Page 19 of Same Thing

“Because you are going to Change into a wolf?”

“No,” he murmured, and there was something deep sparking in his eyes. “Dangerous for me, not you. I won’t hurt you.”

“Oh.” She frowned and wished she knew what that meant. “I wouldn’t hurt you either.”

A smile cracked his face right before he dropped his gaze to the carpet. “You’re cute.” He cleared his throat again. “Human. You’re human.”

“You keep saying that.”

“I’ll be back.”

“Hey Liam,” she said before he could leave.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

He frowned. “For what?”

“For thinking of me. For getting me a coffee.”

“I kicked over your coffee. Don’t thank a man for gifts he destroys.”

“Okay.”

He hesitated, then left, shutting the door after him. Two seconds later, he opened up the door and parted his lips like he wanted to say something, then shut the door again.

Nory pursed her lips against a smile. He’d said she was cute. He was really cute too.

The door opened again. “Put on a jacket. I don’t want you catching fucking pneumonia.” There was grit to his voice, but she wasn’t afraid of him. He might be rough around the edges,but that didn’t negate the fact that he woke up thinking about her and had tried to surprise her with a coffee treat. He might have sabotaged it like a champ, but she did appreciate the thought.

“I’ll be in the truck,” he told her and closed the door. Outside, she could hear an echoing curse, and then the door opened back up again. Liam came inside and stood right inside the door, waiting. He looked so annoyed, but now she understood him a little better. He wasn’t mad at her. He was angry with himself.

She didn’t understand all the rules for werewolves, but she did understand that he was breaking a big one hanging out with her.

This felt so exciting. She wasn’t a rule-breaker, but this one felt worth breaking.

As she shrugged into her coat and grabbed her purse, she told him, “You don’t have to worry about this. If you think I’m interesting, it’ll wear off soon.”

He huffed a laugh and shook his head, and there it was. His smile reached his eyes, and the color there started darkening. Liam held the door open for her and then followed her out and waited for her to finish locking up before he led her down the three flights of stairs that separated them from the parking lot.

He tossed a look at Jackson’s front window, and she didn’t know why, but it made her feel safe enough to not check it herself. She couldn’t imagine Jackson messing with her when Liam was around. He was a dominant personality, she could tell. He was also comfortable with saying how he felt, and she didn’t think he liked Jackson much.

She was safe for the moment.

A soft sigh of relief escaped her, and Liam glanced back, checking on her, then waited for her to catch up. He moved tothe side that was closest to the street, and she hid a smile. He might be dangerous, but a part of him was a gentleman.

“I saw that in a movie once,” she said.

“Saw what?” he asked, pulling his keys from his pocket to unlock his truck.

“Where a man moves a woman to the other side of a sidewalk so the man can be closest to the busy street. I didn’t know that was a real thing though.”

“Huh.” He frowned. “I didn’t notice I did that.” He aimed his key at his truck and unlocked it, then held his hand out to stop her from crossing the parking lot until a speeding car passed. When it was gone, he led her to the truck, and opened the passenger side door, and left her to get in while he strode around the front.

“What time do you have to get to work?” she asked when he was settled behind the steering wheel and pulling them out of the parking lot.

“Look, I think it’s best if we don’t talk.”