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“Yeah, they’d been planning to go for months.”
He was quiet for a minute, the tram’s squeaking and jingling marking the air before he spoke again. “So…they knew you wouldn’t be able to go with them, and they still chose to go?”
Claire cringed, hearing the question behind his words—the question he really wanted to ask.
Your parents didn’t care enough about you to spend Christmas with you?
She rushed to explain, desperate not to sound so pathetic that her own parents didn’t want to be with her. “It’s no big deal. We’ve actually spent more Christmases apart than we have together, so…”
Oh, perfect. That made her sound much better.
“The next station is Latimer Road.”
“Mind the gap between the train and the platform.”
Liam stared at her with a curious eye, but to her relief, he didn’t push her for more information. She struggled to concoct another topic of conversation, but as the train rushed from station to station, the two sat in continued silence. As was always the case with her parents being mentioned in conversation, Claire’s mind was blank, a shattered vase below wilted flowers.
“The next station is Paddington.”
When the doors opened again, a large group filtered onto the train, filling the rest of the seats and the center aisle. The warning beeps sounded, and the last passengers managed to slip on just before the doors closed. A woman with a swelling belly and a toddler clasping onto her legs glanced around for a place to sit, taking hold of the bar near the doorway to prepare for the train’s launch.
Within a matter of seconds, Liam stood and motioned for the woman to take his seat. With a relieved smile and a quick, “Thank you,” she sat down beside Claire.
Claire glanced up at Liam, who focused straight ahead, as if he hadn’t just done the most benevolent thing in the world.
The woman’s toddler tapped her mom’s leg, and Claire listened as she whispered in the most adorable accent she’d ever heard. “Mummy, I want to sit on my own chair.”
“I know, poppet, but there aren’t any left.”
The little girl pressed her lips bravely together, doing her best to stop her tears, but Claire’s heart twisted.
“Would you like my seat?” she asked, leaning forward with a friendly smile.
The little girl shied behind her mom, though she delivered a tiny nod.
“Oh, you don’t have to move,” the mother said with a hand to her belly.
But Claire was already scooting forward. “It’s totally fine.”
The woman smiled graciously once again, then Claire stood. As the mother helped the toddler into the seat, Claire glanced around for a rod to hold onto, surprised at how swiftly the carriage had filled up at just one station.
Nearby, Liam motioned her forward, shifting to the side and raising his hand farther up the bar to allow her more room.
“Thanks,” she said, careful to place her hand a good foot away from his.
He nodded in silence, then Claire caught him smiling at the little girl with a quick wink before he focused straight ahead again.
Looking away, Claire did her best to breathe in the other less-than-pleasant smells around her, instead of Liam’s intoxicating scent which shifted toward her like the pleasant waves of the sea.
“The next station is Edgeware Road.”
Thank heavens. The train would be sure to empty then.
But of course, the opposite happened as more people pushed and prodded their way into the carriage. Liam shifted his hand from holding the rod to grasping onto the loops above their heads. His arm flexed, the muscles pressing into the folds of his sleeve, and the top of his clavicle became visible as his shirt popped open near the collar—just as it had at the airport. Only this time, she had a perfect, prolonged view.
Claire blew out a slow breath. Alright, so she was just going to resign herself to death by attraction, was that it?
She focused her gaze on the floor as the train sped forward, her feet braced apart to avoid any movement.
