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But then, Liam wasn’t her family, and she wasn’t his. Her stomach swirled with regret. She shouldn’t have reacted so emotionally to him that night. He didn’t deserve that, especially after the entire day he’d sacrificed for her. Really, she should be thanking him for reminding her, albeit inadvertently, that she shouldn’t get too wrapped up in her attraction to him. This was just one more notch to add to her arsenal of reasons why she shouldn’t fall for Liam Everhart.

Although, she probably, most definitely should have been more grateful to him for what he did for her today.

She closed her eyes, laying her phone down on her stomach. She’d been in such a hurry to escape him that she hadn’t even thanked him. Had he noticed? Did he now think she was just a spoiled, selfish American?

With a sigh, she opened her phone again, swiped away from the photo of her and Liam, and pulled up the thread he’d started between them.

Her thumbs hovered over the buttons for a minute before she typed out a quick message.

Claire: Hey, Liam. Thanks for today…

No, that was stupid. She could come up with something cleverer.

Claire: Hola, Liam!

Nope. That wasn’t going to work either.

Claire: Thanks for today. It was fun.

Now she sounded as excited as Dwight Schrute wishing Kelly Kapoor a happy birthday.

With an aggravated sigh, she chastised herself for overthinking a simple message, then typed out the first thing that came to her mind.

Claire: Hey, Liam! I just wanted to say thanks for today. I had a great time!

Holding her breath, she finally sent the message, then clasped the phone to her chest. Would he respond, or was he already asleep? Would he “like” the message or just ignore it altogether?

Tired of the barrage of questions she now assaulted herself with, Claire pulled up Instagram again, determined to post her photos. Then another thought occurred.

Did Liam have an Instagram account?

After a bit of sleuthing—and by “sleuthing,” she meant searching out his name on Instagram and every other social media site she could think of—her search came up empty. Not even Melody was friends with him.

Determined not to fail on this apparently very crucial task, she pulled up Tasha’s Facebook profile, but there was no sign of Liam anywhere. Even scrolling down his mom’s page, she discovered nothing. Until, that is, she caught sight of stunning photo of a baby fox cub nestled in the grass in front of a den.

Claire paused, admiring the photo before seeing that his mom had reshared the post from an account on Instagram named “Everhart Photography.”

Her heart picked up, and she hid her smile as she clicked on the page, Instagram automatically pulling up.

Finally, Claire was rewarded for all her hard work.

As clear as day, William Everhart was listed above the bio. That’s why her search for ‘Liam’ hadn’t pulled up anything.

Her eyes widened as she caught sight of his more than one hundred thousand followers. Though after a quick scroll through his feed, she could see easily why he’d gained such a following.

His bio read:

Amateur Photographer / Wildlife Enthusiast

For prints, click the link below

She scoffed. Amateur photographer, her foot. He’d said he dabbled in photography, but the photos she observed were anything but “dabbling.”

She felt like a kid on Christmas morning, hungrily eying the beautiful photos of hedgehogs, foxes, birds, and deer, mixed with stunning shots of the sea, moors, tarns, and the countryside.

She couldn’t believe he had downplayed his talent so greatly. Or was he really that humble that he didn’t think the photos were as incredible as they were?

Scrolling back to the top of his page, she went too far and accidentally refreshed it. A new post appeared, and her heart jumped.