“Uhm... I don’t think so.”
Now she seems angry. Is this kind of mood fluctuation a normal thing for women, or am I doing something wrong?
“You swear you haven’t communicated with Nora?” She folded her arms.
“I swear I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t even know you had a roommate until you mentioned her, and this is the first time I’ve heard her name.”
“Were you eavesdropping when she and I were talking earlier? About you and I...” She made air-quotes with her fingers. “Spending time together?”
“You talked to Nora about me?” His grin went so wide it hurt his face. “No, I didn’t hear you talking, but I’m glad you did. And for the record, I’d be happy to talk to her if she’s concerned about me. I know some roommates are protective.”
“Liam, that’s not what I meant—”
“So tomorrow, would you like to go snowmobiling?”
Her jaw dropped to the floor. “I... I don’t know how. I’ve never been.”
“That’s okay. I can drive.”
“You have an adaptive snowmobile here?”
“AEP had an entire array of adaptive sports equipment shipped here for the convention.” Down beside his leg, Liam crossed his fingers. “Do you want to go?”
She blinked those sparkling silver eyes, her mouth opening and closing like she was trying to decide what to say, while he held his breath.
“Okay.”
Her voice was so quiet he barely heard it. But he saw her lips move, so it wasn’t his imagination.
I can’t believe it! Maybe she likes me after all.
“Great! We’ll make plans at breakfast. I’ll walk you to the dining room in the morning.” Liam turned to go. “See you at seven.”
“Seven o’clock. I’ll be here with bells on.” Despite her bells-on statement, her tone held no enthusiasm. Maybe she didn’t like breakfast.
“Oh! I almost forgot. No pressure or anything, but the reason I stopped by was to invite you to work out with Bran and me before breakfast.”
“Of course you did.” Carly rolled her eyes. “What time is the workout?”
It was Liam’s turn to be surprised. “You’re going to do it?”
“How could I possibly refuse?” Her tone had a bite of sarcasm.
“We’d love to have you, but don’t feel obligated. I have to warn you we’re working out at 5:00 a.m.”
“5:00?” Carly slumped sideways against the door frame. “I’m going to need some coffee... lots of it!”
CHAPTER 9
CARLY
When her alarm went off at 4:50, Carly crawled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. Emphasized by a bald head, bloodshot eyes stared at her from the mirror.
This is insane!
Though Nora had vehemently denied any collusion with Liam, it hadn’t stopped her from laughing so hard at Carly’s predicament that she’d choked herself into a coughing fit. Her only remark? “I feel sorry for Liam. He has no idea how scary you are in the morning.”
Remorseless, Nora had confirmed her expectation for Carly to join the guys for the exercise session and accept any other invitations Liam might extend.
Carly was tempted to go without her wig or eyelashes. That would scare him off, for sure. It would be so much easier for him to reject her now, before she fell any harder for him. But her interfering roommate had also made her promise not to shock Liam into retreat.
How did she trick me into making all those promises?
Despite her general cavalier attitude about her alopecia, Carly knew her hairless appearance would be a hard pill for any guy to swallow. In general, she didn’t care if people knew; she didn’t care what they thought. But in the relationship department, she was way more insecure than she pretended to be.
After her father had withdrawn, Carly had craved love. But she’d yearned for a genuine caring relationship, which wasn’t what she got from the guys she’d dated.
Ha! Big surprise.
And now—since losing her hair to the worst type of alopecia, the kind that made you lose all instead of part of your hair and rarely responded to any treatment—she’d finally accepted the truth. That sort of love only happened in books and movies. Maybe there were a few cases in real life, but not in hers.
At any rate, she had to put on a brave face and get through her activities, a feat more challenging with the anniversary of Ben’s death looming the next day.
With practiced speed, she pulled her wig into place, the straps already adjusted for a perfect fit, silicone strips against her scalp holding it securely in place. But just to be safe, she slipped on a wide headband, which would also keep the hair out of her face while she was working out.
Fortunately, her eyebrows were tattooed, so she didn’t have to draw them on each day. Eyelashes were another matter. Those had to be glued in place each morning, but it only took her about two minutes per eye, including the time required to paint on the eyeliner that hid the lash band.
A tentative knock came from the door. Having slept in her yoga pants and T-shirt, Carly hurried to the door, her anticipation growing.
“Please tell me that’s what I think it is.” She eyed the thermal cup in Liam’s right hand.
