She hadn’t fully appreciated the “Liam effect” until her third week of working with Mason. Liam was on vacation, and by the end of the last session that week, Emily told her practice manager she “would never see that brat again unless Liam Harper was available to run interference.”
Her displeasure had been communicated, and since then she’d never seen Mason without Liam being present. Over the past few months, she’d discovered that she and Liam were polar opposites. He was an outdoorsman. In fact, the week he’d been on vacation, he’d been in Wyoming. Hiking, camping, living off the land, with the frequent use of a compass to navigate.
Emily, however, had never met a hotel, mall, or nail salon she didn’t like. The only time she wanted to be outside was when the temps were in the low seventies, humidity was nonexistent, and there were no bugs. Or dirt. So, basically, she had about a five-hour window in spring and another in the fall.
If she’d been interested in pursuing a relationship with Liam, they might have been able to get past that. But she was not interested. At all. He was an agent who would literally take a bullet for someone else. She didn’t date agents. Ever. Some women were attracted to men like that. Not her.
Liam frowned at his phone as he spoke. “I’d say let’s get it over with. The family has an appearance this afternoon.” Mason hated public appearances. “If he has a few extra minutes before that, he’ll be happy to take them.”
“You make it sound like he’ll be happy or there will be consequences. And based on the length of the text you’re sending, I’m suspicious that you might be laying out those consequences in detail.”
Liam grunted but continued texting.
Not for the first time, she caught herself staring. With his head bent over the phone, she had a perfect view of his thick red hair. Before she met Liam, if anyone had asked her if she found redheads attractive, she would’ve said she’d never thought about it. But Liam had great hair. It suited him.
“Emily, I would never threaten my protectee.”
She waited.
“I would, however, remind him of promises made and the rewards coming his way if he holds it together, but that will be lost to him if he screws up.”
Liam had a great voice that made her name sound like music. He was quick to laugh, but he never laughed at anyone, only with them. And when he cared about something, or someone, his devotion was off the charts. He cared about his job. He cared about his family. He even cared about Mason Lawson, and unfortunately, unless they were a blood relative, not many people did.
All those things would’ve made Liam someone she wouldat least entertain the possibility of considering. But he was an agent, so she’d friend-zoned him on day one, a move she didn’t regret. Much. She understood the life. Her brother was up to his eyeballs in it. It had almost gotten him killed several times, and worrying about Gil was all her heart could handle. Gil had had her heart from the womb. Caring about him and for him was literally in her DNA, so she’d learned to live with the constant fear.
But there was no way she could hand her heart over to someone else and risk losing them.
LIAM FINISHED HIS TEXTand pushed away from the door. “Mason’s en route. How can I help today?”
Emily flashed him the smile he liked to think she reserved for people she really, really liked, but he reminded himself, as he did every time she was here, that the only reason he was in this room was to protect Mason Lawson.
“I’m good, thanks. Just need the man of the hour.” She pulled a few more exercise bands from her bag. “Did you try the Thai place I told you about?”
“I did.” They spent the next ten minutes in easy conversation. Everything about Emily was easy. She was easy to look at. Easy to talk to. Easy to make laugh. The one thing that wasn’t easy? Getting out of their easy camaraderie and into something ... more.
The kind of more where they’d be trying new restaurants together as opposed to telling each other about them and trying them separately.
Mason slouched into the room. The agent with him didn’t say a word, but her eyes spoke volumes before she touched her fingers to her head in a small salute. Liam acknowledged it with a chinlift. Mason was now his responsibility. And he knew everyone in the house breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Mason knew the drill, and he took a seat in the chair while Emily asked him questions about how his shoulder felt and if he’d done his exercises yesterday.
Mason grumped a few words, and Liam cleared his throat. Mason sat up straighter and spoke politely.
Better.
At only sixteen, the kid could be a handful. There was no way around it. Mason approached all new relationships with bluster and attitude, and most people let him get away with it because they didn’t think it would be appropriate to correct the vice president’s son.
Liam had no such issues. It wasn’t his job to correct the kid, but it also wasn’t his job to be his best friend. It was his job to protect him, and he’d made that clear to Mason on their first afternoon together.
He’d also figured out fast that Mason Lawson was like those yappy little dogs who talk a big talk but have nothing to back it up. Establishing boundaries and enforcing them had been huge.
“So, is everything a go for your camping trip?” Emily asked the question right as she pulled Mason’s arm into a stretch the kid hated. She had a knack for finding the right time to ask a question that would give Mason something to think about other than the discomfort.
“All packed.” Mason hissed the words between clenched teeth.
“The weather looks good for it.” Emily counted a slow ten count before releasing Mason.
Liam couldn’t agree more. “It should be perfect. Chilly mornings, pleasant afternoons, sunshine.”
