“Why not?” he said, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
“I love each of my sisters equally,” I said with a huff, crossing my arms and throwing myself back against my seat.
“C’mon, Wildflower. You can tell me.”
“There’s nothing to tell. I love each of my sisters equally,” I repeated. “Though I love them for different reasons.”
He lifted his arm and folded his fingers over his palm repeatedly in anout with itgesture.
That I could handle.
So I told him how I loved Chloe both for being the one to lead the charge with all of us growing up, and also for her ability to romanticize everything. How easy it was for her to find beauty in the mundanity of life and turn those moments into these incredible words on a page that resonated with people around the world.
I loved Amara for her fierceness and intelligence. How, even when Cal was doing everything he could to get her removedfrom head of the company, she slotted so effortlessly into her new position. Her first year as CEO and President of Delatou, Inc. had proved to be the company’s best, and that was all thanks to her ingenuity.
“And yours, of course,” I told Liam. “The canned cocktails were a huge part of that.”
He shrugged. “Mixology is a passion of mine.”
“And you’re damn good at it.”
Without taking his eyes off the road, he reached out and gave my knee a squeeze. “Thanks, Wildflower. Now what about Delia and Brie?”
“I love how Brie is such a gentle soul. She’s easily the most selfless of us, and when we were growing up, I think we all thought that would come back to bite her in the ass one day. That, as the baby of us, we’d somehow used up all the steel spines and stubbornness. But just because she’s also the quietest of us doesn’t mean she won’t hesitate to go to bat for any one of us in a heartbeat. She’s so fierce, but in this subtle way that makes you forget it exists sometimes.
“And as for Delia…well, Delia is a badass.” He nodded in agreement as I plowed ahead. “Did you know that when she and Owen were getting started on the distillery, the architect he’d hired insulted her, so she basically told him and Owen to go fuck themselves and walked right out? I’ve always admired that about her.”
“Her stubbornness? I’d say you’ve got some of that going on too.”
“Her confidence,” I corrected him. “How she refuses to take shit from anyone because she knows exactly whoshe is and exactly what she’s worth. And the fact that she has a backbone,” I added, quietly and wryly.
He heard me anyway. “You dropped the dead weight, Ella. You just have to find your way back to yourself.”
“I’m working on it,” I assured him. “And I hope you know how helpful you’ve been.”
Liam only nodded, clearly unsure what to say, and the conversation moved on.
“I’ve got another one for you,” I said.
“Shoot.”
“How come you’re always wearing Chateau Delatou merch?”
One corner of Liam’s mouth kicked up, but he was silent for long enough that I thought he wouldn’t answer me. When he did, it wasn’t at all what I was expecting.
“I like having your last name on me.”
Something feral and long slumbering within me opened its eyes, sights set wholly on him. Emboldened by his admission, I glanced pointedly at his tattoos and said, “Maybe you should make it permanent.”
A grumble emanated from him, and I giggled.
“Don’t tempt me, Wildflower.”
He would too. I knew he would.
After that, we chatted about benign things—favorite color; his was blue, mine was purple; what artists we currently had on repeat; favorite flower. I burst out laughing when Liam told me his was the Venus Flytrap, loving the grin that bloomed on his face when he got the reaction he wanted. He’d said it so calmly, so seriously, that I had to wonder for a moment if he actually meant it. That smile told me he was messingwith me, and I loved it. Love that this conversation was something that would surely become an inside joke between us down the road.
Which had me wondering how we’d be when we got home from this trip. Would we hang out? Would we be…more than friends?
