threw my arms around his neck in a rush, plastering kisses across his neck as immense relief flooded my system.
    “You don’t ever have to thank me for being there for you. It’s just what I do. You’ll never have to spend a single day wondering where I am because I’ll be right behind you, watching you, keeping you safe, loving you with every beat of my heart.”
    I kissed him then, our lips hovering together, our breaths burned into one. Our tongues danced an erotic tango that set my heart and my mind on fire. 
    I pulled away a few breathless moments later, my heart feeling as though it had sprouted wings in the space of just minutes. 
    “What happened to your shoes?” I giggled, swiping at a happy tear pulsing down my cheek. 
    “Under your bed. I was going to call, but Vince said that was our backup plan.” Liam shrugged. “He said if I was barefoot it’d pull on your heartstrings. I wasn’t allowed to put on another pair of shoes.”
    “Vince? You had a backup plan with Vince? I thought you were smarter than that!” I teased, marveling at the lengths they’d gone to get my attention. “So I suppose Vince is the one who had a talk with Dad?”
    “I don’t know anything about that. I figured if he found out I’d hurt his little girl, I wouldn't have a job tonight. But the backup plan was to beg and plead for my shoes back. We figured you couldn’t deny a barefoot guy.”
    I laughed. “That sounds like a pretty bad plan.”
    Liam smiled that cocky half grin that sent a shiver rocketing through my body. “Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t need a backup then.”
    I shook my head before threading my fingers through his. “I came in to find a letter from my dad. It was amazing, so touching.” A smile curved my lips as I remembered the most precious gesture my father had ever offered me. “And he mentioned you.”
    “Me?” Liam’s face fell with worry. 
    “It was all good, somehow… he actually likes you.”
    “Jesus, really?” Liam pushed a hand through his dark hair. “Didn’t expect that.”
    “Believe me, I'm as surprised as you are.” I grinned before tucking my head against Liam’s shoulder, sucking in a full breath of his spicy scent. I felt it pass over my strung-out nerves and calm me. 
    “Let’s never fight again,” Liam mumbled into my hair. 
    “Promise,” I said, feeling more content than I had since my mother left. Liam had that special something that soothed all my hard edges and filled the dark cracks in my heart, just as Daddy had said. I knew now there was no way I could let him go, not ever again. 
    Liam was all mine. We belonged to each other. I’d finally met someone I could trust just as wholeheartedly as I trusted my dad and brother. I never