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“Do not make fun of me. This is no joke.”
“It wouldn’t be much of a leap,” he said.
“What leap?” she asked crabbily.
“Us,” he said. “From where we are now to the kind of relationship where I could have you to stay with me. There’s a gap of …” He held up his thumb and forefinger with barely any space between them. “That much. Depending on what you decide.”
Shivery tingles chased themselves across the entire surface of my body. “I can’t make a decision like that today. I’ve known you for what, twenty-four hours?”
“Time is an illusion,” he said.
She snorted. “Oh, don’t give me that lofty metaphysical crap. Time is not a damned illusion. Not in my world.”
“Okay,” he agreed. “I won’t.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “So what exactly do you have in mind? An exchange of goods and services? I shack up with you, and you protect me, in return for what?”
His eyes hardened. “That was crass, Nancy. I’m not an opportunistic pig.”
“Whoa!” His anger gave me something to push against. “I never said you were! And maybe it’s just me, but I couldn’t help noticing a certain hurricane-force sexual energy coming off you, Liam!”
He wiped rain off his face. “Yes,” he admitted. “Sorry. It’s been a strange day.”
“Tell me about it,” I agreed fervently.
He crossed his arms over his chest. Big arms. A lot of chest.
I’d barely touched his body yet. And he was so careful with me, like I was made of glass. Fragile, brittle.
Oh, for God’s sake. I was poised to tumble over the edge of disaster already. There was no need to take a running leap for it. “Things are strange now,” I said. “It’s a bad time for?—”
“Strange times call for bold gestures. Brave risks.”
I snorted. “I’m actually not that brave, if the truth be told.”
“Bullshit. You have titanium for a spine. Like your mother.”
The mention of Lucia made my throat seize up, tight and hot.
He let a few moments tick by. “I’m not a cop or an investigator. I’m just a carpenter. I can’t promise to help you solve this problem. But I can make damn sure that nobody messes with you while you do it. That, I can absolutely commit to.”
My eyes dropped, heat infusing my face.
“Let me help you,” he urged. “At least think about it. Please.”
Oh, my, yes. Think about it I most definitely would. Every waking second.
“Thanks,” I murmured. “I’ll bear that in mind.”
He crouched until his face was level with mine. “And crash with one of your sisters,” he directed. “Do not stay in your apartment alone.”
“Liam, you cannot imagine how small our living spaces are?—”
“Please, Nancy. Please. For me.”
The intensity of his voice moved me. He really cared. He wasn’t just throwing his weight around. “Okay,” I heard myself say.
“Swear it,” he said. “On your mother’s grave.”