I burst out laughing—I couldn’t help it. Her expression was just so haughty and perfect. I looked over to see that Liam was grinning too.
“Oh, Miss K knows all about my thick head. Did you know she used to be my tutor?”
Josie’s eyebrows went right up into her blonde hairline. “Seriously? Then you must be pretty old!”
“Josie!” he cried, aghast, and she looked confused at his scolding.
“What? I’m just saying,you’rereally old, so if she was your tutor then she’d be even older.”
“I was his student tutor,” I explained, not the slightest bit offended. I knew full well that to most of my students, thirty was ancient. And they had no qualms about telling me, either. Nor did they mind asking me all those questions a thirty-year-old single woman just loves to hear—why aren’t you married? When are you going to have babies?Kids were brutally honest—and that was one of the things I most enjoyed about them, really.
“I was in the same grade as your dad,” I told her, then winked at him. “So I’m only kind of old.”
She giggled. “Do you know he can’t even figure out how to make a playlist on his phone? He had to ask me when he wanted music for his work-out.”
“Hmm. Maybe your dad could use some tutoring in technology.”
His grin was slow and oh-so-mischievous. “Are you volunteering for the job?”
Crap. I’d walked right into that. “My rates have gone up considerably since high school,” I said, standing and trying to look casual even as my heart raced. “You probably can’t afford me.”
“You realize I’m a professional hockey player, right? Your brother is paying me a lot of money to score goals for his team.”
“Sounds like you’ll be way too busy for tutoring then.”
He leaned in, just a little bit, enough that I could feel his breath against my cheek when he murmured, “I’m actually very good at multitasking.”
Holy lord. Why did that sound so hot? I focused on Josie so my cheeks didn’t burst into flames. “I think we saw pretty much everything. It’s too dark outside now, but we have a really cool playground out there. And some fields for soccer and field hockey.”
“Field hockey,” Liam muttered disdainfully.
“I’m not very good at sports,” Josie said, looking down.
I nudged her shoulder. “I’m not either. My twin brother played hockey with your dad at school but I think he must have gotten all the sporty genes in our family. I can barely hold a baseball bat.”
“I seem to remember having a lot of fun with you on the ice once,” Liam murmured, and my entire body went hot and then cold. I couldn’t help my eyes from traveling to his face. Why would he bring that up? We had only ever skated together the one time, and that day had ended with his lips pressed to mine.
His blue eyes looked stormy, his pupils dilated. And then his gaze flicked down, right to my mouth, and I was pretty sure my heart was going to beat right out of my body.
Was Liam O’Connerflirtingwith me?
“Come on,” he said, breaking the spell by raising his voice to include his daughter. “Let’s all walk out together. It’s getting late.”
I nodded, mute, and followed the two of them back to the hallway. Josie was chattering on, asking questions about other books I liked. I managed to answer her but my brain was spinning.
A guy didn’t look at your lips unless he was thinking about kissing, right? And for him to bring up the one day wehadactually kissed…that had to mean something.
God, I wished Peyton was here. She was so much better at reading signals. I had always been total crap at figuring out what a guy wanted.
The proof of that was standing right next to me.
The parking lot was well lit but mostly deserted. I pointed over at my Prius. “That’s me. Josie, I’ll see you bright and early on Monday.”
Then a large palm brushed my lower back. “We’ll walk you to your car,” Liam said, and goosebumps erupted all over me at his nearness, at the way I could feel the warmth of his hand even through the material of my blouse. Such a simple action, just being a gentleman, and it sent a swarm of butterflies loose in my chest. Matt had never made me feel that way, not in all the time we dated. And I’d let him do a hell of a lot more than place a hand on my back.
Liam didn’t drop that hand until we made it to my car. “It was nice meeting you, Josie,” I said, trying to keep my focus only on the little girl.
“Do you think you could bring me the second book on Monday?” she asked shyly.
