Three bubbles appeared, and she answered.
Yes. We’d love the company.
Starting his truck,he drove to her house. Slowly, he got out of his car and rang the doorbell, no longer feeling welcome as he had before.
“Hi,” she greeted him cheerfully. “How did your meeting go?”
Liam petted Zeus, who came to do a sniff test.
“I’m spinning up in the morning. We don’t know how long we’ll be gone,” he said, gazing at her.
“Do you want to have a late dinner, or do you mean you’ll be gone a day or two?” she asked, staring back at him.
“You misunderstood. The team’s leaving in the morning. We’re headed to Afghanistan,” he informed her.
Stepping back, Addy peered at him with wide eyes. She turned paler by the minute. “I thought you took a job with the security company,” she murmured, trying to make sense of his statement.
“I work for Serenity Securities,” he said. “Why does it feel like you don’t understand?”
Addy turned and sat down on the couch.
“I thought they took jobs in Seattle or in the Washington area. I’ve never heard Kassie or Catherine speak of them spinning up.”
“We don’t announce it,” Liam told her. “Leo takes government contracts all over the world. He tries to stay local most of the time because the men have settled down and have families. Occasionally, he takes a job because it’s important to him or us.”
“I see,” she said, nibbling on her thumbnail.
Taking her hand away from her mouth, Liam held it.
“Stop it,” he said, teasing. “You can’t possibly have any nails left.”
Rising, Addy paced back and forth.
“I didn’t know, Liam. I thought you worked like a security guard, not working as a private contractor,” she said, sounding shocked. She shook her head. “I can’t do this again.”
“Do what?” he asked, confused.
“We can’t see each other anymore, Liam. Sam’s death nearly killed me. I can’t sit and wait for word on how you’re doing. You should’ve made it clear upfront.”
Liam rose from the couch and stood in front of her. He felt his jaw tick as he tapped down his anger.
“I’m not a mind reader. You work with staff who have connections with the team. Even if they don’t announce where they’re going, surely you’ve heard about them leaving before now.”
“They only left one time since I arrived,” she cried. “They took their families to Ireland to Victoria’s home. I covered for Kassie and Catherine. Next, you’ll be telling me they’re covert operatives.”
“Maybe you refused to see it,” he suggested, growing angrier. “You seem to shy away from things when they don’t fit into your fantasy world.”
“What the hell do you mean?” she said, glaring at him.
“You’d rather stay away from people who might force you back into the living. Take a gander around you, Addy. You live in the middle of nowhere. You have no neighbors except for Whiskey at the far end of the road. You work close to where he does, yet you refused to bother him and walked to work,” Liam accused.
“I like walking,” she yelled at him. “I didn’t realize it’s a crime to live in the country.”
“You avoided me like the plague until the landslide caused you to spend time with me. Don’t bother denying it,” he spat.
“I have professional integrity and don’t date patients,” she shot back.
“Shall we go upstairs and check out Sam’s office? The one where you snuck out of the bed after making love to me and slept on the couch,” he gritted out. “What about the picture by the bed? Do you always keep it down when you have sex withanother man, or am I special? I don’t recall seeing it last night. Did you perhaps put it in the drawer?”
