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He had fed me. Taken care of me. Respected my independence, even when every instinct in his body clearly wanted to hover around me like a six-foot-four emotional security system.

He had never asked me for anything.

Not once.

And if I allowed myself to think about it for longer than five seconds, the truth became even more inconvenient.

I liked him.

I didn’t generally like people.

People were complicated. They were demanding and unpredictable. Frequently exhausting.

Liam, however, had somehow become the one person whose presence in my space didn’t immediately drain my social battery.

I liked talking to him.

I liked arguing with him.

I liked watching his very kind face when Markie yelled profanity at him.

And if I was being brutally honest with myself, the chemistry between us was not subtle. That night in the mountains had not been a fluke.

I rubbed my face with both hands.

This was deeply inconvenient. Feelings required vulnerability. Vulnerability required trust. And trust required evidence.

Lowering my hands, I stared at the ceiling.

So far, the evidence suggested that Liam was someone worth considering.

Which was both encouraging and deeply irritating.

Markie hopped onto the arm of the couch beside me.

“DOG.”

“Stop.”

“DOG.”

“Stop.”

He leaned forward. “WHERE DOG?”

I turned my head slowly and looked at him. “You are not helping.”

“DOG.”

“Liam is not currently present,” I said firmly. “And we are not discussing him.”

Markie clicked his beak. “DOG.”

I closed my eyes again. This bird was going to be the death of me.

My phone buzzed on the coffee table.

I picked it up and saw Cris’s name on the screen. “Hello.”