Trusting Liam(8)

With a loud laugh, he turned and walked away. My dad had owned McGowan’s Gym since sometime around when I was born, and he and his business partner, my uncle Konrad, had changed this place a lot over the years. It was a fighting gym, and always would be, but instead of a place for people to only work out or train for the ring, they now offered classes depending on what kind of training you wanted, and had a large bar up front for before-, during-, and after-workout drinks.

Dad had been an underground fighter in college until the doctors told him if he didn’t stop, he’d risk paralysis, so McGowan’s was the only way for him to stay doing what he loved without giving my mom a heart attack. That didn’t mean he wasn’t still built like a fighter and able to take on anyone who wanted to challenge him in the ring; it just meant he was a lot more careful. And it was because of his confident presence mixed with his large appearance that I was betting the girls wouldn’t last more than a few minutes with him before leaving.

But then I remembered Mason and realized they might be more used to guys like my dad than we had given them credit for.

After cleaning up the rest of the lunch I’d brought with me as a thank-you for his agreeing to the last-minute interviews, I left the gym and was back at work within twenty minutes.

I’d been in my office for an hour when Eli came in talking to me before he even had a foot in the door. “Did you go to the gym?”

“Yeah. Talked with Dad for a bit, he was with your nieces when I left.”

“So they made it?”

I looked up at him from my computer at the relief in his voice, and responded slowly, drawing each word out, “Did you think they wouldn’t . . . ?”

“No, I—” He cut off quickly and turned to see who had just opened my door. “No! Go back to your desk and stay there,” he demanded, pointing at Cecily, who gave a wide-eyed look as she quickly turned around and left. “Seriously, Liam?”

I suppressed a smile and went back to the e-mail I’d been responding to when he walked in. “I didn’t ask her to come in here, I didn’t even tell her I was back. She was probably just hoping to attempt to steal my office again.”

“Bullshit,” he huffed, but I could easily hear the amusement in his voice. “Do you have any plans for the weekend?”

“No,” I said distractedly, then it hit me. “You asking because of the girls?”

“They need to get out, Liam.”

“I know, I get it. I don’t know of anything right now, but I’ll let you know.”

He stood there for a few seconds longer, not saying anything or looking at anything in particular. “Give them a shot. I know you’ll like them; it’s them liking everyone else I’m worried about. They’re kind of—well, like I said, one only thinks of her boyfriend. The other has a personality somewhere between her dad and Mason, so you can imagine how often she gives new people the time of day without telling them exactly what she thinks of them.”

I snorted. “I’m sure I can. I told you, though; I will get them out at least once. I’ll let you know if there’s anything going on this weekend, and if there’s not, I’m sure next weekend will be different.”

Eli grabbed for his ringing phone and started backing out of my office as he answered it. “It’s been a slow week, there’s no point in staying for the rest of the day, you can head out,” he whispered before greeting whoever had called him.

I quickly finished the e-mail and checked the unread ones as well as my calendar before cleaning up and getting ready to go. I started texting Cecily as I shut off my lights and locked the door from the inside, but looked up when a husky, feminine laugh caught my attention, and stopped abruptly in the middle of the doorway.

This isn’t fucking happening.

My eyes widened as I looked at the identical twin girls talking with Eli about the job interview they’d just come back from, and my mind raced as I tried to deny what I was seeing.

Long black hair. Dark blue eyes. Tall, slender, yet curvy bodies covered in tattoos. Smiles I’d thought of for months.

Memories from a night in Vegas a year ago flashed through my mind as I looked at her. No, no, no. This can’t be happening. That can’t be her. That can’t be Moon.

But there was no denying it was her. The one girl who had slipped out before I’d woken up . . . the one girl I thought I’d never see again . . . was now standing a dozen feet away from me and talking to my boss—her uncle.

“This can’t be happening,” I murmured, and quickly stepped back and shut myself in my office before Eli or the girls could notice me.