Page 24 of Liam
Her smile grew. “Are you telling me we have this entire place to ourselves?”
“Yep.”
She shook her head. “You just keep surprising me, Liam Shore.”
“Good surprises, I hope.”
“The best.”
When they entered the first gallery, Nylah’s eyes lit up and she moved toward the wall, reading over the historical details of Cradle Mountain before focusing on a series of small artifacts. She didn’t touch them but got really close, inspecting each carefully.
“Have you always had a love of history?” he asked quietly, eyes forever on her, loving the way she seemed so captivated by the display.
“Yeah. I find it fascinating. Everything from our settlement in this country to ancient history around the world. I love it all.”
She moved to the next exhibit, and he followed. “Have you ever considered studying the subject?”
He regretted the question immediately. Her lips lost a bit of their curve, and her eyes a bit of their brightness. “I completed my first semester at Columbia after I graduated from high school.”
His brows flickered. “But you didn’t continue?”
She shook her head, her gaze running over the next exhibit. “My dad got sick. He ran a bar thathisfather had left him. Selling it would have killed him, and my brothers were all either already in the military or destined to be in the military, so I…”
“Gave up your dream so they could have theirs.”
She lifted a shoulder. “Dad and I were close, and I wanted to be with him. I would have gone home anyway. I ended up taking over the bar. My brothers offered to do the same, but I wouldn’t let them. It was always my plan to go back to school at some point.”
“But you didn’t?”
She tilted her head. “Not yet.”
They moved into the next gallery, her eyes never leaving the exhibitions. Liam had never been a museum kind of guy. Definitely not a history guy. But as she walked, she spoke about each historical fact she read with such excitement that hewantedto be a history guy.
When they reached another room, she smiled. “This is cool!”
The large space held an old train. A lot of people in the community loved that this was here. It was just the engine car, where the driver would sit. But still, it was a big draw for the museum.
He inched closer. “Ned tells me it was the first to run in Cradle Mountain. It was used to transport food.”
She ran her hand over the railing. “Can you imagine being transported back to that time? Even for a day, to just live how they lived. Wear those clothes. Be submerged in that culture.” She leaned over the railing to look inside.
“I wouldn’t like it.”
Her head swung back to him. “What? Why?”
He leaned in, his mouth touching her ear. “Because you wouldn’t be there.”
Her lips parted, air audibly whipping past her lips. “You say pretty sweet things for someone who’s out with a friend.”
“Guess I’m a sweet friend.”
It was a damn lie. He didn’t see this woman as a friend any more than she saw him as one. But she obviously needed to go slow, so he’d give her that.
She swallowed. “Tell me about your team.”
“They’re the brothers I never knew I needed. We went through the hell of Project Arma together, and that bonded us like nothing else could.”
Her eyes softened as she moved around the train. “I’m sorry about the project. What happened to you was…awful.”
