Page 17 of Lost in You (The Monroes 3)

“I never want to date or get close to anyone,” he went on. “My family is all I need.”

Family loyalty. She totally got that aspect, but . . . forever? He never wanted to be close to another person? Clearly he was more broken than she’d thought. Not that she’d call him on it, because he’d surely deny it.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me.” She concentrated on making neat little piles of receipts, ignoring the way her hands shook. “I need to finish this.”

“Damn it, Macy.”

His booming voice seemed to echo in the open space. She jerked, spun around, and spilled those perfect piles right at her booted feet. The man continued to disrupt her life in every way imaginable.

“Why do you do this?” he demanded, settling his hands on his narrow hips. “You play the wounded card so well without even realizing you’re doing it. I can’t just walk away now without feeling like an ass.”

“If you want to walk away, do it. I’m fine no matter what you do, and I’m not playing anything at all.”

Maybe she didn’t sound as convincing as she meant to. Liam dropped his head between his shoulders, then looked back up at her with that tilt of his head. Those dark eyes pinned her in place.

“You’re not fine,” he countered. The muscle in his jaw clenched as his lips thinned. “You think I don’t see it? You think I can’t tell that you’re hiding secrets you don’t want people to know?”

Macy crossed her arms over her chest. A little hope burst in her when his eyes darted down to the V in her T-shirt. Not that she thought she was sexy by any means in what she wore.

“So what secrets are you hiding?” she retorted.

“I’m not here to share secrets, form friendships, or anything else.”

Rolling her eyes, Macy threw her hands in the air and bent down to scoop up the receipts. “Yeah, I get it. Family, work. Simple life.”

“Nothing about my life is simple,” he snapped, his voice growing louder. “If things were simple I wouldn’t want to close this gap between us and kiss the hell out of you like I nearly did months ago. If things were simple I wouldn’t have spent my day at work worried after Zach told me you didn’t look well. If things were simple I’d be in Savannah where I belong and I wouldn’t have to deal with a past I never wanted to revisit again.”

Slowly, Macy came to her feet, work forgotten. Though silence settled between them, his words still seemed to echo.

“My life is complicated,” he added, his tone calmer now. “And I can’t deal with any more.”

Now he did turn and walk away. His heavy footsteps seemed to pound on the stairs. The door to the second floor opened and closed. The resounding snick of the lock was all the exclamation point she needed to know that their conversation on this topic was over.

But for a moment, she just wanted to stand here and revisit some of the most beautiful words she’d heard in a long, long time.

Finally he’d admitted to wanting to kiss her.

If that moment was still in his thoughts, then she had taken up some real estate space in his mind. Maybe he wasn’t immune to her after all. Maybe she didn’t need to flirt with him. Perhaps someone like Liam found a basic woman attractive, one who didn’t wear makeup, didn’t play dress up, and didn’t drive some cute little car.

Whatever he was dealing with had nothing to do with her. But it was nice to know she was a distraction. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever been a distraction for someone before.

And now she had to figure out exactly how to handle this situation. Because Liam wasn’t one to buy into her act. She was going to have to let go of her well-crafted self-image and be herself. She hadn’t been that girl in so long, Macy wasn’t sure she could. But baring her true self might be the only way to get him to open up, and for some reason, she wanted him to let go. Perhaps helping him would free her somehow . . . so long as she didn’t have to reveal the darkest part.

Would her risk pay off or would he throw her attempts back in her face and become even more closed off?

There was only one way to find out.

Chapter Four

“You’re cheating.”

Phil Hayward laughed as he laid down his cards and raked in the chips, not caring that he took his daughter’s meager winnings. “You say that every time.”

Macy took a drink of her beer. “That’s because you cheat every time.”

She loved poker night with her dad. Since they technically lived separately now, she had him come to her house once a week after work. When they were done, he’d walk out, down the driveway and into the back of the garage where Zach had built an apartment. It was weird because Macy had never lived alone. She’d always been with her dad, both in the store and in the apartment above. Other than going away to college, she’d been right here in Haven.

But now that she had her own place, she rather liked the freedom. She was pretty sure she sucked at decorating, because she’d lived here for about five months and had yet to hang a picture on the walls. She couldn’t stand the thought of putting holes in perfectly good sheetrock she’d be paying for over the next thirty years.

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