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I let out a sigh. “So I told my social worker,” I said.

“She confronted the mother. The mother took his side. Called me a nasty, lying slut. I got a new placement. With Lucia.” I stroked his hair.

“So you see? My luck turned. It was meant to be. But I still carry some of that around. I never go for guys who are significantly bigger than me, for instance. I hate being pushed around, or feeling squished. I freeze right up.” I hoisted myself onto my elbow, and petted his massive chest. “You’re a big exception,” I added, in a wondering voice. “Very big.”

His penis was long and hard, standing up against his belly. He shot me an uncomfortable look. “I know it’s inappropriate, after what you just told me. Being close to you just does it to me. I can’t help it. Or hide it, either. Since I’m naked.”

“It’s okay,” I murmured. “I know you’re one of the good guys.”

He gathered me into his arms and I melted into the hug. My arms

trembled with the strain of holding him so tightly, but I wanted it to last forever.

When we finally relaxed, he brushed the hair off my face and cupped my cheek.

“I want to find that guy and kill him,” he said.

I was taken aback by that blunt pronouncement. “Ah, I don’t recommend that, Liam,” I said nervously. “I have enough problems as it is.”

He traced my eyebrow with his finger. “It’s strange,” he said. “I’m not a violent person. I’ve never gone looking for a fight in my life. But I would kill anyone who hurts you.”

I opened and closed my mouth a few times, utterly nonplussed. “I’m not quite sure what to do with that information.”

“It’s not for you to do anything with,” he said. “It’s just the truth, for me. Maybe I shouldn’t have shared that. Sorry. Didn’t mean to make it weird for you.”

“It’s okay,” I assured him. “Just a little, um. Intense.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” He pulled away and got up, scooping up his jeans, and I sat up, realizing that our idyll was over. Liam was all business now.

He pulled his jeans up over that stunning ass, and then pulled open his closet, rummaging under a pile of thick wool blankets on a high shelf. After a moment, he pulled down a heavy black fiberglass case and laid it down on the bed.

“What’s that?” I asked.

Liam unsnapped the case. “My stepfather’s old service revolver.”

I flinched. “Oh, my God. What are you going to do with that thing?”

He lifted an eyebrow at my tone. “Keep it close. Just in case.”

“You really think that’s necessary? Do you know how to use it?”

Liam laughed under his breath as he pulled out a box of bullets, opened the cylinder, and loaded it. “Yes and yes. I could have used this in your stairwell last night. Of course I know how to use it. God, what a question.” He tucked it into the back of his jeans and shrugged on his shirt over it.

I shivered at the thought of the deadly thing, cold against the warm skin of his back. “Do you have a license to carry concealed?” I asked.

“I can get one,” he said. “I’ve never needed one before, so I never bothered.”

“Well. Until you get one, maybe you’d just better?—”

“Think it through, Nancy,” he said. “If the cops catch me carrying concealed, they’ll give me a really hard time. If the bad guys catch me without it, they’ll kill me, and take you. Which of those two scenarios scares you more?”

My belly contracted into a hard knot. I hugged my knees to my chest.

Liam sat down beside me and put his arm around my shoulders. “It’s just a precaution,” he said. “I’m sorry it upsets you. But I’ll feel better carrying it.”

I leaned into his hug. We clung to each other. The patch of sun on the floor had moved all the way across the room to the wall by the time he lifted his head.

“You hungry?” he asked.

“That’s the second time you’ve asked,” I commented. “I’m thinking you’re definitely hungry. Am I right?”

“Starving,” he said promptly. “Haven’t eaten since before the seisiún last night.”

Hmmm. I hadn’t eaten since that sandwich at the diner, which was the morning before that, but he would almost certainly have something critical to say about it.

“You poor thing,” I said. “Wasting away. Why didn’t you say something?”

“Didn’t seem important until now,” he said. “Lucky for us, I fixed the neighbor lady’s porch steps a month ago, and she gave me a lifetime supply of frozen pot roast stew. She’s an artist when it comes to pot roast. Get dressed.”

“Why? It feels good to be naked. Are you expecting company?”

“Eoin’s around here somewhere,” he warned. “I’m sure he has the good sense to keep his distance, but there are no curtains on the kitchen window.”

That convinced me to clothe myself. We freshened up in his bathroom, pulled on our clothes and went down to feast in Liam’s big kitchen on rich, savory beef stew, sourdough toast, crisp apples, and wedges of cheese.

I ate with appetite. Having a man stare at me like that made me giddy. I practiced my femme fatale act, licking fruit juice off my fingers, and was gratified when he dragged me right back up to the bedroom for another passionate collision in his bed.

I could get used to this. Hell, maybe I could even get good at it.