And then it came back to me.
WatchingNational Treasurewith Liam. The way he’d loomed over me as he tickled me. That flare of desire that heated his eyes before he retreated to his side of the couch, turning their ocean depths the same color of a blue flame.
He must have carried me to bed.
My cheeks flamed. I had a habit of talking in my sleep, and I hoped like hell I hadn’t said anything weird when I’d beenunconscious.
After scrolling through social media and texting my sisters to check in, I shuffled out into the kitchenette, where Liam had been making noises for the last twenty minutes—trying, and failing, to be quiet.
“Morning, Wildflower,” he said brightly, handing me a steaming mug of coffee.
“Morning, Wills,” I responded, inhaling the scent of the beans deep into my lungs. I glanced into the liquid before I took a sip, pleased to find it was exactly the way I liked.
My heart swelled at the realization that he knew how I took my coffee.
I took a seat at the narrow counter, clutching the mug between my hands while Liam turned back to the small stove where something that smelled like bacon sizzled.
“How’d you sleep?”
“Great,” I told him. “How did I get to bed anyway?”
Liam shot me a wink over his shoulder. “I carried you.”
I balked at that, my face blanching.
“Liam, I’m not exactly light.”
And I wasn’t. I was curvy, and had the ass to prove it.
Although…he didn’t seem to mind.
He scoffed. “You weigh basically nothing. The problem was you’re so fucking tall. I had to go sideways through the door to get you in bed.”
I was deeply pleased that he didn’t think I was heavy.
And I realized then that was yet another lie Alfie had made me believe about myself. I wasn’t skinny like other girls. In fact, none of my sisters except maybe Delia were. We had big buttsand big boobs, and I actually liked that about myself. I was tall, yes—a few inches shy of six feet—but I wasn’t model thin. I had meat on my bones, and I liked to eat. I continued to do so when I was with Alfie, even when he complained about it, even when he made snide remarks about my appearance.
My girlfriend should be skinny, Ella.
Why aren’t you skinny, Ella?
You should skip a few meals, Ella.
But here I was with the hottest man I’d ever laid eyes on, who was fiercely masculine but sweet and gentle with an undercurrent of sexuality running through everything he did, who hadn’t batted a single eyelash last night when I told him I wanted to eat my weight in pasta. He simply found a place that offered takeout and demolished platefuls alongside me while we laughed and joked at theorized about theNational Treasuremovies.
Shame on me, for taking so long to recognize what a catch he was.
Double shame on me for allowing Alfie’s shitty words to wriggle so deep into my brain that I was excited when a man told me I weighed nothing to him.
Looking at Liam, at the wayhelooked at me, the way his plush lips parted in a grin to reveal those straight white teeth through the tangle of his beard as he set a plate of eggs, bacon, and the random assortment of diced fruit we had left in the fridge in front of me…I rolled my shoulders back, exhaled slowly, and let those words go.
LetAlfiego.
It was about goddamn time.
After breakfast, Liam and I quickly packed up and loaded the van, ready to set off on the next leg of our trip, which would take us to Grand Teton Park and the Yellowstone area.
Before we drove away, I stood on our tiny lawn, surveying our cabin.
