His jaw clenched hard as we continued the standoff for a good thirty seconds. “Don’t fuck with her.”
As he stormed off, my short-lived victory gave me the confidence to stroll into the garage and watch her work from a distance. She spent a good hour going over every inch of the truck, looking for anything that could be causing the noises I was describing.
But when she yielded no results, she came over to me. “There’s nothing wrong. You’re hearing things.”
“Okay,” I gave in. “Then I’ll be back in tomorrow when I hear it, and we can do this again.”
I reached for the keys, but she yanked her hand back, rolling hereyes at me. “Fine. We’ll go for a drive, but I’m only giving you five minutes. Nothing more.”
“I’ll take it.”
Her lips pursed, she stormed back to the truck and pulled it out of the bay, stalling only long enough for me to get in before she took off.
“You look beautiful today.”
She ignored me, paying attention only to the sounds of the truck.
“I started building a house.”
Again, she ignored me.
“I decided to build it out by the falls. I figured it would be a nice view for mornings. A couple of rockers on the front porch would be perfect for sitting with a cup of coffee in the morning, don’t you think?”
She took a turn rather hard and hit the gas.
“Though it’s gonna need a woman’s touch.”
“Why don’t you ask Ellie May? I’m sure she’d be willing to decorate it for you,” she sniped.
“I don’t want Ellie May’s opinion. There’s only one woman I could ever want, and she’s sitting right beside me.”
She showed no sign that my words affected her, other than her eyelashes fluttering slightly faster than before.
“Someday, you’ll forgive me, Bailey.”
“You’re awfully certain about that,” she scoffed.
“I am. Because there’s only one way that our story ends, and that’s with the two of us together. We were meant to be together, and I know I broke your trust, but I only did it because I was scared out of my mind that Austin would hurt you, and I was willing to risk our future to make sure you were safe.”
“Well, that’s the difference between us, Liam. I would have talked to you. I never would have presumed to think I knew better.”
“He would have killed you,” I said softly. “That was one risk I could never take. And I know you don’t think it was worth it, but I refuse to live in a world where I let you down so badly.”
She pulled back into the garage and shifted into park, then her eyes focused on mine. “You already did.”
Getting out, she slammed the door and marched back into the garage.
Wyatt strolled up to the passenger window. “I take it you didn’t find the noise.”
“Not even close,” I muttered. “But I’m not giving up.”
He sighed heavily. “Guess that means I’ll be seeing you again tomorrow.”
“And every day after that until she forgives me.”
42
BAILEY
