Page 13 of Lost in You (The Monroes 3)

Liam had been up all night because he was afraid she’d need something and wouldn’t tell him. He randomly went to the bedroom door to check on her, but each time he checked, she was sleeping peacefully, her dark hair fanned all around her, all over his sheets.

He hadn’t had a woman in his bed in way too long. Macy shouldn’t keep pullin

g him in, but she did without even trying.

Liam had left at six a.m. and tried to be as quiet as possible. He didn’t figure she wanted an early morning encounter any more than he did. He couldn’t imagine if they’d actually had sex because this morning after had been awkward enough.

And why was he thinking sex anyway? He told himself not to put sex and Macy in the same sentence . . . not even in his own mind.

But he was a guy, so . . .

“I’m not her keeper,” Liam growled. He couldn’t make her do anything, except last night when she’d been too sick to drive. And she would’ve tried to drive herself home had he not stopped her. He scooped more filling, leaving drops between the bowl and the dough. “She’s a big girl.”

“Maybe she needs someone to check on her,” Zach suggested, reaching across to swipe the filling off the counter and lick it off his finger.

On a sigh, Liam faced his brother. “Spit it out. Whatever you’re hinting at, just say it.”

“He wants you to go see Macy,” Brock stated.

Zach shrugged. “I’m just saying that she’s always looking after her dad, looking after the store, and never dates the same guy twice from what I’ve seen. That tells me maybe nobody has taken time to get to know her and actually care for her.”

“Are you kidding me?” Liam really, really didn’t want to have this conversation, but he also needed to clear the air and get this out so they could move on. “I’m not looking for a date, a girlfriend, or whatever the hell else you’re thinking. I’m here for you guys and to work. That’s all. Don’t try to dig deeper into my life.”

Zach started to reach across, this time for the bowl. Liam moved it away just in time.

“Get out of my kitchen.”

“You’ll make a shitty housewife. You won’t share and you don’t communicate,” Zach said.

Liam gritted his teeth and counted backward from one hundred. He made it to ninety-eight.

“Just because you fell in love, don’t go around playing matchmaker.” Turning his attention back to the job he was here to do, he added, “Both of you out. Brock, I’ll be done in an hour and you can come back and clean the floor. Why don’t you two go discuss Brock’s female problems, because I don’t have any and am not in the mood to talk.”

“Mom is cranky today,” Brock whispered.

Zach’s laugh filled the spacious room. “She didn’t get any sleep last night because of her roommate.”

“Out,” Liam yelled, pointing his spatula toward the door.

“Kind of hard to sound and look like you have authority when there’s icing dripping on the floor,” Zach said around his laugh.

Brock groaned. “Aw, man. I have to clean that.”

Liam jerked the spoon again, sending another glob onto the ceramic tile. “I can keep going.”

Brock grabbed the bag of chips and headed out the back door.

Zach started to follow, but froze in the doorway. “Seriously, man. Check on her.”

Liam turned his back on his brother and ignored that niggling of guilt that pushed through him. He didn’t want to form any extra feelings, didn’t want to care about anyone else. His plate was full. He’d cared for one woman before—had gotten close, too close. Then he’d been taken for a fool. That experience had sucked out the little bit of his soul he’d rebuilt after all he’d been through. Attempting to feel again could very well destroy him.

But he did care for Macy no matter what he kept telling himself, and he didn’t have to be a jerk. He could call her and see how she was doing, see if she needed . . . what? What exactly could he do for her? They weren’t precisely friends, let alone anything more.

And he was leaving. So no commitments. None. No matter how much he was drawn to his sexy landlord.

Liam finished putting the Danish together and popped them into one of the two wall ovens. All he could do was call and check on her. Anything beyond that wasn’t an option. Liam didn’t have time for more, didn’t want to make the time, because he refused to ever have his emotions or his heart used against him again.

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