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No.Liam yanked his keys from the ignition. This was wrong. All kinds of bloody wrong. When Magnus whispered something in Cora’s ear that made her laugh, it catapulted Liam into motion. He bolted from the car and approached them with ground-eating strides until he swooped in beside Cora.
“Oh!” Cora slapped a hand to her chest and laughed. “Liam, you startled me. I didn’t see you drive up.”
“Magnus, how interesting to see you. Here. At my house.” He stared Magnus down, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
“Liam,” Magnus said in greeting. He looked amused. “I was just telling Cora how lucky you were to have such a charming roommate.”
Was she blushing? This was even worse than he’d thought. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and said, “How was the racetrack?”
“Good. Great. Very entertaining.” Liam kept his gaze on Magnus. “I didn’t realize you two had plans.”
“It was spur of the moment,” Cora explained. “Magnus called me out of the blue right after you left and invited me to dinner. I figured it would be more fun than having takeout with the cat.”
“I’d like to think it was my sparkling personality that convinced you,” Magnus told her with a teasing smile. “But now that I’ve met your cat, I can see why you chose to run away with me.” He held up his hand, showing a red scratch along the underside of his wrist. “That thing is a demon on four legs. I think I may need holy water for this.”
Cora stifled a laugh, reaching for Magnus’s hand to examine it. Liam felt his blood begin to simmer. He curled his fists, straining to keep from shoving Magnus away from her. An old Irish curse rang in his head, and he struggled not to shout it aloud.May the cat eat you, and may the devil eat the cat.
“Please don’t take it personally,” Cora said to Magnus, letting his hand go. “My cat Angel hates almost everyone.”
“Except me,” Liam reminded her. He felt nothing but smug satisfaction knowing Angel had taken a swipe at Magnus. The feisty cat deserved extra treats for that. Angel was definitely on Liam’s side. They were brothers-in-arms.
“Hedoeslike Liam. It’s really weird,” Cora said. “Even my dad was surprised the first time Angel jumped into Liam’s lap.”
“Must be the demonic energy,” Magnus said with mock severity. “Like calls to like, you know.”
“Oh, is that so?” Cora teased. “Must be why you and Liam get along so well, then.”
Magnus locked eyes with Liam, and they had another one of those silent man-to-man conversations.
Are we cool, or are you going to challenge me?
Liam clenched his teeth.She’s far too good for the likes of you.
Maybe. Probably. Hasn’t stopped me before.
You’ll never touch her.
Magnus smirked. Care to put a wager on that?
Liam was seconds away from slamming his fist into Magnus’s arrogant face when Cora said, “I’m going to head in. It’s getting late, and tomorrow’s another long day at the salt mines. Thanks again for inviting me to dinner.”
“It was my pleasure,” Magnus said. “Next time we should check out the new sushi place downtown.”
“Sounds good.” She gave Magnus a bright smile.
A scalding bitterness coated Liam’s insides, worse than the infernal coffee drink everyone seemed to love. That man didn’t deserve Cora’s smiles. He didn’t deserve anything from her.
After Magnus drove away, Liam stormed into the house after Cora.
She was slipping off her shoes near the front door with a dreamy look on her face.
“Cora,” Liam said, shutting the door behind him. “Please tell me you’re not seriously thinking about dating Magnus.”
Cora looked up in surprise. “Why not? I thought you liked him.”
“Not for you,” he said forcefully.
“What’s that supposed to mean? You said Magnus was a guy who knew how to have fun and enjoy life, and I happen to agree with you. He was easy to talk to, and we had a great time at dinner.”
