“What? What does that mean? He was fine the last time Isawhim.”
“I don’t know, sweetie, okay? I’m just telling you what he said, and no, I don’t want you bringing this up to Jade. I don’t want to be where I’m notwanted.”
“You’re best friends with him. I don’tgetit.”
“Okay, you know what? I’m going to figure this out. I just wanted to keep you intheloop.”
“Well, where are you goingtogo?”
“I’ll find a place, okay? I’m a grown man. You don’t have to worry about me.” My heart hurts. I have to figure something outforhim.
“I love you, daddy.” With a sigh on his end and a matching one on mine, we bothhangup.
I slouch into the couch, close my eyes, and try to swallow the knot in mythroat.
“Hey,” Liam says, walking out of the kitchen, shirtless, of course. “Come in here for a minute.” He nods his head back to the kitchen, and I stand up tofollowhim.
Once in the kitchen, he pulls out a chair at the table and taps the woodenseat. “Sit.”
Not being in much of a mood to argue with him or tell him to stop telling me what to do, I take the seat. Silence follows as he grabs the mop from the corner of the kitchen, dunks it into the water bucket, rings it out, and slaps the thick cotton strands down onto the floor, creating a thud and splashingsound.
I watch him run the mop back and forth a half dozen times, becoming distracted by the flexing of his abs every time he pivots. His skin is merely a thin piece of material slickly moving over the fine-tuned gears in his body. He’s kind of like a gorgeousmachine.
“Did you ask me to come in here so I could watch you mop,shirtless?”
“Wow, sorry. I didn’t think you’d be so opposed to the idea.” A slim grin smooths over his lips and even in my state of despair, I want to kiss him again, and again . . . and again. I totally lost my battle with my rulebook, but research—that’s what I’m doing. If it turns out he’s not like the other assholes, even though I already know he’s an asshole, then so be it. If he is the same kind of asshole, he’s just going to get ripped apart in my book someday. I should warn him. Maybe that’d make him think twice before messing with me or myheart.
“Unless your backside, or your pride, as you call it, is in its full glory, I have no real desire to watch you mop.” As hard as it is to force my mouth into any form of happiness, there’s at least a small twitch to the corner of my lips, but only because I imagined him mopping inthenude.
“I overheard, your conversation with your pops, and I haveanidea.”
I wasn’t being inconspicuous, and I knew he was in the kitchen, but in the moment, I wasn’t thinking about him overhearing anything. This is killing me, knowing I can’t help the one man who has always done everything in the world to help me. “There’s no way tohelphim.”
“Never say never,sunshine.”
“Liam, I don’t know what your idea is, but he would be mortified to know anyone else even knew what was going on, so please keep thatinmind.”
Liam bends over in front of me, scraping a spot on the tiled floor with the back of his thumbnail. The way his jeans stretch over his ass is just mouthwateringly breathtaking. He totally knows I’m staring, and I’m okay with that. “Give me the day, and let me see what I can do to help your oldman,okay?”
“You won’t tell me what you’re doing?”Iask.
“Not until I know if it’spossible.”
I think that’s worth a few points next to his name. He is offering to help me, and it’s more than I could ask of anyone right now. I stand up from the chair, motivated to wrap my arms around him, but as I stand, my feet go out from under me. Shocking ... so freakingshocking.
Of course, I had to let out a little shriek on the waydowntoo.
“Sunshine, the floor is wet,” Liamlaments.
I look at him, irritated, and pull my knee into my chest to stand up, but Liam leans forward and offers me his hand. Obviously, I’m not going to just stand up with his strong arm muscles pulling me from the wraths of the wet tiles I’m resting on. I pull him down too, except he wasn’t expecting it. He’s a lot bigger than I am, and definitely not so graceful as he thumps his chin into the ground.Oops.Shit.
“Oh no, no, no,” I chirp. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?” I bend forward, getting onto my knees to help him up. “Liam, I’m sorry!” I semi-assist him in getting up off the floor, and when he lifts his face, I see a small gash on the bottom ofhischin.
He must feel it as he touches his fingers to the spot, pulling them away and findingblood. “Shit.”
“Hold on. Stay here.” I run upstairs to the hall closet and retrieve the first aid kit, returning just as quickly asIleft.
He’s sitting against the cabinet doors, shaking his head with disappointment. “You have zero game,” he says. “That was so close to being hot ... and even a littlefunny.”
