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Even as I pull away from the house, Deja is still glaring at me.
I sigh. It’s going to be hard winning Tracey’s daughter over, but I’m determined to make her like me. Tracey has made it clear if I want to be in her life, her daughter needs to accept me… and as far as I’m concerned, that’s a given. It shouldn’t be any other way.
I’ll do everything I can to be a part of their lives.
Chapter Nine
Tracey
It has been a week and a half since Deja all but chased Liam out of the yard. In that time, we haven’t stopped messaging each other or talking on the phone. If I’m being honest, I’m impressed he wasn’t scared away by Deja’s antics. A weaker man would have run for the hills.
Still, she wasn’t happy when I told her the plan for the night.
“Okay, so, Liam is taking me to dinner, and then we’re going to watch a movie. Are you okay staying home alone?”
“I’ll be fine.” Deja scowls, glaring out the window, avoiding my gaze.
“Deja, how are you feeling about all this? I know it can’t be easy.”
Deja’s bottom lip quivers as she looks at me, her eyes glassy. “I don’t know. I just want to go back to the way things were.”
I cross the room and pull her into a tight hug. “I promise you're always going to be the most important person in my life. Always.”
“Then why are you trying to bring someone else into our lives?” Deja asks, her arms wrapping around my waist as she holds on. “Why do you have to datehim?”
“He makes me happy. I would really like it if you gave him a chance. If you still don’t like him after that, I promise I won’t date him.”
“I don’t know.”
“How about I ask Liam if he wants to stay here and watch a movie with us instead? We can make popcorn, and you can pick the movie.”
A beat passes before Deja responds. “Okay.”
Deja heads to the living room to go pick a movie. I head to the door when I heard someone knocking, confident it’s Liam. Confirming that it really is him, I open the door, offering him an apologetic smile.
“Mind if we stay in tonight? I told Deja we could watch a movie so you two could get to know each other. She’s supposed to be at her friend’s tomorrow night, so we could go out then instead?”
Liam enters the house, toeing off his shoes and grinning. “I don’t mind at all.”
He heads straight for the living room—the open plan living space making the room easy to find—and moments later I can hear them talking about shutter speeds. Deja flies by me and up the stairs, likely to grab her camera. I feel an unexpected release of the tension that has been stored inside me for so long, perhaps ever since our world was turned on its head by my cheating ex. For the first time in a long time, Deja’s eyes had been animated, a genuine smile on her face. Liam offers me a smile as he sits on the floor, crossing his legs. Deja returns in a matter of seconds to sit beside him, camera in hand, their heads bent together. A constant stream of photography terminology I don’t understand flows from their mouths.
Liam looks up and pins me with his magnetic gaze, winking before he goes back to showing Deja more settings. She’s beaming as she lifts the camera and snaps a few pictures of me before showing him.
In that moment, I know I am a goner for this man.
****
“Deja really likes you,” I say, getting into Liam’s truck the next night.
“I like her. She’s a smart kid.”
“She really is. To be honest, I thought that whole thing would go a lot worse. She’s been so resistant to everything since Jake and I separated.”
“It’s not easy to go through something like that.”
Liam and I talk easily on the drive to the restaurant. He tells me about his childhood over dinner, laughing and telling me stories about his brother as well. By the time dinner is paid for, I know I’m head over heels.
There’s something about Liam, something that makes him completely unlike anyone else I’ve ever met. He’s relaxed but knows who he is, and he doesn’t take life too seriously. There were moments when he would laugh so loud, I worried we were bothering the people around us, but he didn’t seem to care.
