“Hello, miss?Are you okay?”His question interrupted my internal pep talk.
“Well, well, well.If it isn’t Liam Bishop.”My voice betrayed me, coming out a squeaky rasp instead of the confident and commanding boom I’d rehearsed on the rare occasions I allowed myself to imagine what I’d say if he ever bothered to come back.I cleared my throat and slammed my cup onto the counter, carelessly splashing coffee over the rim in my attempt to appear more intimidating.Get it together, Maya.You’re never going to intimidate him like this.“Look who finally remembered he has a grandmother.What happened, Liam?City life lost its shine?Or did your conscience finally catch up with you?”
He glanced around the shop as though he were wondering who I was talking to, the sandy waves of his hair bouncing with every turn of his head.My eyes rolled before I could stop them.Sexy and dumb.Why doesn’t that surprise me?
His eyebrows drew together, and he pressed his lips into a thin line.“I’m so sorry to ask this, but have we met?”
A disbelieving gasp burst from my throat.Tell me he did not just ask that.The gall of this guy.He thought he could come intomystore and ask whoIwas?At least his ridiculous question distracted me from my preoccupation with his sexy body.Scorching fury flooded my veins, incinerating the lust I’d felt before I’d realized who I was dealing with, leaving my fingers itching to fling my coffee mug at his stupidly handsome face.
And, as if his audacity hadn’t been horrible enough, his expression of confusion had the nerve to becute.God, I hated him.Why did he have to be so adorable?
He tilted his head, and I could almost see him sifting through every memory in his brain as he tried to place me.“Who are you again?”
Another heated scoff spilled from my lips, and he recoiled.Imagine having the balls to askwho I waswhenhe’sthe one who’d disappeared for years.
“WhoamI?Who amI?”Blood rushed to my face.I’m the one who’s been taking care of your Nana, you dickhead.I’m the one who’s been her real family.“You have some nerve asking who I am after not bothering to visit for so long.”
Your dick is mine.No!I mean your ass is mine.No!Son of a bitch, Maya.Keep it together.Your ass is grass.Yes.That’s the one.Your ass is grass, Liam Bishop.
His showing up unexpectedly made what had already been a terrible day—thanks to a lack of sleep and hours spent shovelling—even worse.It would have been nice to have at least some warning.So why hadn’t Nana told me he was coming?
Unless …My body sagged as worry replaced the irritation.Had she forgotten that he was coming?Or forgotten to tell me?
I pushed that thought away, not ready to examine Nana’s memory issues while her neglectful grandson stood right in front of me.Instead, I crossed my arms, focused my emotions, and glared at him as he furrowed his eyebrows in bewilderment.
His mouth worked silently, and that inexplicable heat built inside me again.He was more attractive when he wasn’t talking.
Before I could say anything else, thirty pounds of fuzzy orange destruction slammed into me.My devil cat clawed his way up my body, digging bloody footholds into my flesh as a creature at my feet gave a menacing hiss.
Harold dragged himself onto my shoulder as if he were clambering out of a pool, andlaunchedhimself off my head, using it as a springboard to reach the top of the nearest bookcase.
“Ow ow OW!”I gasped as pinpricks of pain flared to life along my side.“Son of a bitch, that hurts.”I slapped my hands down my body, searching for blood, but somehow my fingers came away clean.
“Mr.Fluffy, that was rude.”A voice cut through the fog of pain, and from the corner of my eye, I watched the man who arrived with Liam scoop up the strange creature responsible for this mess.
Harold let out an indignant growl from his new perch.
“Damn it, Harold.Your giant ass is too big to be doing shit like that.I ought to skin you and have you turned into a hat.”His hulking mass bulged over the edge of the shelf as he glared at me.“With a scarf and gloves to match.”He stared right back as I glowered at him, his gaze unrepentant and unconcerned about my empty threat.“First thing tomorrow, I’m buying that weight-control food the vet recommended.”
Harold flicked his tail, turning to show me his backside before settling in to give it a thorough cleaning.I sighed.I knew Harold would love me one day; I just wished he would hurry up about it.Because this outright hostility was getting old.
“I am so sorry.Are you okay?”The man who came in with Liam pointed the animal’s tiny face at me.It wore the cutest blue sweatshirt with the hood up.“Say sorry to the nice lady, Mr.Fluffy.”
I waved him off.“That’s the most affection Harold has shown me since I brought him home, so maybe I should thank your …” What kind of animal was that?“…furry snake?Weiner dog?Cat … sock?”
The man snorted a laugh.“Mr.Fluffy is a ferret.I’m Greg.We came with him.”He jerked a thumb at Liam before turning his attention back to me.“But don’t you dare thank Mr.Fluffy.He’s been anaughtyboy, and he’s in big trouble.”Greg shook his head at the ferret.“I’m so sorry.He usually has far better manners than this.It’s back to puppy class for you when we get home, mister.”
I stared at the ferret, temporarily distracted from the blue-eyed bastard standing nearby.I’d never seen a ferret in person before, and now Icouldn’tlook away.“Can I pet him?”I couldn’t resist the fuzzy little cat sock.He was just too adorable.
“Of course.”Greg pulled Mr.Fluffy back when he hissed again.“But we should give him a few minutes to calm down first.I’d hate for him to bite you and add to your already impressive collection of puncture wounds.”
“Ahem.”Liam cleared his throat, cutting through my ferret-induced trance.“If you’ve finished fawning over Mr.Fluffy, can we get back to our conversation?I’d still like to know who you are.”
Right.Ferret snuggles would have to wait until after I finished giving Liam Bishop hell.
I fixed him with a glare.“Oh, I bet you would, wouldn’t you?”I drew out my words, letting the deliciousness of the moment I’d been rehearsing for nearly two years sink in.“What’s the matter?Too busy telling Nana all about your exciting life in the city to listen when she tells you she hired someone to manage the store?”
The confusion on his face deepened.
