LUCKY
Liam McBride continues to watch me with green eyes that seem to see right through the thick walls I’ve built up so aggressively over the years, the ones that have allowed me to maintain my distance from people.
They served me well for a long time but feel as flimsy as butterfly wings under his assessment.
The longer he assesses me, waiting for me to decide about his offer, I can’t help but let my own gaze travel over him again.
Standing at least six-two, he towers above me. In his perfectly fitted, worn jeans and t-shirt tugging at his muscled arms and chest each time he moves, my first impression that he would intimidate most people is certainly correct.
He is the picture of the rough, gruff mountain men this part of the world is known for. The kind of person to avoid at all costs.
Yet, there’s something about his soft smile, the easy laugh, and the warmth in his mossy eyes that tells me he isn’t exactly what he appears. Like me, the outside appearance doesn’t match what’s on the inside.
This blue hair screams that I’m confident, outgoing, ready to take on the world around me, while in reality, I’m trying to hide from it. I’m looking for anywhere to disappear, some way to become someone else before who I really am destroys me.
This isn’t the place to hide.
Not with someone like this here, someone who so easily sees me. Plus, Gizmo likes him, and he doesn’t like any men. That makes it even more important that I don’t stay here any longer. He’s already asking too many questions I can’t answer, and he’s the type of man who could get me to answer them.
“Thank you for the offer…but I can’t.”
I don’t want his charity or his attention.
All I need is somewhere to lay low for a little while. I hadn’t intended to stay in McBride Mountain, and standing here, I can see moving on quickly is definitely in my best interest now that I have Gizmo.
These people are too nice, too inquisitive. They won’t just let things go. This is the type of place where everyone knows everyone else’s business, and I will quickly become a source of focus for the regulars who come to this diner.
That. Cannot. Happen.
It’s hard to lie low when you’re already drawing attention.
Which I definitely am.
Liam’s brow furrows. “Are you sure you don’t want to eat?”
It’s almost like he can see how hungry I am. How long it’s been since I sat down and had a good meal. And how damn exhausted I am after walking so much yesterday and practically running into town today.
His insistence tenses my shoulders—something I’m sure he notices too—and I give him a tight smile that I hope at least mildly appeases him.
“I’m good. Go back to your breakfast. Thank you for taking care of him.”
I don’t know what I would have done if Liam hadn’t found Giz and kept him safe last night.
Would I have kept walking straight on through McBride Mountain alone?
Would I have been able to keep this up without my little sidekick and constant companion?
For as much self-confidence as I usually possess—or at least, I used to—I don’t think I could. I would have been crushed under the weight of my loss and guilt that I let it happen. But thanks to this man, I don’t ever have to suffer that fate.
Liam looks deeply disappointed in my final brush-off, and I can’t draw my eyes away from the way his lips tip down slightly at the corners.
Why do I hate that so much?
I don’t even know this man, and I can already tell the frown looks wrong on his face. Those lips were meant for laughing and smiling…and kissing.
And I need to get the hell out of here.
The older woman behind the counter watches us out of the corner of her eye, and I drag myself away from Liam and approach her with a smile. “Can I just get a cup of coffee to go?”
