Enticing Liam (Big Sky Royal 2)

“What’s wrong with you?”

His jaw is clenched, and his knuckles are white on the steering wheel. He’s agitated.

Perhaps even angry.

“Nothing.”

“Wrong answer. First of all, I’m Ellie, remember?”

He sighs.

“And you’re angry. I’ve barely seen you today, so I’m not sure what in the world I could have done to make you cross.”

He sighs again and then takes a deep breath, visibly relaxing.

“If it upsets you so much to bring me this evening, you should have said so.”

“It’s fine.” He clears his throat. “It’s not you, or dinner tonight. I’m sorry for being a dick.”

“You’re not a dick.” My lips twitch at the word. “You can talk to me if you like.”

He shakes his head. “I’m okay.”

“So, we’ll have sex, but we won’t talk? Good to know.”

He swiftly pulls to the side of the road. “I haven’t decided when we’ll have sex.”

“But you said—”

“That we’d do it my way,” he interrupts. He looks frustrated, his brown eyes on fire. “And, yes, we’ll talk. But damn it, Ellie, this is new to me. I didn’t ask for you to decide that we should give in to this chemistry. It’s a bad idea. Every instinct is screaming at me that this is the worst idea I’ve ever had.”

“I’m flattered.” I’m hurt. He doesn’t have to do anything. Including me.

“Jesus.” He rubs the bridge of his nose. “I warned you that I’m not a nice person.”

“You can take me home if having me with you is such a trial.”

He shakes his head again, watches the traffic pass by, and finally reaches over and takes my hand in his, surprising me.

“I had a bad day.”

“I’m sorry that you had a bad day.”

I wait. I don’t know him very well yet, but I have a feeling that Liam’s the kind of person who will tell me what’s on his mind when he’s good and ready. His gesture of taking my hand is sweet, the touch comforting.

“A man I knew from the Army died this morning.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Liam. You have my deepest condolences.”

He nods. “He was only thirty-four. A good soldier. A nice guy.”

I swallow and bring his hand up. His skin is warm and smooth against my lips.

“Was he in an accident?”

“No.” He pulls away. I can feel the wall settling back into place, just like that. “He killed himself. He couldn’t stand the nightmares anymore.”

I gasp, watching Liam closely. “My God, Liam.”

“Yeah, well. He wasn’t the first. He probably won’t be the last. But I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

“I’m sure Lauren wouldn’t mind if we reschedule dinner.”

“I’d like to go.” He puts his car back in gear. “If you still want to go.”

“Of course.”

He nods and pulls back onto the street, passing the park where we walked yesterday and then pulls into a long driveway.

The house is large, and I live in some big homes. It’s white with columns on the front porch and black shutters flanking each window.

“It’s a lovely home.”

Liam nods, looking at it. “My grandfather built it.”

“Really?”

“Our great-grandparents helped to establish Cunningham Falls. This property has been in the family for three generations now. I used to spend summers here when I was a kid.”

“It looks like it was a fun place to be.”

“We loved it.”

He climbs out of the car, opens my door, and leads me up the steps of the porch. Before he can ring the bell, a little girl with red hair and a happy, toothless smile flings open the door.

“Liam!” she exclaims. “Mom! Liam’s here.”

“Who are you?” Liam demands as the little one flings herself into his arms. He holds her up high and buries his face in her neck, blowing raspberries. “I don’t know you. You’re too big.”

“I’m Layla.” She giggles with delight.

“Hi,” Lauren says as she hurries to the door, a crying toddler in her arms. “I planned to be way more proper when you arrived, but Asa just fell, and Ty had to take a call, and well…here we are.”

“I’m Ellie,” I say, completely charmed by Liam’s pretty cousin. It’s not at all what I’m used to when meeting new people, and it’s a complete breath of fresh air. “What can I do to help?”

“Come see my princess room,” Layla says. “Please? Mommy said you’re a real princess.”

“I am,” I reply as Liam lowers Layla to her feet.

“My God, what are we doing on the front porch?” Lauren says. “See? I’m a mess. Come inside.”

She steps back and ushers us into a grand foyer with its large table full of fresh flowers.

“You have a lovely home.”

“Thank you,” Lauren replies. Asa watches me with big, tear-filled eyes.

“Sorry,” a man says as he hurries into the room. “There’s always a fire to put out somewhere.”

He shakes Liam’s hand.

“This is Pr—” Liam begins, but I shake my head.

“I’m Ellie,” I say with a smile. Ty holds out his hand to shake mine, taking me off guard. But he doesn’t know protocol. I take his hand and shake it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”