Chapter 12 no take-backs
twelve
no take-backs
Maya
“Well, that was unexpected.” I bent low to place a wet cloth on Liam’s forehead, barely resisting the inexplicable urge to run my fingers through his wavy hair. “I can’t believe he fainted. How can such a healthy, fit-looking man go down over a couple of dead mice?”
Sierra chuckled and nudged him with her foot. “I doubt this is how he pictured his day going when he came back here.”
She wasn’t wrong. Liam had stormed into the back room, seen Harold’s mess, and turned greener than a Ninja Turtle.
Seconds later, he was out cold. Luckily, I made him sit before he face-planted onto the floor.
Still, he’ll have a bruise from when his face kissed the cement.
Not what I’d call a soft landing, especially not on your face.
Like I needed another thing to worry about on my already full plate today. After yet another rough night with Nana, cleaning Harold’s mouse collection was the last thing I wanted to do. Even when I was having a good day, it was gross. But today? When I’m exhausted and worried? It was unbearable.
Last night was brutal. After Liam left, Nana woke up and started storming around and swearing at the furniture. It took more than an hour to calm her down, and I spent the next few hours on her couch to make sure she stayed asleep. By the time I made it to my own bed, it was nearly morning.
Now here I was, grumpy and sleep-deprived yet again, babysitting a grown man who’d fainted at the sight of a few dead mice.
Sure, it had been a fair-sized pile, but still.
“I mean, they were dead. It’s not like they were going to come back to life and chase him through the store,” I said as Sierra helped me slide a few flattened boxes under Liam’s head.
I pitied the guy. It couldn’t be comfortable lying on concrete. Especially after you’d bounced your face off it.
“Crap!” Sierra shouted, jolting me from my thoughts. “I still need to open Polly’s,” she said, grabbing her coffee. “Call me later and tell me how this turns out. I want to know everything.”
She darted out the door, a flurry of flowing skirts and jingling jewellery, leaving me shaking my head. Sierra could be flighty, which is why I usually insisted on delivering her coffee. I’m glad she was here to help with Liam this morning, though.
“What am I going to do with you?” I murmured, glancing down at Liam’s prone form. “I can’t stay back here all day to look after you.”
After I finished cleaning up the mice, I propped the stockroom door open so I could keep an eye on Liam while I worked. He was still out of it, but as soon as I’d walked back out front, he groaned.
“Good,” I muttered to myself. “He’s coming around already.”
After making coffees for a few of my regulars and shelving a few books, I headed back to check on him.
“Liam,” I said, leaning over him. He grunted, his eyelids fluttering open before he slammed them shut again.
“Time to wake up, sunshine,” I teased. “You’ve slept long enough.”
He groaned and stretched before squinting up at me. “What the hell? Am I on the floor? What is this?” He patted his makeshift pillow. “Is this cardboard?”
“It is.” I stepped back, offering a hand as he sat up. When his fingers closed around mine, a zing of electricity forced me to snatch my hand back. What the heck was that?
“Ah, haha,” I stammered, rubbing my fingers together, smoothing away the zing. “Glad to see you’re coming around.”
“Thanks, I think. Ow, shit.” He winced, probing the side of his face as he made his way to his feet. “Damn, that hurts. What happened?”
I chuckled. “You came back, saw me cleaning Harold’s tower of mice, turned an alarming shade of green, and … well, you passed out. And landed on your face.”
“Right. The mice. Heurgh.” Gagging, he pressed a fist to his mouth as a greenish tint flooded his skin again.
I stifled a laugh. “Come on, let’s get some ice on that handsome face of yours. If we’re fast enough, we can keep it from bruising too much.”
He heaved a pained groan before turning to me with a smirk. “You think I’m handsome? Good to know.”
“What? No, that’s not what I said.”
“Too late. It’s out there now. No take-backs.
” He grinned. “You know, Maya, it’s only a matter of time before you fall madly in love with me.
I hope you’re ready.” He chuckled, placing a warm hand on my lower back, the heat from it melting my insides as he guided me to the front.
“Now, let’s get some of that ice for my ridiculously good-looking face. ”
“You and I both know damn well that’s not what I said.” I huffed, trying to suppress a smile. The man was infuriating, yet somehow I couldn’t seem to stop grinning like a fool when he was around.
“Poe-tay-toe, poe-tah-toe,” he said with a shrug.
While Liam settled onto a stool, I filled a towel with ice. Handing it to him, I thought to myself what a shame it would be if his face were to bruise. It was a very attractive face.
“Thank you.” He pressed the makeshift ice pack to his cheek. “Now that that’s taken care of, how about you fill me in on what was going on with Nana last night?”
Right. That. I supposed I should fill him in on the situation, especially if he was going to be around more. He’d need to get on our schedule if I wanted to avoid more sleepless nights like last night.
Before I could answer, my old cell phone rang, startling me. “Crap,” I hissed.
Liam chuckled. “Do you need to get that?”
I shook my head, opening the drawer where I kept the phone, and glanced at the number displayed on the screen. Yup. It was my parents. Again.
My stomach twisted into knots. I hadn’t spoken to them much since they told me their parenting duties were over and it was time for me to fend for myself.
I had built a life without them and found a family in Nana and my friends.
I didn’t need their phone calls, and I certainly didn’t need them. Not anymore.
“Hey, where’d you go?” Liam’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “It’s like a dark cloud descended on you.” He gave me a sympathetic smile. “Do you want to talk about it?”
The pity in his tone set my teeth on edge. Any goodwill I had felt for him earlier disintegrated in the fresh anger that burned in my belly.
“No, I don’t,” I snapped, slamming the drawer shut.
Taking a deep breath, I softened my tone.
You promised you’d try to be nice for Nana’s sake.
“I don’t have time to talk at all right now, to be honest. I have a delivery coming in and a ton of work to do around the shop.
And you should have a doctor check you out, just to be safe. You hit the floor pretty hard.”
Liam’s face dropped. He could tell I was making excuses to get rid of him, and guilt twisted in my gut. “See you later?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
I busied myself cleaning the espresso machine, not looking up again until the bell above the door jingled to announce Liam’s departure. The makeshift ice pack sitting abandoned on the counter was the sole sign that he’d been here at all.
With a sigh, I slumped against the counter. Why did I still let my parents get to me after all these years? And why did I let that affect how I treated Liam?
Damn it.
I think I owe him an apology.