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“Earlier.Daddy talked to him outside.”
Liam hadn’t mentioned a thing since I’d arrived.Had it gone that bad?
“William is your daddy’s full name, but we all like to call him Liam.That guy doesn’t know Liam well enough to call him that.”
I stayed until they fell asleep.I wanted to talk to Liam, and I wanted to do it without worrying about being overheard.But by the time I got downstairs, he still wasn’t inside.
I found him in the shop, on a stool, painting one of the end tables we’d picked up when we’d last been in Bismarck for Eli’s speech therapy.
He didn’t look at me, but my steps echoed through the shop.He was toward the back, on the opposite side of where he welded.Farthest away from the dust.The main color was slate gray, but he was painting the handles and trim a sky blue.
“I told Hattie about these, and she said I should give them a try.People love colorful furniture for kids’ rooms.”
I stopped next to him.“What happened with Cameron?”
The brush stopped.“History repeated itself.”
There was so much history between him and Cameron, yet so little variation.“Meaning?”
“Instead of telling me to stay away from Derek, it was you he warned me away from.”
Cameron had driven out here and warned Liam away, but he didn’t even know we were dating.What would he do if he learned otherwise?I repressed a shudder.
I put my hand on Liam’s shoulder.“I’m sorry.”
He set the brush on the tarp he’d laid down to protect the floor and put the metal lid on the paint can.“It was Cameron being Cameron.Doesn’t want a damn thing to do with me, but swoops in and thinks I’ll listen to him.”
“I’m still sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, Kenny.None of this stuff is.”
“It’s not yours either.”
He rose and grabbed a blue-paint-speckled rag from his back pocket.“It is.Because I can’t seem to stay away from you.And I don’t want to.”
After hearing him say that, I was grateful to spend the night with him.I followed him to the sink, where he rinsed the paint off the brush.His forearms flexed as he washed his hands.
I leaned against the counter next to the sink.This part of the shop was newer.It’d been a bare wall in high school.Liam had built it into a nice workstation.
He was a talented guy.Multifaceted.I couldn’t wait to see what he did with this place once he was here for good.And I didn’t want to be the one getting a job where I’d need to commute.But he’d done it for so long.With kids.While supporting Grandma Gin and me.I could suck it up.
I let my gaze linger on his broad chest.“I don’t want you to stay away from me either.In fact, I want you to stick pretty close.”
He shut the water off.Dried his hands on a clean towel next to me, then tossed it down.
He stepped in front of me, caging me against the counter with his arms.“What else do you want me to do?”
I pretended to think.“You already fed me.”
“I did.”His head hung lower, our lips closer.
I tugged his shirt out of his pants.“You already filled my low tire.”He had talked me through it, but he had a compressor—and he’d given me a tire gauge to keep in my glove compartment.
“I did.”Our mouths were closer.“Anything else?”
My fingertips grazed his hot skin.His abs clenched.“I don’t know, but I suppose we should go inside and think of more?”
“Nah.You can be noisier out here.”
