For the first time in a long time, Liam didn't know what to do. He finally knew what he wanted, but getting it wasn't so easy—at least not for him.

The thing was, he had a way to contact Gavin. After all, Gavin was using their app, and he'd included both his phone number and email in the application. And even though Liam was prepared to break his professionalism for him, using his personal information to do so—information Gavin hadn't given him for that reason—still felt wrong to him.

And so he didn't.

On Monday, the blond went to work, hoping that maybe Gavin would change his mind and show up so Liam could properly apologize to him. But that didn't happen, so Liam decided to be patient and expected the same on Tuesday. Again, no luck.

The owner of the agency resorted to a desperate move and, on Tuesday evening, went to the same shop where he and the tall man had last met, but he didn’t see him there, despite spending too much time there and people starting to look at him strangely.

However, even that hadn’t stopped him from getting up earlier on Wednesday morning so he could buy a coffee from the coffee shop he and Gavin had been to earlier, even though it meant his commute to work was twenty minutes longer.

Fully embracing his crush on Gavin certainly didn't make his life any easier.

All the desperate things he was doing actually made him wonder if he wasn’t, in fact, too much for the tanned man. Gavin only knew one side of him—he had no idea what it was like to be the receiver of his feelings—and Liam had learned more than once from his exes that he was too much to handle.

Gavin had managed to find the worst trait in every one of Cupid, Inc.'s clients, so Liam had no doubt that he would have no problem uncovering his. And that made him afraid.

Liam didn’t have enough time to delve into his own fears, however, as he failed to hear a knock on his agency’s door on Thursday—but the person on the other side didn’t wait and went inside without an invitation.

He only lifted his head when he heard the sound of a throat clearing and was definitely not prepared for the person standing in his doorway, despite having waited for him almost all week.

“Gavin,” his surprise was, of course, reflected in his voice, and Liam looked at the man for a moment as if he were a ghost.

“You didn’t open the door,” was the first thing the tall man said.

The blond frowned, still confused. “Sorry. I must have missed the knocking.”

“You look stressed,” Gavin commented, finally coming closer so he could sit across from him.

“I just wasn’t expecting you,” Liam replied, though it was only a half-truth. He had desperately wished the tanned man would show up at his office, but after a few days, he had started to lose hope. He wasn’t ready to admit any of this out loud, though.

“Because of last week?” the tall man asked. “I wasn’t actually on any date, so I had no reason to come.”

“Really?” Liam asked before he could stop himself. It certainly wasn’t the explanation he’d been expecting, so it surprised him—and if Gavin hadn’t been sitting directly across from him, his thoughts would have long since scattered in all directions, guessing at more details.

Gavin was also clearly surprised—but by Liam’s reaction. He gave him a look as if he didn’t understand what direction their conversation was going, and it had only just begun.

“I just haven’t found anyone worth it.” He shrugged in the end and didn’t say more.

Liam had no idea whether to take that as good news or bad news, since he had no idea if the choices included him too.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he eventually decided on a neutral response.

“Is that all you have to say?” Gavin raised an eyebrow.

“I—” Liam started, but quickly realized he didn’t know what to say next. He hadn’t really prepared what to say, since he hadn’t believed he’d get a chance to see the man across from him again.

But Gavin didn’t wait for the blond to get his act together. “Are we going to keep pretending?”

“What?” Liam sounded breathless and shocked.

"You send me on another date, I'll barely pay attention to them because I'll be thinking about you."

Liam didn’t control his expression—he definitely hadn’t been expecting those direct words—but Gavin wasn’t done yet.

"You know, the usual."

"I—" Liam tried to start again, but this time he didn’t finish the sentence, due to the fact that the tall man had decided to keep talking, and his voice was much more confident and louder than the blond’s.

"You and I both know I'm the problem, even though I said I wasn't. I don't try on any dates because that's not the exciting part for me. I wait the whole date for it to be over so I can come here and tell you about it."

Gavin still wasn’t done, despite the fact that his words managed to bring a flush to Liam’s cheeks.

"And it’s not like we spend the whole time talking about my last date," the tall man continued to argue. "We always find a way to turn the whole conversation around, and then my only goal is to make you laugh. And most of the time it works, so you can’t say you’re not enjoying your time with me."

"Gavin," the blond addressed him, his voice less panicked and more composed this time.

"No." The tanned man still wasn’t done. "Let me talk before you decide to turn this into a professional conversation again." In all the time Liam had known him, he’d never seen him this determined. "I don’t want to go on any more dates, and you can’t convince me because that would be unfair to your other clients."

For a few seconds, that seemed to be it, but then Gavin added one last thing: "If you really are an expert on love and relationships like you claim, you must have noticed that I’m only interested in you."

"Gavin," Liam addressed him again, and this time the man across from him let him speak. "I don’t want to send you on any more dates because it would make me jealous."

It was obvious that the tall man hadn’t been expecting such an honest answer and was probably preparing himself for more arguing, but Liam’s response caught him off guard.

"I’ve been waiting for you to show up for almost two weeks, and it’s not because you’re my client," the blond man continued, then fell silent.

"Not gonna lie, I was expecting to have to convince you more to even have this conversation with me," Gavin admitted.

Liam laughed briefly. "I had time to think when you didn’t show up."

"Is that your way of telling me you missed me?" A smile finally appeared on Gavin’s face as well.

"Maybe." Liam replied, but everything he’d said before was clear evidence of what his real answer was.

"So if I asked you out...?" Gavin tried, his tone hopeful.

The blond still had some doubts, though—and since the man across from him had been as honest as he could be the entire time, he decided to be, too. "Are you sure? I mean... most of the time we only met in my office, and I don’t exactly show my bad side to my clients."

"You’re forgetting that I already know all of your worst qualities." Gavin didn’t let that discourage him and reminded him. He even went so far as to reach across the desk and gently take Liam’s palm in his own.

"You trust too easily." He squeezed his hand gently.

"You have trouble saying no to people you care about." He ran his thumb over his knuckles.

"You shut down when you feel bad."

After so many times Liam had felt annoyed, thinking Gavin wasn’t listening enough to what he was saying, it turned out he’d been wrong all along.

"My best friend recently told me that I’m also stubborn," Liam revealed.

The tall man nodded. "He’s right." He gave him another wide smile. "Hopefully it’s not contagious."

The quiet atmosphere of the office was cut by the blond’s ringing laughter, and once again, the man across from him seemed more than pleased that it was his words that had elicited such a reaction.

"So...?" Gavin tried.

"So...?" Liam repeated.

"Will you go on a date with me?" Gavin asked, leaving no doubt as to what his intentions were.

And Liam finally allowed himself to fully drop his professionalism and get what he desired. "I’d love to."

"Your quote didn’t let me down, finally." Was Gavin’s response, and Liam’s face reflected both his surprise and confusion.

"I honestly have no idea what’s on the LED board today. I wasn’t paying attention to it," he admitted. The same had been true for the past few days, as all he’d been able to focus on was Gavin.

"Love conquers all."