Page 30 of Quinlan

“Yes,” is all I say. Overdoing it will only make him think I’m lying.

I am not lying.

“Sam, rushing the timeline will damage the product’s quality,” I hear a man say as he comes out of the building. “Is that what you want? No. Didn’t think so.”

Whoever the neighbor is, I don’t care. I care about the flames licking behind Liam’s eyes. I care that he’s not letting me go.

Reckless. I’m running into danger. Avoiding my responsibilities.

My job.

Asking Liam to release me is the smart thing to do. Walking away from the second confusing man to enter my life in less than twenty-four hours is exactly what I should be doing.

I stay silent, not saying a word.

“I should get going.” Liam takes the words out of my mouth. I gape. My mouth opens wider when he adds, “Goodbye, little flame.”

First darling, now this? If I were more into conspiracy theories, I’d say Liam and the man from last night know each other. That this is some kind of an elaborate prank.

By who?

Rex would never throw men my way. My parents are too checked out to pick up the phone, let alone plan something like this.

My clients are decent people. They’re not after hurting me, either. They’re satisfied with my work. The reviews and thank you emails say as much.

Definitely not my ex from junior high. We’ve both moved on since. It’s been years.

My eyes snap shut, hiding my crazy thoughts from this stranger. He’ll see through me, I’m sure of it.

“Goodbye, Liam,” I whisper to the darkness behind my eyes.

His touch is gone first. Then the warmth of his presence and the underlying scent of ashes.

I blink my eyes open, feeling the bitter rejection on my tongue.

I was the one who wanted him to go. I’m not supposed to be angry that he did it. My knees shouldn’t be weak. My breath shouldn’t be labored.

I’m crumbling into the wall behind me anyway.

CHAPTER SIX

Quinlan

By lunchtime, I’ve putLiam and the man from yesterday in the back of my mind.

I’m done updating a website for one of my clients after working on it all through the morning. It’s a cute hair salon that’s located in Florida, owned by the sweetest lady, Paulina. She added a mani-pedi section that’s absolutely beautiful and made sure it would be eye-catching and hopefully, draw in new clients to the salon.

A smile teases my lips as I look over it one last time. I lean my elbow on the black wood desk I have resting against my expansive window, propping my cheek on my palm.

The view of the building across from me isn’t much. Blue skies hanging over the closest brick building. It’s enough for me. Blue is the color of hope. It’s the color of someone’s eyes.

Shut up.

I snap out of it, returning to work, emailing Paulina.

From:[email protected]

To:[email protected]

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