Why? Did he have a dream about me?
I looked away so I wouldn’t blush.
“We have to shake this day off, Em,” he said.
“I agree,” I said. “Last time I had a day like this, Jon and I went to a park and just pretended the world didn’t exist.”
“Jon?” Liam asked.
“Oh. Sorry. My ex.”
“Oh,” Liam said.
He looked like he was frowning.
“I don’t know why I blurted that out.”
“No big deal. Ex, huh? What happened?”
“Just… life,” I said. “It didn’t end all that great. He announced he was leaving me in front of everyone in the bakery. Which was my fault. He had said he wanted to talk and I kind of ignored him.”
“That’s rough, Em. Nobody deserves that.”
Nobody… or just me?
“It happens. I’ve been… I don’t know. I tried texting a bunch of times after it happened. Just to see if we could talk. I think about texting him again. The smoke has cleared. Maybe things could be different.”
“You mean go back to him?” Liam asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “It wasn’t the worst relationship. It’s better than being alone.”
“Em, you’re not alone.”
“You know what I mean.”
Why am I talking about this with him?
“You can’t do that.”
“What?” I asked.
“That guy dumped you that way? Fuck him. There’s no way you can go back to him. Ever. Okay?”
Liam’s voice grew louder and a few people started to look.
“Liam, what’s wrong with you right now?”
“Nothing,” he said. “I just… I didn’t know you were with him. Or what he did to you. I’ve been so far out of the loop with you, Em. I hate that. I’m sorry about that. I always tried to keep an eye out for you, you know?”
“I don’t need someone to keep an eye out for me,” I said. “I’m not weak. Or stupid.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said. “I just… you deserve to be happy. And with someone that makes you happy. Not someone that makes you feel like you have to crawl to them, okay? I’m sure whatever led to this guy doing what he did, that meant it was over for good.”
“Maybe I’m just a bad person,” I said. “You don’t know that…”
“There’s no way it was you, Em,” Liam said.
“I was too focused on the bakery. Worried all the time. I mean, I still am.”
“Bullshit,” Liam said. His nostrils flared. “If you want something, you find a way to get it. You make time. You… if that was me? You know what I would do? I would be at the bakery with you. Helping. Asking questions. Just being present.”
I swallowed hard.
Liam was fired up.
My heart started to race a little.
Everything he just said… that’s all I wanted.
But not with Liam.
Duh.
Of course.
I looked down at my coffee.
I slowly took a sip to see if it was cool enough to drink.
It was.
When I tasted the hint of cinnamon, I smiled.
Liam got the order perfect. Without me telling him.
He remembered.
And that… it kind of started to crush my heart.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Liam
In a strange way I was getting used to the apartment being mine.
I slept on the couch with the TV on and woke up in the morning, got dressed, grabbed something to eat on the way to work, and that was becoming somewhat of a routine for me.
A routine that wasn’t going to last long though.
It wasn’t like Miranda and I were split up or anything.
That thought…
I got to my desk, looked at the day’s work, and started making phone calls.
That one trademark case that had been all fucked up was going to haunt me for a few minutes.
It wasn’t my mistake but I wasn’t going to point fingers and roll over on anyone.
Plus, there was the bigger patent case I was putting together.
That one was still way up in the air on which direction it would end up, but I would be well prepared for it.
I noticed outside my office that Jacob and Maria were talking.
I noticed how close they were.
And it didn’t seem like a work conversation at all.
After a minute or so I watched as Maria touched Jacob’s hand then walked away.
He stood there and stared at his hand like he had shook hands with someone famous.
I moved from behind my desk, walked to open up my office door and whistled.
Jacob looked at me and his face turned red.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“I don’t deal with interns fucking each other.”
“What?” Jacob yelled. “You think… no…”
“Then what was it?”
“Janelle and I had a fight last night,” he said. “Over the phone. It was shitty.”
“You two okay?”
“I don’t know. She’s jealous of Maria.”
“I can see why,” I said. “Touching your hand…”
“We’re friends,” Jacob said. “I think.”
I shook my head. “Go find the Levowitz file for me. I want you to review it and tell me if anything seems off to you. Clear your head of any love triangles and focus on work.”
Jacob looked flustered and confused.
I shook my head and walked back to my desk.
I looked out the window and took a deep breath.
My desire to work was zero.
My desire to find more trouble with Emily was one hundred fucking percent.
And that in itself was trouble.
When I saw Miranda’s name on my phone screen, I almost thought about not answering the call.
I did at the last possible moment.
“Hey,” I said. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, hello there,” her voice said. She sounded happy. Alive. “Do you remember me?”
“No,” I said. “Who is this again?”
“Not funny, Liam.”
“What? You started it.”
“Did you forget about me?”
“No,” I said. I swallowed hard. “We’ve been texting…”
“I haven’t talked to you in a few days,” she said.
“You’re busy,” I said. “And the phone works both ways.”
“Oh, that’s right, it’s my fault,” Miranda said.
“That’s not what I said. Did you really call so we can argue?”
“No.”
“Good. What’s going on?”
“It’s busy and crazy. But also wild and fun.”
I laughed. “That’s good. That’s what you went there for, right?”
“Yeah. You can’t imagine it, Liam. The conferences are not worth anything. But the networking…” She let out a breath. “There were
