“Um…work was really ramping up that month. Ashley and I had just started doing our Live videos on social media, and the response was unexpected.”
“I’ve checked out a few of your videos,” he says.
I almost die.
No, that’s not true.
I do die.
I’m dead next to him in the truck.
“What?” I say too loudly.
He turns his head to grin at me.
“Does that surprise you?”
“Yes, it surprises me.” I bounce up and down in my seat, not because I’m excited but because I’m half mortified and half intrigued.
If I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and the window were open, I may very well bounce right out of the damn truck.
“I never expected you to be one of our viewers,” I admit. “It’s unnerving.”
Liam laughs. A genuine laugh that I’ve never heard out of him before. It’s real and awesome and I want to hear it over and over again. I have a momentarily insane moment where I feel like, if I could make Liam Storm laugh for the rest of my life, I would have accomplished all I need to in this world.
Then I return to my body.
Haley Laine, don’t get things twisted. The only person you can rely on is yourself.
“I followed Ash’s account already because of Winter and her being so close—and then her and Jared,” he says. “And then y’all started doing the videos on her feed. I never saw any of them live, but I caught them afterward.”
That would explain why Ash and I never saw his name scroll across her screen.
“I used to be in charge of socials for Mia’s foundation,” I tell him. “Then I officially moved to sales, but I kept gravitating back to marketing. Ashley and I began the videos for kicks to see if we could encourage more people to donate to Mia’s foundation. All I ever want to do is help the rescued horses. I never expected the feed to take off like it did.”
“You’re charismatic as hell on screen,” he says.
“Seriously? I don’t know what the hell I’m doing half the time.”
“You’d never know it by watching,” he says, and inside I melt.
Because I may not know Liam well, but one thing I figured out at our first meeting was that he doesn’t compliment unless he means every word.
I’ve worked damn hard at those videos. Ashley and I both have. I’m proud of the way we’ve brought in donations for the horses who need it so much.
“I’ve thought of quitting my job,” I say, surprising the hell out of myself when I say it out loud for the first time to another person.
“Really?” Liam doesn’t sound judgy at all. Or even surprised necessarily. “You want to change paths?”
“I want to be my own CEO.”
Now I wait for the laugh.
But it never comes.
Instead, he says, “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Haley Laine. In fact, I’m shocked you’re still working for somebody else.”
“You know you’re the first person I’ve admitted that to?”
