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Claire nodded. “Yeah, I love it. It’s a lot of work, but it’s always worth it at the end of the day.”

Tasha sighed airily, facing forward again. “Such a novelty, loving one’s job.” Then she glanced at her son. “Isn’t it?”

Liam nodded in silence. So, he didn’t love his job? She supposed that wasn’t a surprise. He was probably some big, fancy exec at a high-end company.

“Where are you working now, Liam?” Melody asked, as if reading Claire’s thoughts.

“I’m still at Peregrine Productions,” he responded.

Each time he spoke, Claire was once again reminded of how much she liked his voice. And every time she was reminded of how much she liked his voice, she had to remind herself of how much she didn’t like him.

“Ah, that’s right,” Melody responded. “And you are a…”

“A producer.”

“Not for long, though,” Tasha responded with another proud smile at her son. “He’s up for a promotion.”

“Oh, that’s exciting,” Melody said.

Liam had yet to say a word. Was he not happy with this potential promotion?

“When do you find out that you got the job?” Tasha asked next.

Was she so sure of her son’s abilities that it wasn’t a question of if but when?

Another beat passed before he responded. “I imagine when I return to work next week.”

Tasha nodded, facing forward as the green scenery passed them by. “I still am amazed that you were able to leave your shoot early. Where were you again? France?”

Again, his head moved up and down.

“That must have been a late flight for you, to arrive home so close to midnight.”

Claire’s ears perked up. She still couldn’t believe her bad luck to have been on the same flight as him the day before. Would he do what it took to prevent his family from knowing the same?

“No,” he responded, “I actually arrived in the morning. I just had a few things to take care of before coming home.”

Well, that would do it.

Claire glanced sidelong at Melody, whose brow pulled together. “Wait, you arrived on a plane from France yesterday morning?”

“Yeah.”

Melody let out a huff of surprised laughter. “So did Claire. How crazy would that be if you guys were on the same flight?”

Liam didn’t respond, but from Claire’s viewpoint, she could see the whitening of his knuckles as he gripped the steering wheel tighter. Was he uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed? She could really make him pay by stretching out this conversation…

It was a good thing Claire wasn’t the vindictive type.

“Yeah,” she responded, “that would have been crazy.”

“Do you remember your flight number, Liam?” Tasha asked.

He cleared his throat. “I don’t, sorry.”

Tasha sighed. “I wish we would have known you were coming. Then you might have been able to help Claire around the airport. Apparently, she had some trouble finding her way out of customs.” She looked back to Claire with a look of understanding. “I don’t blame you. It’s a hedge maze in there.”

Claire rubbed her cheek, hoping to dispel her blush. She’d used the excuse of getting lost to avoid mentioning her little carry-on mishap. No doubt Liam had picked up on her lie, just as Claire had picked up on Tasha’s insinuation that her son would have helped Claire had he been given the chance. Little did she know her own son.