“He didn’t like them, did he?”
I shook my head. “Not even a little bit. And that right there should’ve been reason enough to cut him loose but…it was all so fun and exciting in the beginning, you know? When everything was shiny and new and we were still discovering things about each other. Things lost their luster quickly. Thankfully, my family stuck with me, though I knew they cared for him even less than he did them. So that’s just…kind of triggering for me.”
Liam jerked his head in the approximation of a nod, gripping the back of his neck. “Understood. Now what’s the other thing?”
“Other thing?”
“You said ‘first’ earlier, meaning there was more coming.”
“Right,” I said, snapping my fingers as I came back to myself. “I’ve already told you this, but…Ineedthis, Liam. Need this adventure. Need this time away from the Apple Blossom Bayand Chateau Delatou bubble. All I’m asking from you is to not coddle me. I can handle sleeping in a tent, or on the ground, or in a fucking tree, okay? Just let me be the one to decide whether or not I want to.”
Another nod. “Got it. Anything else?”
“No, I think that about covers it,” I said, shooting him a cheeky grin.
Liam’s own mouth spread into a smile, and I stilled, mesmerized by its appearance. Such a rarity, but with increasing frequency around me. Or maybe that was wishful thinking.
God, he was beautiful. Suddenly, I was gripped by a wave of anxiety so fierce I nearly stumbled as I moved to grab my backpack. Was I making a mistake? Was this about to be the worst idea I’d ever had—even worse than the three years I’d given Alfie?
Liam…he wasn’t the kind of man you took for a ride one night and never thought about again. Liam Danvers was the kind of man who reeled you in slowly with those sexy tattooed forearms, wrapped you against that broad chest of his, and never let you go.
When I turned and faced him again, that smile still graced his lips, and I knew I was a goner.
Nothing could stop me as I closed the distance between us and flung my arms around him.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He stiffened almost imperceptibly before relaxing into my touch, his arms coming tentatively around my shoulders. “Anytime,” he breathed.
Though I was reluctant to do so for reasons best notexamined too closely, I let him go and moved around to the passenger side while he shut the back door and got behind the wheel.
Liam beamed at me as he inserted the key into the ignition and turned it over. The deep rumble vibrated the entire cab, settling along my bones in an exciting hum.
“You ready, Wildflower?”
“Take me away, Danvers.”
“Wait wait wait,” I said, sitting up straighter in my seat as we rounded a corner on the freeway and the Mackinac Bridge came into view in the distance. “You mean to tell me we have to crossthat?”
Liam glanced quickly at me out of the corner of his eye before returning his attention to the road. Without his gaze focused on me, I couldn’t help but admire him—which I’d been unabashedly doing the entire drive so far. The stupid, sexy forearms, the flannel pushed to his elbows, the loose grip of his long, thick fingers of one hand wrapped around the leather of the wheel. He had to feel my gaze like a brand on his skin, but he never called me out on it. Secretly, I thought he enjoyed the attention.
And I enjoyed giving it.
Mentally, I shook my head. We were far too early into this road trip for me to be salivating over him. Actually, I wasn’t sure that was appropriate behaviorever. I liked having him as a friend, and I’d hate to jeopardize that.
“It’s really not as bad as it looks,” Liam said with a chuckle.
“There’s really no way around crossing it?”
He shook his head. “Sorry but no. I mean, short of driving all the way around Lake Michigan, which would take about three times as long as going this way. There’s also a crossing over Lake Michigan from Ludington to Green Bay, or…”
“Okay, okay,” I said. “I get the idea. This is the fastest way to get there.” I shifted in my seat so I faced him. “Have you ever crossed the Bridge?”
“Loads of times.”
“But you’ve only lived here for…”
“Five years,” he supplied.
